Bolivia issues warrant for Evo Morales’s arrest after court no-show
The ex-Bolivian president is on trial for allegedly fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. By AFP, Anadolu and Reuters Published On 12 May 202612 May 2026 A Bolivian judge has found former President Evo Morales in contempt of court and reissued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to turn up for the start of his trial on charges of trafficking a minor. The ruling on Monday renewed tensions in the South American country, with supporters of Morales warning they would “throw the country into turmoil” if the former leader is arrested. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Morales, who is Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. The parents of the teen are accused of consenting to the relationship in exchange for favours from Morales. The former socialist leader, who governed from 2006 to 2019, has rejected the accusations. Morales did not attend the scheduled start of his trial on Monday in the southern city of Tarija, forcing the proceedings to be suspended. The Public Prosecutor’s Office said Morales’s “unjustified absence” confirmed his fugitive status and warranted an arrest order as well as a travel ban. The former president has been hiding from the law in his central coca-growing stronghold of Chapare since late 2024, guarded by Indigenous supporters who have promised to resist any attempt to capture him. ‘Ready for battle’ “They think that by arresting Evo Morales, they will succeed in quelling and demobilising the movement. They are very much mistaken,” supporter Dieter Mendoza said on Kawsachun Coca radio on Monday. “If they touch Evo Morales, this will cause an upheaval … There will be an insurgency across Bolivia.” Advertisement Mendoza urged residents of the Cochabamba Tropics to remain on “high alert” and “ready for battle”. Authorities first issued an arrest warrant for Morales in October 2024, but could not execute it after his supporters blocked roads for 24 days, preventing officers from reaching the region where he remains sheltered. Morales was already declared in contempt of court in January 2025, when he did not show for a pretrial detention hearing. Wilfredo Chavez, one of his lawyers, told the AFP news agency on Friday that neither Morales nor his lawyers would show up in court, as they had not been “properly notified”. The lawyer said the court did not send the summons to Morales’s address, but had instead served it through an edict. Morales, who rose from dire poverty to become one of Latin America’s longest-serving leaders, has slammed those “that persecute me and condemn me in record time”. His refusal to give up power in 2019 after three terms led to a tumultuous exit that cast a shadow over nearly 14 years of economic progress and poverty reduction. Forced to resign after elections tainted by fraud, he slipped away into exile in Mexico and later Argentina, but returned home a year later. He failed to make a comeback last year after being barred from seeking a fourth term in presidential elections. Adblock test (Why?)
Lebanese in south refuse to flee again despite escalating Israeli strikes
NewsFeed Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reports from southern Lebanon, where displaced residents say they will not leave again despite a sharp rise in deaths and intensifying Israeli strikes. Published On 12 May 202612 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
California ex-mayor admits acting as agent of China, US authorities say
Ex-mayor of wealthy Los Angeles suburb promoted pro-China propaganda at behest of Chinese officials, prosecutors say. Published On 12 May 202612 May 2026 The former mayor of a wealthy suburb in the United States city of Los Angeles has admitted to acting as an illegal agent of China, according to authorities. Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, agreed to plead guilty to one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government from late 2020 until 2022, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Wang admitted that she did not notify the US government that she was acting on behalf of China while promoting pro-Beijing propaganda, the Justice Department said. Wang, 58, operated a website, called the US News Center, that published content supportive of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while purporting to provide news for Chinese Americans, the department said. Wang ran the site with Yaoning Sun, a Californian man who was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government in October 2025, according to US prosecutors. Wang’s activities included republishing a “PRC official-written essay” that denied allegations that the Chinese government was committing genocide against ethnic-minority Uighurs in its far-western region of Xinjiang, according to prosecutors. Wang resigned as mayor on Monday, according to a statement published on the City of Arcadia’s website. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Her lawyers, Brian A Sun and Jason Liang, said Wang wished to apologise for “mistakes she has made in her personal life”. “It is important to note, however, that the conduct underlying the information and the agreement with the government relates solely to Ms. Wang’s personal life – i.e., a media platform that she once operated with someone whom she believed to be her fiancé – and not to her conduct as an elected public official,” Sun and Liang said in a statement. Advertisement “Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver,” they added. “She asks for the community’s understanding and continued support.” US Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg issued a statement expressing deep concern over Wang’s activities. “Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent,” he said. “It is deeply concerning that someone who previously received and executed directives from PRC government officials is now in a position of public trust at all, but particularly so because that relationship with that foreign government had never been disclosed.” China’s embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wang’s prosecution comes as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in Beijing on Wednesday for a summit expected to focus on the US-Israel war on Iran, trade, and the status of Taiwan, among other issues. The summit comes after the two leaders agreed to a yearlong pause in their trade war during a meeting in South Korea last October. Adblock test (Why?)
Is the US empire in the middle of a long decline?
Iran war has put the US in a situation where ‘it’s not in control but can’t walk away’, argues economist Richard Wolff. When the United States threatens to take over countries and destroy civilisations, “these are the wild gesticulations of a sinking enterprise”, argues Richard Wolff, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts. Wolff tells host Steve Clemons that US leaders refuse to face the reality that the US empire is in decline. Around the world, he adds, people are “deeply internalising” the lessons from the US’s inability to defeat Iran. The people in the US are becoming “bitterly angry” at their situation, where the richest 10 percent of Americans own 80 percent of corporate stocks, making the stock market “utterly irrelevant” to the masses. Published On 11 May 202611 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Iran war effect: Why is Modi asking Indians to avoid foreign trips, gold?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indians to work from home, avoid international trips and not buy gold during the United States-Israeli war on Iran, which has caused global energy prices to surge, adding pressure on India’s foreign exchange reserves. Modi made his plea during a public event in the southern city of Hyderabad on Sunday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Here is more about what Modi said, what’s behind the Indian government’s concerns and how they’re linked to the war on Iran. What did Modi say? Modi said people should move to online meetings instead of physical gatherings and use the work-from-home model that was adopted globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. He explained that such practices would cut down the use of fuel. Additionally, Modi urged people to use public transport and carpooling to save fuel. He called on families to reduce their cooking oil consumption, describing that move as both healthy and patriotic. Modi also asked Indians to avoid buying gold and to cut nonessential overseas travel for at least a year. The prime minister asked farmers to cut their fertiliser use by as much as half. And he explained his justification for asking the people of India to make these changes in their lifestyles and plans: “In the current situation, we must place great emphasis on saving foreign exchange.” What’s the ‘current situation’ Modi was talking about? Simply put, Modi was referring to the war on Iran and its far-reaching economic consequences, especially for India. Early in the war too, Modi had compared the economic crisis spawned by the conflict to the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sunday, he extended that parallel to also ask Indians to adopt some of the restrictive measures forced upon the world by the coronavirus crisis. Advertisement Oil prices have climbed due to the war on Iran, which started on February 28. A barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was worth $72.87 on February 27. As of Monday, a barrel of Brent crude was worth $105.45, an almost 50 percent increase. Iranian attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Gulf in the early weeks of the war impacted energy supplies. Since early March, Iran has also restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed before the war. Iran has allowed passage by vessels from select countries that need to negotiate their transit with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In April, the US announced a naval blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports, further adding to the disruption of global oil and gas supplies. With rising fuel costs, airlines have hiked ticket prices. According to the travel search site Kayak, the average international airfare from the US to all destinations was $1,101 in the last week of April, a 16 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. Nearly half of the world’s traded urea, the most widely used fertiliser, and large volumes of other fertilisers are exported from Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz. Those supplies have now been dramatically disrupted. “Patriotism is not only about the willingness to sacrifice one’s life on the border. In these times, it is about living responsibly and fulfilling our duties to the nation in our daily lives,” Modi said. And those duties and responsibilities, per Modi’s comments, centre on India’s foreign exchange reserves. What are India’s foreign exchange reserves? India’s foreign exchange reserves as of May 1 were $690.69bn, down $7.79bn, or about 1.12 percent, from the end of March, according to the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank. Compared with where India’s reserves stood before the war, the fall is more precipitous. As of February 27, India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $728.5bn. The International Monetary Fund projected that India’s current account deficit (CAD) will be $84bn in 2026. A negative CAD means that it is effectively overdrawn – it has spent more money than it has. What do oil, gold, foreign travel and fertilisers have to do with all of this? India is the world’s third largest oil importer after China and the US. From April 2025 to March, the last Indian financial year, the country imported crude oil worth $123bn. That is the single largest contributor to India’s import budget. Advertisement At second spot? Gold. Indians imported gold worth $72bn in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, second in the world only to China. According to the travel insurance firm ACKO, Indians travelling abroad spent $31.7bn in 2023-2024. In 2024, about 30.9 million Indian nationals departed India, according to data from the Bureau of Immigration. This was up from about 27.9 million Indian nationals in 2023. India is also the world’s largest importer of urea – it imported about 10 million tonnes of the fertiliser last year, according to analysis from S&P Global. Why is this worrying for India right now? India’s foreign exchange reserves are depleted by large volumes of imports of oil, gold, fertilisers and by Indians spending abroad. However, of these expenses, oil and fertilisers are hard for India to cut back on. Energy imports are essential to drive India’s economy, and fertilisers are critical both for the country’s agrarian economy – more than half of the country’s families depend on agriculture – and for food supplies. That leaves gold and foreign travel. Whether Indians will take up Modi’s call, though, is unclear. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli killings in Lebanon rise: Is even the pretence of a ceasefire over?
The ceasefire in Lebanon that started on April 16 is increasingly coming under strain, with both Israel and Hezbollah ramping up attacks against each other. The ceasefire began after six weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. But the following day, Lebanon’s army reported several violations by Israeli forces. Since then, both Israel and Hezbollah have continued attacks. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Is even the pretence of a ceasefire over? What could happen? Here’s what we know: What are Israel’s most recent attacks? Since Israel began its war on Lebanon on March 2, at least 2,846 people have been killed and more than a million displaced. Israel’s offensive has included a major ground invasion and the occupation of southern Lebanon. On Sunday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Israeli attacks across the country had killed 51 people, including two medical workers. “The Israeli enemy continues to violate international laws and humanitarian norms, adding more crimes against paramedics, as it directly targeted two points of the Health Authority in Qalawiya and Tibnin, Bint Jbeil district, in two raids,” the ministry said. Since Israel’s war on Lebanon began on March 2, the United Nations says at least 103 Lebanese medical workers have been killed and 230 injured in more than 130 Israeli strikes. “We’re under threat every second, every day,” Ali Safiuddin, the head of the Lebanese Civil Defence in Tyre in southern Lebanon, told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “We ask ourselves if we’re going to survive or if we’re going to die, we know we’ve already given up our lives by working here. We’ve lost so many people and it feels like we’re already gone as well.” Advertisement Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre, said on Sunday that “international humanitarian laws are clear: medical personnel and first responders, like the Lebanese Civil Defence, must be protected in armed conflict, but on this front line, the question isn’t whether another strike is coming. It’s how many people will be left to answer the calls for help”. Dr Tahir Mohammed, a war surgeon, and humanitarian worker who’s worked in both Gaza and Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that he saw parallels in Israeli actions in both places. “We used to see our colleagues in Gaza come through the door all the time. I’ve had colleagues, nurses, medical students killed by Israeli weapons, and so to see the same policy of targeting healthcare workers in Lebanon … it’s consistent,” he said. “If Israel had their way, they would absolutely occupy the entire southern region of Lebanon, and they would do it tomorrow. They have no care for life. I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Mohammed added. Israeli attacks continued on Monday. An Israeli air strike on the town of Abba killed two people and wounded five, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said. Warplanes renewed their raids on the town of Kfar Remman for the second time in less than an hour, NNA added. The Israeli military issued a new warning for southern Lebanon, telling residents of nine areas to flee before potential Israeli strikes. The areas are: Ar-Rihan (Jezzine), Jarjouaa, Kfar Reman, al-Numairiyah, Arab Salim, al-Jumayjimah, Machghara, Qlayaa (Western Bekaa) and Harouf. Israel has repeatedly said that it is only targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, which is primarily in the south of Lebanon. But last week, Israel also bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time since the ceasefire began. What have Hezbollah attacked? The Lebanese armed group has continued striking Israeli forces. Early on Monday, Hezbollah said it carried out 24 attacks targeting Israeli army positions, soldiers and military vehicles in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours. Targets included Israeli troop gatherings, Merkava tanks, bulldozers, military equipment and newly established command centres in several border areas, including Khiam, Deir Seryan, Tayr Harfa, Bayyada, Rashaf and Naqoura. Operations involved explosive drones, rocket barrages, artillery shelling and guided missiles, with Hezbollah claiming “confirmed hits” in several attacks. The Israeli military said it had intercepted “a suspicious aerial target” in southern Lebanon in an apparent reference to a drone launched by Hezbollah. Advertisement The Jerusalem Post said the Israeli military is struggling to respond to First Person View (FPV) drones launched by Hezbollah. The newspaper said Hezbollah is using fibre optic threads to guide the drones and evade Israeli wireless jamming devices. The Jerusalem Post noted that Hezbollah had released video of an FPV drone striking an Iron Dome battery on the northern border on Sunday. During its visit to southern Lebanon last week, senior Israeli officials “outlined several new pilot programmes to better identify and shoot down FPVs”, but added that the “military is still trying to catch up in real time”. On Monday, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted an Israeli military position in a house in Baydar al-Faqani in the town of Taybeh, forcing a retreat. Fighters attacked the position three times until an Israeli helicopter intervened to evacuate the wounded, the group said. The Israeli army has not yet commented on the attack, but said three soldiers were injured by a booby-trap drone explosion in southern Lebanon. The army earlier announced that a soldier was killed by a drone launched by Hezbollah near the Lebanese border. So is the ceasefire just a pretence? In theory, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah does exist, but both warring parties have escalated attacks since it began. The ceasefire followed a previous one, which had ostensibly been in effect since November 27, 2024. Since then, the United Nations counted more than 10,000 Israeli ceasefire violations and hundreds of Lebanese deaths. “I don’t think the pretence of a truce was ever actually there, but I think Israel can continue [attacks] just as it can sign a peace agreement,” Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera. “Israel doesn’t really care and will do as it is told. So far, the IDF [Israeli army] wants a win and a chance to apply its might, but that can change in a heartbeat,” he said. Israel has repeatedly told
What next for Real Madrid after Barcelona’s La Liga and Clasico triumph?
The fall may not have been deep, but the landing has been hard. A second trophy-less season for Real Madrid, the most successful La Liga and Champions League club, was confirmed in the worst way possible: a defeat at Barcelona, who, with their win, defended the Spanish title. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Los Blancos kept the title race alive by their fingernails as they crawled their way to Catalonia, knowing that doing so could result in the cruellest of heartbreaks for their fans. And so it came to pass. Down by two at half-time at Camp Nou – and it could have been a lot more – hanging in there to limit the damage and humiliation was key, but the 2-0 defeat will have cut deeply for a club that has lifted 36 league and 15 Champions League titles. The defeat means Real will finish second this season, not an unusual circumstance in what has regularly been a two-horse race in La Liga. The manner, however, of their failure this season – including their quarterfinal exit from Europe’s top table – has left far more questions than answers in the Spanish capital after another season of discontent. How do Real solve a problem like Mbappe? The signing of Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago was seen as a return to the days of collecting the world’s finest talents and collectively calling them “galacticos”. Real had just completed the league and European double under the illustrious Carlo Ancelotti, the most successful manager in European history and no stranger to managing the top names, having led a list of galacticos in his previous spell as Los Blancos manager. Advertisement Last season did not go to plan, though. Mbappe’s arrival broke up the 4-3-3 formation that had served Real so well for so long, with English midfielder Jude Bellingham playing a key, advanced role, while Vinicius Junior thrived in front of and around him. Both were forced to shift position to accommodate Mbappe, who prefers to drop deep from his central position to link up play or run with the ball. It trod on the toes of the two key performers. Even Ancelotti was not immune to the famed Real chop as rumours circulated all season that his failure to gel the team would bring to an end the Italian’s Spanish love affair. Enter Xabi Alonso. Heralded as the answer to Madrid’s problems after sweeping through German football with Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso is also hailed as a midfield maestro as a player for both Madrid and the Spanish national team. Rumours were rife from the off that the players did not buy into Alonso’s system, and friction was often apparent with Mbappe, despite the forward’s refound scoring ability. His 24 goals have him two clear at the top of this season’s Spanish scoring chart. Alonso’s time was clearly up long before the end came, just after the clock ticked in the new calendar year. Alvaro Arbeloa was given the task of guiding the seemingly rudderless ship to the end of the season as interim head coach. Mbappe’s troubles were only just beginning, though. By the end of the season, a “Mbappe out” petition raised more than 33 million signatures, and the Frenchman was the latest focal point of the Madridistas’ displeasure. Reconnecting Mbappe with the fans and connecting him with his teammates’ style of play will be the number one focus for the new season. Geling three of the world’s leading talents, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, has proved to be a tough task for successive Real Madrid managers [Marcelo Del Pozo/Reuters] Can Real resolve Vinicius Jr’s fallout with fans? Prior to the campaign waged against Mbappe, Vinicius fell foul of the home support, with boos for the forward ringing around a series of performances either side of the Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich. The Brazilian went on a 19-game run without a goal for club and country between October 10 and January 11. Ironically, he broke his unwanted streak in the 3-2 Spanish Super Cup final defeat by Barcelona, Alonso’s last game in charge. The ruptures were apparent, however, and rumours abounded that the 25-year-old’s stay at the only club he has ever known could be coming to an end. Advertisement Manchester United were the first to be linked with a move for the versatile forward, but all of Europe’s elite will be on red alert should there be any indication that Real may consider Vinicius as the way to reshape the team around their most bankable asset on and off the field: Mbappe. Will Valverde and Tchouameni survive dressing-room bust-up? As the day of destiny at Barcelona approached, the last thing Real needed were more unwanted headlines, let alone from two of the brighter spots in an otherwise dark campaign. Uruguay’s Federico Valverde and France’s Aurelien Tchouameni were involved in a training-ground bust-up on Thursday, which left the former needing a trip to hospital for a head injury, ruling the midfielder out of the coming weeks. Real swiftly fined both players on Friday, but Tchouameni was still named in the starting lineup at Barcelona. Should Real decide that one or both were required to leave to avoid a potential toxic fallout in the dressing room, then, much like in the case of Vinicius, the phone lines of Europe’s top clubs will be working overtime to seal one or the other. Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, right, is greeted by Pepe, second right, and Cristiano Ronaldo, third right, in 2012, as they celebrate their 32nd La Liga title [Paul Hanna/Reuters] Is Jose Mourinho’s return the answer for Real? Cometh the hour, cometh the man? Given the extent of the discontent across the club, the job of replacing Alonso on a full-time basis will require something not far short of a miracle. Mourinho was not a popular choice in his time in the Real dugout, given his pragmatic tactics, seen
Somalis rally against government-ordered evictions in Mogadishu
NewsFeed Demonstrators rallied across the Somali capital in support of families displaced by a wave of government-led home demolitions. Opposition figures, who organised the protests, say security forces shot and killed one person while trying to disperse the crowds. Published On 11 May 202611 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza documentary dropped by the BBC wins BAFTA
NewsFeed A documentary exposing Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and the killing of 1,700 Palestinian medics won Best Current Affairs at the BAFTAs. During the acceptance speech, filmmakers criticised the BBC for initially funding the film but dropping it, accusing the broadcaster of censorship. Published On 11 May 202611 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Stories of those killed in a single day of Israeli strikes on Lebanon
NewsFeed Israeli strikes have killed at least 39 people, wiping out entire families, in a single day of attacks across Lebanon during a so-called ‘ceasefire.’ Here are some of their stories. Published On 10 May 202610 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)