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Djidji Ayôkwé was handed to Ivorian officials in Paris earlier this monthA sacred artefact looted by French colonial authorities more than a century ago has been returned to Côte d’Ivoire in one of the most significant cultural restitutions to a former French colony in years.The Djidji Ayôkwé, a talking drum confiscated in 1916 by French administrators, landed at 8.45am on Friday at the airport in Port Bouët on the outskirts of the economic capital, Abidjan. It was handed over to Ivorian officials in Paris earlier this month after being removed from the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Museum. Continue reading...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth interrupted his Pentagon press briefing on Friday morning to bash the press, taking particular aim at CNN and urging an ownership change.After opening by complaining the press was not willing to “admit” the success of his Iran war planning, he later added, “They see headlines. I used to be in that business, and I know that everything is written intentionally. For example, a banner or a headline ‘Mideast War Intensifies,' splashing on the screen the last couple of days, alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit. Because that's what they do.”“What should the banner read instead? How about Iran ‘increasingly desperate’ because they are,” he lectured. “They know it, and so do you ... more fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz — patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do hold —the strait hostage.”“CNN doesn't think we thought of that,” he accused. “It's a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner [Paramount’s] David Ellison takes over that network, the better. Another example of a fake headline that I saw yesterday: ‘War widening.’ Here's a real headline for you, for an actual patriotic press. How about ‘Iran shrinking, going underground?’"Hegseth: "Another example of a fake headline that I saw yesterday -- 'War widening.' Here's a real headline for you for an actual patriotic press. How about, 'Iran shrinking.'"[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 13, 2026 at 5:18 AM

A Nobel Prize winner has warned there could be further spikes in the cost of oil, and it would be far worse than predicted. Paul Krugman believes estimates from experts predicting how high the cost of oil will reach could be understating just how expensive it could get. Writing in his recent Substack post, the economist suggested there is a chance that oil prices could spike much higher than either experts or Donald Trump's administration will admit. Krugman claimed, "Given time to adjust, the world can conserve oil in many different ways. For example, gas mileage roughly doubled in the decades that followed the 70s oil shocks — and that was before hybrid and electric vehicles. In the long run, the world economy could make do without Persian Gulf oil, at minimal cost in terms of global GDP."But in the long run we are all dead. In the short run, the economic impact of a sustained loss of Gulf oil could be very ugly. In fact, it would have to get ugly to persuade the world to buy a lot less oil.""I’ve seen some alarmists warn that a long war in the Gulf could lead to oil at $150 a barrel. That looks low to me." Though Krugman's opinion may be a rude awakening for some, the economist believes change will only come if the price hike persuades people to give up driving. He wrote, "Around 20 percent of the world’s normal flow of oil is bottled up inside the Strait of Hormuz — and as we’ve seen in the past day, even tankers and oil facilities inside the Strait are vulnerable to attack. If this blockade persists, it will be a much worse shock to world oil supplies than the 1973 embargo, the 1979 Iranian revolution, or the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.""So what happens if the Strait remains closed for months? It’s a matter of supply and demand. If the quantity of oil supplied to world markets can’t rise — which, as far as we can tell, it won’t until the mullahs decide to let tankers through again — the price of oil will have to rise high enough to reduce the quantity demanded.""And how high would that price have to be? It would have to be high enough to persuade drivers to stop driving, trucks to stop trucking, airlines to stop flying.""In other words, the price of oil would have to rise enough to cause a global economic crisis even though the world is much less oil-dependent than it used to be."

Donald Trump has repeatedly called his Iran war an “excursion,” which drew rolled-eyes on MS NOW on Friday morning, with one host claiming the president doesn't seem to know the true meaning of the word. The “Morning Joe” segment began with a supercut of the president making statements like, “This is an excursion. We figured oil prices would go up, which they will. They'll also come down,” and later claiming, “We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil.” That led co-host, Willie Geist to suggest, “President Trump repeatedly calling the war with Iran a 'little excursion'; a war that has killed American troops, injured about 150 of them, destabilized the Middle East and driven oil over $100 a barrel. A little excursion is kind of like a half-day snorkeling trip you book on your vacation to the Bahamas, not a war with Iran.”“In its definition of an excursion, [is] ‘a short, organized pleasure trip a la snorkeling, often lasting a few hours. Incursion, a sudden, often hostile entrance or invasion into a territory or place’,” Jonathan Lemire read to his colleague.“The smart money would say that one of President Trump's advisors used the word incursion with him: ‘Sir, it's an incursion. It's going to be a short military action.’ I mean, it may not be that short, but that's the word that he was given,” he explained.“He heard it as ‘excursion’ and no one has had the guts to correct him. And now he has said it over and over and over. And as you say, Willie, excursion, whether he means to or not, really diminishes the stakes in the lives lost in this conflict.” - YouTube youtu.be

Countries across the continent have spent more than $2bn on Chinese tracking technology that is not ‘necessary or proportionate’, new report findsThe rapid expansion of AI-powered mass-surveillance systems across Africa is violating citizens’ right to privacy and having a chilling effect on society, according to experts on human rights and emerging technologies.At least $2bn (£1.5bn) has been spent by 11 African governments on Chinese-built surveillance technology that recognises faces and monitors movements, according to a new report by the Institute of Development Studies, which warns that national security is being used to justify implementing these systems with little regulation. Continue reading...

Viral video of girl being shoved by fellow pedestrian has reignited debate over butsukari – with experts blaming stress and gender dynamicsIt starts out as a heartwarming clip. A young girl, clearly delighted to be in Tokyo, beams as she makes a peace sign to the camera. Seconds later, she is shoved to the ground from behind by a woman wearing a surgical mask. The assailant doesn’t skip a beat, striding out of shot of the clip filmed by the girl’s mother.This was no accidental clash of shoulders in a crowded place, but one of the most visible examples of a spate of butsukari otoko – “bumping man” – shoving incidents in Japan that experts attribute to a combination of gender dynamics and the stresses of modern life. Continue reading...

From fuel caps to four-day work weeks, the Middle East conflict has left the world’s top crude oil importing region desperate to shore up suppliesDonald Trump has scrambled in recent days to reassure the world that the economic impact of his war on Iran can be contained.Sure, one of the most important waterways in global trade has, in effect, been shut for almost two weeks – but it might reopen before long. In the meantime, US oil-related sanctions on “some countries” will be lifted. And besides, the entire conflict could be over soon. Continue reading...

New legislation will require schools to use Mandarin by default, taking priority over minority ethnic languages such as Tibetan, Uyghur and MongolianChina’s National People’s Congress (NPC), the state legislature, will vote on Thursday on a suite of new laws agreed at this year’s annual two sessions gathering, including a piece of legislation that will diminish the role of minority ethnic languages in the education system.NPC delegates are expected to approve a new ethnic unity law, along with a new environmental code and the 15th five-year plan, the economic planning document for 2026-2030. Delegates have spent the last week debating Beijing’s proposed bills, which they are all but certain to approve. The NPC, which is often described as a rubber-stamp parliament, has never rejected an item on its agenda. Continue reading...