Qatar emphasises peaceful resolution of conflicts after DRC-Rwanda deal

The Rwanda-Republic of the Congo (DRC) peace agreement was reached after several rounds of discussions, some of which were held in Doha, according to Qatari diplomat Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi.

Rwandan soldiers will leave the DRC under the terms of the agreement, which was signed on Friday in Washington, DC, with support from Qatar and the United States. The two nations will establish mechanisms to improve trade and security cooperation.

According to al-Khulaifi, who is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ minister of state, “we hope that the sides will respect the terms of the agreement to de-escalate and strengthen the security and stability of the… region.”

According to Al-Khulaifi, a series of discussions followed the meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, which was held by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha in March.

Qatar has developed excellent working relationships with both nations and has won their respect as a mediator and international partner in the pursuit of these goals, he said.

“We contributed [to the US reaching an agreement] with Doha as a platform for these meetings.”

In Doha, Qatar, on March 18, 2025, the president of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, right, and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame [File: Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Reuters]

After negotiations in Doha, Qatar presented a draft peace proposal to Rwanda and the DRC, according to a report from the Reuters news agency earlier this month.

The US Department of State stated on Friday that Qatar, the African Union, and Togo “will continue to work with both parties to ensure the fulfillment of the obligations stipulated in the agreement.”

The DRC conflict, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has been advanceing in the resource-rich east of the nation, has been a focus of the agreement’s hopes of a resolution.

Concerned that the renewed hostilities might have stoked a full-fledged conflict similar to those that the DRC experienced in the late 1990s, when several African nations were involved, and where millions of people were killed.

Al-Khulaifi said, “Qatar fully believes in dialogue as the pillar for peaceful resolution of conflicts.”

“Meeting constitutes a pillar of Qatar’s foreign policy, in my opinion.” Hopefully, you’ll find Qatar attempting to resolve disputes between nations, even those that are geographically isolated.

Over the past few years, Qatar has been instrumental in negotiating diplomatic agreements with various conflicts around the world. It most recently assisted in the mediation of the ceasefire agreement that put an end to Israel and Iran’s 12-day conflict.

California Governor Newsom sues Fox News over alleged defamation

In response to the arrests and subsequent protests in Los Angeles, California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a $ 787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging the network misreported a phone call between him and US President Donald Trump earlier this month.

The complaint was filed in Delaware Superior Court, the state where Fox Corp. is incorporated, on Friday.

Late on the East Coast, shortly after protests broke out in Los Angeles following federal immigration raids, Newsom spoke with Trump by phone.

Less than 24 hours later, the governor’s office was bypassed by the president who sent 700 Marines and National Guard troops to the state.

Newsom claimed in an interview with NBC News on June 8 that he had a friendly conversation with the president, but that he had never mentioned sending the National Guard.

He wanted to talk about all these other issues, and I tried to talk about LA, Newsom said.

He continued, “He never raised the National Guard.”

After Trump falsely telling reporters on June 10 that he had spoken with the governor “a day ago,” Newsom claimed he had not spoken with Trump again and confirmed this.

The network allegedly smeared Governor Newsom in a dispute over the time when the two last spoke during a time of national strife, in order to shield President Trump from his own false statements.

According to the complaint, Fox did act with actual malice in an effort to demonize Newsom and win over Trump while also producing a misleading video clip and numerous fabricated statements about the call’s timing.

Why would Newsom fabricate a claim that Trump never called him? According to the complaint, Watters claimed on his show Jesse Watters Primetime on June 10.

A chyron, a banner caption along the bottom of a TV screen that read “Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call,” was included in Watters’ report as well.

Fox’s claim that Newsom lied was intended to “provoke outrage and harm Governor Newsom significantly,” the complaint claims, by causing a decline in support for his causes, donations to his campaigns, and electoral votes for him.

“Gov. Free speech critics against him are stifled by Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt. A Fox News spokesman told Al Jazeera in an email that “we will vigorously defend this case and look forward to its dismissal.”

According to Al Jazeera’s follow-up, the network did not provide any clarification when asked if Watters and his production team fact-checked the claims made before making the request. This is industry standard.

The $787.5 million that Fox paid in 2023 to settle Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit over alleged vote-rigging in the 2020 US presidential election is nearly identical to Newsom’s request for punitive damages.

In order for Newsom to win in his lawsuit, Newsom would need to demonstrate that Fox had actual malice in acting, which included knowing its assertions were false or had a blatant disregard for their truth.

If Fox issued a retraction and host Jesse Watters apologized on air for calling the governor a liar about his conversation with Trump, Newsom would drop the lawsuit, according to the New York Times.

Because Newsom is pursuing the lawsuit in his own right and not through the office, the governor’s office informed Al Jazeera.

According to Newsom, “Fox News should face consequences if it lies to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, just like it did in the Dominion case.” I think the information that comes from a major news outlet should be trusted by Americans. I’ll continue to fight Fox’s propaganda machine until they are willing to be truthful.

Out of the Playbook of Donald Trump

Trump has filed a lawsuit in response to his ongoing criticism of news outlets. After the network falsely claimed that a jury had found Trump guilty of rape in the civil case involving E Jean Carroll rather than sexual assault, he settled with ABC News for $15 million.

Former White House correspondent Terry Moran’s call of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller a “world-class hater” was the subject of a recent investigation by The White House. Moran was later terminated from the network and later suspended.

Trump also sued CBS News for $ 20 billion for editing a 60 Minutes interview with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, which was reportedly mediated into a $ 20 million settlement with parent company Paramount Global, raising concerns in the news department. A merger between Paramount and Skydance is pending.

Tax Laws: Gov Abiodun Commends Tinubu, Says Reform Will Benefit Nigerians

Dapo Abiodun, the governor of Ogun State, praised President Bola Tinubu for passing the tax reform legislation, claiming that it would benefit Nigerians and promote economic growth.

Abiodun cited President Tinubu’s tax reform’s anticipated benefits, including tax relief for those who earn less than $50,000, support for small businesses, increased revenue generation, and simplified tax laws.

He praised the President’s willingness to support broad-based consensus, accepting input and criticism from a range of backgrounds, and taking into account people’s concerns.

Read more about Tinubu’s signing of four tax bills into law and the establishment of a new tax regime in 2026.

He added that the bill’s emphasis on a fair and equitable distribution of value-added tax (VAT) revenue, which would allow states to fund more projects independently, was of particular significance.

The signing of four new tax reform bills that the National Assembly passed represents a significant milestone, in all intents and purposes, says President Bola Tinubu. They are essential to Nigeria’s prosperity, according to the President.

The bills have been well thought out, grounded in economic research, and have, among other things, been based on the inputs of various stakeholders, including the business community, regional organizations, and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, he said.

Abiodun continued, “The bills represent a crystallization of advocacy for tax transparency and efficiency, thereby establishing a link between tax transparency and the use of public funds.” Nigerians should be proud of this achievement in all respects.

The bills address a pressing need for economic growth by streamlining taxation and removing the poor from excessive tax burdens. They will facilitate business growth, increase customer satisfaction, and encourage job creation. Really, the message is that all Nigerians will experience positive things in the future.

The four tax reform bills that the National Assembly recently passed had opposition on Thursday, according to President Bola Tinubu.

After extensive discussions with various stakeholders and interested parties, the National Assembly passed the four bills, the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.

The new tax laws, in the opinion of the president, will significantly alter how tax administration operates in the nation, leading to more revenue generation, a better business environment, and a rise in domestic and foreign investments.

‘Explosive’: US Supreme Court deals blow to those challenging Trump’s power

Washington, DC – The United States Supreme Court has dealt a major blow to those challenging Donald Trump’s use of presidential power, in what the president and his allies have hailed as a major victory.

In its decision on Friday, the nine-member panel weighed whether courts could block an executive order on birthright citizenship.

The court did not rule directly on the president’s order, which would limit citizenship for US-born children based on their parents’ immigration status.

But in a six-to-three ruling, the court’s conservative supermajority did severely curtail the ability of judges to issue so-called universal injunctions: blanket bans on presidential actions stemming from legal challenges.

The court’s move, according to Allen Orr, the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), is nothing short of “explosive”.

“For lawyers and people who practice law, this is a drastic change from the way we’ve had courts run in the past,” he told Al Jazeera. “It’s weakening the judiciary yet again, as a balancing act [against the executive branch].”

Friday’s ruling lifts the nationwide block on Trump’s executive order that seeks to redefine birthright citizenship, which generally allows those born on US soil to be recognised as American citizens.

However, Trump’s order, signed just hours after he took office for a second term on January 20, would restrict citizenship for individuals born to undocumented parents in the US.

That “opens the door to partial enforcement” of Trump’s order, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of several groups that have challenged the attempted policy.

That is, at least until the Supreme Court makes a determination on whether birthright citizenship is indeed protected by the US Constitution, as proponents – and the court’s own precedents – have long maintained.

If no further action is taken, in theory, the order could be blocked in the handful of states where judges have already issued injunctions related to at least 10 individual lawsuits. But it could go into effect in dozens of other states where judges have issued no such injunction.

The Supreme Court’s ruling says Trump’s order will not be enforceable for at least 30 days.

But Leon Fresco – a former deputy assistant attorney general who oversaw immigration at the Justice Department under President Barack Obama – warned that, after that 30-day period, there could be grave consequences for the newborn children of immigrants.

“If there isn’t an injunction in your jurisdiction that prevents the executive order from being implemented and you’re born to a parent without a status that confers you citizenship, then the government could deny you either a passport, if you apply for a passport, or a Social Security number,” he told Al Jazeera.

Class action challenge

The decision on Friday does not completely remove the possibility of a judge issuing a nationwide injunction to an executive order. Legal experts say it just severely restricts the avenues.

Prior to the decision, groups and individuals could launch a panoply of legal challenges in federal courts across the country, any of which could result in nationwide injunctions.

Now, a judge can only issue a blanket pause in response to a class action lawsuit, which is a complaint brought on behalf of an entire “class” of people. The process is typically more complex, time-consuming and costly.

The Supreme Court’s majority opinion, Fresco explained, also clarified that only one nationwide class action lawsuit can represent a specific challenge.

“There wouldn’t be this ability, which happens now, where plaintiffs can file cases in five or six different courts, in hopes of getting one judge in any of those courts to issue a nationwide injunction,” he said.

“With the class action, you’ll only have the one time to win,” he added. “If you lost, you’d have to hope that the appellate court changed it, or that the Supreme Court changed it.”

Class action lawsuits also have stringent requirements for who can participate. A judge must agree that all plaintiffs are pursuing the same case and that there are no substantial differences in their claims.

Shortly after Friday’s ruling, the plaintiff, CASA Inc, an immigration advocacy group, swiftly refiled its legal challenge against Trump’s birthright citizenship order. Now, it is pursuing the case as a class action lawsuit.

Critics, meanwhile, took aim at the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority. Even Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal judge on the nine-member panel, criticised her colleagues for ruling on national injunctions but not on Trump’s executive order, which she called blatantly unconstitutional.

“The majority ignores entirely whether the President’s Executive Order is constitutional, instead focusing only on the question whether federal courts have the equitable authority to issue universal injunctions,” Sotomayor wrote.

“Yet the Order’s patent unlawfulness reveals the gravity of the majority’s error.”

Absent a class action lawsuit, individuals and groups will be forced to launch their own lawsuits to get individual reprieves from potentially illegal presidential orders.

That’s because the conservative supermajority ruled that court injunctions in most cases should only apply to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit at hand.

In a post on the social media platform X, Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz wrote that the Supreme Court’s decision allows Trump to “rip away birthright citizenship, forcing individuals to file burdensome lawsuits to get it back”.

Wider implications

But Friday’s decision not only restricts who is protected by a given court injunction, it also has sway over how much the judicial branch of government can continue to serve as a bulwark against the executive branch.

Critics of universal injunctions have long accused federal judges of overstepping their authority by blocking presidential action.

Among those celebrating Friday’s decision was Senator Chuck Grassley, who has spearheaded legislation on the issue.

In a statement, he called such injunctions an “unconstitutional affront to our nation’s system of checks and balances” that “ought to be stopped for good”.

Proponents, however, say the ability for judges to issue swift, wide-reaching pauses on controversial policies is needed to safeguard against presidential overreach.

Many see Trump as taking the expansion of presidential powers to a new level during his second term.

Since returning to office for a second term, Trump has issued 164 executive orders, surpassing the 162 issued by former President Joe Biden during his entire presidency. That number – for a span of about five months – is rapidly approaching the total for Trump’s entire first term: 220.

Meanwhile, federal judges issued at least 25 national injunctions to Trump’s orders during his first 100 days in office, some of which paused cuts to federal funding, attacks on diversity initiatives and overhauls to the US immigration systems.

Some of those court cases will likely be re-challenged in light of the latest ruling, experts said.

In a post on X, Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat, warned the courts ruling “will only embolden Trump and his dismantling of our federal government”.

“It will create an unworkable patchwork of laws that shift depending on who you are or what state you’re in.”

Orr, the former law association president, agreed with that assessment.

Katie Price forced to delete Princess’ birthday post after awkward blunder

As Princess Andre prepares to celebrate her milestone 18th birthday, Katie Price was forced to delete a loving message from her blog.

Princess and Katie(Image: @katieprice/instagram)

Katie Price quickly deleted a gushing post to daughter Princess as she gets ready to celebrate her 18th birthday. The mum-of-five took to social media to share a loving upload – but quickly removed it.

The 47-year-old former glamour model shares the teen with ex-husband Peter Andre. And taking to her Instagram Stories to mark the latest milestone, she said: “Happy 18th birthday to the most amazing daughter and my best friend @princess_andre I love you so much.”

However, Princess’ birthday is not until Sunday, so she was a few days too early to say what she meant. Katie quickly deleted her upload.

Katie Price
Katie Price’s initial post(Image: @katieprice/instagram)

She continued, “2 days until Princess turns 18 can’t believe it xx,” by replacing it with a new post.

Princess Andre showed off the lavish top-of-the-range Audi she bought for herself a few days before turning 18 with some help from her father. She also stated that she has a number of celebrations planned.

Continue reading the article.

But she admitted she won’t be going crazy to mark the milestone. “To be honest, I’m not fussed on doing a big thing,” she told us in her exclusive photo shoot for the occasion.

As long as it’s memorable and the people I love, my family and friends, are with me, I’ll be very happy with a quiet dinner and possibly a trip there afterwards. My dad and Emily’s hands are in charge of it. It will surprise you, I suppose.

She continued, “Maybe we’ll have a nice dinner together,” while describing how she will celebrate with her mother. I’m certain that my mother will make plans for me.

Katie Price Insta
Katie switched up the post(Image: @katieprice/instagram)

However, it seems as though going to the club is not on the cards. Although I don’t usually enjoy drinking or going out with my friends, it’ll be nice to be able to go to bars and other places. “But at the same time, I’m not the type of person who would make fun of myself.” I’ll never place myself in a bad light.

Earlier this month Princess modelled beachwear at Ibiza Fashion Festival 2025, which was hosted by TV presenter Jenny Powell. She was among those who helped open the festival at Bibo Park in Ibiza on June 12. The event is described as an independent sustainable fashion show on the island off the coast of Spain.

Continue reading the article.

Princess represented the beachwear brand Greta, which has a flagship store in the Dominican Republic, at the event. It comes after she made her modelling debut for PrettyLittleThing last year. She had also collaborated with the fashion retailer previously.

Rumours had suggested Princess could have sorted a deal with the brand, with speculation saying it could be worth a four-figure fee.

Hull KR beat Wakefield to extend Super League lead

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Betfred Super League

Hull KR (12) 34

Davies 3, Burgess, Lewis, Hiku, Mourgue 5, and Hiku.

Wakefield (10) 10

With a stylish 34-10 victory over Wakefield Trinity at Craven Park, Hull KR extended their Super League lead to six points.

Rovers won 15 league games to extend their astonishing run, thanks to Tom Davies’ hat-trick and Joe Burgess, Mikey Lewis, and Peta Hiku’s one each.

The Robins, who had five goals in the second half, stopped their foes in scoring with French full-back Arthur Mourgue.

In the 20th minute, Wakefield’s Rhyse Martin was offloaded to Davies, who had the ball well on the bounce and pirouetted away from Wakefield’s centre Johnstone to dive over.

After three minutes, Wakefield was level thanks to a wonderful flowing move that saw Jake Trueman find Johnstone and score his seventh try of the Super League season.

After the final tackle, Wakefield waited patiently for an overload on the right and scored a try for a side that, at the time, was dripping with confidence following their victory against Wigan last time out.

At the end of the first half, Hull KR put their foot in the door when Burgess launched himself into the line for a trademark try before Mourgue added the extras to give the visitors a 12-10 half-time lead.

Wakefield was caught out by Lewis’ opportunistic linebreak five minutes after the break, and he was able to extend his arm to the line and surpass his 500 career points.

After Davies’ superb dummy tricked three Wakefield players, he dipped his second goal of the match over the top to give the Robins a 2-0 lead.

The all-action Lewis was then sent to the sin-bin in the 54th minute after blocking Cameron Scott’s attempt to score a try by kicking the ball past him.

Davies’ third career hat-trick against Wakefield came when he collected Hiku’s straightforward pass to dot down despite having just 12 men.

After returning to the field, Lewis darted through and outrageously offloaded Hiku to score a try, underlining his true star status.

Morgue, Davies, Hiku, Broadbent, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Litten, Hadley, Whitbread, Martin, Minchella, KR:

Interchanges: Leyland, Brown, Tanginoa, Luckley

Sin-bin: Lewis (54 mins)

Wakefield includes Walmsley, Hall, Pratt, Johnstone, Trueman, Lino, Pitts, Smith, Faatili, Nikotemo, Scott, and Griffin.

Hood, Vagana, Rourke, and Croft are the exchanges.

related subjects

  • Wakefield Trinity
  • Rovers from Hull and Kingston
  • Rugby League