Two Women From Memphis

Born during the Civil War, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) and Mary Eliza ChurchTerrell (1863-1954) helped lay the groundwork for a century of struggles against racist violence, legalized segregation and for women’s emancipation through self-organization

By Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Sunday February 22, 2026

African American History Month Series No. 6

African women during the antebellum period in the United States were subjected to gross mistreatment and exploitation.

Enslaved women endured oppression on three different levels: race-national origin, labor exploitation and gendered domination. 

Yet, during this period from the 17th to the mid-19th centuries was also characterized by resistance to enslavement where women played a pivotal role. Women fought back against the slave traffickers, landowners and their surrogates from the time of capture on the African continent to their placement on plantations and other work locations in North America and throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Various forms of resistance became widespread during the colonial and later antebellum periods in U.S. history. Flight from bondage was an important method of liberation from enslavement. 

Violence and economic sabotage were also an important aspect of resistance to chattel slavery. African women utilized property destruction, work slowdowns, arson, poison and personal weapons to both defend themselves against beatings and sexual assaults which were routine under enslavement as well as mechanisms to free themselves from bondage in their flights towards liberation. (https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/hidden-voices/resisting-enslavement/day-to-day-resistance)

Harriet Tubman of Maryland was perhaps the best-known woman in liberating people from the plantations in the slave-owning states. Nonetheless, there were many others who participated in what became known as the Underground Railroad.

As the Civil War approached, anticipation of ending enslavement created even greater desires for freedom. Thousands of African men and women left the U.S. for Canada and Mexico where slavery had been outlawed since the late 1820s and 1830s. By the 1850s, more people had left North America for the Republic of Liberia which had been created by the U.S. for the expatriation of enslaved Africans in the U.S.

When the Civil War erupted in April 1861, African women became fully committed to transforming the conflagration from President Abraham Lincoln’s initial aim of preserving the Union to ending enslavement. Historian Hannah Katherine Hicks noted of the role of women:

“Several hundred thousand enslaved women took flight during the Civil War, and women and children became the majority in Union-controlled refugee camps, which contemporaries called ‘contraband camps.’ Fourteen-year-old Susie King Taylor, then Susie Baker, escaped from slavery along with her family in 1862. After Union navy forces captured Fort Pulaski off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, the family reached a gunboat which escorted them to St. Simons Island, where they claimed their freedom. Taylor, who had been secretly educated for years by older Black women in Savannah, began teaching freed children in St. Simons’ refugee settlement.” (https://www.oah.org/tah/the-union-remade/freedom-in-the-full-sense-of-the-word-southern-black-women-during-the-civil-war-and-reconstruction/)

In the state of Tennessee, secessionists were initially defeated in an election to join the Confederate States of America (CSA). In a subsequent vote, the planters and their agents used illegal methods such as violent suppression of anti-secessionist forces and ballot stuffings to guarantee the state’s withdrawal from the Union.

Nonetheless, even though the state of Tennessee was the last to join the Confederacy, due to their poor performance on the battlefield, they were the first to reenter the Union. A military governor, formerly Senator Andrew Johnson, was appointed by Lincoln in March 1862 to manage the state until the end of the war. 

Johnson was nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate on the National Union Party ticket in 1864. This was a coalition of Republicans and anti-secessionist Democrats committed to the victory of the Union which happened during early April 1865. Just days after the surrender of the Confederacy, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Washington, D.C.

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett and the Struggle Against Racial Terror and Jim Crow

After the collapse of the Confederacy in Tennessee, Union forces were also able to take control of northern Mississippi which is in close proximity to Memphis. Ida Bell Wells was born in Holly Springs in July 1862.

She attended Rust College until 1878 when the Yellow Fever epidemic which swept the region killed her parents and other relatives. After finishing her education, she began to teach at schools in the area. After the deaths of her relatives, she moved to nearby Memphis with several surviving family members where she obtained a teaching position in Woodstock. 

After the failure of Federal Reconstruction due to the outcomes of the 1876 national elections, the institutionalization of legalized segregation (known as Jim Crow) led to the passage of laws which were designed to permanently disenfranchise African Americans. In 1883, Wells was physically removed from a “ladies’ coach” on the Chesapeake, Ohio, Southwestern Railroad while traveling from Memphis to Woodstock, Tennessee. 

She sued the company and won a favorable ruling plus damages in 1884. However, on appeal in 1887, her victory was overturned. She was eventually terminated from teaching in the public school system as a result of her outspoken criticism of the segregated education system.

By this time, Wells had become a columnist for an African American publication and a regular participant in a lyceum in Memphis. She would later partner with fellow journalists in the ownership of the Free Speech and Headlight newspaper. 

This paper gained tremendous readership throughout Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. The militant character of the editorial policy of the newspaper advanced by Wells brought her to the attention of the racist power structure. 

In March 1892, three of her friends, Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell and Will Stewart, were lynched in Memphis after a shootout with racists attempting to shut down their Black-owned People’s Grocery Store. In response Wells wrote editorials condemning racist violence and debunking the rationale for the lynching of African Americans. (https://lynchingsitesmem.org/lynching/peoples-grocery-lynchings-thomas-moss-will-stewart-calvin-mcdowell)

Soon enough Wells’ newspaper offices were firebombed at the order of local judges and law enforcement agents in Memphis. Wells, who was away on a speaking tour, had to abandon Memphis and become a resident of Chicago. She would marry Atty. Ferdinand Barnett and begin a family in Chicago. Wells-Barnett would continue her journalism and public speaking across the country and in the United Kingdom. (https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2020/09/21/southern-horrors-lynch-law-in-all-its-phases-oct-5-1892/)

Her writings were widely printed in numerous African American and progressive white newspapers. She published numerous pamphlets and books, many of which took on the character of social scientific research related to inequality, racial violence and class stratification. 

Wells-Barnett was a co-founder of the African American Women’s movement which consolidated into the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (NACW) during late 1890s. Wells-Barnett wrote and spoke about many incidents of racial terror across the South including New Orleans and Philipps County, Arkansas. In 1908, she was also a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

In Chicago she worked to assist newly arrived migrants through a social services organization started by her and other colleagues. Wells-Barnett passed away in 1931, leaving a legacy of independent journalism, self-organization and feminism.

Mary Eliza Church Terrell: Women’s Organization and Transformative Politics

Another important African American woman to emerge from the cultural and political milieu in the post-Civil War period was Mary Eliza Church. She was the daughter of one of the leading African American figures in the early history of Memphis, Robert Reed Church, Sr. 

Church and other African Americans were faced with a social and economic vacuum after the occupation of Memphis by the Union army. He would open a series of small businesses which served as gathering locations for the Freedmen (former enslaved Africans). 

During the racial terror of May 1866, Church was nearly killed by white racists when he was attacked on the streets in Memphis. After the violence initiated by racist law-enforcement agents attempting to disarmed African Americans who remained mobilized after the conclusion of the Civil War, Church and his wife, Louisa Ayres, became successful businesspeople in Memphis. 

Mary was sent to Oberlin College in Ohio and later to France and Germany to complete her undergraduate and graduate education. She was fluent in French, Latin, Italian and German which she utilized in her speeches and the courses she taught after returning to the U.S. 

A report on her contributions in the Tennessee Encyclopedia notes that:

“Terrell’s advocacy for African American women led to opportunities to comment on broader issues facing her race. She made many speeches on the living conditions of African Americans and highlighted their progress in spite of discrimination. In a stirring address delivered in 1904 at the International Congress of Women in Berlin, she vividly described the numerous contributions of African Americans. She delivered the speech in German (she spoke three languages fluently), receiving accolades for her depictions of African American life and her intellectual abilities. Her speeches acted as morale boosters for African Americans, even as she exhorted them toward self-improvement. Terrell also wrote articles and short stories on lynching, chain gangs, the peonage system, defection of mulattoes, and the disfranchisement of African Americans. In her writings, she sought to further interracial understanding by educating whites about the realities of African American lives.” (https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/mary-eliza-church-terrell/)

Church-Terrell along with Wells-Barnett were heavily involved in the women’s suffrage movement aimed at winning the passage and ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. In 1913, they participated in the National Women’s Suffrage March in Washington, D.C. refusing to go to the back of the march as suggested by some white leaders of the campaign. 

After her marriage to Robert Herberton Terrell, an educator and later attorney and judge, she would continue her career as a teacher and school administrator in Washington, D.C. She was known as a lifelong advocate for African American civil rights in the U.S. Church-Terrell was the founding President of the National Association of Colored Women Clubs (NACW) in 1896 where she campaigned against lynching, racial discrimination and for gender equality.

In the same above-mentioned report from the Tennessee Encyclopedia, it says of the latter years of her life:

“Terrell led a three-year struggle to reinstate Reconstruction-era laws that prohibited racial segregation in public eating facilities in Washington, D.C. These anti-segregation laws had disappeared in the 1890s when the district code was written. On February 28, 1950, Terrell, accompanied by one white and two black collaborators, entered Thompson Restaurant; they were refused service. Terrell and her cohorts filed affidavits, and District of Columbia v. John Thompson became a national symbol against segregation in the United States. Her direct-action tactics of picketing, boycotting, and sit-ins proved successful, and on June 8, 1953, the court ruled that segregated eating establishments in Washington, D.C., were unconstitutional. This ardent fighter for civil rights lived to see the U.S. Supreme Court mandate the desegregation of public schools in Brown v. Board of Education. Two months later, on July 24, 1954, she died.” 

Both Wells-Barnett and Church-Terrell have gained enhanced recognition by scholars in recent years. Their lives represent in part the role of African American women in the struggles against racial segregation, for gender equality and social emancipation. 

Black, Bilingual and Daily: The Political Role of the New Orleans Tribune (1862-1868)

The African American press served as a mobilizing force during and after the Civil War

By Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Thursday February 19, 2026

African American History Month, Series No. 5

In late April of 1862, the capture of New Orleans by the Union army proved to be a turning point in the Civil War.

With the Union taking control of the ports of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River would severely damage the capacity of the Confederate States of America (CSA) to carry out the consolidation of their secessionist project. 

The city of New Orleans had a different origin and character than most other southern municipalities. France had taken control of the area as early as the 1680s while maintaining control until the 1700s when it largely ceded control of the territory to the Spanish Crown. 

After arriving in Louisiana, which under France extended from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, they enslaved the Indigenous people. Later in the early decades of the 18th century, thousands of West Africans were kidnapped and imported into the territory of New France. 

Prior to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 precipitated by the Haitian Revolution, France had regained full control of the area. The then United States President Thomas Jefferson acquired Louisiana enhancing the geographic area of the country substantially. 

By 1861, when the Civil War erupted, the pro-slavery economic elites engineered the secession of Louisiana which joined the CSA. Nonetheless, New Orleans and other areas of the state were difficult to defend due to its topography and climate which left it prone to flooding along with infectious disease outbreaks. 

After the recapture of New Orleans in May 1862, the state would have a military governor who set out to crush any sympathies among the population with the Confederate cause. New Orleans was the most populous southern city at the time. Its demographic makeup was much more diverse. 

There were free and enslaved Africans along with mixed race groupings and poor whites. The enthusiasm for secession obviously did not penetrate deep into the white population.

Union Military General and Governor of Louisiana, Benjamin Butler, has been credited with imposing the concept of enslaved Africans as “contraband” during the Civil War. Those runaway Africans on Union-captured plantations were utilized as workers as well as militia to sustain the gains of the U.S. forces. 

In 1861 and 1862, the U.S. Congress passed Confiscation Acts which deemed that property taken by the Union forces from the Confederacy was not subject to return, including their enslaved African population. This law was designed to nullify the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 which mandated the return of runaway Africans from bondage. 

Eventually, regulations were enacted which authorized pay for Africans working within the Union military structures. These events provided even more incentives for people to flee the plantations and join the Union forces. The Confiscation Acts would lead to the conscription of Africans into the Union military beginning in 1863.

Confederate generals and officials felt the impact of Union victories on the plantation agricultural system. Many Africans ran away to the Union military camps in 1861-62 therefore depriving the plantations of workers while its former slaves could serve as sources of intelligence related to the Southern planters and their politicians in the Confederate government.  

The New Orleans Union and Tribune (1862-1868)

After the capture of New Orleans by the Union forces, African Americans made their voices heard through the founding of two newspapers. The motivating personality for the founding of these publications, The Union and later The Tribune, was Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez. Dr. Roudanez was joined by Paul Trevigne and Jean Baptiste Roudanez. 

Dr. Roudanez’s parents came to Louisiana after the beginning of the Haitian Revolution in August 1791. He was able to attend medical school in France and later returned for further studies in the U.S. 

These newspapers published in both English and French. Many African Americans had been in Louisiana for decades and centuries. 

Reports on his life indicate that he was heavily influenced by the Haitian Revolution and the French Uprising of 1848. After the establishment of a military government in Louisiana in 1862, Roudanez and his comrades would become an organized grouping which demanded full emancipation for African Americans. (https://roudanez.com/)

The Union newspaper lasted for two years and would be transformed into the Tribune. In a report on the role of the Tribune, it notes that:

“The New Orleans Tribune debuted on July 21, 1864. Publishing over 1,000 issues in the six years of its existence, the newspaper concentrated on matters of central importance to all Blacks: suffrage; an equitable labor and land system to replace slavery; the situation of the freedmen; the creation of integrated public transportation and school systems; the Black military; Union policies of accommodation with planters; Louisiana’s constitutional conventions; local and national elections; Reconstruction politics and legislation; and much more. The Tribune was instrumental in the creation of the Freedmen’s Aid Association, the local branch of the National Equal Rights League, the Friends of Universal Suffrage, and ultimately, the Louisiana Republican Party.” (https://roudanez.com/the-new-orleans-tribune/)

This paper is recognized as the first Black-owned newspaper in the South. When the publication began it was a triweekly. After acquiring printing presses from New York City, The Tribune would become a daily, the first Black daily in the U.S.

This same source went on to explain how The Tribune served as a forum for political education and electoral campaigns. It engaged in efforts to refute the notions of Black inferiority and the promotion of self-organization and emancipation.

According to the same above-quoted website:

“The newspaper actively participated in all the major political debates and played a key role in the creation of the 1868 Louisiana state constitution, the most radical in Reconstruction history. Always an advocate of racially proportional representation, the journal helped many Blacks win seats in the 1868 legislature, and campaigning arduously, almost succeeded in electing Francis Dumas as the state’s first Afro-Creole governor. Ultimately overpowered by conservative Republicans, the Tribune by and large suspended operation in the spring of 1868.” 

Just two years earlier, there was a massacre of African Americans and progressive forces in 1866 in New Orleans. After the conclusion of the Civil War, a pro-confederate mayor was put in office leading to protracted and violent conflicts over the future of the city and state.

The New Orleans massacre took place just months after a similar situation in Memphis which began on May 1, 1866. In response to armed African American militia units formed during the Civil War, white police, many of whom were in agreement with the defeated Confederacy, engaged in mass assaults, rapes and killings of African Americans in Memphis. 

Later in 1874, pro-Confederate militia known as the White League would invade the Capitol in New Orleans in an attempted coup against a multiracial state government. After three days, then President Ulysses S. Grant would deploy federal troops to reverse the putsch. 

These incidents in 1866 and 1874 were indicative of the racist resistance to Federal Reconstruction. By 1877, Federal support for Reconstruction would be withdrawn after the contentious 1876 elections. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White League would terrorize African Americans and their allies in order to reassert racial supremacy over the formerly enslaved relegating them to exploitative socioeconomic relations such as sharecropping, tenant farming, peonage and forced prison labor. 

The Role of African American Journalists and News Publications During Reconstruction and Jim Crow

Although the dawn of African writing, publishing and journalism began during the colonial and antebellum periods, later during Reconstruction and the imposition of Jim Crow, there was a flowering of literary and news platforms which paralleled the work of the New Orleans Union and Tribune. These newspapers, journals and pamphlets served as mechanisms to disprove the false propaganda, omissions and erasure of African American life, culture and political aspirations.

Therefore, many of these newspapers faced violent opposition. During the 1890s, Ms. Ida B. Wells was exiled from Memphis because her newspaper, the Free Speech and Headlight, waged a protracted national and international campaign against lynching and legalized discrimination. 

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries there were hundreds of African American newspapers and magazines created. Many were unable to sustain themselves over long periods of time. However, others such as the Atlanta Daily World, Nashville Globe, Chicago Daily Defender, Memphis World, Baltimore Afro-American, Pittsburgh Courier, New York Age, Amsterdam News, etc., would continue for decades. (https://niemanreports.org/timeline-of-the-black-press/)

The African American press covered lynching, the imposition of Jim Crow laws and the campaigns to resist these reactionary policies. During the Great Migration of the early to mid-20th century, newspapers such as the Chicago Daily Defender spread news throughout the South of economic and housing opportunities available in Northern and Western cities. 

These journalistic, literary and political contributions of earlier times must be studied by people in the 21st century. Today African Americans are compelled to engage in similar efforts to overthrow the attempts to reimpose legalized segregation and modern-day Jim Crow legislation and presidential executive orders.

Ethiopia’s Tigray Region is Caught Between Past Conflict and Fears of Another

By JODY RAY

10:34 PM EST, February 22, 2026

MEKELE, Ethiopia (AP) — Gebreegziabher Berehe has stopped waiting for tourists to arrive as many worry about a return to war.

The tour guide in Ethiopia ’s northern region of Tigray says his bookings have dried up, ATMs in the city of Mekele are empty and he is considering leaving a country where he can no longer afford to live.

“If war arises again, I think the situation will be even more severe than before,” the 37-year-old Berehe said. “My colleagues and I are now facing serious economic and moral crises, even before hearing the sound of any gun.”

There is a tense calm in Mekele, the regional capital, but tensions have been rising again between local authorities and Ethiopia’s government in Addis Ababa, the federal capital.

The recent conflict

Tigray has been bracing for the possibility of renewed conflict after the parties signed a peace deal in November 2022, ending fighting that killed thousands of people as Ethiopian government troops, backed by allied forces from neighboring Eritrea, fought Tigrayan forces.

Now, Tigray’s rulers accuse Ethiopian federal authorities of breaching that agreement with drone strikes. At the same time, Ethiopia’s government accuses Eritrea of pivoting to mobilize and fund armed groups in Tigray, with which it shares a border.

In the feared scenario, Eritrea would team up with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the group that governs Tigray, in armed hostilities against Ethiopian forces.

The conflict that ended in 2022 was brutal, with widespread allegations of sexual violence and the withholding of food as a weapon of war.

Many residents of Mekele are looking for opportunities to escape any new fighting while they can, recalling the communications blackout and travel restrictions that Ethiopia’s government imposed on the region during the conflict.

Shifting alliances

Some observers see a possible war trigger in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s forceful stance on efforts to regain Red Sea access for landlocked Ethiopia through Eritrea, which was lost when Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after decades of guerrilla warfare.

Abiy told lawmakers earlier this month that the Red Sea and Ethiopia “cannot remain separated forever.” Yemane Gebremeskel, the Eritrean government spokesperson, dismissed Abiy’s ambition as “delusional malaise” in comments to The Associated Press.

Eritrea, fearing a military strike on its port of Assab, has responded by warming up to its former rivals, Tigray’s leaders, even as it denies any alliance. That has caused concern in Addis Ababa, where the Ethiopian government is calling up its reserve forces.

Abiy has tried to build a global image of Ethiopia as a rising power since he took office in 2018. But he has been set back by several conflicts over the years.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all parties to exercise restraint, echoed by the European Union and the United Kingdom, which has warned its citizens against traveling to the region.

Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier, on Jan. 29 canceled flights to Tigray after clashes broke out between federal troops and Tigrayan forces in Tselemti district, which is part of an area disputed by Tigray and the neighboring Amhara region. The airline resumed flights on Feb. 3.

The violence was followed by drone strikes that killed one person and injured another. Tigrayan authorities accused Ethiopian forces of carrying out the attack. Ethiopia’s military didn’t publicly respond to the allegation.

‘All we can do is pray’

The events have affected travel to Tigray, whose ancient rock-hewn churches and dramatic highland landscapes make tourism a rare but vital source of hard currency and employment.

While Mekele business owners like Berehe worry about lost income, Tigray farmers like Johannes Tesfay worry.

Tesfay lives north of Mekele in Debretsion, where his family grows chili, potatoes and onions at the base of a mountain range that Eritrean troops used to cross into Ethiopia during the last conflict, trampling over farmland and destroying equipment.

Supply chain disruptions tied to the renewed tensions have left him gravely concerned.

“There’s no fuel for my irrigation pumps, there’s no fertilizer and there’s barely any transportation for buyers to bring the produce to market,” he said.

Asked what he would do if fighting returned to the region, Tesfay looked to the mountains and said, “What can we do? All we can do is pray. We need help from the global community to make some kind of reconciliation between all the forces.”

Musa Hilal Survives Drone Assassination Attempt in North Darfur Stronghold

22 February 2026

Tribal leader Musa Hilal accuses RSF deputy commander of seeking to divide his tribal clan, on Feb 14, 2026

February 22, 2026 (MISTERIYA, North Darfur) – Mahameed tribal leader Musa Hilal survived an assassination attempt by a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drone targeting his guest house in North Darfur on Sunday, according to the Revolutionary Awakening Council (RAC).

The RSF has recently mobilized forces near Misteriya, a key stronghold for Hilal, amid expectations of an offensive in the area this week.

The RAC said in a statement that the Misteriya region was subjected to intensive shelling by RSF militia drones on Sunday evening. It confirmed that Hilal was unharmed and dismissed reports of his death as groundless.

The council said the shelling hit three locations, including a local hospital that was struck by three missiles. The strikes also hit Hilal’s guest house and private residences.

One strike reportedly hit a funeral gathering while mourners were paying their respects. A spokesperson for the group condemned the attack as barbaric and cowardly.

Sources told Sudan Tribune that the shelling killed several RAC leaders. Hilal’s son was among those injured when a strike targeted them during a Ramadan iftar meal.

Relations have been strained between the RSF and Hilal, who has backed the Sudanese army for several months.

Tensions escalated after Hilal was accused of involvement in the death of RSF advisor Hamid Ali Abu Bakr earlier this year. After denying the allegations before a tribal committee, Hilal accused RSF commander Abdelrahim Dagalo of attempting to dismantle the Mahameed tribe.

The RSF recently sponsored a tribal gathering to appoint new leadership for the Mahameed. The move triggered a rift among RSF fighters, many of whom have since travelled to Misteriya to support their traditional leader.

The current hostilities mark a final breakdown in a relationship that has fluctuated between alliance and open warfare for over two decades. Hilal, a prominent figure in the Darfur conflict that began in 2003, was once the primary leader of the Janjaweed militias used by the former government to suppress rebels.

However, a power struggle emerged as Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemetti, rose to prominence with the formalization of the RSF.

In 2017, the rivalry turned violent when Hemedti’s forces captured Hilal in Misteriya following his refusal to participate in a government-mandated weapons collection program. Hilal remained in detention for several years until his release in early 2021.

Since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese army and the RSF in April 2023, Hilal has maintained a complex position, eventually declaring his support for the military and denouncing the RSF as a “foreign-backed militia.”

The rift has profound implications for the RSF’s internal stability. Many of the RSF’s elite fighters are drawn from the Mahameed branch of the Rizeigat tribe, and Hilal’s influence as their traditional leader remains significant.

Observers suggest that the RSF’s attempts to replace Hilal with a more compliant tribal leadership are intended to curb mass defections from its ranks as the war enters its third year.

Sudan Condemns Uganda for Hosting RSF Leader Hemetti

22 February 2026

Ambassador Joseph Ocwet, the Director General of Uganda's External Security Organisation receives RSF leader Hemetti at his arrival in Entebbe airport on Feb 20, 2026

February 22, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government on Sunday condemned Uganda for hosting Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemetti, and his meeting with President Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni received the RSF leader at the State House in Entebbe on February 20. During the meeting, Museveni emphasized that dialogue and a peaceful political solution are the only ways to achieve sustainable stability for Sudan and the region.

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the government condemns in the strongest terms the Ugandan government’s reception of Hemetti, whom it described as the leader of a “terrorist militia.”

The ministry stated that the reception represents an unprecedented step that “insults humanity as a whole before it insults the Sudanese people.” It added that the move shows contempt for the lives of innocent civilians killed since the start of the war due to the actions of Hemetti and his forces.

“The celebratory manner in which he was received mocks the feelings of those whose sanctities were violated and whose property was stolen by the Daglo gang,” the statement said.

The foreign ministry noted that atrocities committed by the RSF have been documented by the international community and condemned by regional organizations to which Uganda belongs, such as the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

It argued that Kampala’s actions contradict these condemnations and ignore the psychological suffering of Sudanese citizens.

Sudan considered the move a violation of the principles of regional and international organizations, which prohibit supporting rebel forces against a recognized sovereign government.

While the ministry acknowledged Uganda’s sovereign right to receive visitors and manage its bilateral relations, it expressed “grave concern” over whether this signaled a new policy by Kampala to sponsor a figure accused of “genocide and ethnic killing.”

The statement called on the Ugandan government to distance itself from the RSF leader and to ensure that its territory and airspace are not used to facilitate his activities, citing the need to maintain bilateral relations and the principle of non-interference.

Sudan’s Democratic Bloc Split Over Unauthorized Talks in Ethiopia

16 February 2026

AU High-Level Panel on Sudan meets Democratic Bloc in Cairo on March 6, 2024

February 15, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Public divisions emerged within Sudan’s Freedom and Change – Democratic Bloc on Sunday after member organizations held unauthorized meetings with international mediators in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The “Quintuple Mechanism”—comprising the African Union, IGAD, the United Nations, the Arab League, and the European Union—is seeking to bridge the gap between Sudanese political forces to launch a process on the country’s future governance.

Democratic Bloc spokesperson Juma al-Wakil disavowed the delegation in Addis Ababa, stating the coalition “did not participate in the meeting and did not send a representative delegation.” He added that no authorization had been issued for any entity to represent the bloc in the consultations.

Al-Wakil, who is affiliated with Minni Minawi’s Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), said that if members participated, they did so in a “personal or organizational capacity” that does not reflect the official stance of the coalition.

However, the split was underscored shortly after when a second spokesperson for the bloc, Mohammed Zakaria, challenged al-Wakil’s statement. Zakaria said the remarks “do not reflect the bloc’s consensus” and were issued without following institutional procedures. He added that an official position would be released after a collective leadership meeting.

The Democratic Bloc includes several armed movements, such as the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the SLM, as well as political parties like the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The meeting in Addis Ababa included representatives from the “National Forces” group, including figures from JEM and other factions associated with the bloc, to discuss stability and a Sudanese-led dialogue.

Chad Closes Sudan Border as Darfur Fighting Spills Over

22 February 2026

Crossing point at the border between Sudan and Chad at the border post in Adré on April 11, 2024. APF photo

February 22, 2026 (EL GENEINA) – Chad closed several border crossings with Sudan on Sunday, including the key Adre point with West Darfur, to prevent Sudanese armed groups from crossing into its territory, local officials and traders said.

The move comes as fighting intensified between the Sudanese army and its allies in the Joint Force against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Tine area of North Darfur and locations north of the West Darfur state capital, El Geneina.

Chadian media reported on Saturday that RSF fighters attacked a Chadian army camp in the town of Tine, causing several casualties and destroying military vehicles. Chadian authorities have not officially commented on the reported clash.

Traders in El Geneina told Sudan Tribune that the closure of the Adré crossing had halted the transport of goods. Dozens of merchants use the route to move food and fuel from Chad into Sudan.

The RSF has faced repeated accusations of using the corridor to transport weapons and military equipment delivered via Amdjarass in Chad, a charge the group and its alleged backers have denied.

The Chadian military has deployed heavily along the border with West Darfur and stationed additional units at the Tine crossing in North Darfur.

The conflict in the border regions has increasingly taken on a tribal dimension, driven by close social and demographic ties between communities on both sides of the frontier.

Tine has emerged as a primary flashpoint because of its strategic importance as a commercial and humanitarian artery between Darfur and eastern Chad.

Field reports indicated that Chadian soldiers and civilians fought alongside the Sudanese Joint Force in operations to push the RSF out of the town. The development highlights growing concerns that the Sudanese civil war is destabilizing its neighbour.

On January 15, an RSF unit attacked a Chadian army outpost near the border, resulting in casualties and the loss of equipment. The RSF later apologized, stating the incident was a mistake that occurred while its fighters were pursuing pro-army forces.

Chad Closes Its Border With Sudan After Fighters Spilled Into Its Territory

By SAM MAGDY and OPE ADETAYO

10:03 AM EST, February 23, 2026

CAIRO (AP) — Chad said Monday it has closed its border with Sudan “until further notice,” calling it an attempt to limit the spread of conflict into its territory after multiple crossings by fighters with the warring Sudanese factions.

“It aims to prevent any risk of the conflict spreading to our soil, to protect our citizens and refugee populations, and to guarantee the stability and territorial integrity of our country,” government spokesperson Gassim Cherif Mahamat said in a statement.

Chad’s decision came after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the border town of Tine, or Tina, over the weekend. The Sudanese Armed Forces and allied groups said they repelled the attack and forced RSF fighters to flee into Chad.

The town is one of the last areas still held by the Sudanese military in the sprawling Darfur region, which has been under RSF control since October 2025.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees have poured across the border into Chad since the conflict began. Chad’s statement noted that “exceptional exceptions, strictly justified by humanitarian reasons, may be granted” to the border closure.

Chad closed its border for a period shortly after Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023, when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to United Nations figures, but aid groups say the true number could be many times higher.

The conflict has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. It also has fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of Sudan into famine.

___

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

More Ghanaians Are Wearing a Cultural Outfit After Their President Was Mocked

By EDWARD ACQUAH

1:11 AM EST, February 23, 2026

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — On a busy street in central Accra, Clement Azaabire hangs neatly sewn fugu smocks on lines, the striped, multicolored fabrics swaying in the breeze. For 15 years, Azaabire has proudly sold the garment that is associated with his community in northern Ghana. Now, it’s the talk of the town.

More Ghanaians are wearing the colorful traditional outfit with pride in a trend triggered by online mockery.

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama in early February visited Zambia wearing a fugu garment, prompting ridicule from some social media users. Ghanaians responded by defending what they felt was a rich cultural heritage, and Tourism Minister Abla Dzifa Gomashie took it a step further by declaring Wednesdays as “Fugu Day.”

Since the “Fugu Day” declaration on Feb. 10, more people are wearing the smock to work on Wednesdays, but also on other days. And traders like Azaabire are selling out their stock.

“It makes me feel connected to where I come from,” said Wango Abdul Karim, a businessman who wears fugu to work every Wednesday.

Ghana is known for its rich textiles and weaving tradition

In Ghana, which is widely known for its rich fashion style and an agelong weaving heritage, traditional production of smock weaves has been the preserve of the north and an art skill handed down through generations.

The fugu smock, however, gained more prominence in March 1957 when Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah wore it during the country’s inaugural independence ceremony. Today, it’s worn at festivals, state functions and increasingly in contemporary fashion.

Also known locally as batakari, the loose-fitting fugu smock is made from handwoven strips of cotton fabric stitched together to form a flowing robe, often worn over trousers and paired with a matching cap. The fabric is traditionally woven on narrow looms in Ghana’s northern savannah and sewn into distinctive styles, with the regional identifiers visible in its stripe patterns and in the number of stitch lines.

Scholars link its development to trade and migration across West Africa, including influences from Mossi and Hausa communities. Batakari, derived from the Hausa language, means “outer gown,” while fugu in the Mossi language means cloth. The smock has long represented prestige and is worn by chiefs, warriors and community leaders with certain designs reserved for special ceremonies.

At the Accra Arts and Crafts Centre, Moses Adibasa guides strips of woven fabric through a sewing machine, pausing to align the narrow bands by hand before stitching them together.

He has earned a living from making traditional smocks for nearly two decades and is optimistic about the ripple effects of “Fugu Day.”

“It will benefit those selling thread, those weaving and those of us sewing,” Adibasa said.

Turning fugu into modern designs

In a studio in Accra, Perfectual Linnan, a fashion designer and founder of Roots by Linnan, recreates the fugu fabric into jackets, trousers and tops designed for everyday wear. She is part of a growing movement of young designers incorporating the fabric into modern designs.

“We want to show that you can wear the northern fabric in different ways,” she said. “If you’re not into the traditional smock, you can still carry a piece of culture with you.”

Although traditional looms are still used for the clothing, many weavers now rely on imported yarn due to the lack of locally grown cotton.

The “Fugu Day” celebration has meant higher demand and more pressure on the smock weavers, many of whom are struggling to increase production, according to Abigail Naki Gabor, secretary of Ghana’s smock weavers and sellers association.

One way to help is through increased government investments, said Gabor. “Using our hands slows the process and limits our ability to be productive. We need industrial machines,” she said.

Beyond the “Fugu Day,” Ghana is engineering a broader “Wear Ghana” campaign to promote local fashion and heritage with upcoming trade exhibitions planned, according to Kofi Atta Kakra Kusi with the Ghana Tourism Authority.

Back in her studio in Accra, Linnan is sounding an alarm about handling the smock with care despite the labor intensive process of weaving it.

“It is a careful, intentional process,” she says. “If we treat it only as a commodity and not as heritage, we lose something important.”

Supporters of Jailed Ugandan Opposition Figure Pray for Him After President Tries to Stop It

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA

11:25 AM EST, February 23, 2026

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Hundreds of supporters of detained Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye held a defiant prayer service inside a Catholic cathedral on Monday to press authorities to free him after more than a year without trial on treason charges, saying he is in failing health.

The archbishop of Kampala, Paul Ssemogerere, had been expected to preside but attendees were told the event had been postponed. The chancellor of the archdiocese, Pius Male, told The Associated Press the archbishop sought a postponement “because there were issues which were still being discussed so that may have harmony.” He gave no details.

Instead of heading out, those inside Lubaga Cathedral sang hymns and prayed, led by Winnie Byanyima, the UNAIDS director who married Besigye in the church years ago.

The event was the first of its kind in support of Besigye, who has sometimes appeared in court in a wheelchair. He has been repeatedly denied bail, even as many Ugandans urge compassion. His trial is yet to formally start.

Byanyima told the crowd that the archbishop had informed her of President Yoweri Museveni’s request to postpone the event pending an investigation into whether it was political.

“So we are here and unable to have the Mass that we wanted because of the order of our president,” she said. “I would like that we still pray because we came to pray.”

Sandor Walusimbi, a spokesperson for the presidency, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Uganda’s president has said Besigye must answer for “the very serious offenses he is alleged to have been planning,” and has called for “a quick trial so that facts come out.”

Besigye, once Uganda’s most prominent opposition figure and four-time presidential candidate, is accused of plotting to remove Museveni by force.

Besigye went missing in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in November 2024. Days later, he was presented before a military tribunal in Kampala to face charges related to threatening national security. The case later was transferred to civilian court and amended as treason, which carries the death penalty.

Museveni’s son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has alleged that Besigye plotted to kill his father. Kainerugaba, Uganda’s top military commander, last week called Besigye “a dead man walking.”

Those urging Besigye’s release on compassionate grounds point out his age, 69, and say he needs to consult with a doctor of his choice and not the government-appointed medics available at the maximum-security facility where he is held.

Besigye once was a trusted ally of Museveni in the guerrilla war that propelled the president to power in 1986, and served as Museveni’s personal doctor and military assistant.

He later became a fierce critic of the president, condemning what he saw as a descent into authoritarianism that betrayed the democratic promise of Museveni’s early years. Term and age limits on the presidency have since been scrapped.

Museveni was declared the winner of last month’s election, with more than 71% of the vote, and will now serve a seventh term. His main opponent, the opposition figure known as Bobi Wine, has since gone into hiding, fearing for his safety.

About 30 People Are Feared Dead After a Migrant Boat Capsized Off Crete

By DEMETRIS NELLAS

12:49 PM EST, February 23, 2026

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — About 30 people are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the Greek island of Crete, Greek authorities and the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday.

The boat, carrying about 50 migrants, capsized 20 nautical miles off the port of Kali Limenes, the southernmost point on Crete, on Saturday. Three men were found dead that day and a woman’s body was found floating at sea on Sunday.

No other survivors or victims have been found since. Passing ships are continuing to search the waters, a coast guard spokesperson told The Associated Press Monday.

The capsized boat had left Tobruk, Libya on Thursday, according to survivors. There were high winds in the area Saturday.

Authorities have arrested two Sudanese men, ages 25 and 19, as the suspected traffickers.

“Just two months into 2026, at least 606 migrants have already been reported dead or missing along the Mediterranean route, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. This marks the deadliest start to a year in the Mediterranean since IOM began recording such data in 2014,” the U.N. office said in a statement Monday.

“IOM warns that trafficking and smuggling networks continue to exploit migrants along the Central Mediterranean route, profiting from dangerous crossings in unseaworthy boats while exposing people to severe abuse and protection risks,” the statement continues.

“Stronger international cooperation and protection-centered responses are key to tackling these criminal networks and expanding safe and regular pathways to reduce risks and save lives,” it added.

The US Deported a Gay Asylum-seeker to a Third Country Where Homosexuality is Illegal

By MONIKA PRONCZUK

8:28 AM EST, February 22, 2026

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Being gay in Morocco is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison. But it was the violence from her family that forced Farah, a 21-year-old gay woman, to flee the country.

After a long journey to the United States and a third-country deportation by the Trump administration, however, Farah said she is now back in Morocco and in hiding.

“It is hard to live and work with the fear of being tracked once again by my family,” she told The Associated Press, in a rare testimony from a person deported via a third country despite having protection orders from a U.S. immigration judge. “But there is nothing I can do. I have to work.”

She asked to be identified by her first name only for fear of persecution. The AP saw her protection order and lawyers verified parts of her account.

Farah said that before she fled, she was beaten by her family and the family of her partner when they found out about their relationship. She was kicked out of the family home and fled with her partner to another city. She said her family found her and tried to kill her.

Through a friend, she and her partner heard about the opportunity to get visas for Brazil and fly there with the aim of reaching the United States, where they had friends. From Brazil, she trekked through six countries for weeks to reach the U.S. border, where they asked for asylum.

“You get put in situations that are truly horrible,” she recalled. “When we arrived (at the U.S. border), it felt like it was worth the trouble and that we got to our goal.”

They arrived in early 2025. But instead of finding the freedom to be herself, Farah said she was detained for almost a year, first in Arizona, then in Louisiana.

“It was very cold,” she said of detention. “And we only had very thin blankets.” Medical care was inadequate, she said.

She was denied asylum, but in August she received a protection order from an U.S. immigration judge, who ruled she cannot be deported to Morocco because that would endanger her life. Her partner, denied asylum and a protection order, was deported.

Farah said she was three days from a hearing on her release when she was handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and put on a plane to an African country she had never visited, and one where homosexuality is illegal: Cameroon. She was put in a detention facility.

“They asked me if I wanted to stay in Cameroon, and I told them that I can’t stay in Cameroon and risk my life in a place where I would still be endangered,” she said. She was flown to Morocco.

Most deportees had protection orders

She is one of dozens of people confirmed to be deported from the U.S. by the Trump administration to third countries despite having legal protection from U.S. immigration judges. The real number is unknown.

The administration has used third-country deportations to pressure migrants who are in the U.S. illegally to leave on their own, saying they could end up “in any number of third countries.”

The detention facility in Cameroon’s capital of Yaounde, where Farah was held, currently has 15 deportees from various African countries who arrived on two flights, and none is Cameroonian, according to lawyer Joseph Awah Fru, who represents them.

Eight of the deportees on the first flight in January, including Farah, had received a judge’s protection orders, said Alma David, an immigration lawyer with the U.S.-based Novo Legal Group who has helped deportees and verified Farah’s case. The AP spoke to a woman from Ghana and a woman from Congo, who both said they had protection orders, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Another flight on Monday brought eight more people. Three freelance journalists reporting on the deportations to Cameroon for the AP were briefly detained there.

Deporting people to a third country where they could be sent home was effectively a legal “loophole,” said David.

“By deporting them to Cameroon, and giving them no opportunity to contest being sent to a country whose government hoped to quietly send them back to the very countries where they face grave danger, the U.S. not only violated their due process rights but our own immigration laws, our obligations under international treaties and even DHS’ own procedures,” David said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier confirmed there were deportations to Cameroon in January.

“We are applying the law as written. If a judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period,” it said, and asserted that the third-country agreements “ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution.”

Asked about the deportations to Cameroon, the U.S. State Department on Friday told the AP it had “no comment on the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments.” It did not reply to further questions.

Cameroon’s Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.

‘Impossible choices’

Farah was one of two women from the first group of deportees to return to Morocco.

“They were given two impossible choices,” David said, and asserted that claiming asylum was not clearly presented as one of them. “This was before the lawyer had access to them.”

She said International Organization for Migration staff in the facility did not give them any indication that there was a viable option other than going back to their home countries.

Fru said he has not been granted access to the deportees. He said the assistant to the country director for the IOM, a U.N.-affiliated organization, told him he must apply to speak to them. Fru plans to do that Monday.

The IOM told the AP it was “aware of the removal of migrants from the United States of America to some African countries” and added that it “works with people facing difficult decisions about whether to return to their country of origin.” It said its role is providing accurate information about options and ensuring that “anyone who chooses to return does so voluntarily.”

The IOM said the facility in Yaounde was managed by the authorities in Cameroon. It did not respond to further questions.

African nations are paid millions

Cameroon is one of at least seven African nations to receive deported third-country nationals in a deal with the U.S. Others include South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea.

Some have received millions of dollars in return, according to documents released by the State Department. Details of other agreements, including the one with Cameroon, have not been released.

The Trump administration has spent at least $40 million to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own, according to a report released last week by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

According to internal administration documents reviewed by the AP, 47 third-country agreements are in various stages of negotiation.

In Morocco, Farah said it was hard to hear U.S. officials refer to people like her as a threat.

“The USA is built on immigration and by immigrant labor, so we’re clearly not all threats,” she said. “What was done to me was unfair. A normal deportation would have been fair, but to go through so much and lose so much, only to be deported in such a way, is cruel.”

Armed Group in Nigeria Kills 38 People and Abducts Others During Attack

By TUNDE OMELEHIN

7:49 AM EST, February 23, 2026

Police in Nigeria say 38 people were killed and others were abucted in an attack last week in northwestern Zamfara state.

Authorities received intelligence before the attack Thursday but a lack of road access prevented police from reaching the area in time, state police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar told The Associated Press.

“By the time we have our way, the assailants have invaded the community and killed 38 while also abducting many residents,” Abubakar said Monday.

Investigators in the West African nation are compiling a list of women and children who were abducted, Abubakar said.

The attack in Tungan Duste, a community in the Anka local government area of Zamfara state, is the latest assault on civilians in Nigeria’s northern region, where attacks are frequent. In nearby Kebbi, 33 people were killed in simultaneous attacks last week.

The African Union, which includes 55 member states on the continent, condemned the attack Sunday and called for the release of abducted women and children.

“The African Union unequivocally rejects all acts of terrorism and violent extremism against civilian populations, particularly women and children, as grave violations of human rights and serious threats to peace, security, and stability,” the organization said in a statement.

Nigeria is battling a complex security crisis from different armed groups. The United States has sent troops to the West African nation to help advise its military on the fight against insecurity.

Iran, US to Resume Talks Amid Hardening Military Posture, Ongoing Divisions

By Xinhua

Feb 23, 2026 08:22 AM

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi (R) meets with Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 16, 2026. (Ministry of Information in Oman/Handout via Xinhua)

The United States and Iran have decided to continue negotiations, even as their starkly different visions of a nuclear deal and a significant U.S. military buildup highlight the fragility of the process and the ongoing risk of confrontation.

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi said on Sunday that the next round of U.S.-Iran talks will take place on Thursday in Geneva.

"Pleased to confirm U.S.-Iran negotiations are now set for Geneva this Thursday, with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalizing the deal," the minister said on social media platform X.

In a phone call on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi stressed the importance of "constructive engagement and using the path of dialogue" to achieve a sustainable nuclear agreement, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.

This followed Araghchi's remarks on Friday in an interview with the U.S. media outlet MSNBC that Tehran will prepare the draft of a possible nuclear deal with the United States within two to three days and submit it to the U.S. delegation.

In a CBS News interview broadcast on Sunday, Araghchi reiterated Tehran's willingness to resolve its differences with Washington through negotiations.

Araghchi said he may meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday in Geneva, noting that it is still possible to find a diplomatic solution between Tehran and Washington.

He said the two sides are working on elements of a potential deal, and may discuss a preliminary draft for the deal on Thursday.

Araghchi said the deal should include Iran's "peaceful nuclear program" as well as lifting U.S. sanctions against Iran, reaffirming Tehran's resolve to secure its right to uranium enrichment under the national nuclear program.

He added that Iran and the United States can reach a nuclear deal better than the one signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015, noting unlike the previous negotiations, where the involved parties went into so many details, "this time, there is no need for that many details, and we can agree on basic things and make sure that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever and, at the same time, more sanctions would be lifted."

He also stressed that Tehran has right to self-defense if the United States attacks Iran. "We have to hit, you know, the American base in the region."

Also on Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said recent negotiations with the United States have "yielded encouraging signals," while cautioning that Iran is prepared for "any potential scenario."

"Iran is committed to peace and stability in the region. Recent negotiations involved the exchange of practical proposals and yielded encouraging signals. However, we continue to closely monitor U.S. actions and have made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario," Pezeshkian said in a post on social media.

A senior Iranian official has told Reuters that significant differences remain between the two sides, even over the "scope and mechanism of sanctions relief."

"Both sides need to reach a logical timetable for lifting sanctions," said the unnamed official, adding that any roadmap must be "reasonable and based on mutual interests."

Washington has said that any deal with Iran must include a ban on uranium enrichment, the removal of its enriched material, limits on long-range missiles, and a rollback of support for regional proxies. But analysts have said such conditions would be "very difficult" for Iran to accept.

The diplomatic maneuvers occurred against a backdrop of escalating U.S. military pressure. Media reports said the United States had recently deployed a large number of fighter jets and transport aircraft to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, marking a noticeable increase compared with the base's usual level of deployment.

Located about 100 km northeast of Amman, the capital of Jordan, Muwaffaq Salti is considered one of the main U.S. military bases in the Middle East. At other U.S. military bases in the region, there have also been reports of significant military build-ups.

The development came amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, and followed two rounds of indirect nuclear talks between the two sides this month, with the first held in Muscat on Feb. 6 and the second in Geneva on Feb. 17.

China Urges US to Revoke Unilateral Duties; US Latest 15% Global Tariff Stokes Frustration Among Allies, Deals in Limbo as Chaos Returns

By Chi Jingyi and Xu Keyue

Feb 23, 2026 12:35 PM

Tariff File photo: VCG

A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Monday, "We have noted the US Supreme Court's announcement of its ruling in the tariff litigation case and are conducting a comprehensive assessment of the relevant content and implications," when asked to comment on the ruling that multiple tariffs imposed by the US government were unlawful.

China has consistently opposed unilateral tariff increases in all forms and has repeatedly stated that there are no winners in a trade war and that protectionism leads nowhere, said the MOFCOM spokesperson, noting that the unilateral measures taken by the US, including the reciprocal tariffs and fentanyl-related tariffs, not only violate international trade and economic rules but also contravene US domestic law, and they do not serve the interests of any party.

US President Donald Trump raised his newly announced global tariff to 15 percent on Saturday, less than a day after announcing a 10 percent worldwide duty, following a US Supreme Court ruling on Friday that struck down many of his previous country-specific tariffs. 

The move has sparked widespread international reactions, ranging from frustration, delayed trade talks to wait-and-see approach amid renewed uncertainty, international media reported.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday that the latest 15 percent global tariff is likely aimed at proving the cherished tariff tool by the Trump administration still works, reflecting an increasingly extreme reliance on tariffs. "Such domestically driven tariff chaos will inevitably heighten global supply-chain uncertainty and deepen instability in the world trade order," he said. 

The new tariff is slated to take effect on Tuesday (US time) and will last for 150 days, with exemptions for sectors under separate probes, according to a White House fact sheet.

"Global trade order and supply-chain expectations will stay volatile, with front loading of trade activity likely in the next 150 days to hedge against tariff risks," Li Yong, an executive council member of the China Society for WTO Studies, stressed.

The Trump administration would seek ways to "implement more appropriate or pre-negotiated tariff rates" down the line, AFP reported citing a White House official.

US allies across Europe voiced alarm and frustration, NBC reported.

The European Commission on Sunday local time said in a statement that it "requests full clarity on the steps the US intends to take following the recent Supreme Court ruling on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act." 

"The current situation is not conducive to delivering 'fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial' transatlantic trade and investment, as agreed to by both sides and spelled out in the EU-US Joint Statement of August 2025," read the statement.

In July 2025, the EU and the US reached an agreement following Trump administration's imposition of a 30 percent tariff on goods from the 27 EU member states. The negotiated settlement reduced the tariff rate on EU exports to the US to 15 percent. However, the agreement has not yet taken effect. The European Parliament's Committee on International Trade is scheduled to vote on the EU-US trade deal on Tuesday local time.

Bernd Lange, chairman of the EU parliament's trade committee, said he will propose suspending legislative work on approving the EU-US trade deal at an emergency meeting on Monday "until we have a comprehensive legal assessment and clear commitments from the US," Bloomberg reported.

As for India, the latest 15 percent rate was described by Indian media NDTV as "India now faces a reduced tariff rate."

The US and India earlier this month announced they reached a framework for an interim agreement on trade, which reduced the reciprocal duties on India from 25 percent to 18 percent. India said it will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a range of agricultural products. However, India and US have decided to postpone the official meeting that will finalize details of the bilateral trade agreement, NDTV reported on Sunday local time, citing reliable sources.

South Korea's Trade Ministry called for an emergency meeting Saturday to understand the new landscape. Some specific exports to the US, like automobiles and steel, aren't affected by the US supreme court decision. Those that are affected will likely now be covered by the new tariff rate of 15 percent, Fortune reported.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Trump on Sunday to treat all countries equally. He is expected to travel to Washington next month for a meeting with Trump, AFP reported.

After the latest 15 percent tariff rate was announced, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated on Fox News that imports from countries such as Malaysia and Cambodia would continue to face the negotiated 19 percent rate - higher than the new universal 15 percent tariff set. 

"Today's economic globalization, where supply chains and industrial chains are deeply integrated across countries, means any attempt by the US to pursue selfish gains through unilateral tariffs will ultimately backfire on itself and disrupt the world trade order," said Li Yong.

CPC Central Committee, State Council Congratulate Chinese Winter Olympics Delegation

By Xinhua

Feb 23, 2026 05:14 PM

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council on Monday sent a congratulatory message to the Chinese delegation for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, commending the delegation for achieving its best-ever results in overseas Winter Olympic Games.

Winning five gold, four silver and six bronze medals, the delegation was praised for earning acclaim for the motherland and the Chinese people.

The athletes demonstrated remarkable perseverance and sporting prowess, competed fairly and communicated friendly with their peers from around the world, once again showcasing China's image in the new era and inspiring patriotic passion and a spirit of hard work among Chinese people at home and abroad, the message read.

The delegation was urged to focus on building China into a nation strong in sports, and to continue reaching for new heights in winter sports on the world stage, thus consolidating and expanding the country's achievement of "engaging 300 million people in winter sports."

The Olympians were also encouraged to make new contributions to advancing the building of a great country and the national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization.

Epstein Files Exposed Those Who Invented Myths About Russia — Diplomat

Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recalled numerous accusations against Russia, adding that the country came up with "arguments and facts" to refute them

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 23. /TASS/. The Epstein files have shed light on the "heinous scum" who were been inventing myths about Russia for many years to divert attention from their own crimes, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told TASS in an interview.

She recalled numerous accusations against Russia, adding that the country came up with "arguments and facts" to refute them.

"They have been concocting myths about Russia, about the alleged threat, about crimes that we, as they claimed, allegedly committed on their territory. Meanwhile, for so many years, all this scum was nesting right inside their communities, right at the heart of them, in the most luxurious districts of New York, London, and other European capitals, and in the United States of America," she said.

"Now that the Epstein files are published <…> it turns out that the real criminals, real ghouls were comfortable inside the Western society. They were involved in all sorts of heinous crimes: corruption, human trafficking, forced prostitution, false imprisonment, and pedophilia, you name it," she added.

Two Apartment Buildings, Social Facility Damaged in Ukraine’s Missile Attack on Belgorod

No casualties have been reported so far

© Alexander Reka/TASS, archive

MOSCOW, February 23. /TASS/. Windows in two apartment buildings were smashed and walls of a social facility were damaged in Ukraine’s missile attack on Russia’s borderline region of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"According to verified information, windows in two apartment buildings were damaged as a result of a massive missile attack on Belgorod. Besides, windows of a social facility were smashed, and walls were damaged," he wrote, adding there were also reports about a damaged car and roofs of private houses.

No casualties have been reported so far, the governor added.

EU Fails to Get US, G7 Support for Blocking Russian Oil Supplies — Source

A diplomatic source did not exclude "the possibility of Washington imposing its own measures in due time and on its own terms"

© AP Photo/ Virginia Mayo

BRUSSELS, February 23. /TASS/. The European Union has failed to get the United States’ and G7 support in order to jointly block Russian oil deliveries under its 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions, a diplomatic source in Brussels has told TASS.

"The EU presented to the US and G7 its plan to fully prohibit European businesses from transporting Russian oil and providing any kind of maintenance, supply, financing and insurance services to tankers that transport Russian oil, no matter what flag they are flying. The European Commission invited partners to impose similar restrictions on their companies. The United States refused," the diplomat said.

He added that he "does not exclude the possibility of Washington imposing its own measures in due time and on its own terms."

"Other G7 partners said that joining the EU sanctions was possible, but stopped short of giving any clear promises," the source added.

Internal differences

Over the weekend, European ambassadors failed to make any progress on the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions, so the final decision is to be made by top EU diplomats during their meeting on Monday, the source told TASS.

"There has been no progress. The plan is 95% agreed, but the remaining differences could not be overcome. Now, they are to be discussed by the ministers," he said.

In fact, the situation even became worse over the weekend, because Hungary said it would block the entire 20th package during the ministerial meeting. Budapest demands that Brussels take urgent measures to force Ukraine to resume transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. Kiev halted it on January 27, citing alleged Russian drone attack on its own pipeline.

Painful compromise

Earlier, another diplomat told TASS that the European Commission’s measures included a list of reasons for detention and search of "suspicious tankers" to investigate whether they were really transporting Russian oil. A number of European countries see the move as "a real threat of a military confrontation with Russia at sea."

At the same time, the diplomat said he had "no doubts" that the package will be adopted by February 24. The only question is what will be excluded from the initial version, he added.

According to available information, Hungary, Greece, Malta, Italy and Spain have various objections about different parts of the proposed package.