Politics

OSLO, Norway — The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Thursday awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for her efforts to promote democratic rights and advocate for a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in her country. Ms. Machado, a leading figure in Venezuela’s pro-democracy movement, has been recognized...

Burundi’s new minister of justice has vowed sweeping reforms to ease the country’s overcrowded prisons, including the closure of some facilities and greater reliance on alternatives to incarceration. Justice Minister Katihabwa Arthemon said the government is committed to strengthening the independence of the judiciary while safeguarding the rights of all Burundians.

BURURI, Burundi— President Évariste Ndayishimiye on Thursday toured an amethyst extraction site on Migera Hill in Bururi Province, praising a youth-led mining venture as a model of how innovation and hard work can power Burundi’s development. The site, operated by about 400 young entrepreneurs with support from the government’s Programme d’Autonomisation Économique et d’Emploi...

Burundi’s Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana on Tuesday urged the international community to formally recognize the 1972 genocide against Hutu people in his country, saying the acknowledgment is essential for justice and reconciliation. Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly, Bizimana said Burundi has turned a painful chapter in its history and now stands as “a...

A military court in the DRC has sentenced former President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia after convicting him of war crimes, treason and other grave charges, court officials announced Tuesday. The verdict, delivered by a High Military Court in Kinshasa, found Kabila guilty of a range of offenses including treason, insurrection, conspiracy,...

Burundi’s president, who also chairs the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, officially opened the 2025-2026 judicial year on July 26 with a call for judges to strengthen national unity and deliver impartial justice. Speaking at a ceremony held at the Kigobe Congress Palace, the head of state urged magistrates to remember their mission of...

The United Kingdom on Friday urged Burundi to address “serious irregularities” in its June elections and to reopen the UN human rights office, during the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. “We urge the government of Burundi to allow full access and to reopen the OHCHR country office,” the...

At the opening of the 80th United Nations General Assembly this week, dozens of nations formally recognized the State of Palestine in what diplomats are calling the largest collective push for Palestinian statehood in recent decades. The surge of recognition comes amid the intensifying war in Gaza and stalled peace negotiations, spotlighting shifting global attitudes toward the...

A Rwandan soldier has been detained in northern Burundi after inadvertently crossing the border, officials from both countries confirmed Wednesday, in an incident that underscores the fragile ties between the two neighbors. The Rwanda Defence Force said Sgt. Sadiki Emmanuel, a driver in the force, “inadvertently strayed across the Gasenyi-Nemba border” on Sept. 24...

Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday called for Africa to gain permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council, describing the continent’s exclusion as “unacceptable and indefensible.” Speaking at the 7th Summit of the Committee of Ten (C‑10) Heads of State on Security Council Reform, held alongside the 80th UN General Assembly, Ruto said...