Tanzania’s main opposition leader Tundu Lissu told his supporters to have no fear as he appeared in court on Monday for the first time since his arrest on charges that include treason.

Lissu refused to participate in a hearing on April 24 because authorities conducted a virtual, rather than an in-person trial, with him appearing via video link from prison.

On Monday he entered the court with his fist raised in the air as supporters chanted “No Reforms, No Election,” according to a video of the courtroom shared by his CHADEMA party on X.

“We will be fine. You should not fear,” Lissu said as he took his place in the dock, waving victory signs.

Lissu, who was shot 16 times in a 2017 attack and came second in the last presidential poll, was charged with treason last month over what prosecutors said was a speech calling upon the public to rebel and disrupt elections due in October.

A series of high-profile arrests has highlighted the rights record of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who plans to seek re-election. Hassan says the government is committed to respecting human rights.

Lissu’s CHADEMA party has demanded changes to an electoral process they say favors the ruling party before they participate in the ballot.

Several Kenyan rights activists, including a former justice minister, said they were denied entry to Tanzania as they traveled to attend the trial.

Kenya’s former Justice Minister Martha Karua, a prominent lawyer and opposition politician, and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga were among those detained when they landed at Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, they said on X.

Tanzania’s immigration spokesperson Paul Mselle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Today was going to be a big day and we went out there in solidarity,” Karua told Kenyan broadcaster NTV on Monday after she was denied entry and sent back to Nairobi.

“The state cannot be used as a personal tool. You cannot deport people whom you don’t like, who are not aligned to your views.”

Mutunga and rights activist Hussein Khalid were being held in an interrogation room at Julius Nyerere airport on Monday and expected to be deported, Khalid said on X.

An Iranian official has warned that nuclear talks with the United States “will not actually get anywhere” if Washington insists Tehran abandons enrichment of uranium – a process that can also be used to make a bomb.

“Regarding zero enrichment, we said from the beginning that if this is their (American) position, it is natural that the work will not actually get anywhere,” Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi was cited as saying by Iran’s Nour News on Monday.

“Our position on enrichment is clear, and we have repeatedly stated that enrichment is a national achievement for us,” added Ravanchi. We will not back down on the issue of enrichment.”

Iran and the US capped their fourth round of talks in Oman earlier this month, aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading the American delegation to the talks, told ABC over the weekend that Washington “cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability” under an agreement. “We’ve delivered a proposal to the Iranians that we think addresses some of this without disrespecting them,” he said.

While enriched uranium can be used for peaceful purposes like energy production, it can be weaponized if refined to high levels.

“Enrichment enables weaponization, and we will not allow a bomb to get here. But short of that, there are all kinds of ways for us to achieve our goals in this negotiation,” Witkoff said, adding that the next round of talks may take place in Europe this week. “We hope that it will lead to some real positivity.”

Iran has repeatedly said that any suggestion that it abandons enrichment would be a non-starter, insisting that it reserves the right to enrich uranium under the UN’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Witkoff had previously suggested that Iran could be allowed some uranium enrichment.

On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that the issue “is not negotiable under any circumstances,” criticizing American negotiators for reversing their positions after each round of negotiations.

“This creates repeated uncertainty, making it more difficult for any negotiation process and raising more doubts about the seriousness of the other side in this process. This is a question that the American parties naturally have to answer,” he said, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

‘We are not afraid of threats’

The war of words between both nations spiraled after the Iranian president seemingly clashed with his US counterpart, saying his country favors negotiations with the White House to avoid fighting but rejecting threats by US President Donald Trump.

“We are not seeking war, we favor negotiation and dialogue, but we are not afraid of threats either, and we will in no way retreat from our legal rights,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at an event in the port city of Bandar Abbas Saturday.

He didn’t specify which comments he was referring to, but Trump told reporters on a Middle East tour last week that Iran has to “move quickly” in negotiations with the US or “something bad’s gonna happen.”

The Iranian leader insisted “no one but Trump himself believes his words against the Iranian nation.”

“On the one hand, he speaks of peace and stability and, on the other hand, he threatens (us) with the most sophisticated tools for homicide and with contradictory statements,” added Pezeshkian. “He simultaneously sends messages of peace, bloodshed and insecurity.”

Also on Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei referred to unspecified comments by Trump on Iran, calling them a “disgrace to the American nation” and “not worthy of a response at all.”

Over his Gulf tour, Trump repeatedly cautioned Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon, threatening to strike the country if it fails to reach a nuclear deal with the US. But he has not explicitly ruled out Iran enriching uranium.

On Friday, Trump said the US had put forward a formal proposal for a nuclear deal, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the same day that Iran had not received any such written proposals from Washington, either directly or indirectly.

“There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes: a right afforded to all other (Non-Proliferation Treaty) signatories, too,” Araghchi said.

In an interview with Breitbart last week, Witkoff said Iran’s uranium enrichment program must be dismantled, though in an earlier interview with Fox News he had suggested that Iran could be allowed to enrich uranium to low levels.

The most recent round of talks between the US and Iran, in the Omani capital Muscat, was described by the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson as “difficult.”

Israel launched a new devastating ground offensive in Gaza over the weekend just as US President Donald Trump departed the region without sealing a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The Israeli military said its forces moved into northern and southern Gaza over the past day as part of the “Gideon’s Chariots” operation, which Israel warned would take place if Hamas doesn’t agree to a new hostage deal on its terms.

The ground operation came after days of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which according to health authorities there have wiped out entire families.

Israel says it will allow a “basic amount of food” into the besieged enclave, a move which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted was due to intense pressure from Israel’s allies. Hamas and Israel also began indirect talks in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday.

Here’s what we know about Israel’s new offensive and what it means for Gazans.

What is Israel’s new operation in Gaza?

On Monday, Netanyahu said that Israel plans to take control of all of Gaza.

The official said earlier in May that the plan would be implemented after Trump’s trip to the Middle East to “provide a window of opportunity” to reach a hostage deal.

The warring parties failed to reach a deal during Trump’s visit last week, and Israel pressed on with its operation over the weekend. This began with a series of intense airstrikes last week and was followed by an expanded ground offensive on Sunday.

The Israeli military said Sunday that over the past week, it struck more than 670 “Hamas targets” in a wave of preliminary airstrikes across the enclave.

Health officials in Gaza said on Sunday that the operation killed over 100 people overnight, and shuttered the last functioning hospital in the enclave’s north. Entire families were killed while sleeping, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

More than 53,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its war on October 7, 2023, according to the ministry, which added that the majority of the dead are women and children.

What’s happening with Gaza aid?

On Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that due to the “operational need,” Israel will allow a “basic amount of food” to enter Gaza to prevent famine in the enclave, which Israel says would jeopardize its military operation.

Netanyahu has also hinted that his country could lose the support of its closest allies, including the United States, if it doesn’t lift its 11-week blockade on the territory, which has further exacerbated a humanitarian crisis on the ground that aid agencies, including the United Nations, have said could lead to widespread famine.

The UN had warned that Gaza’s entire population of over 2.1 million people is facing a risk of famine following 19 months of conflict and mass displacement.

If “a situation of famine” arose in Gaza, Israel “simply won’t receive international support,” Netanyahu said Monday.

“Even our closest allies in the world – US senators I know personally and who have been staunch, unconditional supporters of Israel for decades – are coming to me and saying: ‘We are giving you all the support to achieve victory – weapons, support for your efforts to eliminate Hamas, protection at the UN Security Council – but there’s one thing we cannot accept: images of mass starvation… If that happens, we won’t be able to support you anymore,’” Netanyahu said in an address posted to Telegram.

“We are approaching a dangerous point we don’t want to reach,” he said, adding that the military would find a “solution to this problem” to achieve its war aims.

Netanyahu’s explanations were largely aimed at mollifying his right-wing supporters who adamantly oppose the entry of any humanitarian aid to Gaza, including to civilians.

Asked when aid will start entering into the enclave, Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that “it will happen in the near future.”

A controversial American-backed organization, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), tasked with delivering aid to the territory, welcomed the Israeli announcement about allowing food aid as a “bridging mechanism” until the group is fully operational.

The foundation is meant to run a new, tightly controlled mechanism for aid deliveries that has been approved by Israel and the US, which both countries say is designed to prevent Hamas from “stealing” aid. The GHF-run mechanism has come under criticism from top humanitarian officials, who warn that it is insufficient, could endanger civilians and even encourage their forced displacement.

Given that the initial sites would only be in southern and central Gaza, the UN warned, this could be seen to be encouraging Israel’s publicly stated goal of forcing “the entire Gazan population” out of northern Gaza, as Defense Minister Israel Katz put it earlier this month.

Jake Wood, the foundation’s executive director, said Israel has also agreed to allow it to establish two sites in northern Gaza, which he believes can be up and running within the first 30 days of its operations.

The UN’s aid chief, Tom Fletcher, said Friday that there’s no need for an alternative Gaza aid plan. “Let’s not waste time: We already have a plan,” he said.

In one of the strongest condemnations of Israel’s war by a high-ranking UN official, Fletcher said the international community must prevent “genocide” in the enclave.

“Will you act – decisively – to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or will you say instead, ‘we did all we could?’” he told the UN Security Council.

What is Trump saying?

Trump visited Gulf Arab states last week, including Qatar, where his negotiating team was engaged in ceasefire and hostage talks.

The president said this month that he wanted an end to the “brutal war” in Gaza and did not visit Israel during his tour of the region, which he had already twice bypassed this month in reaching bilateral deals with regional militant groups.

On Wednesday, Trump denied that Israel had been sidelined. “This is good for Israel,” he said. But on Thursday, he said he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone.”

He also told Fox News on Saturday that he is not frustrated with Netanyahu, as the Israeli prime minister has got “a tough situation.” While in the Gulf, Trump also acknowledged that people are starving in Gaza and said the US would have the situation “taken care of.”

“We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving,” he told reporters in UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

On Sunday, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told ABC News that the issue with getting aid into Gaza is primarily logistical.

“It is logistically complicated and the conditions on the ground are dangerous,” he said. “That said, we do not want to see a humanitarian crisis and we will not allow it to occur on President Trump’s watch.”

Where does this leave talks?

Israeli Defense Minister Katz said Saturday that the new military operation in Gaza is what pressured Hamas to return to negotiations in Qatar last week. But analysts and officials say it’s more likely that the militant group agreed to restart the talks following Trump’s Middle East visit.

Senior Hamas official Taher Al-Nunu confirmed Saturday that “negotiations without preconditions” had started in Doha, according to Hamas-run al Aqsa TV.

It is unclear how well the discussions are progressing in Doha. Israel on Sunday indicated its openness to ending the war in Gaza if Hamas surrenders, a proposition the group is unlikely to accept as long as Israel continues to insist on Hamas disarming.

Meanwhile, Hamas officials have given conflicting comments about the talks.

Hours later, another senior Hamas leader, Sami Abu Zuhri, denied and contradicted that proposal, posting a statement on Al-Aqsa TV’s Telegram: “There is no truth to the rumors regarding the movement’s agreement to release nine Israeli prisoners in exchange for a two-month ceasefire.”

Zuhri went on to say: “We are ready to release the prisoners all at once, provided the occupation commits to a cessation of hostilities under international guarantees, and we will not hand over the occupation’s prisoners as long as it insists on continuing its aggression against Gaza indefinitely.”

The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed to a landmark deal aimed at “resetting” their post-Brexit relationship, easing restrictions on travel and work for hundreds of millions of people on the continent.

The pact, agreed at a summit in London on Monday, followed months of negotiations between Downing Street and Brussels. It includes agreements on defense, migration, work and travel — and leaders on each side of the Channel will hope it leaves behind years’ worth of tensions.

“This is a historic moment,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as they unveiled the deal on Monday. “We’re turning a page. We’re opening a new chapter in our unique relationship.”

“Britain is back on the world stage,” Starmer added following the meetings at Lancaster House.

But the deal has already threatened to open old wounds; Starmer has been criticized by leaders on Britain’s resurgent populist right, who have claimed the deal weakens the UK’s sovereignty.

Here’s what you need to know.

Slashing ‘red tape’ for trade

The two sides have struck a deal to ease trade between their two markets — one of the most contentious areas of the long-running Brexit negotiations.

Downing Street announced in a statement that it has agreed to reduce the “red tape” currently burdening British businesses exporting food and drink to the bloc on an indefinite basis. Part of that agreement will include the complete removal of some routine checks on animal and plant products, it said.

Starmer’s office added that it hoped the changes would ultimately “lower food prices and increase choice on supermarket shelves” but was resolute that they do not cross certain “red lines” central to the government’s vision of Brexit, including remaining outside of the EU’s single market and customs union.

The trade partners have decided to move toward “a common sanitary and phytosanitary area,” von der Leyen told reporters on Monday. “That means more certainty, more stability for farmers and food producers, and fishermen and fisherwoman, on both sides of the Channel.”

In any case, changes to the trading rules between the two sides are significant: The EU is the UK’s largest trading partner, with the bloc accounting for 41% of Britain’s exports and more than half of its imports last year, according to official figures covering both goods and services. The UK is also a top trading partner for Brussels, and was the second-largest destination for EU goods exports in 2024, Eurostat data shows.

The deal also included commitments to give the EU fishing boats access to British waters for a further 12 years beyond the current agreement, which is set to expire next year. Europe will also open up its electricity market to the UK, a move that von der Leyen praised as a step toward boosting energy security and lowering prices.

The agreement comes as US President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs have wreaked havoc on the global trading order. In a joint statement released Monday, the EU and UK said they shared a “commitment to free, sustainable, fair and open trade.”

A new defense pact

The two sides have worked increasingly closely on defense since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and that unity has only grown since the Trump administration threatened to pull its security guarantees for Europe and leave Kyiv to fend for itself against Moscow.

It made defense one of the least controversial aspects of the negotiations, and Monday’s deal saw a formal handshake on a new UK-EU defense partnership. The UK now will gain access to a Europe-wide defense program, allowing British companies to bid for security contracts alongside European rivals.

“This joint procurement will increase our readiness, will close military gaps that we have,” von der Leyen said.

Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have emerged as the leading voices advocating for Kyiv on the global stage, and the two leaders have pushed their European counterparts to boost military spending and join a European bulwark against Moscow’s advances.

What will change for Brits and Europeans?

The two sides will work toward a youth mobility scheme that will allow under-30s to travel and work between the UK and Europe. Starmer has taken pains to insist there is no return to full freedom of movement, a benefit Britons enjoyed when it was a member of the EU, but European officials have stressed that a deal would prove mutually beneficial.

British students are also set to once again have access to Europe’s Erasmus scheme, which allows them to study abroad in other European countries. The two sides agreed to find an agreement on that scheme. “This will allow the next generation to once again live and study in each other’s countries. This will build friendships that will last a lifetime,” von der Leyen said.

And one visible impact of Brexit will disappear: Britons will now be able to use e-gates at European airports when they travel on vacation, joining EU passport-holders in the streamlined queues.

Will the deal open old wounds?

Starmer is striking a deal in a unique political environment. Public sentiment is broadly behind him; Britons increasingly regret the decision to leave the EU, and prize an agreement with the bloc over a similar deal with the US, opinion polling suggests. But the country remains weary of the heated, years-long arguments that engulfed Westminster after the 2016 Brexit vote, and Downing Street is treading carefully to avoid re-opening those wounds.

It may be wishful thinking. The prime minister, whose government is unpopular as it approaches one year in office, is also wary of the threat from the right. The populist Reform UK party is leading opinion polls, and its leader Nigel Farage — the chief architect of the Brexit movement — has already sought to frame Monday’s deal as a surrender to Brussels.

A decision to extend the EU’s favorable access to British fishing waters until 2038 — 12 years longer than the current agreement — provides Farage and other critics ample bait. “We’re becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again,” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch complained.

But Starmer will be desperate to set another narrative: that Monday’s deal finally closes a contentious chapter in British politics. “It’s time to look forward,” he said. “To move on from the stale old debates and political fights to find common sense, practical solutions which get the best for the British people.”

France is planning to build a brand new high-security prison in the Amazon rainforest, near the site of the notorious Devil’s Island penal colony that inspired the 1973 movie “Papillon,” starring Steve McQueen.

Speaking on Sunday during a visit to French Guiana, a French territory that borders Suriname and Brazil, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said the facility would house drug kingpins and radical Islamists.

The prison will be built in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, on French Guiana’s border with Suriname, with space for 500 inmates, including 60 maximum-security prisoners.

Speaking to journalists, Darmanin said the new jail would help to ease prison overcrowding in French Guiana, as well as responding to the growing threat of drug trafficking in the territory.

French Guiana is a major transit point for South American cocaine on its way to markets in Europe, he said.

“Citizens in overseas territories must be able to have the same level of security as those in mainland France,” Darmanin said.

According to the minister, high-ranking criminals are able to use their illicit earnings to corrupt officials, and some are able to continue to run their operations from inside prison..

There are already 49 high-level drug traffickers in custody in French Guiana and other French overseas territories, Darmanin said, adding that these “extremely dangerous” prisoners are not being kept in adequately secure conditions.

The complex, which will also house a court, will cost a total 400 million euros ($451 million), Darmanin said in a post on Facebook on Sunday.

For some, the announcement of the planned facility brought back chilling memories of the penal colony of Cayenne, commonly known as Devil’s Island, which housed French prisoners until 1953.

Devil’s Island became infamous for its inhumane conditions, to the extent that it lent its name to a 1939 film starring Boris Karloff, as well as inspiring the novel “Papillon,” which was subsequently made into two movies.