World
Zimbabwe VP says government will block LGBTQ scholarship initiative
Zimbabwe’s powerful vice president said the government will block a university scholarship for young LGBTQ+ people, a move that human rights groups described Friday as a perpetuation of the African country’s homophobic practices.
The state university scholarship for people between the ages of 18 and 35 is sponsored by GALZ, a membership organization for LGBTQ+ people in Zimbabwe. The association started offering it in 2018 without incident. But a recent online advertisement inviting applications attracted a harsh response from Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a self-proclaimed devout Catholic and former army commander.
In a strongly worded statement Thursday night, Chiwenga claimed the scholarship was “a direct challenge” to the government’s authority.
ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES UPHOLDS GAY SEX BAN
“Our schools and institutions of higher learning will not entertain applicants, let alone enroll persons associated with such alien, anti-life, un-African and un-Christian values which are being promoted and cultivated by, as well as practiced in decadent societies with whom we share no moral or cultural affinities,” he said.
GALZ has previously said the scholarship seeks to provide equal access to state universities for LGBTQ+ people who are often ostracized by their families and struggle to pay for higher education. It did not comment on the vice president’s statement.
However, a coalition of human rights groups that GALZ belongs to said it demonstrated that sexual and gender minorities are endangered in Zimbabwe.
“We are extremely concerned about the statement from the second-highest office in the land because it exhibits intolerance, especially taking into account that the advertisement opens young people to so many opportunities,” Wilbert Mandinde, the programs coordinator at Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, told The Associated Press on Friday.
Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, center, attends a tobacco season opening event in Harare, Zimbabwe, on March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)
Like many African countries, Zimbabwe has laws criminalizing homosexual activity. Sex between men carries a potential sentence of up to a year in prison, and the country’s constitution bans same-sex marriages.
Chiwenga said Zimbabwe’s anti-gay laws make “any (scholarship) offers predicated on the same aberrations both unlawful and criminal, and a grave and gross affront on our national values and ethos as a Christian nation.”
He said the government “will not hesitate to take appropriate measures to enforce national laws,” adding that young people “should never be tempted to trade or sell their souls for such abominable and devilish offers.”
Zimbabwe has a history of discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people. Former President Robert Mugabe, who ruled the southern African nation for 37 years, once described them as “worse than dogs and pigs” and unworthy of legal rights.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power following a 2017 coup led by Chiwenga when he was still an army general, has been less publicly vocal in his anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. But Chiwenga’s threat to ban the scholarship highlights the continued hostility from authorities and sections of society, including influential religious groups, remains.
In December, Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops, like many of their African counterparts, cautioned against Pope Francis’ declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, citing “respect of the law of the land, our culture and for moral reasons.”
Zimbabwe has in the past stopped public acts that may appear to demonstrate approval of gay people.
In 2021, a planned visit by a gay South African celebrity, Somizi Mhlongo, for the reopening of a trendy Zimbabwean restaurant was canceled after a Christian sect and members of the ruling ZANU-PF party’s youth wing vowed to block his appearance.
World
Trump administration rejects UN migration declaration, says ‘mass migration was never safe’
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The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that it refused to back an International Migration Review Forum “progress” declaration, accusing the U.N. of efforts to “advocate and facilitate replacement immigration in the United States and across the broader West.”
The U.S. did not participate in the second International Migration Review Forum, held May 5–8 at U.N. Headquarters in New York, and will not support the declaration, the department said in a statement on Monday.
The forum is the U.N.’s main global platform for member states to review implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, according to the U.N. Network on Migration. The 2026 forum was scheduled to produce an intergovernmentally agreed “Progress Declaration.”
President Donald Trump ended U.S. participation in the U.N. process to develop the Global Compact for Migration during his first term in 2017, and now the State Department says the federal government will again affirm its opposition.
TRUMP PULLS US OUT OF UN-LINKED MIGRATION FORUM IN BOLD IMMIGRATION MOVE
President Donald Trump ended U.S. participation in the U.N. process to develop the Global Compact for Migration during his first term in 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The Global Compact was adopted in 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from the process. The U.N. and International Organization for Migration describe the compact as a cooperative framework intended to improve migration governance across countries.
“As Secretary Rubio said, opening our doors to mass migration was a grave mistake that threatens the cohesion of our societies and the future of our peoples,” the department’s statement reads. “ In recent years, Americans witnessed first-hand how mass immigration laid waste to our communities: crime and chaos at the border, states of emergency in major cities, and billions of taxpayer dollars funneled towards hotels, plane tickets, cell phones and cash cards for migrants.”
“Much of this was driven by UN agencies and their partners, which did not just facilitate the invasion of our country, but proceeded to redistribute our own people’s wealth and resources to millions of foreigners from the worst corners of the world,” it continued.
The department argued there was nothing safe, orderly or regular about any of this, adding that the costs “were borne primarily by working Americans forced to compete for scarce jobs, housing, and social services.”
“The UN has little to say about them,” the department wrote.
TRUMP UNVEILS ‘REVERSE MIGRATION’ PLAN TO HALT ‘THIRD WORLD’ IMMIGRATION, REVOKE BIDEN-ERA ENTRIES
The U.S. refused to participate in an International Migration Review Forum. ( Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
“President Trump is focused on the interests of Americans, not foreigners or globalist bureaucrats,” the statement reads. ”The United States will not support a process that imposes, overtly or by stealth, guidelines, standards, or commitments that constrain the American people’s sovereign, democratic right to make decisions in the best interests of our country.”
The department concluded its statement by saying its goal is not to “manage” migration, but to “foster remigration.”
In a thread on X also announcing the move to object to the declaration, the department said UN agencies “systematically facilitated mass migration into America and Europe, even as citizens of these nations called for restrictions on migration.” It added that U.N. materials related to the Global Compact call for expanding regular migration pathways and reference “regularization” of migrants.
The International Organization for Migration says the forum is held every four years for countries to review progress and shape next steps on migration policy. IOM, which coordinates the U.N. Network on Migration, says the network includes 39 U.N. agencies working to support countries on migration issues.
The department alleged that “UN agencies – working with the NGOs they fund – established a migration corridor through Central America and to the U.S. border,” the post reads. “As the American people suffered under an unprecedented wave of mass migration, the UN was on the ground pipelining migrants to our southern border.”
The State Department said its goal is not to “manage” migration, but to “foster remigration.” (Denis Balibouse/File Photo/Reuters)
“After facilitating mass migration to the United States, UN agencies condemned the deportation of illegal immigrants,” the post continued. “While the United Kingdom faced unprecedented illegal boat crossings, UN agencies condemned plans for deportations. UN officials lobbied aviation regulators to prevent the deportation of migrants – an appalling violation of the UK’s national sovereignty.”
The U.N. Network on Migration describes the compact as “non-legally binding.” A U.N.-hosted text of the compact also says it respects states’ sovereign right to determine their national migration policies and to distinguish between regular and irregular migration status.
The declaration itself says the Global Compact is a cooperative framework and acknowledges that no state can address migration alone, while also upholding the sovereignty of states.
The department pushed back on the compact’s framing of migration as “safe, orderly and regular.”
“For the citizens of Western nations, mass migration was never safe. It introduced new security threats, imposed financial strains, and undermined the cohesion of our societies,” it wrote.
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“The United States will not legitimize global compacts that enable mass migration into America or Western nations,” the post added.
U.N. materials frame the compact as a cooperative framework for issues that often cross borders, including labor migration, border management, migrant protections and development. U.N. agencies, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, describe the IMRF as a state-led review process with participation from relevant stakeholders.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.N. for comment.
World
Bolivia issues warrant for Evo Morales’s arrest after court no-show
The ex-Bolivian president is on trial for allegedly fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office.
Published On 12 May 2026
A Bolivian judge has found former President Evo Morales in contempt of court and reissued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to turn up for the start of his trial on charges of trafficking a minor.
The ruling on Monday renewed tensions in the South American country, with supporters of Morales warning they would “throw the country into turmoil” if the former leader is arrested.
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Morales, who is Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. The parents of the teen are accused of consenting to the relationship in exchange for favours from Morales.
The former socialist leader, who governed from 2006 to 2019, has rejected the accusations.
Morales did not attend the scheduled start of his trial on Monday in the southern city of Tarija, forcing the proceedings to be suspended.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said Morales’s “unjustified absence” confirmed his fugitive status and warranted an arrest order as well as a travel ban.
The former president has been hiding from the law in his central coca-growing stronghold of Chapare since late 2024, guarded by Indigenous supporters who have promised to resist any attempt to capture him.
‘Ready for battle’
“They think that by arresting Evo Morales, they will succeed in quelling and demobilising the movement. They are very much mistaken,” supporter Dieter Mendoza said on Kawsachun Coca radio on Monday. “If they touch Evo Morales, this will cause an upheaval … There will be an insurgency across Bolivia.”
Mendoza urged residents of the Cochabamba Tropics to remain on “high alert” and “ready for battle”.
Authorities first issued an arrest warrant for Morales in October 2024, but could not execute it after his supporters blocked roads for 24 days, preventing officers from reaching the region where he remains sheltered.
Morales was already declared in contempt of court in January 2025, when he did not show for a pretrial detention hearing.
Wilfredo Chavez, one of his lawyers, told the AFP news agency on Friday that neither Morales nor his lawyers would show up in court, as they had not been “properly notified”. The lawyer said the court did not send the summons to Morales’s address, but had instead served it through an edict.
Morales, who rose from dire poverty to become one of Latin America’s longest-serving leaders, has slammed those “that persecute me and condemn me in record time”.
His refusal to give up power in 2019 after three terms led to a tumultuous exit that cast a shadow over nearly 14 years of economic progress and poverty reduction.
Forced to resign after elections tainted by fraud, he slipped away into exile in Mexico and later Argentina, but returned home a year later.
He failed to make a comeback last year after being barred from seeking a fourth term in presidential elections.
World
Massive 11,000-carat ruby believed to be second-largest ever found in conflict-ridden country
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A massive ruby unearthed in Burma is being hailed as the second-largest ever discovered in the conflict-ridden country.
The ruby weighs about 11,000 carats — about 4.8 pounds — and was unearthed near Mogok in the Mandalay region, the center of Burma’s gem industry and an area affected by ongoing conflict, according to The Associated Press, citing state media.
The stone was found in mid-April, shortly after the country’s traditional New Year celebrations.
MAN STUMBLES ONTO RARE DIAMOND TREASURE DURING ARKANSAS PARK TRIP WITH FAMILY: ‘KNEW IT WAS DIFFERENT’
Burma’s newly discovered ruby is displayed at the president’s office in Naypyitaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Although it is roughly half the size of a 21,450-carat ruby discovered in 1996, experts say the new find could be more valuable because of its higher quality, the outlet reported.
It has a purplish-red color with slight yellow tones, moderate transparency and a highly reflective surface.
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing and his cabinet have already inspected the stone in the country’s capital of Naypyidaw.
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Burmese officials inspect a newly discovered ruby at the president’s office in Naypyidaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Burma produces up to 90% of the world’s rubies, mostly from Mogok and nearby Mong Hsu.
The gem trade — both legal and illegal — is a major source of income in the country.
However, rights groups, including Global Witness, have long urged jewelers to avoid buying Burmese gemstones, saying the trade helps fund the country’s military governments, according to The Associated Press.
RARE 10-CARAT BLUE DIAMOND AMONG $100M WORTH OF GEMS GOING UP FOR AUCTION
This photo taken on May 16, 2019, shows miners working in a ruby mine in Mogok, north of Mandalay. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images)
Gem mining also finances ethnic armed groups fighting for autonomy, contributing to Burma’s long-running conflicts.
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The mining regions remain unstable.
Mogok was seized in July 2024 by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group. Control later returned to the military under a ceasefire deal brokered by China late last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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