International
Netherlands returns over 100 Benin Bronzes looted from Nigeria
Nigeria has taken delivery from the Netherlands of 119 pieces of priceless “Benin Bronze” artefacts looted more than 120 years ago, the country’s museum commission and the Dutch embassy said June 18.
It is the latest return of artefacts to Africa, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to hand back the spoils of colonial oppression.
“On this historic occasion it gives us great joy to finally welcome the return of 119 Benin Bronzes from the Netherlands,” said Mr Olugbile Holloway, director-general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
“This represents the largest physical return to Nigeria and the people of Benin since the looting of the Benin Royal Palace by the British in 1897,” he said in a statement jointly issued with the Dutch embassy in Nigeria.
“The symbolism of this occasion cannot be overemphasised and what it means for the pride and dignity of not just the Benin people, but the whole of Nigeria,” added Mr Holloway.
The story of the Benin Bronzes is one of violence and tragedy. It began when nine British officers were killed on a trade mission to the then-independent kingdom of Benin, in the south of present-day Nigeria.
The British reaction was fierce. London deployed a military expedition to avenge its officers.
The troops killed several thousand locals and torched Benin’s capital city. They looted the royal palace, stealing hundreds of artworks, including the Benin Bronzes.
Most of the ornate bronzes were then sold to finance the expedition, auctioned off or sold to museums across Europe and the United States.
This was in 1897, and 128 years later, Nigeria is still negotiating the return of the bronzes around the world – with mixed results.
Dutch Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation Dewi van de Weerd hailed Nigeria for persistently campaigning for the return of the cultural artefacts.
“We hope that this restitution is not the final chapter, but the foundation for further cooperation between Dutch and Nigerian museums,” said Ms van de Weerd in the joint statement.
Of the 119 objects, 113 were part of the Dutch State Collection, while the Rotterdam municipality returned the other six. The pieces will be officially handed over on June 21.
International
Democrats Win US midterm elections
Trump acknowledges the Iran war, and the rising cost of living, were factors in his Republican Party’s defeat – as the White House posts on social media: “Trump is still your president”
US President Donald Trump
The Democrats win the Senate and the House in US midterm elections, taking control of Congress for the rest of Donald Trump’s tenure.
Voters in conservative bastions who had propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fueled by deep frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living and anger at Trump’s stewardship of the country.
Trump acknowledges the Iran war, and the rising cost of living, were factors in his Republican Party’s defeat – as the White House posts on social media: “Trump is still your president”

In Texas, the biggest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in seismic fashion, winning a Senate seat and ousting three-term Governor Greg Abbott.Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago, and in South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate.The results will usher in a new era of divided government in Washington, following two years in which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely exercised its power to rein in Trump.
International
JUST IN: Plane Crash Near Trump’s Florida Home Kills All 9 Aboard
A private Learjet 60 crashed into a residential neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people on board, officials confirmed.
The aircraft, flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, went down around 12:50 p.m. local time near Cresthaven/Greenacres, roughly 7–11 kilometers (about 4–7 miles) from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
It struck near a busy roadway at the entrance to a mobile-home community, creating a large fireball and leaving a crater in the road. Debris was scattered across a wide area, and nearby power and water lines were damaged.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash a “horrific tragedy” and confirmed there were no survivors among the nine occupants.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the impact as “cataclysmic,” saying it “looked like a missile going down.” No injuries were reported among people on the ground. About 600 residents of a nearby mobile-home park were evacuated.
Trump had been at Mar-a-Lago earlier Sunday but departed on Air Force One from the nearby airport about an hour before the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with support from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Early reports noted the crew had discussed moderate turbulence and ice shortly before the steep descent.
International
Tens of thousands protest against Narendra Modi regime in Delhi
The protest was one of the largest shows of opposition strength in years, taking place amid a wider resurgence of anti-government dissent which has been systematically crushed over the 12 years of the Modi regime.
Thousands of opposition supporters have gathered in Delhi as protests against the Narendra Modi government continue to gather momentum.
Led by the Congress party, India’s opposition alliance has brought together supporters from across the country, amid growing anger over a large-scale revision of the country’s voter roll that has seen 130 million names erased.
Opposition leaders have alleged the process gives Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) an electoral advantage, and have called for the resignation and impeachment of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
The BJP has denied the claims.
Addressing tens of thousands of party workers and supporters, the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said Kumar had “carried out the biggest crime. He has tried to silence the voice of people, strangulate our country.”
Gandhi said the opposition, united under the acronym India (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), would not let “democracy be finished in the country” and warned Modi: “You can’t run anywhere.”
The protest was one of the largest shows of opposition strength in years, taking place amid a wider resurgence of anti-government dissent which has been systematically crushed over the 12 years of the Modi regime.
The Guardian Uk
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