Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to North Korea on Tuesday for a “friendly” visit, the Kremlin announced, as the West suspects Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with weapons for its Ukraine offensive.
The visit to the world’s most reclusive state comes as Putin seeks ammunition to continue his military campaign launched in February 2022, which has thrown Moscow into unprecedented global isolation.
It also comes nine months after Putin hosted North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on a rare foreign trip to the Russian Far East, where the pair lavished each other with praise.
“President Vladimir Putin on June 18-19 will go to the North Korean Democratic Republic on a friendly state visit,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Moscow said Putin will then travel to Vietnam.
Western countries, South Korea and Kyiv have accused Pyongyang of sending weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, in violation of UN sanctions on North Korea.
Putin has scaled down trips abroad since launching the Ukraine offensive, but has paid some high-profile visits to Moscow’s few key allies such as China.
Pyongyang rarely hosts foreign guests, isolated diplomatically and having shut itself off even more since the Covid pandemic.
Russia and North Korea, which share a small land border, have historic links since the Soviet Union helped found the tiny state after the Korean War in the 1950s.
Since the fall of the USSR, Russia was one of the few countries to have working relations with Pyongyang.
It will be Putin’s second visit to the country in his time in power, after a trip 24 years ago, shortly after becoming president, to meet Kim Jung Un’s father Kim Jong Il.
Back then, Putin was a frequent traveller, regularly touring the United States and Europe.
Now Russia finds itself under heavy international sanctions and the Kremlin leader is a persona non grata in most of the Western world, officially wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Kim said last week that ties with Russia had “developed into an unbreakable relationship of comrades-in-arms”.
When the leaders saw each other in September, Putin said he saw “possibilities” for military cooperation with North Korea, while Kim wished the Kremlin chief “victory” in Ukraine.
They symbolically gifted each other rifles and the Kremlin promised that Putin would visit in turn.
A string of Russian officials, including Moscow’s spy chief, have since visited North Korea in preparation for the visit.
In March, Russia also used its UN Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of North Korean sanctions violations, a move seen as a victory for Pyongyang.
Both Russia and North Korea have denied that Pyongyang’s weapons are being used in Ukraine.
Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jon, accused Seoul and Washington last month of “misleading public opinion” on the issue.
Ukraine, however, has reported finding N Korean shells on the battlefield.
In May, South Korea said its northern rival fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, with some experts saying they could be tests for weapons destined for use against Ukraine.
As the Kremlin and Pyongyang have publicly deepened their ties, Moscow’s relationship with South Korea — a Ukraine backer — has been hugely strained.
Seoul is a major weapons exporter to Kyiv. Its President Yoon Suk Yeol last month promised to maintain its support in a phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
South Korea last month announced separate sanctions on Russian and North Korean individuals and companies allegedly trading military supplies.
For its part, Russia earlier this year detained a South Korean man, Baek Won-soon, on spy charges. He is believed to be the first South Korean detained on espionage charges in Russia for decades.
According to media reports, he may have been a missionary helping North Korean workers in Russia escape the country.
AFP
The United States has condemned the killing of members of the family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, describing the attack as horrific and urging Nigerian authorities to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement shared on X on Thursday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs expressed condolences to the victims’ families and called for stronger measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“The United States strongly condemns the horrific killing of members of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo’s family in Plateau State, Nigeria. The continued violence targeting Christian communities and other vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is deeply alarming,” the bureau said
The US said it had already engaged Nigerian officials on the worsening security situation, stressing that urgent action was needed to curb recurring attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
“As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts. The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities,” the statement added.
The bureau reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to combat terrorism and violent extremism, stressing that Christians and other Nigerians should be able to practise their faith without fear of violence.
The statement followed the July 12 attack on Kum community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, where nine members of Rev. Dachomo’s extended family, including a two-month-old baby, were killed.
According to the cleric, the attackers, believed to be armed Fulani militias, asked for him by name before opening fire on his relatives.
Dachomo, who serves as Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said his family had repeatedly been targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the violence in Plateau State.
He recalled that his grandmother and an uncle were also killed in previous attacks, adding that days after burying his relatives, he received a written death threat from the same group, warning that he would be their next target.
Saudi Arabia has updated its tourist eVisa programme for 2026, limiting eligibility in Africa to only three countries as part of its list of 66 nations whose citizens can apply through the Kingdom’s online visa platform.
The move leaves most African countries, including Nigeria, outside the simplified entry scheme.
The electronic visa allows eligible travellers to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism, leisure activities, family visits and Umrah, excluding the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Applications are completed online, eliminating the need for embassy visits and lengthy visa processing.
Saudi authorities said the eVisa forms part of ongoing efforts to expand tourism, attract international visitors and simplify travel procedures through a fully digital application system. The visa is available only to citizens of approved countries and territories listed on the Kingdom’s official tourism portal.
Below is the list of African countries eligible for Saudi Arabia’s eVisa.
1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
The South African government says more than 53,000 foreign nationals have been deported or repatriated since launching a “migration management” campaign five weeks ago.
Most were from Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, officials say, and the number is likely to rise as repatriations and deportations continue.
South Africa is carrying out one of its biggest crackdowns on undocumented migrants in years, following weeks of anti-immigration protests that have seen violence, intimidation and looting.
Protesters have been demanding tighter border controls and mass deportations, accusing migrants of contributing to high unemployment, rising crime rates and collapse of public services.
The UN has warned against using migrants as scapegoats for South Africa’s socioeconomic challenges.
Anti-migrant activists have threatened to stage weekly protests to pressure the government until their demands are met, and there are fears the protests could turn violent.
The demonstrators had set an “unofficial deadline” of 30 June for all undocumented migrants to leave the country, which has seen many foreigners leave to escape violence and intimidation.
Several countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya, have flown their citizens home in recent weeks.
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi announced on Sunday that 53,499 foreign nationals have been processed for deportation and repatriation, “which is dominated by the Malawians, followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans”.
“We are striving to achieve an orderly and regular migration which is mindful and sensitive to the concerns raised by our people, while observing human rights and dignity of all people in our country, irrespective of their citizenship and immigration status,” Kubayi told a news conference in Pretoria.
She said the repatriation and deportation process has helped them catch people who were wanted by the police for alleged criminal activity.
Authorities will continue to enforce its immigration laws, she added, but warned that protesters should not conduct unauthorised searches of homes and businesses that are suspected of sheltering undocumented migrants.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged public concerns about immigration but has condemned attacks against migrants, warning citizens against taking the law into their own hands.
South Africa is the continent’s wealthiest nation and has long attracted migrants searching for better economic opportunities, some of whom enter the country illegally.
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