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The visit last week of China's Defence Minister Wei Fenghe to Tehran marked a significant moment in the development of Chinese-Iranian military co-operation. Iran is becoming an increasingly important factor in Russia and China's efforts to create a partnership on the Eurasian landmass which can balance the US influence, writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed for commonspace.eu

Millions of Muslims around the world are celebrating the Eid - the feast that follows the fasting month of Ramadan. Thousands of Muslims gathered in Makkah and Madinah to perform the Eid Al-Fitr prayers in the early hours of Monday morning, the Saudi Press Agency reported. In Makkah’s Grand Mosque, Imam Sheikh Saleh bin Abdullah bin Humaid led the prayer. The editorial team of commonspace.eu wishes Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim readers across the world.

Across the world hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities to mark International Workers Day - often referred to simply as May Day. Citizens and trade unions in cities around Europe are taking to the streets for May Day marches, and to put out protest messages to their governments. In Italy, after a two-year pandemic lull, an outdoor mega-concert was set for Rome with rallies and protests in cities across the country. Besides work, peace was an underlying theme with calls for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Italy's three main labour unions were focusing their main rally in the hilltop town of Assisi, a frequent destination for peace protests. This year's slogan is "Working for peace". May Day is also a big day for left wing parties and organisations in Turkey, where large May Day rallies also took place this year. May 1 was chosen as International Workers Day in 1889 Congress of the Socialist International which met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen's Association. They adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day.

Burkina Faso and Guinea have requested additional time to present a plan to hand back power to civilians and reinstate democratic rule following an ultimatum by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had set a deadline for Monday, 25 April. In Conakry as in Ouagadougou, where the military recently seized power by force, the transitional authorities are asking for more time to pursue consultations, according to an ECOWAS communiqué issued on 27 April. The potential impact of these sanctions on poor, landlocked countries has caused great concern, but also widespread resentment, beyond Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, against regional organisations.