Alert: China’s diplomacy in Horn of Africa that’s anchored on firming ruling regimes protects its interest only
At the outset of the conflict in Tigray in November 2020, China worked with the Ethiopian military to evacuate 600 Chinese citizens from the massive Wolkaiyt sugar refinery near the frontlines and a water project near Mekelle run by the Gezhouba Group, one of China’s largest energy state-owned enterprises. In...
China’s parallel peace agenda in Horn of Africa questioned as it lures region toward the Communist Party
The launch of China’s Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa initiative in March 2022 to facilitate a Chinese-led peace process in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa highlights Beijing’s interest in the region that is grappling with humanitarian crises touched climate change and scramble for natural...
Ebola rampage: Uganda President Museveni bans herbalists, witchdoctors and miracle healing prayers
Uganda has imposed an indefinite ban on the work of herbalists and other traditional medicine men to halt the rapid spread of Ebola outbreak that already killed scores – including Health-workers – in the past three weeks. The ban was announced on Thursday by President Yoweri Museveni as new assessment...
Disaster beckons as Barcelona count themselves alive by a miracle after shock Champions League draw
Around Camp Nou, it was mostly an eerie silence on the final whistle of Barcelona’s 3-3 draw with Inter Milan, as it dawned on fans that the Catalan side are almost certainly eliminated from the competition already. As Inter’s players, coaches and fans celebrated in their small pockets, most of...
Kylian Mbappe’s ego’s the epitome of how player brand is eclipsing club and football pre-eminence
It’s the short clip of Neymar being asked ‘What’s Mbappe like? which reveals most about the reality of working life with the footballer who never seems satisfied, even now he’s been crowned the little emperor of Paris. The Brazilian is a picture of contentment as he passes through the player-media...
Food security: How scientists caught between swapping gasoline for ethanol, protection of grasslands and forests
Tyler Lark, a geographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, grew up among farms, working on a neighbour’s dairy, vaguely aware of the tension between clearing land to grow food and preserving nature. As an engineering student working on water projects in Haiti, he saw an extreme version of that conflict:...
Return of Talibans: Why 38 million people in Afghanistan are suffering because a few hundred are in power
When the Taliban returned to power 15 months ago, it presented a conundrum to the rest of the world. Although Washington had signed a peace agreement with the group in February 2020, the Islamic Emirate – as the Taliban calls its government – was being led by several men on...
Irony of hunger in Hon of Africa: Governments, relief agencies know what should be done, why don’t they do it?
The 20 million people struggling to survive a scorching drought in the Horn of Africa are victims not only of a climate crisis but of the failings of governments and humanitarians to heed the lessons from earlier disasters. Four consecutive seasons of failed rains have ruined people’s lives and livelihoods...
