Environmentalists push Nigeria to delay Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of assets in sorely polluted Niger Delta

Environmentalists push Nigeria to delay Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of assets in sorely polluted Niger Delta

Activists say Shell has a history of poor divestment in the region. They point to a wellhead blowout in the Santa Barbara River, which flows through the Niger Delta, in 2021. The wellhead wasn’t producing but wasn’t decommissioned by Shell or its new owners, Aiteo Eastern E & P. The facility spewed crude oil and associated gas for 38 days and caused planet-warming methane to be released into the atmosphere, killed fish and devastated riverside farms.

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South Sudan blames its economic woes on war in neighbouring Sudan, piracy in Red Sea

South Sudan blames its economic woes on war in neighbouring Sudan, piracy in Red Sea

South Sudan, a landlocked country, produces around 150,000 barrels of fuel a day and uses Sudanese pipelines to transfer its oil to the global market in an agreement with the government of Sudan. Sudan pockets $23 per barrel as transit fees for oil exports from South Sudan.

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Clash over disputed land between Twic and Ngok Dinka subtribes kill 52 in South Sudan’s oil-rich Abyei

Clash over disputed land between Twic and Ngok Dinka subtribes kill 52 in South Sudan’s oil-rich Abyei

Sudan and South Sudan have disagreed over control of the Abyei region since a 2005 peace deal ended decades of civil war between Sudan’s north and south. Both Sudan and South Sudan claim ownership of Abyei, whose status was unresolved after South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011.

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Burundi detains dozens of soldiers resisting deployment to Congo to fight M23 rebels

Burundi detains dozens of soldiers resisting deployment to Congo to fight M23 rebels

Tensions have been rising in Africa’s Great Lakes region as Rwanda, Burundi and Congo trade accusations over support for violent rebel groups operating in the lawless areas of eastern Congo.

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Nairobi, Kenya: Report warns harmful waste is going to cost the world $640 billion annually

Nairobi, Kenya: Report warns harmful waste is going to cost the world $640 billion annually

Waste prevention measures and improved waste management could reduce those costs, but there are significant barriers to change, such as weak enforcement mechanisms, the report said. A treaty to address plastics pollution, which does not biodegrade and can cause serious health impacts, is being negotiated, with a fourth round of talks scheduled for April.

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Justified Accord: US Africa Command largest military exercise in East Africa gets underway in Kenya

Justified Accord: US Africa Command largest military exercise in East Africa gets underway in Kenya

At the Nanyuki-based Counter Insurgency, Terrorism and Stability Operations (CITSO) centre, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is hosting a multinational field training exercise, urban operations training, as well as a medical civic action programme, providing medical care to up to 1,000 rural Kenyans.

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Prince Harry plans to appeal High Court ruling that denies him UK police protection

Prince Harry plans to appeal High Court ruling that denies him UK police protection

Prince Harry, along with other senior royals, had received full publicly-funded security protection provided by the state before he stepped back from his royal duties and moved to California with his American wife Meghan in March 2020.

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India’s ruling Janata Party bets on women voters with sewing machines, piped water and cooking gas

India’s ruling Janata Party bets on women voters with sewing machines, piped water and cooking gas

Traditionally Indian women were more inclined to vote for Congress, the main opposition party, in part because it gave a country short of female role models its first woman prime minister, Indira Gandhi.

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Congo Brazzaville starts exporting liquified natural gas a year after Italian firm ENI launched local project

Congo Brazzaville starts exporting liquified natural gas a year after Italian firm ENI launched local project

Europe has been in search of new energy sources since moving to cut off Russian supplies following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

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With world’s lowest fertility rate already South Korean women prefer career growth to having babies

With world’s lowest fertility rate already South Korean women prefer career growth to having babies

Since 2018, South Korea has been the only Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) member with a rate below 1, defying the billions of dollars spent by the country to try to reverse the trend that led the population to decline for a fourth straight year in 2023.

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