Appellate judge declines to defer Trump’s $454 million fraud fine but allows him to borrow
Trump and his co-defendants owe more than $465 million to the state. They have until March 25 to secure a stay – a legal mechanism pausing collection while he appeals the underlying verdict – before they are forced to pay the penalty or risk having assets seized. Posting a bond in the full amount would trigger an automatic stay.
Judge disqualifies Trump from Illinois ballot but ruling won’t take effect pending appeal
Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, attacked police and swarmed the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Trump gave an incendiary speech to supporters beforehand, telling them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell.” He then for hours did not act on requests that he urge the mob to stop.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
