Trial that brought down a warlord: Jailed Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka founded Mai Mai rebel group that killed, raped hundreds in North Kivu
The then 34-year-old Sheka – a former miner who founded a year earlier what Goma’s chief military prosecutor called the area’s “most organised” armed group, complete with units, brigades, battalions, and companies – had given his orders. For four days and nights, his recruits discharged them.
Fast fashion as not Africa’s environmental hazard, but also a cultural and economic disabler
In a sprawling secondhand clothing market in Ghana’s capital, early morning shoppers jostle as they search through piles of garments, eager to pluck a bargain or a designer find from the stalls selling used and low-quality apparel imported from the West. At the other end of the street, an upcycled...
At Baku climate meet aid groups prospect for new money, while disaster-hit communities wait for faster responses
The sideline talks displayed an emerging web of humanitarian ideas that are increasingly interconnected with the climate policy world: funding displacement programmes through a new climate fund, for example or leveraging humanitarian skills to bring climate programming to conflict-hit areas.
Frying pan into fire: Sudanese and Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia’s Amhara region face daily attacks
Some refugees at the site have been shot, while others have been stabbed by armed men who steal mobile phones, cash and other items. At least nine refugees have been killed at Alemwach in the past year, according to a tally by the camp’s leadership committee.
Saudi football diplomacy: ‘In owning a club, there’s fast-track public relations that operates in sports’
The wish is for Saudi to become a tourist destination, hosting elite events such as boxing, golf and esports. It all forms part of Saudi Vision 2030, a government programme designed by MBS to diversify the economy before natural resources – and the world’s dependency on them – expire. A thriving entertainment sector to suit the needs of its young population is also high on the agenda.
Premier League owners: In buying English football clubs Abu Dhabi and its brands have become part of UK image
Manchester City’s was a takeover that pushed us towards the very modern term of “sportswashing” but it has yielded more than just reputational improvements in a part of the world where Amnesty International says freedom of expression is unduly restricted.
For the love of rice, Sierra Leone launches push to free itself from costly food imports
Sierra Leone’s agriculture minister, Henry Kpaka Musa, accused the International Monetary Fund of pressuring Sierra Leone in the 1980s to stop investing in agriculture and open its markets to imports as a condition for receiving loans.
While regulators’ verdict in UK is pregnant women don’t need Covid vaccines, US endorses it
On its Covid-19 vaccine pregnancy page, the CDC warns that pregnant women are “more likely to get very sick from Covid-19” than other people. It also says they are more likely to need hospitalisation, intensive care, the use of a ventilator and experience complications such as preterm birth or stillbirth.
African health activists worry Trump presidency means a return of abortion ‘gag rule’, unsupportable pregnancies
Even NGOs in countries that outlaw abortion, such as Zimbabwe, are affected. Population Services Zimbabwe, for instance, closed its outreach clinics during Trump’s first term after losing funding due to its association with MSI Reproductive Choices.
A little dystopian: World’s billionaires pour money into changing biology of cows to reduce methane, veterinary dismiss it as ‘unnecessary’
Crop scientist and regenerative farmer Howard Vlieger says such a vaccine could be damaging to cows because it is being designed to target the organisms living in cows’ digestive system – organisms the animals need to digest fibre.
