South Sudan planning for elections against backdrop of crippling conflict that’s killing scores, displacing hundreds
South Sudan’s transitional government is due to wrap up in less than 10 months. Yet the country’s future looks as bleak as it did in 2018 when rival parties signed a deal to end a crippling civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people. The peace agreement was supposed to end...
We’ve been away too long: World class ABBA pop music band reunites in London after 40-year ‘sabbatical’
Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus sent music lovers into a frenzy as they reunited for the first time in the UK for 40 years. The foursome walked the red carpet at the world premiere of their new Voyage show, featuring the foursome as digitally created younger...
‘Belarusian security forces arrest refugees, set dogs on them, torture them with electric shocks, butts them with guns’
Human rights groups in Belarus have also documented abuses – including beatings and torture – carried out by local security forces. Khaled Mohebi, a 27-year-old from Afghanistan, reported that when the Polish border guards pushed him back to Belarus when he first attempted to cross last October, Belarusian security forces...
Refugees fleeing war in Ukraine say Polish border guards broke their cell phones, shouted all night to deny them sleep
More than 3.5 million of the 6.5 million people who have fled Russia’s invasion have entered the European Union (UE) at the Poland-Ukraine border, mainly to open arms and a hot meal. This situation stands in stark contrast to the reception for refugees from the Middle East, Africa and South...
Russian invasion of Ukraine is feeding renewed enthusiasm for sovereignty driven by nuclear energy in Europe
In early March, the world looked on in horror as a fire broke out at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine. The blaze at the Zaporizhzhia facility following shelling by invading Russian forces was eventually brought under control. No leaked radiation was reported, although the potential for catastrophe...
Zimbabwe seeks international support to sell seized ivory stockpile to raise $854 million for elephant conservation
Zimbabwe is seeking international support to be allowed to sell its stockpile of seized ivory, saying the $854 million it expects to earn is urgently needed for the conservation of its rapidly growing elephant population, which it describes as “dangerous”. Officials from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority...
Africa’s burden: Report says monkeypox is related to smallpox, a dreaded disease that was eradicated in 1980
The rapid accumulation of monkeypox virus cases is ringing alarm bells. On Tuesday this week, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signalled it was worried about the state of the outbreak in the UK and the potential that cases would be found in other countries. “We do...
Stereotyping? Strain of monkeypox virus detected in Canada, US and Europe in gays, lesbians…then linked to Africa!
The United States confirmed a case of monkeypox infection on Wednesday in a man who recently travelled to Canada. It is not yet clear if the man, who lives in Massachusetts and who traveled to Canada by car, is connected to the growing outbreak of monkeypox cases in Europe. The...
World recorded 15 million Covid deaths, but working out size of health burden is challenging – report
How do you count the cost of a pandemic? Covid-19 has killed an estimated 15 million people since it emerged at the end of 2019, but its impact on health reaches much further. For hundreds of millions of people around the world, infection with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has brought a...
‘Selecting’ Somalia president: Gun prices soar in a country where your only protection is the number of weapons you own
The price of an AK-47, the standard weapon of Somali militias, has soared on gun markets ahead of a fraught ballot this weekend, when lawmakers will select the country’s next president. Parliamentarians from Somalia’s lower and upper houses will decide on May 15 from a list of 39 candidates that...
