Desmond Tutu wanted to be remembered only as one who ‘loved, laughed, cried, was forgiven and forgave’
Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning icon, an uncompromising foe of apartheid and a modern-day activist for racial justice and LGBT rights, died Sunday at 90. South Africans, world leaders and people around the globe mourned the death of the man viewed as the country’s moral conscience. Tutu worked...
Turkish government fiddling with Euphrates River water regime creates political crisis in Syria, Iraq
In addition to farming, Amer Meslet works as a brickmaker, which brings in 100,000 Syrian pounds a month (around $30). Without any harvest, that is all of his income, and Meslet says he now spends half of this on water, either for his family’s needs or to feed his animals....
How interplay of climate change, conflicts drive water and health crises in Syria and neighbouring countries
The huge silos at the roundabout as you enter Syria’s Hassakeh city are decorated with giant pictures of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Turkey-based separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as well as flags from the military arm of the local Kurdish-led administration. There is still some corn in the silos,...
‘Police harassment of homeless asylum seekers and migrants is regular occurrences in France’
The situation could not be more different for Ali, an Afghan asylum seeker in his mid-30s whose name has been changed to protect his identity. Ali arrived in Paris, France, after crossing Iran, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, and Italy on foot. The journey is replete with dangers and guards at...
Leap from Taliban fire into French frying pan: Barriers Afghans seeking protection in France face
The experience of Afghan asylum seekers in France differs considerably depending on how they arrive in the country, reflecting a tension across Europe between rhetoric about the need to protect people from Taliban persecution and the reality of an erosion of access to asylum. Around 2,600 Afghans who were airlifted...
Ethiopian government and Tigray rebels locked in disinformation battle to control the conflict’s narrative
Since clashes erupted between Ethiopian forces and northern rebels more than a year ago, another war has flared up online as the rivals spread false claims to control the conflict’s narrative. Digital activists have been engaged in a fierce battle to discredit their opponents, from pro-government sites claiming to promote...
How drought is driving conflict in northern Kenya where 2.5 million people are at risk of hunger
Lying in his hospital bed, a bandage wrapped around his foot, Ekidor Esekon remembers little of the day he was shot. What he does recall is setting out early on an otherwise normal morning in early December, to herd cows with his cousin deep in the bush along Kenya’s border...
Retreating Tigrayan rebels call for ceasefire with Ethiopian government, leave a trail of destruction
Despite evidence to the contrary, Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) leaders have previously denied targeting civilians and always promise to investigate the abuses committed by individual soldiers every time the matter is raised. Such was the case on Tuesday as TPLF called a ceasefire as the stepping stone to ending...
Covid wasn’t doom and gloom after all; some Kenyans who lost jobs turned to farming and are loving it
If the coronavirus pandemic had not happened, it is likely Jack Onyango would still be living alone, working in Kenya’s capital Nairobi and sending money back to his wife and children in his faraway rural home. Like so many Kenyans, he moved to Nairobi as a young man, believing that...