Kaizer Chief FC player Luke Fleur’s murder is grim reminder of South Africa’s endemic crime ahead of this month’s polls
At 45 per 100,000 people in 2022/23, South Africa’s murder rate was the highest in 20 years, police figures show, roughly equivalent to Ecuador’s and higher than that of Honduras, a country plagued by extreme gang violence. The murder rate in the United States, one of the highest in the developed world, was six per 100,000 in 2022, according to government data.
Climate change funds flow to Africa has risen markedly but a yawning funding gap remains
Funding for climate tech startups in Africa from the private sector is growing, with businesses raising more than $3.4 billion since 2019. But there’s still a long way to go, with the continent requiring $277 billion annually to meet its climate goals for 2030.
Tourists evacuated from Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve as torrential rains pound East Africa, kill dozens
More than 180 people have died across Kenya since mid-March when the long rains season started, causing flooding, landslides and destroying infrastructure. The Metrology Department has warned that more torrential rains are expected this week.
US Methodist Church unbans homosexuality, now defines marriage as between ‘two people of faith’ not man and woman
Also approved was a measure that forbids district superintendents – or regional administrators – from penalising clergy for either performing a same-sex wedding or for refraining from performing one. It also prohibits superintendents from forbidding a church from hosting a same-sex wedding or requiring it to.
Hours after $9,000 fine for contempt, Trump calls judge ‘crooked’ but risks no time in jail
Trump insists he is merely exercising his free speech rights, but the offending posts from his Truth Social account and campaign website were taken down. Merchan is weighing other alleged gag-order violations and will hear arguments on Thursday.
Pot ‘crackers’ in US celebrate reclassification of marijuana but move won’t get drug pushers out of jail
Biden, a Democrat, supports legalising medical marijuana for use “where appropriate, consistent with medical and scientific evidence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on April 25, 2024. “That is why it is important for this independent review to go through.”
New era for US drugs regulation as Biden administration reclassifies cannabis but pot businesses still can’t find a bank
Most Americans live in states where marijuana is legally available in some form. But there’s a continuing problem when it comes to banks: Many financial institutions don’t want anything to do with money from the cannabis industry for fear it could expose them to legal trouble from the federal government, which still lists marijuana as illegal.
Wary of disruptive Umkhonto Wesizwe’s influence, South Africa’s ruling ANC is investigating ex-president Zuma’s party for forgery
The new investigation into the MK Party came after a national newspaper reported on Sunday that a former party official has told police there was an elaborate scheme to forge some of the 15,000 signatures required for parties to register for the elections.
World humanitarian agencies raise alarm over ‘crushing levels of violence and displacement’ in Congo
Over the past few months over 700,000 people have been forced from their homes, bringing the total forcibly displaced to 7.2 million – an all-time high.
Kenya and Rwanda push for transnational plastics and toxic plastic chemical controls or protections
More than 50 countries supported a proposal by Rwanda and Peru for assessing what a sustainable level for plastic production might look like. Plastic production is on track to triple by 2050, but today’s levels already “are unsustainable and far exceed our recycling and waste management capacities,” said Rwanda’s chief negotiator Juliet Kabera.
