Two politicians have just been sentenced to long prison terms in Eswatini. Their crime? Calling for democracy.
Mthandeni Dube and Bacede Mabuza, both members of parliament (MP) at the time, were arrested in July 2021 for taking part in a wave of pro-democracy protests that swept the southern African country. A third MP, Mduduzi Simelane, remains subject to an arrest warrant after going into hiding.
“The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures," says the UN Secretary-General as he launches a call to action on extreme heat and its impact on society and the environment.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a pact last month to revive a Cold War-era mutual defense pledge between two of the world’s nuclear powers, it also had the implicit support a third nuclear power standing in the shadows: China.
New Caledonia, a French overseas territory of about 290,000 people in the southwest Pacific, is facing a challenging recovery from weeks of civil unrest that erupted in mid-May, leaving an aftermath of destruction and political turmoil.
Several Asia-Pacific countries are ageing fast. This transition is neither unique nor limited to the region -- it is a global megatrend. However, this time it is different. Why? Because ageing proceeds quite fast.
As the African diaspora continues its growth, agencies are seeking ways to tap into this vast demographic to help with the continent's development.
Remittances from millions of Africans scattered across the globe have been hailed for sustaining local economies, but a new initiative is aiming to form upscale diaspora investments for longer-term economic development.
Heading into the traditional dry period of winter in southern Africa, there was significant consternation due to the drastically below average rainfall the region has been experiencing since January 2024.
Kenya’s President William Ruto has withdrawn the tax-increasing Finance Bill that sparked mass protests. He has
sacked his cabinet and the head of the police has
resigned. But the anger many feel hasn’t gone away, and protests continue.
The protests have brought Kenya’s Gen Z onto the political stage, with young people – over 65 per cent of the population – at the forefront. Since the protests began, they’ve made full use of social media to share views, explain the impact of proposed changes, organise protests and raise funds to help those injured or arrested.
Today, we are facing a growing and unprecedented array of nuclear weapons dangers. At the same time, this year’s presidential election is also unprecedented, unpredictable, and extremely consequential.
On the heels of a new alliance announced this summer by Russia and North Korea for a pact pledging mutual defense, with the support of China, it is now shockingly being suggested in South Korea that it review its security policy with the US and end its reliance on the US guarantee, to employ on South Koreas’ behalf, US nuclear weapons as part of its “nuclear umbrella”.
The Palestinians in Gaza have been victims of a double tragedy: killings by Israel’s mostly American-made weapons and deaths by starvation.
And now comes a revelation of a new weapon of war: how Israel has been systematically weaponizing water against Palestinians in Gaza, according to a new report from the global human rights organization, Oxfam.
Student protests over the Bangladesh government’s recruitment system have escalated into violent retaliation from the police from the authorities.
Today (Friday, July 19), violent clashes continued to rock Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, and the northern city of Rangpuras, where university students continued their protest over the government’s civil service recruitment system.
AFP reports reports the death toll reached 105.
The Biden administration, which has come under heavy fire for its unyielding pro-Israeli stand on the nine-month-old war in Gaza, is facing a rebellion within its own bureaucratic ranks—12 and counting.
The 12 government officials, who recently resigned, have accused the US of providing diplomatic cover for the continuous flow of arms to Israel ensuring “our undeniable complicity in the killings and forced starvation of a besieged Palestinian population in Gaza.”
Rights groups have called for governments to do more to combat transnational repression as a series of recent reports show growing numbers of exiled journalists, political dissidents and rights defenders are being targeted by autocratic regimes in an attempt to silence them.
A group aligned with the mayor of Chhayanath Rara Municipality in the Mugu district of Nepal’s Karnali Province physically attacked Aishwarya Malla for simply asking for a budgetary review of the local government.
“As a deputy mayor, I have the right to know where the budget is allocated, but the mayor’s team attacked me,” Malla said. “They did it only because I’m a woman, but they forget I’m also an elected representative with a responsibility to serve people, especially women and marginalized sections of our society.”
Scientific research has led to social and economic gains worldwide, but the scientists who make it happen face significant challenges.
Setting up a community water project with a solar-powered pumping system was an unlikely idea for the peasant families of a Salvadoran village who, despite their doubts, turned it into reality and now have drinking water in their homes.
It's been 26 years since a peace agreement, the Noumea Accord, was signed following an outbreak of conflict in the 1980s between Kanak islanders and French armed forces in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.
What started as a pastime desire to sell crafts at local markets, deeply rooted in the South African culture, has since blossomed to become an international business entity for two local women.