As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to jobs and religion, the residents of a tiny, ecologically sensitive island have only one concern: Survival. As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to jobs and religion, the residents of a tiny, ecologically sensitive island have only one concern: Survival.

The residents of Ghoramara in the Sundarbans delta on the Bay of Bengal are fighting to save their homes from disappearing into the sea in the face of rising sea levels and increasingly fierce storms, putting climate change front and centre for politicians trying to win their vote.

Home to more than 4.5 million people, the Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world and regarded as a climate change hotspot as the planet gets warmer. The region is shared by India and Bangladesh.

“For us, the protection of the island is the main issue in this election,” said Bimal Patra, 60, one of just over 3,700 registered voters in Ghoramara, an island in the delta.

India is holding a massive general election over seven weeks. The people of Ghoramara go to the polls on Saturday, the final day of voting, as part of the Mathurapur constituency.

The plight of the island’s inhabitants highlights the broader concerns about the impact of climate change on the environment and the urgency for solutions.

The African National Congress appeared on course to lose the parliamentary majority it has held for 30 years, partial results from South Africa's national election showed, in what would be the most dramatic political shift since the end of apartheid.

If the final results confirm the loss of its majority, the ANC will be forced to make a deal with one or more other parties to govern - a situation that could lead to unprecedented political volatility in the coming weeks or months.

"There will be checks and balances on the ANC power, but the ultimate risk is that the infighting could make governance ineffective," said Simon Harvey, head of foreign exchange analysis at Monex Europe.

With results in from 16.7% of polling stations, the ANC's share of the vote in Wednesday's election stood at 42.5%, with the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) on 25.8%, data from the electoral commission showed on Thursday.

The Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party was on 8.5%, while uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, was snapping at its heels on 8%.

"I don't think it's likely for the ANC to reach a majority," said pollster Reza Omar of Citizen Surveys, noting that while the picture would evolve, it was unlikely to change to that extent.

South African broadcaster eNCA projected that the ANC's final score would land on the 45% mark while the DA would remain the largest opposition party on 21%.

"The ANC looks forward to a clear mandate from voters to continue the work of transforming South Africa and building a better life for all," the party said in a statement.

Tessa Dooms, director of the Rivonia Circle think-tank in Johannesburg, said the early results were skewed towards rural areas where she would have expected the ANC to be performing more strongly than it was.

"The rural vote comes in early and it's always much smaller. The urban vote comes in quite late. I think this election will be a lot more contested in the urban areas," she told Reuters at the results centre in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.

Under South Africa's constitution, the newly elected National Assembly will elect the next president. With the ANC still on course to be the largest party, that is likely to be its leader Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent.

However, a poor showing could make him vulnerable to a leadership challenge from within party ranks, whether in the immediate future or at some point during his term.

With South Africa entering uncharted political territory, Harvey said the speed at which a coalition could be formed would be an indication of what was to come.

On May 25, 2024, African leaders and other stakeholders met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the 20th anniversary of the African Union Peace and Security Council, chaired by President Samia Suluhu Hassan for May 2024. Among the issues that were widely discussed in the ceremony included the ongoing conflicts, resurgence of unconstitutional change of government, and terrorism.

During the opening ceremony, President Samia highlighted the evolving nature of conflicts in Africa and the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government and terrorism as persistent challenges.

President Samia urged leaders to reflect on addressing the root causes of issues. She emphasized the importance of improving prevention capabilities, effectively using available instruments and strengthening relationships to resolve challenges.

The sentiment was echoed by a panel of African elders, including former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, former Nigerian President Oluṣẹgun Ọbasanjọ, and Domitien Ndayizeye the former president of Burundi.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville spent a month with revolutionary forces at jungle bases and on front lines in Myanmar....Two loudspeakers, as big as the men carrying them, are brought to the rocky hilltop. Some 800m below, in the town of Hpasang, lies a sprawling Myanmar army base.

It’s a blisteringly hot day - above 40C - and behind, on bamboo poles, more young resistance fighters carry a large, heavy battery pack and amplifier. Leading the ascent is Nay Myo Zin, a former army captain who, after 12 years in the military, defected to the resistance.

With his dark green camouflage jacket draped over one shoulder, he has the air of a performer about to take the stage. He is here to urge the soldiers in the base below, who are loyal to the country’s ruling military, to switch sides.

Via @Alyaza

The revolt started a week ago in the south Pacific territory, after a series of disputed independence referenda.

Heavy rains triggered flash floods and caused torrents of cold lava and mud to flow down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 41 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing, officials have said. Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, national disaster management agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said on Sunday.

Cold lava, also known as lahar, is a mixture of volcanic material and pebbles that flow down a volcano’s slopes in the rain.

As of Monday morning 41 people had been killed in the flooding and another 17 were missing, according to Ilham Wahab, a West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency official.

Three were missing in Agam district and 14 in Tanah Datar, both the worst-hit areas of the flood and home to hundreds of thousands of people, Ilham said.

About half of the dead were found in the village of Canduang in Agam on Sunday, while nine were found in Tanah Datar and eight were found in the region of Padang Pariaman.

The Prime Minister has been heavily criticised after documents from his government criticising Australia and New Zealand against China were leaked to media. The leaked document from Tonga’s Foreign Affairs Ministry shows that kingdom’s officials sharply criticised Australia and New Zealand’s response to the security pact signed by China and Solomon Islands, while declaring that Pacific diplomacy from Western nations was “failing”.

“The views expressed by ANZ [Australia and New Zealand] on the situation in the Solomon Islands are that only they (or the Pacific) can decide which countries Pacific states should align themselves with,” the document says.

“This clearly shows they remain far removed from Pacific realities and only echoes the condescending rhetoric that we, unfortunately, see too often from ANZ leadership.”

The document acknowledges China’s “growing clout” in the region and says many Pacific island states are facing “threats to strategic independence as a result of growing indebtedness to Beijing”.

But it says that in the end, Solomon Islands is a “sovereign nation and has the right to make decisions about its own security”.

“Tonga should continue to promote that fact including the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states,” it reads.

Belize, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are the latest countries in the Americas to receive certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating the mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis (EMTCT). The milestone was marked today at a commemorative event organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Kingston, Jamaica, with support from UNICEF and UNAIDS and with the participation of health ministers from the three countries.

“This achievement is a testament to years of dedication, hard work, and collaboration among governments, health professionals, and communities”, PAHO Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa said at the event. Dr. Barbosa also acknowledged the “remarkable resilience” displayed by the three countries, ensuring the adaptation and continuation of essential services despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I trust that the celebration today will inspire other countries to reinvigorate their commitments” towards a generation free of HIV and congenital syphilis.

In 2010, countries of the Americas committed to the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis and endorsed the regional strategy, which was updated in 2016 under the PAHO Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections.

To meet elimination targets, countries focused on strengthening prevention and treatment services within primary health care and in maternal and child health, updating guidelines, ensuring the effective screening of pregnant women, monitoring cases and following-up with HIV and syphilis exposed infants.

The Republic of Congo has granted more than 22,000 hectares of agricultural land to Rwanda for a period of 25 years. An agreement that is starting to face increasing criticism from Congolese citizens. Dave Mafoula, an unsuccessful candidate in the 2021 presidential election, calls on his fellow citizens not to accept "things that are done outside the law."

According to the account of Loïcia Martial, RFI correspondent in Brazzaville, this official from the party Les Souverainistes asserts that more than 11,000 hectares of these granted lands have been sold for a symbolic franc. He considers the land concession agreements “vague” and sees them as a violation of Congo's sovereignty. Dave Mafoula promises to approach the Prime Minister to request “the withdrawal or cancellation of these texts or decrees (regarding the land grants) that are illegal.”

In a program broadcasted in Rwanda, Rwandans commented on this acquisition of land in Congo-Brazzaville by expressing satisfaction at having acquired lands “larger than Kigali,” their capital in Rwanda. This show annoys some Congolese who see it as a loss of sovereignty over their land. “When Rwandans say that what has been given to them represents six times the size of the city of Kigali, you understand that such things cannot happen. We want things to be done according to law and in respect of the law. If there are things done outside the law, the Congolese are called upon not to accept them,” stated Dave Mafoula.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are occurring in El Geneina, Sudan. The events are labeled as “among the worst atrocities against civilians so far in the current conflict in Sudan.”

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are responsible for the attacks committed against the Massalit ethnic minority. This series of attacks commenced in April 2023, with the start of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces, the RSF and other militias. In this period, it is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in El Geneina. Here, attacks were held against the Massalit minority as part of a widespread ethnic cleansing campaign.

According to the report, the Massalit and other non-Arab civilians are being forced out of El Geneina, as displaced residents are seen in Chad, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan. HRW referred to the situation as a case of crimes against humanity and even a possible indication of genocide. The cases of murder, torture, persecution, and forcible transfer of the civilian population could amount to crimes against humanity as defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

People living in Nairobi’s Mathare slum fear that if catastrophic flooding does not bring down their homes, the government will. Jane Kalekye trudges through the narrow muddy alley to her tin-roof house in Mathare, one of Kenya’s largest slums. Ever since the devastating floods that forced her out of her home last month, she and other residents who live by the rubbish-choked Mathare River, which runs through their area of Nairobi, have begun an anxious countdown.

It is only a matter of time before their homes are brought down, they say, either by another bout of flooding, or by the government’s ongoing demolition of houses along riverbanks prone to flooding.

“Nyumba bado iko?” (“The house is still here?” in Swahili), the 37-year-old secondhand clothes seller asks her neighbour, who gives her a solemn nod back: “Iko” (“It’s still here”).

“These days it’s a pattern – it rains almost every night, and when it rains the house floods, maybe not as much as the first time, but enough to leave us without a home,” says Kalekye, who is staying at a temporary shelter in a school with her three children.

Since the wet season began in March, Kenya has seen some of its most catastrophic weather for years. Torrential rains have caused devastating floods, at least 228 people have died, thousands have been displaced and nearly 2,000 schools have been affected. All remaining schools have been shut indefinitely by the government.

Kalekye and her family are among at least 23,000 households displaced over the past two weeks. Kenya’s interior ministry and humanitarian organisations say that calls for rescue have been unprecedented.

The bodies of nine migrants found on an African boat off the northern coast of Brazil’s Amazon region were buried Thursday with a solemn ceremony in the Para state capital of Belem. Fishermen off the coast of Para found the boat adrift April 13, carrying the bodies that were already decomposing. Brazilian officials later said documents found in the vessel indicated that the victims were migrants from Mali and Mauritania and that the boat had departed the latter country after Jan. 17.

Brazil’s federal police said later that the bodies were of adults or teenagers whose exact age could not be determined. Agents found two documents — an identity card from Mauritania and a register of entry in Mauritania that belonged to someone from Mali.

The deceased were buried in a secular ceremony organized by a number of groups involved in their recovery, such as the U.N. Refugee Agency, the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration, as well as Brazilian police, navy and civil defense agencies.

A tropical rain fell as their coffins were lowered into graves dug into the earth and those present watched in respectful silence.

Residents of Mende Estate Villa in the Maryland area of Lagos State have decried the recent demolition of their multimillion naira houses in the area by the Lagos State Government while seeking compensation for a new shelter.

Our correspondent, who visited the area on Sunday, observed how the estate’s homes were destroyed and how the occupants hastily packed their possessions to leave.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, some residents bemoaned how terrible it was to exit their houses without having a backup plan and a comfortable place to sleep.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the state Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, had said the demolition was needed to reclaim the Odo Iya Laro drainage channel.

Also, a popular Nigerian singer, Yemi Alade, had decried the demolition carried out at the estate while stating that such action would discourage those interested in investing in real estate in the state.

A member of the resident association who pleaded anonymity claimed that the residents tried to negotiate with the Lagos State Government but were ignored and that they were not given any prior notice before the demolition began on Saturday.

Panamanians are voting in a general election which has been overshadowed by the disqualification of the man who was leading in the polls. Ex-President Ricardo Martinelli was the favourite to win until he was banned from running after being found guilty of money laundering.

His replacement on the ballot, José Raúl Mulino, is leading in the polls.

Whoever wins most of the votes in this round will be declared president and sworn in on 1 July.

There are a total of eight candidates competing for the presidency, and voters will also choose members of Panama's national assembly.

As presidents cannot serve two consecutive terms, the incumbent, Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo, will not stand for re-election.

The storms also triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam structure at a small hydro-electric power plant. Flooding from heavy rains battering Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul has killed 39 people, according to local authorities, with the death toll expected to rise as dozens remain unaccounted-for.

Rio Grande do Sul's civil defence authority said 68 people were still missing and at least 24,000 had been displaced as the storms affected more than half of the 497 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.

"These numbers can still materially change over the following days as we gain access to more regions," the state's governor, Eduardo Leite, told reporters on Friday local time.

A Manitoba First Nations has declared a state of emergency in response to the ongoing health crisis impacting the community. The chief of Peguis First Nation, in Manitoba’s Interlake area, says the crisis is directly linked to devastating floods, the worst of which came in 2022.

“This declaration is driven by a severe crisis that affects not just our land and homes, but the very spirit and mental well-being of our people,” said Chief Dr. Stan Bird.

Peguis First Nation has endured persistent flooding over the years, resulting in damage to infrastructure and housing. Two years after one of the worst floods to ever hit the community, damage still remains.

For the Nobel laureate Denis Mukwege, who has treated more than 80,000 survivors of sexual violence by armed groups, the west displays double standards over the ‘stain on our humanity’. Walking around a camp for displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo this year, the Nobel peace laureate Dr Denis Mukwege was filled with shame. Around him were women, many of them survivors of rape, living in destitution with no access to clean water or to any protection.

The women had left their homes after fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group resumed in North Kivu province three years ago. Since then, aid agencies have reported an increase in sexual violence in the region. In April last year, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said it was treating 48 new survivors a day among the displaced people living in camps around the city of Goma.

“The situation of women and young girls in Goma is a stain on our humanity,” the renowned gynaecologist says. “I think we should all feel ashamed to see these women abandoned.

Via @boem

The Japanese government is planning to trial an artificial intelligence system for spotting wild bears to better deal with an increasing number of attacks by the animals on humans, a government source said Monday. Under the system, AI will use security camera footage to instantly detect bears and share the information with the relevant authorities. The pilot scheme is planned to begin by summer in Toyama Prefecture, central Japan.

If found to be effective, the AI system could be rolled out to prefectures where frequent bear sightings near residential areas have been reported, the source said.

The plan comes in response to the 198 bear attacks on humans across 19 prefectures in the previous fiscal year, which ended in March. The incidents resulted in 219 casualties including six deaths, record highs since fiscal 2006 when comparable data became available.

Indonesia's Ruang volcano erupted on Tuesday, spewing lava as lightning flashes lit up its crater, prompting authorities to raise the alert status and evacuate more than 12,000 people living on a nearby island. The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) had warned the residents of Tagulandang island that a tsunami could be triggered by volcanic material collapsing into the ocean.

The warning, issued on Tuesday morning, remained in placed as of the afternoon. The agency raised the alert status of Ruang to the highest level following the early morning eruption, urging residents not to go near the volcano.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said that all 843 residents living in Ruang island, where the volcano is located, have been moved to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province. Residents of Tagulandang island are being relocated to Siau island to the north.

A review of research on carbon dioxide removal reveals a lack of evidence on its costs, impacts and benefits in Africa and South America.

A review of research on carbon dioxide removal (CDR), carried out by a team from the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London, the Humboldt University of Berlin and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, reveals a lack of evidence on its impacts and benefits in Africa and South America, where many CDR schemes are planned.

CDR covers a broad swathe of methods to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, including reforestation, the manipulation of farmland to improve the carbon absorption of soils, and more technological techniques like carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says CDR is required to achieve global and national targets on greenhouse gas reductions, and CDR schemes are a key component of models used by policymakers to make decisions about climate change mitigation.

This study shows, however, that while research on CDR and its impacts has risen dramatically in recent years, the vast majority has so far focused on Europe and Asia, or on the global picture.

Via @CelloMomOnCars

Interesting #humaninterest story about #Zimbabwean who becomes a successful #goat farmer after 15 years nursing in the UK: https://www.pindula.co.zw/2024/04/24/zimbabwean-man-abandons-uk-job-to-venture-into-goat-farming/

#worldwithoutus

A new report reveals how the Chinese government has used harassment, “persuasion” and kidnappings to bypass international law as part of the notorious Fox Hunt operation.

Sudan had the world’s largest number of people facing extreme food shortages in 2023 as conflict and displacement drove food insecurity globally, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The war between rival generals meant Sudan accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5 million people needing urgent help last year, while conflict also plunged Gaza into the world’s most severe food crisis with its entire population facing high levels of food insecurity.

Globally, more than 281 million people in 59 countries faced high levels of acute food insecurity according to the Global Report on Food Crises, published today, with economic crises and extreme weather also contributing.

Despite the scale of Sudan’s hunger crisis, with 20.3 million in the country facing acute food insecurity, the FAO warned of underfunding. Rein Paulsen, its emergencies director, said it was crucial to get more financing for emergency agriculture to ensure Sudanese farmers can produce food during the upcoming planting season.

Armenia agreed to return four villages that have been under its occupation for three decades to Azerbaijan. It agreed during the eighth meeting of border demarcation commissions, chaired by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, gathering along the countries' frontier.

According to a written statement by Azerbaijan, the commissions reached an agreement on certain issues during the meeting, including determining the border along Azerbaijan's Gazakh province in line with the border that existed when the Soviet Union collapsed.

The line will pass through the villages of Baghanis (Armenia)-Baghanis Ayrum (Azerbaijan), Voskepar (Armenia)-Aşağı Eskipara (Azerbaijan), Kirants (Armenia)-Heyrimli (Azerbaijan) and Berkaber (Armenia)-Kızılhacılı (Azerbaijan).

Indigenous peoples and local communities are reporting a series of tangible and nuanced impacts of climate change, according to a new study. The study collected 1,661 firsthand reports of change in sites across all inhabited continents and aggregated the reports into 369 indicators of climate change impacts, including changes in precipitation, plant cultivation and marine ecosystems.

Existing measures to track climate change impacts are barely able to relate to the diverse and complex ways in which local people experience and observe environmental changes, according to the authors. For instance, instrumental measurements might capture changes in rainfall patterns but miss crucial relationships between climate change awareness, sensitivity and vulnerability.

This research constitutes the largest global effort by Indigenous peoples and local communities to compile and categorize local observations of climate change and its impacts.