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☆ Nigerian artist Dotun Popoola’s stunning metal sculpture shows ‘the beauty of Black women all over the world’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Leah Collins | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Celebrating the beauty of Blackness and protesting “environmental decadence” for a cleaner, waste-free future: that’s the vision of award-winning Nigerian metal sculptor and visual artist Dotun Popoola. Popoola’s most recent sculpture is a 12-foot-tall, 882-pound piece depicting the decorated head and neck of an African woman, inspired by his wife. “The work showcases the beauty of Black women all over the world,” Popoola said of the piece, which he began in 2022. “The amount of support shown by women all over the world made me shed tears of joy in my studio. If you keep doing what you do, one day you’ll be in the spotlight and the world will be watching.”

Persons: Dotun Popoola, ” Popoola, “, ” Dotun Popoola, ”, Adeola, Popoola, Naomi Campbell, I’d, Tera DuVernay, Ava DuVernay, “ Tera, “ I’ve, Wynton Marsalis, Bryan Stevenson, Irinkemi Asake, “ Mr, ” It’s, Popoola’s, I’m Organizations: CNN, Popoola Studios, Legacy Museum, Equal, Initiative, Obafemi Awolowo University, Art Locations: Nigeria, Lagos, Montgomery , Alabama, America, Alabama, Dubai, Qatar, India, Americas, South Dakota, Africa, Osun State, Southwest Nigeria

☆ The global synthetic drugs crisis has hit West Africa, where people are digging up human bones to make a drug called 'kush'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Cemeteries are bolstering their security measures because gravediggers are stealing human bones to make powerful synthetic drugs, local journalists told Business Insider. AdvertisementA vendor sells daily necessities at a market in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Feb. 21, 2024. Formaldehyde also has euphoric properties, says the National Library of Medicine, which explains why kush users could be raiding Freetown's cemeteries. JOHN WESSELS | Getty ImagesJalloh noted that the use of synthetic drugs was not unique to Sierra Leone. ReutersIn 2015, BI's Erin Brodwin covered the rise of these synthetic drugs, marketed as "spice," "K2," "black mamba," or "crazy clown."

Persons: —, Sierra, Julius Maada, Michael Cole, Sally Hayden, JOHN WESSELS, Cole, Mabinty Magdalene Kamar, Abdul Jalloh, HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM, Thomas Dixon, Jalloh, Salifu Kamara, kush, BI's Erin Brodwin, Brodwin, tranq Organizations: Service, Business, Xinhua News Agency, Getty, Anglia Ruskin University, The Irish Times, National Library of Medicine, Politico, Sierra, Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, Police, Getty Images Local, Salone Times, BBC, Freetown Police Force, National Drug Agency, NPR, Guardian, Disease Control, Prevention, Reuters, Financial Times Locations: Freetown, African, Sierra Leone, West Africa, Mabinty, Waterloo , Sierra Leone, kush, New York City, New York, Kensington, North Philadelphia

☆ Kenya floods: Anger mounts as people left homeless and searching for loved ones swept away in floods
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Larry Madowo | Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Mai Mahiu, Kenya CNN —When Julia Wanjiku put her son Isaac to bed last Sunday after a day celebrating his third birthday, she didn’t realize she was also saying goodbye. She was among the survivors gathering at Ngeya Girls High School in Mai Mahiu on Tuesday. A damaged car buried in mud in an area heavily affected by torrential rains and flash floods in the village of Kamuchiri, near Mai Mahiu, on April 29. Luis Tato/AFP via Getty ImagesPeople removing mud and water from their house in Mai Mahiu, Kenya, on April 29. Rescuers carry the body of a young man recovered in the debris following flooding, in Mai Mahiu, Kenya.

Persons: Mai Mahiu, Kenya CNN —, Julia Wanjiku, Isaac, Wanjiku, — Isaac, “, ” Wanjiku, Isaac’s, Mai Mahui, It’s, Luis Tato, El, William Ruto, Kithure Kindiki, Isaac Mwaura, ” Ruto, Mark Laichena, ”, Simon Maina, Mwaura, Nyagoah Tut, James Wakibia, Joyce Kimutai, herder, Makau, “ I’m, ” Larry Madowo, Laura Paddison, CNN’s Louis Mian, Allison Chinchar, Mary Gilbert Organizations: Kenya CNN, CNN, Girls High School, Getty, Getty Images, “, Kenyan, Space Agency European Space Agency, European Space Agency, Isaac Mwaura ., Communities, United Arab Emirates, Rights Watch, Kenya Meteorological Department, Human Rights Watch, Rescuers, Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute Locations: Kenya, Mai, Kenya’s, Nairobi, Mai Mahiu, Kamuchiri, AFP, Getty Images Kenya, Garissa, Tanzania, Tana, Mathare, New York, El, Nyagoah Tut Pur, Africa, East Africa, London

☆ Marine moved from the U.S. to Brussels with her family—our mortgage is under $3,000/month: Take a look inside
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Jessica Van Dop Dejesus | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

My husband Martin and I met in Brussels in 2012, when I literally stepped on his toes at my neighborhood farmer's market. We ultimately chose Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the administrative center of the European Union. Take a look inside our apartmentWe live in a street-level duplex in a building with only three apartments. She loves that she and her family can host dinner parties in the dining room. Federico CampanaleThe bedrooms, laundry room, storage, and bathroom are on the bottom floor.

Persons: Martin, we'd, he'd, Jessica, Jessica van Dop, I'd, Federico Campanale, it's, We've, Saint Gilles Organizations: NATO, Washington , D.C, Pentagon, Marine Corps, European Union Locations: Brussels, Netherlands, Washington ,, Europe, Rotterdam, Belgium, Saint Gilles, Puerto Rico, Western New York, Our, Saint, Eastern, Puerto Rican

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis attends a hearing on the Georgia election interference case, March 1, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. A California man was indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on charges of threatening Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced Friday. The indictment detailed more threats Schultz made, including, "FANI WILLIS WILL BE DEAD IN 2024," and other threats using racial slurs. In a statement released by Willis' office, she referenced GOP state Sen. Bill Cowsert, who is leading an investigation of Willis' office. In March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled Willis could continue prosecuting the case, but she and Wade could not work on it together.

Persons: Fani Willis, Willis, Nathan Wade, Donald Trump, Mark Schultz, Schultz, FANI WILLIS, Trump, Keri Farley, Sen, Bill Cowsert, Ryan Buchanan, Wade, Scott McAfee Organizations: U.S, Attorney's, Northern, Northern District of Georgia, Department of Justice, American, United States Attorney, FBI, African American, Trump Locations: Fulton County, Georgia, Atlanta , Georgia, U.S, California, Atlanta, Northern District, Chula Vista

☆ Analysis: Why the Israel-Hamas war isn’t Biden’s Vietnam
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Joe Biden’s Democratic base has been divided over the Israel-Hamas war. To some, including people within Biden’s own party, the public demonstrations against the war in Gaza remind them of the Vietnam War protests. A mere 2% answered with some version of the Israel-Hamas war (e.g., the Middle East conflict). An unpopular warThis is dramatically different from what we saw in 1968, when the Vietnam War forced President Lyndon Johnson to abandon his reelection bid. Only a small fraction of that polling decline can be attributed to Biden’s war response.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Biden, That’s, Lyndon Johnson, it’s, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden’s Organizations: CNN, Joe Biden’s Democratic, NBC, Gallup, Republican, Trump, Black South, ABC, Quinnipiac Locations: Israel, Gaza, Vietnam, Africa’s, South Africa

☆ Opinion: I’ve seen too many young journalists pay the ultimate price. It’s them I’ll be thinking of today
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Opinion Jon Williams | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

When a journalist is killed, it is not just their voice that is silenced: Press freedom is your freedom. Over 30 years ago, the United Nations recognized May 3 as World Press Freedom Day: a global reminder of the importance of press freedom and an opportunity to assess its health around the world. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that at least 100 journalists and media workers have been killed since we last marked World Press Freedom Day. Tragically, on this World Press Freedom Day, our work is needed more than ever. On this World Press Freedom Day, the fallen who gave their lives for the truth should serve as a reminder as to why press freedom is really your freedom.

Persons: Jon Williams, Rory Peck, Read, Jon Williams Rory Peck, Bayeux, ”, Simon Cumbers, Simon, Al, Louise, Cumbers, Johnny Green, Thomas Jefferson, ” Jefferson, it’s, Dom Phillips, Phillips, Aldeia Maloca, Bruno Pereira, Joao Laet, don’t Organizations: Rory Peck Trust, BBC News, ABC News, CNN, 1st Cavalry, Canadian, BBC, The Washington Post, United Nations, Protect Journalists, Getty, United, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Bayeux, Northern France, France, Omaha Beach, Europe, Nazi Germany, Normandy, Paris, “, Saudi Arabia, Al Qaeda, Saudi, Riyadh, Ireland, London, South, Indonesia, Turkey, India, Madrid, Irish, Kabul, Afghanistan, Gaza, Ukraine, Honduras, Sudan, Philippines, Brazil, Aldeia, Roraima, AFP, Britain, United States, Israel, Egypt

☆ 4 ingredients to level up your pasta recipes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Karla Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

With “Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People,” “I hope that people realize that there’s so much more than they can and should be putting on pasta,” Pashman said. Substitute 3 tablespoons prepackaged toasted rice powder for the 1 teaspoon oil and ¼ cup rice and skip step 1. In a large heatproof bowl, combine the shallots, ¼ cup cilantro, ¼ cup mint, scallions, chili flakes and sugar. Heat the remaining ¼ cup oil in the reserved skillet over high heat until just starting to smoke. Recipe adapted from “Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People” by Dan Pashman.

Persons: Dan Pashman, ”, Pashman, “, Harper Collins, ” Pashman, Alla, they’re, Pepe Chili Crisp, He’s, e pepe, Gan Ma, Jing, Dan Liberti, Caesar, Skip, James Park, Chili Crisp, Dan Liberti Dan Pashman’s Larb, browning, Karla Walsh, William Morrow Organizations: CNN, ”, Saucy, Ritz Crackers, Ritz, Sporkful, HarperCollins Publishers Locations: Italy, African, America, Thai, Des Moines , Iowa

☆ Liberia Moves to Create War Crimes Court, Decades After Civil Wars Ended
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Dounard Bondo | Ruth Maclean | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Liberia’s president has signed an executive order establishing a war crimes court, the culmination of a decades-long effort to bring justice to victims of the country’s two civil wars, which killed an estimated 250,000 people from 1989 to 2003. Lawmakers in Parliament — including some who are expected to face prosecution under the court — passed a resolution calling for the move last month. “For peace and harmony to have a chance to prevail, justice and healing must perfect the groundwork,” President Joseph Boakai said as he signed the order on Thursday, to the applause of lawmakers and ministers. Although some of those behind the violence have faced prosecution abroad, no one has been held legally accountable within the country for the massacres, rape, torture and conscription of child soldiers that left deep scars on generations of people in Liberia, a West African nation founded 200 years ago by freed slaves from the United States.

Persons: —, Joseph Boakai Organizations: Lawmakers Locations: —, Liberia, West African, United States

CNN —Time is running out to prevent starvation in Darfur, in western Sudan, a UN agency has warned, as escalating violence devastates the African nation. People have been forced to consume “grass and peanut shells,” the regional director for Eastern Africa of the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. More than 8.7 million people have been displaced by the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF, according to the UN. At least 500,000 of those sheltering in the city have been displaced from violence elsewhere in Sudan, according to the UN’s children’s agency (UNICEF). More than 8.7 million people, including 4.6 million children, have been displaced by the war in Sudan and 24.8 million need assistance, according to OCHA.

Persons: ” Michael Dunford, Cross, Dan Kitwood, Toby Hayward, Hayward, Fasher, Catherine Russell, ” Russell, El Fasher Organizations: CNN, UN, Food Programme, Rapid Support Forces, ICRC, UNICEF, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, WFP Locations: Darfur, Sudan, Eastern Africa, South Darfur, Chad, Adré, North, El, El Fasher, Chad’s Tine, –, ”, Port Sudan

☆ Benin: The country’s past, present, and future is on display for the first time at the 60th Venice Biennale
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Daniel Renjifo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Ancestral African art is a linchpin of identity and a source of inspiration to creatives across the continent. For the first time in the 60-year history of the renowned Venice Biennale in Italy – an arts and culture festival lasting eight months, hosted every other year – Benin is presenting a national pavilion. Hazoumé hopes the exhibition will reiterate his message and inspire other African artists to own their past to fuel creativity. Ishola Akpo sets up his piece titled “Iyalode” at the Benin national pavilion in Venice, Italy. Moufouli Bello draws inspiration from children’s books, Gèlèdé philosophy and Yoruba traditions in this piece titled “Egbe Modjisola," on display at the Benin national pavilion in Venice, Italy.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Romuald Hazoumé's, Jacopo La, Jacopo La Forgia, Romuald Hazoumé, Chloé, Ishola Akpo, Moufouli Bello, we’ll, Hazoumé, Florian Kleinefenn, ” Nwagbogu, “, ”, Gèlèdé, Chloé Quenum, Akpo, I’ve, Nwagbogu, ” Hazoumé Organizations: CNN, French, Smithsonian Museum of African, US, Venice Biennale, African Artist Foundation, Biennale Locations: Africa, West, Benin, Nigeria, Kingdom of Benin, Venice, Italy, “, Rouge, curating, France, Madagascar, Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon

☆ Black creators were instrumental in building TikTok. Now they fear they'll be hit the hardest by a ban.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Lindsay Dodgson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But largely, TikTok is a place Black creators found where they could thrive and reach new audiences and customers for their growing businesses. It wasn't that the content wasn't good, Ford said, it was that Instagram "just wasn't a place for Black creators, minority creators, to excel." Some Black creators suspected their Black Lives Matter content was suppressed in 2020 after George Floyd's death ignited a wave of protests. AdvertisementBlack TikTokers have also expressed an "undertone of anti-Blackness" in the platform's algorithm, where white creators benefited from the trends started by Black creators. AdvertisementThis is disheartening, Black creators told BI, because so many top trends and ideas come from their community.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, TikTok, Tenyse Williams, It's, Funmi Ford, Ford, Nya, I've, Étienne, Keith Lee, entrepreneurialism, Kahlil Dumas, Dumas, George Floyd's, Jalaiah Harmon, Black TikTokers, Williams, Imani Bashir, Bashir, We're, isn't Organizations: Service, Senate, Business, Consulting, University of Central, Columbia University, George Washington University, Pew Research Center, An, Free, Black, New York Times, Forbes, YouTube, BI Locations: University of Central Florida, Instagram, An Oxford, Atlanta

☆ Election Updates: Trump campaigns in battleground states for the first time since his trial began.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The Louisiana secretary of state has ordered that the congressional map be finalized by May 15. Even so, they said, it was evident that creating a second district with a majority of Black voters was lawmakers’ overarching objective. But in the map drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature, only one of the six congressional districts had a majority Black population. The ruling reaffirmed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which had been diminished over the years by the court’s conservative majority. Critics of Tuesday’s ruling argued that the repercussions in Louisiana could extend beyond a single election, or even partisan divisions.

Persons: ”, Critics, Eric H, Holder Jr, Liz Murrill, “ I’ve, ’, David C, Joseph, Robert R, “, Carl E, Stewart, —, Tuesday’s, Ashley Shelton, Ms, Shelton Organizations: Black, U.S . Constitution, National Democratic, Republican, U.S, Supreme, . Constitution, State Legislature, Lawmakers, U.S ., Appeals, Fifth Circuit, American, Western, Western District of, Louisiana Legislature, voters, Power Coalition for Equity, Justice Locations: Louisiana, U.S ., ., Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Western District, Western District of Louisiana, Black, U.S

Here are our thoughts on this season’s inadvertent (and possibly advertent) snubs, delightful (or mystifying) surprises and other notable anomalies. A melancholy morning for ‘Vanya.’Television stars are considered good box office but not always good Tony bait. This year’s crop, including Sarah Paulson, Jeremy Strong, Steve Carell and William Jackson Harper, complicates that wisdom. Spreading all that love helped take the show to Number One with a Bullet — the most nominated play in Broadway history. On the other hand, the superb ensemble casts of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” and “Illinoise” were skunked.

Persons: “, ‘ Vanya, ’, Tony, Sarah Paulson, Jeremy Strong, Steve Carell, William Jackson Harper, Paulson, Carell, Harper, Uncle Vanya, ”, Chekhov, David Adjmi’s, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon, Juliana Canfield, Will Brill, Eli Gelb, Illinoise Organizations: Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater

☆ Chad Election 2024: What to Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ruth Maclean | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Chad’s election on May 6 appears to offer voters a choice. But it’s been masterminded, analysts say, to produce a single outcome: to rubber-stamp the rule of the incumbent, Mahamat Idriss Déby, who is seeking to transform himself from military leader to civilian president. Mr. Déby seized power three years ago after his father, Idriss Déby, who ruled Chad with an iron fist for three decades, was killed — apparently on the battlefield, fighting rebels trying to overthrow his government. Chad is a landlocked, arid country of 18 million people in Central Africa. Chad is also part of a belt of African countries to have experienced coups in the past four years, stretching from coast to coast.

Persons: it’s, Mahamat Idriss Déby, Déby, Idriss Déby, — Locations: Chad, country’s, Central Africa, Sudan

☆ Columbia protesters' demands have worked before. This time may be different.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Paul Squire | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Read previewThe unrest at Columbia University isn't showing signs of slowing down. In the 1980s, student protesters at Columbia took over the same building and called for divestment of the Ivy League school's investments over a different cause: South African apartheid. Student protesters at the 1985 demonstrations at Columbia University. Protesters there locked and chained the doors to Hamilton Hall — the same building now occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters — and demanded the school completely divest from South Africa. A more fraught situationOn its website, the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group likened itself to the protests from nearly 40 years ago.

Persons: —, It's, Lockheed Martin, Alex Kent, Joe Biden, Mike Johnson, she's, Barbara Alper, didn't, Ronald Reagan, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Nemat, Shafik, Nicholas Dirks, Divesting, Christopher Marsicano, Al, Marsicano Organizations: Service, Columbia University, Columbia, Ivy League, Business, Lockheed, Boeing, NPR, Hamilton Hall, Getty, Columbia University Apartheid, White, Student, New York Times, Times, Coalition, Columbia Spectator, Spectator, The New York Times, Hamas, University, Socially, University of California, CNN, North Carolina's Davidson College Locations: Israel, Gaza, Columbia, divesting, Hamilton, South Africa, Vietnam, Rafah, Berkeley, Al Jazeera

☆ See the $36 billion Great Green Wall in Africa that's an attempt to hold back desertification
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The Great Green Wall is a project to restore degraded land in nearly two dozen African countries. The $36-billion-plus project aims to generate 10 million jobs and sequester tons of carbon by 2030. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementOver the past several decades, deforestation, agricultural expansion, and drought have all contributed to desertification in parts of the African continent. The goals of the 17-year-old Great Green Wall project — estimated to cost between $36 to 49 billion — also include generating 10 million jobs and sequestering 250 million tons of carbon by 2030.

Persons: — Organizations: Service Locations: California, Senegal, Djibouti

☆ Middle East Crisis U.N. Court to Issue Decision on Arms Sales to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Marlise Simons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Members of Germany’s delegation during hearings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in early April. The judges are set to issue an interim decision in a case brought by Nicaragua against Germany. Germany is a staunch ally of Israel and second only to the United States in providing it with arms. Unlike Germany, which has given the court full jurisdiction, the United States has shielded itself and has to consent to a case. It has protected itself even further from the Genocide Convention, signing the convention but exempting itself from any obligations, such as intervening to stop a genocide or paying reparations if it were found to be complicit.

Persons: Israel, ” Israel Organizations: Germany’s, International Court of Justice, Court, Justice, United Nations ’, Hamas Locations: The Hague, Israel, Gaza, Nicaragua, Germany, Europe, United States, ”, South Africa, Geneva

☆ Opinion: What conservatives don’t get about the protests roiling college campuses
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Opinion Jeremi Suri | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

These attacks have over the years undermined university leadership and provoked students, staff and faculty. University leaders responded positively, helping to build more dynamic and well-endowed centers for this work than on any other peer campus in the country. Many students, staff and faculty, especially those from minority backgrounds, feel that they have suffered setback after setback at the hands of hostile politicians and deferential administrators. Public and private university leaders have become more distant from their own campuses as they focus on fund-raising and testifying before hostile federal and state legislatures. There are, of course, good reasons why university leaders should not give in to protesters on these and other points.

Persons: Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown, America’s, CNN —, George W, Bush, ”, “, —, ” Jeremi Suri Korey Howell, Rick Perry, Perry, William Powers, Powers, Greg Abbott, Abbott, Bill, – Organizations: Leadership, Global Affairs, University of Texas, History Department, LBJ School, Democracy, “, CNN, Yale, Republican Party, Republican, Bush’s, Austin, Republicans, University, Clements Center for National Security, Salem Center for Policy, Civitas Institute, School of Civic Leadership, Military, Public, Kent State, Jackson State Universities Locations: Austin, Texas, Houston, Rio Grande Valley, Dallas, United States, Vietnam

☆ US is ‘best’ choice for Africa over Russia or China, US Commerce Secretary says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Larry Madowo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Nairobi, Kenya CNN —The United States is the best partner for African nations “without strings attached” but it will not force African nations to choose its partnership over Russia or China, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CNN. She spoke on the sidelines of the AmCham Business Summit after meeting Kenyan President William Ruto during her first official trip to Africa. Anti-Western sentimentLike many other African nations, Kenya has deep ties with China, which has funding projects and major infrastructure projects across the continent. Secretary Raimondo addressed the criticism that African nations dislike ‘lectures’ from the US and its European allies about democracy and human rights, and many prefer dealing with China or Russia that don’t make similar demands. Raimondo said the US is coming to Africa “without strings attached,” saying she had brought more than a dozen businesses to the Nairobi summit.

Persons: Gina Raimondo, “, Raimondo, CNN’s Larry Madowo, William Ruto, ‘, Ruto, we’re Organizations: Kenya CNN —, US, CNN Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, United States, Russia, China, Africa

☆ Asylum Seekers Already in U.K. Say Rwanda Law Creates New Anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Megan Specia | Emma Bubola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a cold spring day last month, Mohsen, a 36-year-old from Iran, woke before dawn and was hurried by smugglers onto a rubber boat on the coast of France. The water was calm and the sky clear, but he knew the risks of the journey he was about to make, he said. Since 2018, at least 72 people have drowned in the Channel while attempting crossings, according to the International Organization for Migration. He fled Iran, he said, because police officers came to his home last year threatening to arrest him after he took part in anti-government protests. And he boarded the boat even though he knew about the British government’s plan to deport some asylum seekers to the central African country of Rwanda, which was first announced in 2022.

Persons: Mohsen Organizations: Channel, International Organization for Migration Locations: Iran, France, Britain, Rwanda

☆ How Berlin's techno scene came to define the post-wall city and earn UNESCO cultural heritage status — with a little help from Detroit
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Berlin's techno scene was recently added to the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list in Germany. The impact on Berlin's identity has been so significant that it has now received official recognition, with the city's techno scene recently added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in Germany. Dimitri HegemannWhen Dimitri Hegemann first entered the space that was to become the original site of Tresor, now one of Berlin's most iconic techno clubs, he was silent. A DJ performing during the Rave The Planet techno parade in Berlin, 2023. Lutz Leichsenring, a board member at the Clubcommission, told BI that the recognition was a "milestone for Berlin techno producers, artists, club operators and event organizers."

Persons: —, Dimitri Hegemann, Hegemann, Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Christian Ender, Nathan Rennolds Polish, Jennifer Kucza, Sean Gallup, Berliners, Lutz Leichsenring Organizations: UNESCO, Service, Business, BBC, Reuters, Berlin Locations: Germany, Berlin, Tresor, Detroit, New, —

☆ Columbia student protestors are demanding ‘divestment.’ Here’s what the university has divested from in the past
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Clare Duffy | Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Columbia University Apartheid Divest submitted a formal proposal to the committee for withdrawing investments related to Israel in December, which has yet to yield success. Students at Columbia College, the university’s undergraduate school, voted to support the divestment proposal last week. Heading a nationwide South Africa divestment movementCurrently, Columbia lists five areas where it refrains from investing: tobacco, private prison operations, thermal coal, Sudan and fossil fuels — all decisions that were made in the past decade. In April 1985, students led a three-week student demonstration against Columbia’s investments in South Africa, the New York Times reported at the time. Pete Seeger, right, speaks to the crowd at Columbia University as hundreds of students continued to protest the school's ties to South Africa, April 8, 1985.

Persons: ” Israel, Catherine Elias, Daniel Armstrong, “, ” Armstrong, Pete Seeger, Frankie Ziths, G4S, Karla Ann Cote, divests, ”, Savannah Pearson, Michael Cusack Organizations: New, New York CNN, Columbia University, Columbia University Apartheid, —, Columbia, Columbia College, CNN, Coalition, New York Times, American Express, Ford, Ivy League, University of California, Johns Hopkins University, University of North, Corrections Corporation of America, Library, “, Columbia’s, Trustees, Columbia’s Teachers College Locations: New York, Gaza, Palestine, Columbia, Vietnam, Upper Manhattan, Israel, South Africa, Sudan, Los Angeles, Chevron, Berkeley, University of North Carolina, Hill, South, United States

☆ The ‘outside agitator’ narrative has a long history
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

In these instances, and others, authorities have not offered many specifics about who the “outside agitators” are, how significant their numbers are or how they differentiated outsiders from university-affiliated protesters. “It seems to me that the ‘outside agitator’ claim is one to shift the focus away from the grievances of the students and their protest.”The emphasis on “outside agitators,” Morris says, detracts from the central issue that is driving students to protest: Israel’s war in Gaza. ‘Outside agitator’ trope has a long historyYou don’t have to look far back in history to find examples of the “outside agitator” narrative. “We want to say as clearly as possible - we welcome ‘outside agitators’ to our struggle against the ruthless genocide of Palestinians.”Still, the use of the term is more complicated than it seems. As pro-Israel politicians have amplified concerns around antisemitism, some supporters of students’ right to free expression have suggested “outside agitators” are undermining otherwise peaceful protests.

Persons: ”, Eric Adams, Kaz Daughtry, Gregory Fenves, Aldon Morris, Morris, aren’t, ” Morris, ’, detracts, Donald Trump, Trump, George Floyd, Jose Lusi Magana, —, Kathleen Fitzgerald, White, ” Fitzgerald, Bruce Solomon, Solomon, Martin Luther King Jr, “, Emory, Ayanna Pressley, Hank Johnson, Netanyahu, ” Alex Slitz, ” What’s Organizations: CNN, New York Police Department, Columbia University, New York University, New York City, NYPD, Fox, Emory University, University, Emory, Northwestern University, Associated, AP, White House, Washington D.C, Getty, Parkland, Civil Rights Movement, University of North, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, ”, Atlanta, Spelman College, Yale University, Chapel Hill, University of Texas Locations: Gaza, New York, York, ”, Washington, AFP, Oklahoma, Ferguson , Missouri, University of North Carolina, Mississippi, Brooklyn, Jackson, Miss, Birmingham, United States, Israel, Atlanta, Georgia, Columbia, Austin

☆ Burkina Faso army executed over 220 villagers in February, HRW says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters —Burkina Faso’s military in February summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday. The spokesperson for the Burkina Faso government did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on the HRW report. Retaliatory attacksRights groups have previously accused the military in junta-ruled Burkina Faso of attacking and killing civilians suspected of collaborating with militants in retaliatory operations. Burkina Faso is one of several Sahel nations that have been struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have spread from neighboring Mali since 2012, killing thousands and displacing millions. Frustrations over authorities’ failure to protect civilians have contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger since 2020.

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