Xalapa, Mexico | AFP | Mexican reporter Noe Zavaleta has mourned murdered colleagues and received death threats himself, but he refuses to stop working despite the fear. His is the deadliest country for journalists outside of war zones — but with all the corruption and violence, there is just too much …
Read More »FEATURE: Is the Gunner a goner?
How Arsene Wenger changed the Premier League … and then dropped the ball By Rob Gowers When Arsene Wenger was named as the new manager of Arsenal FC in September 1996, English football was in a period of transition. The 1989 Hillsborough disaster had led to a transformation of the …
Read More »Depression tops list of causes of ill health and disability worldwide
“Depression: let’s talk” says WHO, as depression tops list of causes of ill health WHO | GENEVA – Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 300 million people are now living with depression, …
Read More »Uganda’s Aucho tries his luck in tough Eastern Europe league
Football proletariat’ brave Serbia’s crumbling, violent stadiums Belgrade, Serbia | AFP | Khalid Aucho and Takuto Yasuoka are two of hundreds of footballers from Africa, Asia and South America whose dream of stardom has brought them to Eastern Europe. Aucho, a 23-year-old from Uganda who has already tried Scotland, and …
Read More »Drought shatters Turkana’s dreams of a better future
Lokamarinyang, Kenya | AFP | In just a few years water, oil and money would flow. Roads, schools and hospitals would follow. Turkana’s generations of poverty and neglect in Kenya’s arid north would end. But it was not to be: five years after the discovery of oil, and four since …
Read More »Kasparov wants to bring chess to 1 million African schoolchildren
Paris, France | AFP | Russia’s former world chess champion Garry Kasparov wants to bring the game to a million children in Africa as an educational tool to sharpen their learning skills and build confidence. “We have plenty of data collected from around the world… that proves beyond any doubt …
Read More »Iconic US newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin dies at 88
Washington, United States | AFP | Jimmy Breslin, a brash, colorful award-winning reporter and newspaper columnist who took on the high and mighty and championed the underdog, died Sunday at the age of 88. His wife Ronnie Eldridge confirmed his death, The New York Times reported. Breslin had been recovering …
Read More »OBITUARY: Mayanja Nkangi 1931 – 2017
Nkangi, the man who saved the soul of Buganda’s power By Andrew S. Kaggwa One Sunday in 1964, a young man called Mayanja Nkangi was going about his normal business when someone stopped him and said: “We want you to be a Katikkiro. The lukiiko (Buganda parliament) are annoyed with …
Read More »Dying of hunger: What is a famine?
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | From ancient Rome to modern times, mankind has suffered devastating periods of hunger caused by drought, war or misguided politics. Last week South Sudan was declared the site of the world’s first famine in six years, affecting about 100,000 people. Here is an exploration of …
Read More »Hiding in swamps, South Sudanese eat little more than lilies
Leer, South Sudan | AFP | Thousands of people at the epicentre of a man-made famine in South Sudan emerged from the safety of the swamps this past weekend hoping to receive emergency deliveries of food. For months now Bol Mol, a 45-year-old former oil field security officer, has struggled …
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