Author: Ewang Johnson
Dwindling emotional baggage following the pandemic has brought with it a new appetite for awe-inspiring experiences.Instead of simply sitting down to a meal at a restaurant, South Africans wanted to be blown away by creative cuisine, the atmosphere and the view.While cities like Cape Town could rely on breathtaking natural landmarks like Table Mountain, landlocked metros such as Johannesburg had to think outside the box.Radisson Blu Gautrain Shishanyama platterIt soon became clear that Jozi’s inner-city skyline – said to be one of the top-two most visually-striking in Africa – was just the ingredient to entice diners to the CBD.It is…
There will be singing in the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 15:3-5). There may even be guitars—thousands of them (Rev 14:2).I don’t know if Bruce Springsteen has read the Book of Revelation, but his Spring-Summer 2025 “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour suggests he might have some understanding of what Christians call the Kingdom of God.In the age of Trump, Bruce Springsteen may be the most influential political theologian at work today.Music critics, scholars, and biographers have long noted the spiritual depth of the Boss’s lyrics. In an oft-cited 1988 essay in the Catholic journal America, Andrew Greeley, a…
In this edition of our arts24 music show, Jennifer Ben Brahim chats with French multi-instrumentalist and producer Max Baby. A career in music was always on the cards for him, having made a drumkit at age six out of old biscuit tins. He dropped his debut record in 2024, and a year on is back with his EP “Break”. It’s a blend of post-modern indie, alt-rock and electro, and deals with the aftermath of losing control and the quiet that follows. He is also embarking on a European tour, with his first Parisian headline show. Source link
On 12 November 1964, the would-be pop star told the BBC that cruelty to hirsute men “just has to stop”. It was a cheeky stunt, but it hinted at the unconventional spirit that Bowie carried into a career of fearless reinvention.We’re used to seeing awkward high-school yearbook photos of future stars, barely recognisable before fame transformed them. This 1964 BBC television clip is different. The 17-year-old sitting in a current-affairs studio is unmistakably David Bowie, although at the time he was still plain old David Jones. As founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men, he…
For over a decade, the African Poetry Book Fund, founded by Ghanaian poet Kwame Dawes and Nigerian writer Chris Abani, has nurtured Africa’s emerging voices through its New Generation African Poets Chapbook Series. Each beautifully designed chapbook spotlights a poet alongside commissioned visual art, creating a vibrant, accessible archive that now spans over 100 poets. The series embraces both diasporic and continental perspectives, highlighting identity, hybridity, and feminist expression, while fostering intergenerational dialogue. From exploring memory, displacement, and queerness to engaging with socio-political critique, the poets push African poetry beyond national boundaries. By combining thoughtful curation, prizes, and digital preservation, the project…
‘Africa will not be defined by what it lacks, but by the solutions it provides. The continent will not wait for others to act. It will push forward its climate agenda with ambition, urgency, coherence and resolve, while demanding that others meet their respective duties and obligations under international climate agreements’. This was the resounding message from two consequential climate conclaves held under the banner of the Africa Climate Summit in recent years: the first hosted by Kenya in 2023, and the second by Ethiopia in September 2025. This is also Africa’s message to the upcoming UN global conference on…
New York elected democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani its new mayor, Chinese e-commerce giant Shein faced suspension in France as it opened its first-ever physical store in Paris and a baby hippo made her debut appearance at Berlin zoo. FRANCE 24 takes a look back at the week’s most striking images. Source link
$1.4B investment expands access to evidence-backed tools to help farmers in some of the world’s poorest regions adapt and build more resilience to droughts, floods, heat waves The Gates Foundation today announced a new commitment to advancing climate adaptation, helping smallholder farmers build resilience to a warming world and protect hard-won gains against poverty. Announced at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where leaders are emphasizing locally driven adaptation, the four-year, $1.4 billion investment will expand access to innovations that help farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to extreme weather. In these regions, where food security and livelihoods depend on agriculture, smallholder…
As Oramah concludes his transformative decade as President and Chairman of Afreximbank, Africa stands visibly reshaped by a visionary who has breathed new life into Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah’s dream of a united and economically integrated continent. Though never a head of state, Oramah’s legacy stands shoulder to shoulder with the continent’s greatest Pan-Africanist leaders — Haile Selassie, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Julius Nyerere, and Muammar Gaddafi. Over the past decade, Oramah has redefined economic Pan-Africanism — his vision, like Nkrumah’s, knows no borders. Yet while Nkrumah’s Pan-Africanism was rooted in political liberation, Oramah’s has been anchored in…
In this edition of Arts24, we meet award-winning actress Diane Kruger as she returns to French screens in HBO’s “Merteuil” or “The Seduction”, a bold reimagining of the novel “Dangerous Liaisons”. The German actress conquered Hollywood with “Troy” and “Inglorious Basterds”; now she returns to screens to explore a different kind of power, one that plays out in whispers, strategies and seduction in a candlelit 18th-century Paris. This new series sees Kruger play Madame De Rosemonde, a woman navigating the perilous games of patriarchy with cunning and elegance. The actress also tells us about returning to German cinema to explore…