Author: Justus Akamin
LIBREVILLE, Gabon — Gabon’s interim President, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, has declared his intention to run in the nation’s presidential election scheduled for April 12, 2025. Nguema, who turned 50 on March 3, led the 2023 military coup that ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, ending over five decades of the Bongo family’s rule in the oil-rich Central African nation. Addressing supporters in the capital, Libreville, Nguema stated, “After careful consideration and in response to your numerous appeals, I have decided to stand as a candidate in the presidential election.”In November 2024, Gabon approved a new constitution via a referendum,…
Avocados are entrenched in American cuisine. The rich, creamy fruit, swaddled in a coarse skin, is often smashed into guacamole, slathered on toast, or minced into salads. The nation’s demand for Persea americana has surged by 600 percent since 1998. Most of the avocados consumed in the U.S., and many of those eaten elsewhere in the world, are a single variety grown in Michoacán, a state in west-central Mexico with an immensely profitable export industry worth at least $2 billion annually. But this “green gold rush” has come at a steep climatic cost, as vast tracts of protected land are…
Friends, we are in the midst of a coup. The things happening in Washington D.C. these days are unconstitutional and illustrate how little our elected officials actually understand the complexities of our federal administrations. It is terrifying on many levels. I think we need to stop asking people if they believe in climate change and instead ask them if they understand climate change. Last week I had the honor of being present at our annual Youth Climate Justice Summit, a day-long event designed, planned, and hosted by our amazing and brilliant YEA! student leaders. Young people and their teachers from…
Days after his inauguration, President Trump had ordered the removal of climate-related information from federal web sites and issued orders suppressing funding for continued scientific research into the causes, impacts, and human response to climate change. Below is the White House climate change page, https://www.whitehouse.gov/climatechange. This is likely the first page many Americans will visit to learn about climate change, as they want to hear from our leaders. We are not children; we are citizens who need information to make informed votes. We appreciate that a change in administration can result in new priorities, but the rise of extreme weather,…
Transcript: Aluminum is not just found in soda and beer cans. The material is used in all sorts of things – from cellphones and solar panels to electric vehicles and airplanes. And demand for many of these products is growing rapidly. Sartor: “So not only is demand increasing here in the United States, but it’s increasing around the world, which adds up to a whole lot more aluminum.” Annie Sartor is with Industrious Labs, an organization focused on reducing the climate impact of aluminum and other industrial materials. She says aluminum production requires a lot of electricity. And in places…
This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency faces a legal challenge after approving a controversial plan to include radioactive waste in a road project late last year. The Center for Biological Diversity filed the challenge on February 19 in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals under the Clean Air Act. The advocacy group says the federal agency has prohibited the use of phosphogypsum, a radioactive, carcinogenic, and toxic waste generated by the fertilizer industry, in road construction since 1992, citing an “unacceptable level of risk to public health.”…
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Burkina Faso has implemented a new prison reform that permits inmates and pre-trial detainees to engage in agricultural labor in exchange for reduced sentences. Under this initiative, each month of work in the agricultural sector results in a three-month reduction of an inmate’s sentence. The program aims to rehabilitate prisoners, enhance agricultural productivity, and address food insecurity by utilizing inmate labor.The reform aligns with indigenous values that emphasize rehabilitation and community contribution over punitive measures. By equipping inmates with agricultural skills, the program seeks to facilitate their reintegration into society and reduce recidivism rates. Additionally, the…
Cape Town, South Africa – South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma’s political party, the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), has filed a treason complaint against AfriForum, a prominent advocacy group representing the country’s white Afrikaner minority. The complaint, lodged at Cape Town’s central police station, accuses AfriForum of disseminating misinformation to influence U.S. President Donald Trump’s stance on South Africa’s land reform policies.The controversy centers on South Africa’s Expropriation Act, legislation designed to address historical land dispossession by enabling the redistribution of white-owned land without compensation. AfriForum has actively lobbied against this law in the United States, portraying…
Buea, Ambazonia – On November 27, 2024, the legal profession within the Common Law community of Southern Cameroons was once again violently assaulted, this time in Douala, where Barrister Tamfu Richard, a renowned human rights lawyer, faced brutal treatment at the hands of Cameroon’s gendarmes. If anything. the attack on Tamfu highlights the worsening state of justice in Cameroon, particularly for Southern Cameroonians, as well as the systemic impunity that fuels such atrocities.Tamfu’s ordeal began when he intervened to challenge the unlawful arrest of one of his clients at the Groupement de Gendarmerie in Bonanjo, Douala. Upon stopping at the…
The Hague – The Pan African Forum Ltd, an African lobby group based in Kenya, has filed a landmark petition with the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling for an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to Cameroon’s President Paul Biya. The 142-page application, submitted on Friday, November 22, 2024, seeks accountability for atrocities committed during the ongoing conflict in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia.The petition accuses Biya’s regime of orchestrating grave human rights violations, including the deliberate targeting of civilians, forced displacements, extrajudicial killings, and widespread destruction of property. The Pan African Forum Ltd has supported its application…