NEWSWORTHY
The European Union must set mandatory rules to tackle child labor and deforestation in the cocoa and coffee sectors, after years of voluntary action has failed to spur widespread change, stakeholders and policymakers said on Wednesday. As a top importer of cocoa and coffee, the ...
Berlin promises German firms 'Marshall Plan' tax breaks for African projects to ease migrant crisis
Germany plans to use public money to support companies which invest in Africa, part of a new "Marshall Plan" with which it hopes to tackle the roots of the refugee crisis that has convulsed European politics since 2015. The aim was to reintroduce a scheme ...
Ethiopian, Eritrean leaders meet in Asmara in bid to forge new future for two nations
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was warmly greeted by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in the Eritrean capital of Asmara on Sunday at the start of a meeting to repair relations between the neighbors. Eritrean state television showed footage of the two men embracing while Abiy's ...
Swazi king's order to change country's name challenged by activist
A human rights activist in Swaziland is challenging King Mswati III's decision to change the tiny southern African nation's name to the Kingdom of eSwatini. Africa's last absolute monarch announced the new name in April at celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence ...
Scientists create hybrid embryos in race to save rhino sub-species
Scientists say they're several steps closer to perfecting a method that could prevent the extinction of northern white rhinos, of which only two animals are known still to be alive. According to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers have succeeded in ...
Mediterranean 'disembarkation platforms' no quick fix to ease EU migration crisis: U.N. agency
Planned new centers around the Mediterranean to handle migrants will be no silver bullet solution to the European Union's immigration challenge, says a U.N. agency of the idea it will be asked to implement. Irregular migration across the sea has been dramatically reduced, and only ...
Nearly 9,000 migrants voluntarily repatriated to other parts of Africa and Asia from Libya this year
Nearly 9,000 migrants have returned home from Libya through a voluntary program over the past six months, a spokesman for the United Nations migration agency said on Monday. A total of 8,938 people returned to some 30 African and Asian countries in the first half ...
Italy drives hard migration bargain at summit seen as vital to EU's survival
Italy's populist new prime minister held an EU summit hostage on Thursday in a bid to get reluctant European leaders to share responsibility for asylum seekers landing on Italian shores, with the bloc's future deemed at stake. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who heads Italy's month-old ...
Africa's air pollution killing thousands of infants, study says
Modest reductions in air pollution can prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of infants in sub-Saharan Africa each year, according to a new scientific study that investigated the link between breathable air pollutants and premature deaths in 30 countries across the continent. Although few ...
Italy's hard-line interior minister in Libya for talks to curb migrant surge
Italy's firebrand interior minister visited Libya on Monday and returned home emboldened with his decision to close Italian ports to migrants, demanding Europe step in to accept them and help Libya better secure its borders and screen migrants for asylum before they leave home. Matteo ...
Over 600 EU-bound migrants saved off Spain, including trio aboard kayak: rescuers
A total of 616 migrants on board some 20 vessels, including a kayak, were rescued Monday off the coast of Spain, the national rescue service said. Among those picked up on or near the Strait of Gibraltar or the Alboran Sea farther east in the ...
WHO chief predicts Ebola outbreak in Congo may end soon; 27 dead so far
The director general of the World Health said Sunday he believed a swift end could be put to the outbreak of Ebola in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, some 21 days after it left 27 people dead over the past month. "I am cautiously optimistic ...
