Global Pulse

标签： Africa

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  • As Ebola spreads in Congo, a radio station tries to stop health misinformation

    As Ebola spreads in Congo, a radio station tries to stop health misinformation

    In the eastern Congolese city of Bunia, epicenter of an unexpected and fast-moving outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo Ebola variant, a quiet public health battle is being waged on the airwaves. This outbreak caught local communities completely off guard, spreading undetected for weeks before authorities issued an official alert, and deep-seated misinformation and public skepticism have hindered containment efforts from the start.

    Congolese health officials formally declared the outbreak on May 15. As of this week, official records count 363 confirmed cases and at least 62 deaths, but public health experts warn these numbers almost certainly understate the true scale of the epidemic. Initial testing protocols focused on more common Ebola strains, creating critical weeks of delay that allowed the virus to expand far beyond its original three health zones to 24 zones across the region.

    Many local residents have dismissed official warnings of the outbreak as an invented “Western conspiracy,” spreading unfounded rumors that the crisis is exaggerated by opportunistic actors seeking financial gain. For 52-year-old Bunia resident Samson Gerson, a father of seven, this mistrust runs so deep that he says he would refuse any future Ebola vaccine, preferring to risk death over accepting what he sees as a dangerous, profit-driven hoax. Even basic facts about the outbreak are questioned by locals like Chantal Francine, who notes that most residents have only seen secondhand edited images of Ebola fatalities on mobile phones, leaving them skeptical of reported death tolls.

    This widespread resistance to public health guidance has already had dangerous consequences. Since the outbreak was declared, local communities have carried out at least three separate attacks on Ebola treatment centers, demanding the release of deceased patients’ bodies. During these attacks, multiple suspected Ebola patients fled the facilities, and health workers have been unable to trace their whereabouts, creating new, unmonitored transmission risks. Health officials confirm that misinformation and fear discourage residents from following safety protocols or seeking timely medical care, directly allowing the virus to spread faster.

    Public health analysts trace this deep mistrust to a combination of longstanding skepticism of the national healthcare system and limited engagement from local government officials in outbreak response. “What is key is to involve the local actors at all levels. If we try to impose what we think is right to the community, we are running towards failure,” explained Basile Rambaud, emergency programs director for Mercy Corps in Congo. “If people do not trust the response, they end up delaying to seek care, rejecting protective measures, or avoiding working with health teams, giving the virus more time to spread.”

    Compounding the crisis further is the context of ongoing violent conflict in the region. Eastern Congo remains destabilized by clashes between government forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, plus frequent attacks by the Allied Democratic Force, an extremist group affiliated with the Islamic State that killed 16 people in Beni territory, North Kivu, just this week. Widespread population displacement from these conflicts has disrupted public health work and created more opportunities for the virus to spread across communities. There is also no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the rare Bundibugyo Ebola strain, adding an extra layer of danger and uncertainty to the response.

    Against this backdrop, one local journalist has stepped forward to fill the information gap. Vérité Johnson, editorial secretary at Bunia’s Radio Télévision Mont Bleu, launched a daily radio program specifically designed to counter false rumors and deliver accurate, accessible information about the outbreak to local residents.

    The 45-minute show, which airs every morning at 10 a.m., has quickly become a critical lifeline for communities. It regularly features public health specialists who share the latest outbreak updates, explain safety protocols, and answer listener questions directly. Listeners can call in live to ask about their concerns, and short educational jingles about Ebola safety are played throughout the broadcast day to reinforce key messages. For many residents who were unaware of the outbreak’s facts or deeply skeptical of official information, the program has helped shift perspectives.

    Congo has now faced 17 separate Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976, so community resistance to public health measures during emergencies is a well-documented challenge. Johnson acknowledges that significant public resistance remains, but says the local media’s role in disseminating facts remains indispensable.

    “Everyone is free to think what they want, but the information remains the same. The epidemic is here,” Johnson said, confirming that the station will continue running the program as long as the outbreak persists. The WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also warned that response efforts are still falling behind despite recent improvements in testing, underscoring the urgent need for trusted, local information campaigns like Johnson’s to turn the tide of the outbreak.

  • Technology, participation mark Ethiopia’s election

    Technology, participation mark Ethiopia’s election

    Ethiopia’s seventh national general election, held on Monday, has drawn positive early feedback from regional election monitoring groups, which have highlighted the nation’s innovative use of digital electoral tools and record-breaking voter engagement as key milestones in the country’s ongoing work to consolidate democratic governance — even as persistent security concerns remain a pressing challenge.

    This election marks only the second general election held in the East African nation since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office following the 2018 poll. As one of Africa’s most populous countries and a prominent diplomatic actor across the continent, Ethiopia’s electoral developments are being closely monitored by regional governments and global stakeholders alike.

    Preliminary assessments published Wednesday by observer delegations from the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) outline clear progress in core electoral processes, including voter registration, poll administration, and expanded inclusive access to voting, while confirming that ongoing insecurity continues to disrupt operations in several regions of the country.

    Data from the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) shows that total registered voters surpassed 50.5 million — exceeding the board’s original enrollment target and representing a substantial jump in registered voters compared to the previous general election. Under a newly implemented hybrid digital-analog registration system, more than 5.5 million voters completed their enrollment via online digital platforms.

    Monitoring teams have singled out the integration of technology as a defining, standout feature of this year’s election. Tech upgrades include GIS-based mapping to digitize, analyze, and map the geographic locations of all voting centers, streamlined digital voter registration tools, and tailored voting accommodations for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and active security service members.

    Observers commended NEBE for its strong administrative and operational capacity, noting that these new systemic improvements directly boosted accessibility, transparency, and overall efficiency across the entire voting process.

    In a joint media briefing Wednesday, the AU and IGAD observer teams stated: “The way the election board conducted the 7th General Election is commendable,” pointing to the electoral body’s demonstrated neutrality, robust technological preparedness, commitment to inclusive participation, and professional poll administration.

    Per mission reports, voting proceeded successfully in 501 of Ethiopia’s constituencies. However, polls were unable to open in the entire Tigray region, as well as parts of Oromia and Amhara, due to active security threats and logistical barriers. Overall, while more than 50,000 polling stations operated as planned across the country, 143 locations remained closed on voting day because of instability, local media reports confirm.

    Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, head of the IGAD Election Observation Mission, described the level of public engagement in the election as among the most impressive she has observed during decades of election monitoring work across the African continent. “We have never encountered the level of public participation we saw in Ethiopia in other countries,” she said.

    Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who led the AU’s observer delegation, also echoed positive assessments, applauding the conduct of the polls and welcoming the efforts by Ethiopian authorities to strengthen the national electoral process.

    In line with Ethiopia’s electoral legal framework, official final results are scheduled to be released between one and two weeks after the conclusion of voting.

  • Gunmen kidnap 7 students from school in northwestern Nigeria

    Gunmen kidnap 7 students from school in northwestern Nigeria

    In northwest Nigeria, a violent incursion by armed gunmen left seven students taken captive after assailants stormed an off-campus residential building, local law enforcement confirmed this week. The attack unfolded in the early hours of Wednesday in the Kaura Namoda district, a region located within Zamfara state — an area that has been torn apart by years of persistent violent conflict. Police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar released an official statement detailing the incident, noting that one of the seven taken managed to break free from the captors and is now under police protection with no reported serious injuries. As of the latest update, authorities have not yet confirmed the exact location where the remaining six kidnapped students were taken by the assailants. However, Abubakar emphasized that comprehensive search and rescue operations are already in motion to recover the hostages and apprehend those responsible for the attack. Zamfara state has long been recognized as a major hotbed for criminal armed gangs that target civilians for kidnapping-to-ransom schemes, a crisis that has spread across much of northern Nigeria in recent years. Most alarmingly, the frequency of student abductions has climbed sharply across the entire nation since 2014. A data compilation conducted by Nigeria’s leading local news organization Premium Times underscores the severity of this national crisis: according to their tally, no fewer than 1,900 students have been kidnapped from 20 separate educational institutions across the country. This wave of student abductions traces its origins back to the 2014 mass kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from a government secondary school in Chibok, Borno state, an event that drew global outrage and put the issue of mass kidnapping in Nigeria on the international agenda. Security analysts continue to warn that weak border security, widespread access to illegal weaponry, and slow progress on economic development in many northern Nigerian states have created conditions that allow these criminal gangs to operate with relative impunity, even as federal and state authorities continue to deploy additional security resources to curb the violence.

  • Heavy gunfire in Somali capital as row over election delay escalates

    Heavy gunfire in Somali capital as row over election delay escalates

    A deepening political crisis over delayed presidential elections has plunged Somalia’s capital Mogadishu into open armed conflict, with heavy exchanges of gunfire between government forces and opposition fighters continuing through overnight hours after violence first broke out Wednesday evening.

    The root of the standoff dates back to May 15, when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s constitutionally mandated term in office reached its scheduled end. Instead of stepping down to make way for a new administration, the federal government extended Mohamud’s tenure by an additional 12 months—a move the country’s opposition bloc has decried as a clear violation of Somalia’s constitution, prompting organizers to call for mass nationwide protests to be held Thursday.

    Residents across multiple residential neighborhoods in Mogadishu confirmed persistent gunfire echoed through the capital throughout the night, with no immediate ceasefire emerging by early Thursday. In an official statement, Somali police said the military and security deployment was framed as a large-scale security operation targeting heavily armed opposition militias that the government says launched coordinated mortar attacks on multiple populated areas.

    While negotiators from the federal government and opposition factions held talks after the expiration of Mohamud’s term, the two sides failed to bridge their core disagreements, setting the stage for the current escalation of tensions. Notably, Mohamud had positioned himself as a reformer working to transition Somalia to full democratic elections, moving away from the long-standing system where clan elders selected members of parliament, who in turn appointed the country’s president. Somalia has not held a direct one-person, one-vote national election since 1969, and the country has struggled with instability and armed conflict for more than three decades.

    The opposition has ramped up accusations against the government following the outbreak of violence. Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire claimed government forces targeted him and other opposition leaders as they prepared for Thursday’s planned peaceful demonstrations. Taking to the social platform X to share the allegation, Khaire placed full blame for any potential casualties or property damage on the outgoing president, calling the incident a severe violation of Somali citizens’ constitutional rights and a deliberate effort to outlaw peaceful public assembly.

    As of Thursday morning, official figures for casualties from the overnight fighting have not been released, and President Mohamud has not issued any public comment on the clashes. Former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a key opposition figure, reiterated in a statement on X that the violence would not derail the planned protest movement, saying that opposition leaders and supporters would not be intimidated into stepping back from their demands.

    The international community has already reacted to the escalating crisis, with the U.S. Embassy based in Mogadishu issuing a statement condemning the violence as reckless. The embassy emphasized that all political leaders across all factions hold a shared responsibility to protect Somalia’s hard-won stability and resolve their outstanding political disagreements through diplomatic, peaceful negotiations rather than armed conflict.

  • Armed clashes erupt in Somalia’s capital ahead of a planned anti-government demonstration

    Armed clashes erupt in Somalia’s capital ahead of a planned anti-government demonstration

    Fresh armed violence has shaken Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, as clashes between supporters of opposition political figures and national state security forces broke out Wednesday evening, just one day ahead of a scheduled anti-government demonstration. No official casualty statistics have been released in the immediate aftermath of the fighting, which has drawn urgent calls for de-escalation from both the United Nations and the United States, as the two rival political factions trade blame for the unrest.

    Local residents across multiple affected neighborhoods reported sustained heavy gunfire and loud explosions throughout the confrontation. Abdullahi Mohamed, a resident of Mogadishu’s Howlwadaag district, described widespread panic forcing residents to flee their homes. “We heard heavy weapons fire, and people were fleeing their homes,” Mohamed said. “Many families left the area looking for safer places.”

    Opposition leaders say their planned Thursday rally was organized to protest what they claim are unconstitutional violations by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, including unilateral efforts to extend his time in office. The president’s administration has flatly denied all of these allegations.

    In an official statement, Mogadishu police framed the unrest as premeditated “organized attacks” carried out by armed militias connected to opposition political groups seeking to undermine state authority. “The incidents were not the organization of peaceful public demonstrations, but rather coordinated armed acts that directly threatened the security, order and stability of the capital,” the police statement read. Security forces successfully repelled attacks on their outposts, authorities confirmed, adding that investigations are already underway to identify all individuals involved in organizing, funding, and executing the violent actions.

    Opposition leaders have pushed back with a competing narrative, accusing security forces of launching unprovoked attacks on residential properties tied to two top opposition figures: former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. “We are under attack,” Khaire said in his own statement. “For the second time in less than 24 hours, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has directed armed forces against our peaceful gatherings.” Khaire added that the attack took place while traditional elders, politicians, and community leaders were gathered at his residence for a meeting. The Somali government has rejected this version of events entirely.

    The United Nations quickly voiced alarm over the outbreak of violence. UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed the clashes have left civilians dead and injured, alongside widespread damage to critical public infrastructure. “The Secretary-General strongly condemns all acts of violence and incitement to violence undertaken for political advantage,” Guterres’ statement read. He also called on all parties to immediately exercise maximum restraint, prioritize the safety of civilian populations, and resolve long-running political disagreements through constructive dialogue.

    The United States echoed that concern, with the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu labeling the violence “reckless” and urging all Somali political leaders to pursue a peaceful negotiated resolution. “Somali leaders on all sides have a responsibility to preserve stability and resolve differences through peaceful means,” the embassy said in a statement. “Actions taken in the coming hours and days may have lasting consequences for Somalia’s security, unity, and future.”

    Khaire further alleged that Mohamud has redirected military resources trained and equipped by international allies – originally intended to combat the al-Shabab extremist insurgency – to target political opposition figures.

    The latest clashes underscore a steady erosion of trust and deepening political rift between Mohamud’s administration and opposition leaders, driven by long-running disputes over the country’s electoral framework and constitutional future. This internal tension comes as Somalia continues its years-long campaign to defeat al-Shabab, while working to build durable democratic state institutions with extensive support from the international community.

  • Women are the first caregivers in this Ebola outbreak and the most at risk

    Women are the first caregivers in this Ebola outbreak and the most at risk

    In the heart of eastern Congo’s Ituri province, where one of the most rapidly expanding Ebola outbreaks in recorded history is unfolding, 28-year-old Aline Kasiwa makes an unwavering, dangerous choice every single day. For a week, she has cared for her ailing mother—feeding her, helping her drink, washing her clothes—all while acutely aware that every interaction puts her at risk of contracting the deadly Bundibugyo Ebola virus, a strain with no approved vaccine or targeted treatment. Too terrified to bring her mother to a local hospital, where she has heard even medical staff are dying from the disease, Kasiwa says she has no other option: “She is the only family I have left. I cannot abandon her.” With nothing but a low-cost cloth face mask to shield herself, Kasiwa embodies a stark, underreported reality of this crisis: women across eastern Congo are disproportionately exposed to Ebola, forced into frontline caregiving roles that leave them far more vulnerable to infection than their male counterparts.

    Dr. Furaha Elisabeth, director of Bunia’s Karibuni Wa Maman gynecology and obstetrics clinic, explains that social norms in the region place almost all informal care work on women’s shoulders. “It’s the woman who gives them a bath, it’s the woman who feeds them, and it’s the woman who’s there to wash the dirty clothes and everything else,” she says. Beyond at-home care, women also traditionally lead burial preparation for deceased family members—a practice that carries extremely high Ebola transmission risk, given the virus spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids.

    History bears out the lopsided risk of this crisis. Data from past Ebola outbreaks consistently shows women suffer higher infection and death rates than men. During the 1970s first recorded Ebola outbreak, 56% of deaths were women, according to UN Women. In the 2018–2020 Congo outbreak—the deadliest the country has ever experienced—women and girls made up roughly two-thirds of all confirmed cases. Sofia Calltorp, UN Women’s chief of humanitarian action, says the same pattern is already emerging in the current outbreak. “Ebola transmission follows social realities,” she notes. “The virus spreads along the lines of care-giving, domestic labor, front-line health work and burial practices.”

    Compounding this inequality is a catastrophic shortage of critical personal protective equipment (PPE) that leaves both professional health workers and family caregivers defenseless. Staff at Karibuni Wa Maman clinic, which screens symptomatic patients before referring them to larger treatment centers, say they have received no full PPE since the outbreak began, despite repeated appeals to national health authorities. The clinic is run by local aid group Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, whose president Julienne Lusenge says the only supplies the organization has secured from international and state partners are a small amount of hand sanitizer and a handful of masks for clinical staff. This gap puts even informal caregivers at extreme risk, Lusenge adds: most women caring for sick relatives at home do not even know their loved one may have Ebola, let alone have access to gear to protect themselves. “During previous outbreaks, many women died because they were the ones nursing sick family members,” she says.

    Pregnant women face a particularly devastating, impossible dilemma. Many avoid seeking routine prenatal care at local clinics out of fear of contracting Ebola, leaving them and their unborn children without life-saving monitoring. Anny Ekyambo, a 32-year-old Bunia resident five months pregnant, says she shares this fear with most other pregnant women in her community. “I know that there are steps we must follow with the doctors to monitor the pregnancy and the baby, but we have no choice because this epidemic frightens us,” she explains. UN Women points out that pregnant women already face higher exposure due to their regular need for health services, and Lusenge warns that avoiding care will have dire secondary consequences: “We risk seeing a rise in prenatal and postnatal mortality, for both mothers and children.”

    As of this week, Congolese authorities have confirmed 344 cases of Ebola, including 60 deaths, with dozens more suspected cases yet to be tested. Neighboring Uganda has recorded 15 confirmed cases and one death. The outbreak was identified weeks later than it should have been, because the rare Bundibugyo strain was not included in initial testing protocols. Even with incremental improvements in response coordination and new aid arrivals in recent days, medical charity Doctors Without Borders says the virus is still spreading faster than intervention teams can contain it. “Nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak,” said Dr. Alan Gonzalez, the organization’s deputy director of operations.

    Multiple overlapping challenges have hampered the international and state response to the crisis. Ituri province, where the outbreak is centered, is located more than 1,000 kilometers from Congo’s capital Kinshasa, with crumbling road networks and chronically underfunded, underequipped health facilities. Ongoing violent conflict has further blocked access: the Islamic State-allied Allied Democratic Forces rebel group operates in the region, while the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel militia controls key urban centers in neighboring North Kivu and South Kivu, where additional cases have been confirmed. Decades of conflict have also left local communities deeply wary of outside authorities and medical workers, pushing more people to rely on at-home care from family members rather than seek official treatment—once again shifting the risk onto women.

    This coverage is supported by the Gates Foundation as part of AP News’ global health and development reporting in Africa, with the AP retaining full editorial control over all content.

  • How Voodoo overcame suppression and became a democratic force in the West African nation of Benin

    How Voodoo overcame suppression and became a democratic force in the West African nation of Benin

    Nestled on West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, the coastal city of Ouidah holds a unique dual distinction: it is the global birthplace of the indigenous Vodún religion, and an unlikely cradle of the democratic stability that Benin has nurtured across three decades, even as neighboring nations have fallen into a pattern of military takeovers that earned the region the nickname the “coup belt.” That stability, scholars and Vodún devotees argue, is deeply intertwined with the religion’s quiet, unyielding resistance to authoritarian overreach, a story that begins with the rise and fall of former dictator Mathieu Kérékou.

    Kérékou seized power in the 1972 coup that renamed the former colony of Dahomey to Benin, establishing a rigid Marxist-Leninist dictatorship that nationalized nearly all major industries. As he consolidated his control, he targeted Vodún, labeling the centuries-old faith a subversive, backward force that threatened his grip on power. Under his rule, Vodún priests were detained, sacred shrines were demolished to make way for urban development, and the practice of the religion was effectively banned. What Kérékou did not anticipate, however, was that this crackdown would spark a resistance that would ultimately force him to abandon his authoritarian approach.

    Accounts from devotees and former Kérékou advisers confirm the dictator grew deeply paranoid of spiritual retaliation from Vodún leaders, convinced he faced a curse that could turn him into a zombie. Raised Catholic, he converted to Islam before later embracing born-again Christianity in a frantic search for stronger spiritual protection, even recruiting a notorious Malian marabout known as “the Devil” to counter the perceived threat. His fear grew so extreme that he could no longer safely travel to large swathes of the country, where support for Vodún ran deepest. “This is precisely what led him to reconsider his position regarding Indigenous religions,” explained Léon Bani Bigou, a former lawmaker who once served as one of Kérékou’s top advisers.

    By 1990, mounting economic collapse from Kérékou’s nationalization policies, combined with pressure from religious and civil society groups, forced the dictator to call for democratic reforms and a 1991 presidential election he fully expected to win. In a stunning upset, he was defeated by opposition candidate Nicéphore Soglo, who immediately moved to recognize Vodún as an official part of Benin’s national heritage and enshrine religious tolerance as a core national value. When Kérékou returned to power as a civilian democrat after winning the 1996 election, he kept that promise, officializing a national Voodoo Day celebrated every January 10 and establishing a state-led National Voodoo Board to govern the religion’s affairs. By his final campaign in 2001, Kérékou was actively courting the Vodún vote in Ouidah, a far cry from his days as an anti-Vodún dictator.

    Today, Benin stands as a rare beacon of democratic stability in West Africa, where eight successful military coups have occurred across the region since 2020. The most recent peaceful transfer of power took place in May 2024, when former finance minister Romuald Wadagni was inaugurated after incumbent Patrice Talon stepped down at the end of his two-term limit. For scholars and religious leaders, this resilience of democracy traces directly back to the resilience of Vodún itself.

    Roughly 14 million people call Benin home, with U.S. State Department data recording that half identify as Christian. But prominent Beninese politician Mahougnon Kakpo calls Vodún “the first religion of all Beninese,” noting that even many who identify with other faiths still engage with Vodún traditions privately. An animist faith centered on engagement with the spirit world, Vodún holds that divine power is present in all natural features, from rivers to rock formations. Its ceremonies include ritual incantation, traditional dance, and symbolic animal sacrifice, and it has spread across the Atlantic through the trans-Atlantic slave trade, evolving into the Vodou practiced in Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean.

    Ouidah, the historic center of Vodún, was once a major slave trading port, and it is home to the “Door of No Return” monument honoring the millions of enslaved Africans who were forcibly shipped to the Americas. Vodún supreme leader Daagbo Hounon Houna II, who is based in Ouidah, points to a little-remembered chapter of Vodún history to illustrate the religion’s long tradition of resistance: the 1791 Bois Caïman ceremony, where enslaved Africans in Haiti gathered for a Vodún ritual to plot their rebellion against French colonial rule. That uprising led to Haiti becoming the world’s first free Black republic in 1804, proving that even under the most brutal oppression, Vodún could not be suppressed. “The more you attack their religion, the more you raise their spirits,” Houna II said of Vodún adherents during an interview at his Ouidah temple.

    Unlike other postcolonial African authoritarian leaders who successfully consolidated personal power by co-opting or suppressing religious traditions, Kérékou ultimately failed to break Vodún because of its deep roots in daily Beninese life. “Kérékou failed to eradicate Vodún because he was attacking a centuries-old social practice deeply rooted in the daily lives of Beninese people, a resource to which he and officials in his regime had been able to turn in the exercise of power,” explained Narcisse Martial Yedji, a political sociologist at Université d’Abomey-Calavi. “Kérékou could not win over all the guardians of Voodoo traditions. Voodoo is not private property.”

    Today, the faith remains a central part of national life, with devotees across the country making regular pilgrimages to sacred shrines in Ouidah, leaving offerings of fruit and other gifts to honor ancestral spirits. For its followers, the story of Benin’s democracy and Vodún’s resistance is a clear lesson: no leader, however powerful, can successfully stamp out a faith that is woven into the very identity of the nation. “Voodoo is life,” said Dossavi Yovo, a priestess at Houna II’s temple. “If you want to practice Voodoo, you have got to dedicate yourself to it.”

  • ‘It is by the grace of God that you find a diamond’

    ‘It is by the grace of God that you find a diamond’

    For nearly a century, diamond mining has been the beating economic heart of Sierra Leone’s Kono region, a land whose gem wealth once fueled a devastating decade-long civil war that left tens of thousands dead and indelible scars on local communities. Today, a far quieter crisis is reshaping life here: the global boom of lab-grown diamonds has sent natural diamond prices plummeting, forcing major mines to close and pushing thousands of out-of-work miners into scattered, unregulated small-scale digging operations where finds are increasingly rare.

    Under the unforgiving West African sun, Daniel, a foreman at one of these informal artisanal mines in Kono, works shirtless, sifting and shoveling wet mud by hand to hunt for tiny gem fragments. He and his five crew members know all too well how slim their odds are: even after days, weeks, or entire months of backbreaking labor, they often leave empty-handed. “I have not made a lot of money yet,” Daniel explained, running his fingers through a pile of sorted gravel. “Sometimes for the whole of the year you can’t get anything. It is by the grace of God that you find a diamond. We are just dreaming, really. We still have that hope.”

    His uncertain daily reality has become far more common since the 2024 closure of Koidu Holdings, Sierra Leone’s largest commercial diamond mine, which cut 1,000 jobs amid a bitter wage dispute. While the company officially cited dispute-related costs and security concerns for the shutdown, industry insiders privately acknowledge that slumping global natural diamond prices were a major contributing factor. Over just four years, retail prices for polished mined diamonds have fallen by roughly 40%, with the rapid expansion of the lab-grown diamond industry widely identified as the core driver.

    Chemically and physically identical to mined diamonds, lab-grown diamonds are produced from crystallized carbon, mostly in manufacturing facilities in India and China, using either high pressure high temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapour deposition (CVD) technologies. They sell for up to 70% less than natural mined gems, a price point that has resonated deeply with cost-conscious consumers. Kono Governor Augustine Shekho confirmed the severe impact of the price collapse on the local economy: “Lower diamond values have reduced earnings for miners, constrained investment, and weakened local economic activity.”

    The region’s complicated relationship with diamonds dates back decades. Kono’s gem reserves made it a key battleground during Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil war that ended in 2002, leaving over 50,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced or maimed. Shekho lost his own mother to the violence, when armed factions fought for control of diamond deposits and terrorized local communities. “They shot at random, they killed people, burnt the entire town,” he recalled. “It was a war of terror… It was a nightmare. I would really not want to think about it.”

    In 2003, the UN-backed Kimberley Process certification scheme was launched to block conflict “blood diamonds” from entering global markets, but the industry has never fully shaken its damaged reputation. Even today, many local residents question whether the region’s diamond wealth has ever delivered widespread prosperity. “To me the diamonds have failed us,” said Abubakar Amara, a primary school teacher in Kono. “What have those diamonds done for our community, for Kono, for Sierra Leone? We are considered as poor in the world.”

    Industry giant De Beers, the British multinational that dominates global diamond marketing and mining, is attempting to reverse natural diamonds’ declining fortunes with a new initiative called Gemfair, a fair-trade style program for Sierra Leone’s artisanal miners. The project provides small-scale diggers with upgraded equipment, professional training, and access to more transparent pricing and direct market connections. “The idea is to connect with markets so that they can be able to find a place to sell their diamonds, and also to empower them, give them training, we give them skills,” explained Raymond Alpha, Gemfair’s local representative.

    For De Beers, the initiative also serves a key reputational goal: it enables full traceability, letting retailers share the origin story of each mined diamond with consumers, who increasingly want to know the source of high-stakes purchases like engagement rings. “With people increasingly wanting to know where their coffee, cotton or chocolate has come from, it’s not surprising that people also want to know where their diamond – one of the most emotionally significant purchases – has come from,” said De Beers representative David Johnson.

    But even with improved traceability and ethical branding, analysts do not expect lab-grown diamonds’ growth to slow. Rohit Mehta, chief executive of Forlink Ventures, a commodity firm based in Surat, India – the global hub of lab-grown diamond production – argues that lab-grown gems hold three key advantages over natural stones: lower cost, ethical production, and a smaller environmental footprint. “People are more conscious about climate change, about extracting too much from the earth,” he said.

    That claim of environmental friendliness is disputed, however. Unlike mined diamonds, lab-grown production is extremely energy-intensive: creating a single carat of rough lab-grown diamond requires massive amounts of electricity, with production reactors running at temperatures comparable to the sun’s surface, according to Stanley Mathuram, a U.S.-based environmental consultant who studies the lab-grown diamond industry. “They’re like data centres. That’s the kind of energy that they require,” he noted.

    Even so, energy concerns have done little to dampen consumer demand. One industry analysis projects the global lab-grown diamond market will grow from its 2024 valuation of $29.5 billion (£21.9 billion) to $91.9 billion by 2034. By 2025, the total market value of lab-grown diamonds already exceeds the $20 billion annual value of the global natural diamond jewelry market, per De Beers’ own estimates.

    In the U.S., the 2026 Real Weddings Study from wedding platform The Knot found that lab-grown diamonds now make up 61% of all engagement ring sales, more than doubling their market share since 2022. The shift, the report notes, is driven by “economic pragmatism and evolving values,” with 40% of couples specifically prioritizing lab-grown stones for their rings. Atlanta-based jewelry retailer Doug Meadows, co-founder of David Douglas Diamonds, says consumers are primarily drawn to the chance to buy a larger stone for their budget. “It’s all about the stone. They’re going for the biggest bling that they can afford,” he explained. “Years ago, it used to be the diamond was the expensive part. With the advent of gold jumping up to $4,500, $5,000 an ounce, now the mounting is becoming a lot more expensive, and the diamond is becoming the cheap part.”

    While Meadows sympathizes with efforts to promote natural diamonds, with their deep geographic and human origin stories, he acknowledges that convincing consumers to pay a premium is an uphill battle. “To try to educate a consumer about the value in a natural diamond, it is a new challenge,” he said. “I don’t know how we do it yet, I’m hoping the industry can give us an idea.”

    Back in his small Kono mine, Daniel dumps another sieve of gravel into the mud, finding nothing. Head bowed, he stares at the pit before vowing to keep trying. “Unfortunately there is no diamond here,” he says. “I will try my luck again,” he adds, picking up his shovel to resume digging.

  • Congo’s soccer team seeks alternatives after Spanish city cancels World Cup warmup game due to Ebola

    Congo’s soccer team seeks alternatives after Spanish city cancels World Cup warmup game due to Ebola

    MADRID – A pre-World Cup friendly match between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile scheduled to take place in the Spanish coastal city of La Linea de la Concepcion has been blocked by local authorities over public health fears tied to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in central Africa, leaving the Congolese national team scrambling to rearrange the warm-up fixture ahead of their first World Cup appearance in nearly half a century. Local government officials in La Linea confirmed Tuesday that they had formally rejected authorization for the June match, citing unacceptable public health risks linked to the regional Ebola epidemic that has spread across eastern DR Congo and neighboring Uganda. The outbreak, caused by a rare strain of the Ebola virus, was designated a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization weeks ago, prompting widespread precautionary measures across global sporting and political circles.

    In response to the cancellation, DR Congo’s national soccer federation announced it has opened active discussions with the Royal Spanish Football Federation and global governing bodies to identify an alternative host for the planned warm-up match, with the federation confirming it remains committed to holding the fixture ahead of the tournament.

    Notably, the entire Congolese squad and its French head coach Sébastien Desabre are currently based outside of DR Congo, with the vast majority of players competing for club sides across France. The team was already in Europe this week for a pre-tournament warm-up against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, Wednesday, as they wrap up preparation ahead of the World Cup in North America.

    The Ebola outbreak has already forced major changes to DR Congo’s pre-World Cup planning: the federation previously scrapped a three-day pre-departure training camp in the capital Kinshasa, along with a planned public fan farewell event, to limit potential exposure for the squad amid the ongoing public health crisis in the eastern region of the country.

    Global soccer governing body FIFA has confirmed it is closely monitoring the situation, maintaining constant communication with Congolese federation officials to ensure the squad follows all updated medical and security guidance to mitigate any health risks.

    DR Congo, which will compete under Group K at this year’s World Cup, is set to kick off its tournament campaign against Portugal in Houston on June 17. The team, nicknamed The Leopards, will then face Colombia in Guadalajara on June 23, before wrapping up group stage play against Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 27. This marks the country’s first qualification for the World Cup since 1974, when it competed under the former name Zaire. The historic qualification sparked widespread jubilation across the nation, which has struggled with decades of political instability and armed conflict. For a country that has faced persistent hardship, the 2024 World Cup berth represents a rare moment of national unity and global recognition.

  • Four sentenced to death for killing worshippers at Catholic church in Nigeria

    Four sentenced to death for killing worshippers at Catholic church in Nigeria

    In a landmark ruling that has drawn national attention, a Nigerian court has handed down death sentences to four men convicted of involvement in the 2022 deadly attack on St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, a mass shooting that killed 41 worshippers and wounded more than 100 others during an ongoing Pentecost service. A fifth defendant accused of funding the attack was cleared of all charges due to a lack of sufficient evidence.

    The convicted men — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, and Abdulhaleem Idris — were also handed an additional 20-year prison sentence on separate charges of belonging to a banned terrorist organization, according to the ruling delivered at the Abuja-based court by presiding judge Emeka Nwite. Under Nigerian law, all death sentences require formal presidential assent before execution can proceed, and the country has not carried out any executions in several years.

    Justice Nwite noted in his judgment that the prosecution’s evidence against the four convicts remained unshaken and uncontradicted throughout the entire cross-examination process. After the high-profile trial launched in August 2025, the judge ordered an accelerated hearing to deliver a timely ruling. He confirmed that prosecutors had met the legal standard of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, with multiple eye-witnesses to the attack testifying in court. One key witness was a woman who survived the attack but suffered catastrophic injuries: both of her legs were amputated below the knee, and she lost her left eye in a dynamite blast set off by the attackers. One witness also confirmed she was able to identify two of the defendants as direct participants in the shooting.

    The four men were convicted on all nine criminal counts laid out by prosecutors, which included membership in a terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit murder, and directly carrying out the mass killing. Following the ruling, lead prosecutor Ayodeji Adedipe released a statement affirming that justice had been served for the 41 worshippers killed in cold blood. However, defense counsel for the convicted men announced they would file an appeal against the verdict and sentences, noting that their clients had alleged torture during detention — including claims of being hung from the ceiling, repeated beatings, and electric shock abuse to their genitals.

    The fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, who was accused of coordinating funding for the attack by allegedly receiving two transfers totaling 800,000 Nigerian naira (equivalent to roughly £440 or $590) from a still-at-large suspect before distributing the funds to the attackers, was fully discharged and acquitted. Abubakar testified during the trial that the funds in his bank account came from legitimate farming operations and his local cooperative society, and he denied ever transferring any money to the four other defendants.

    The 2022 Owo church attack was a turning point that sparked national outcry over Nigeria’s worsening security crisis. In the years following the attack, the country has continued to face a rising tide of violent attacks targeting religious sites across multiple states. The case has also drawn international attention: former U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly criticized Nigeria for failing to adequately protect Christian communities from jihadist violence. On Christmas Day, U.S. military forces carried out airstrikes targeting two jihadist group camps in northwestern Nigeria, issuing a threat that more strikes would follow if attacks on civilians continued.

    Claims that Christians are facing a targeted genocide in Nigeria have gained traction in right-wing political circles in the United States, but independent organizations that track political and insurgent violence in the country note that the majority of victims killed by jihadist groups in Nigeria are actually Muslim. The Nigerian federal government has repeatedly rejected claims that the country engages in or permits targeted persecution of Christian communities.