In late September, Zimbabwe’s environment minister signed away control over a staggering amount of land — almost 20% of his country — to a little-known foreign company. Blue Carbon was a small, new outfit, not even a year old, but its chief was no fledgling entrepreneur: he was an Emirati royal whose family had ruled
Pakistan has confirmed that it is charging an $830 fee to undocumented refugees who want to leave the country. The exit fee applies to people who arrived without a visa. In October Pakistan announced that it would deport 1.7 million undocumented foreigners from the country if they did not leave by 1 November. Most are
The head of Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency has been named as a suspect in an extortion case. Police said there was enough evidence to link Firli Bahuri, chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), to corruption at the country’s ministry of agriculture. Former agriculture minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo was himself detained in a corruption case last
Online search queries related to “climate anxiety” have risen, according to data gathered by Google. Studies also suggests that women are more affected by climate anxiety than men. The rise of wildfires, floods and droughts around the world are just some of the highly visible signs of climate change. What is reported less is the
China is closing, destroying and repurposing mosques, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has alleged in a new report. The crackdown is part of a “systematic effort” to curb the practice of Islam in China, HRW said. There are about 20 million Muslims in China, which is officially atheist but says it allows religious freedom. Observers, however, say there
A key political ally of Vladimir Putin has adopted a child seized from a Ukrainian children’s home, according to documents uncovered. Sergey Mironov, the 70-year-old leader of a Russian political party, is named on the adoption record of a two-year-old girl who was taken in 2022 by a woman he is now married to. Records
The operation to rescue 41 workers trapped inside a tunnel in India’s Uttarakhand state has resumed after hitting a snag, officials say. They hope to free the workers in the next 10-12 hours if things go to plan. The workers have been inside the tunnel since 12 November after a part of it caved in
Thousands of rats – dead and alive – have swept up on beaches in Queensland Australia, overwhelming residents. The state has been battling a rat and mouse plague for months now. A surge in the native rodent population has forced the rats to move coastwards in their search for more food, but many do not
Nestled in Pakistan’s Hindu Kush mountains, the remote Kalash valley is a popular tourist destination. But a recent attack by Taliban militants has left people living there afraid for their future. “It was 04:00 in the morning when we saw men coming down the mountain with turbans on their head, backpacks, weapons and belts of
The unexpectedly meaty win for controversial, hard-right politician Geert Wilders in Wednesday’s general election in the Netherlands set international headlines on fire. Right-wing nationalists across Europe rushed to congratulate the populist politician, sometimes dubbed the Dutch Trump – partly for his dyed, bouffant-like hairdo, and partly for his famously firebrand rhetoric. Geert Wilders’ publicly expressed
