With his distinctive long dreadlocks and slouchy beanie, Abdallah Ahmed has always known his choice of lifestyle means trouble in Sudan, where long-oppressed Rastafarians say they are being targeted anew. . Rastafarianism considers former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie to be its Messiah, but like many followers in Sudan, Ahmed told AFP that he saw it "not as a religion" "It's a lifestyle, and it's me."
Jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai's trial under Hong Kong's national security law was delayed Thursday as the government asked Beijing to bar Lai from being represented by a British lawyer.. Lai, 74, is one of Hong Kong's best-known pro-democracy activists.
The International Court of Justice will give its judgement on Thursday on a climate change-fuelled row between Chile and Bolivia over the use of a crucial cross-border river.. Chile took its South American neighbour to the UN's top court in 2016, asking the ICJ to declare the Silala an "international water course" and give it equal rights to the river.
Human rights protests at the World Cup have drawn everything from sympathy to indifference and outright hostility, with Qatar's critics often finding themselves in the firing line.. The highly charged, often offensive exchanges on social media follow a bad-tempered build-up to the World Cup, when European officials and media led criticism of Qatar's rights record.
China's top Covid official has signalled a possible relaxing of the country's strict zero-tolerance approach to the virus, after nationwide protests calling for an end to lockdowns and greater political freedom.. Sun's remarks -- as well as relaxations of rules by local authorities -- "could signal that China is beginning to consider the end of its stringent zero-Covid policy," analysts said.
Scientists often study the grim impacts of losing wildlife to hunting, habitat destruction and climate change.. "Kelp and eelgrass are often considered good ways to sequester carbon which can help mitigate the ongoing impacts of climate change," stressed Fujii, a prime example of how destruction of nature can worsen planetary warming. ia/st/rma
A local fishing ban off the southern French coast has won praise from environmentalists and fishermen alike, a rare example of biodiversity protection dovetailing with business interests.. Almost two decades after the ban, Cap Roux, a coastal tip of the Esterel mountain range near the resort of Saint-Raphael on the Mediterranean coast, is a biodiversity haven.
Delegates from nearly 200 countries meet in Montreal next week to hammer out a new global biodiversity deal to protect ecosystems and species from further human destruction.. Observers are hoping the COP15 biodiversity talks in Montreal will deliver a landmark deal to protect nature and reverse the damage humans have done to forests, wetlands, waterways and the millions of species that live in them.
Surrounded by deer and antelopes, Ghevar Ram caressed an injured fawn at a rescue centre run by India's Bishnoi community, who have been fighting to protect the environment for more than 500 years.. The community followed the case assiduously for 20 years until Khan was sentenced to five years in jail by a local court for violating the Wildlife Protection Act.
Deep in the Guyanese jungle, only a signpost and a nondescript plaque serve as reminders of a cult settlement where one of the most spine-chilling mass murder-suicides in modern history took place almost five decades ago.. The carnage highlighted the manipulative power cult leaders wield over their followers, and those who live nearby are torn between wanting to move on and wishing the site could serve as a lesson as to what went wrong.
