CATEGORIES

West Africa's future MEGALOPOLIS

The stretch of coast between Abidjan in Ivory Coast and Lagos in Nigeria is on course to become the largest continuously populated zone on the planet. But a lot needs to change to help it flourish

Kanye West's empire in ruins after antisemitic outbursts

In 2009, Kanye West was riding high. 808s & Heartbreak, his fourth studio album, proved a resounding critical and commercial triumph. A foray into clothing design had culminated in a Paris fashion week sneaker show with Louis Vuitton and a shoe line with Nike.

‘Despair not an option’ Obama fires up anxious Democrats

When Barack Obama came to campaign last week, Emma Berlage wouldn't have missed him for the world. \"It's a Friday night... and everybody's here,\" the 24-year-old said.

Twitter heaven or hellscape?

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has finally won control of the media's favourite online platform. Will he press on with his free-speech agenda?

Families fight for answers in E coli case

Nestlé faces 250m civil suit after two children died and dozens affected by infection linked to factory-made pizza

The chef putting his country's cuisine back on the map

In a war, there are many different fronts and forms of resistance Ievgen Klopotenko, a Ukrainian chef, is fighting with soup.

Into darkness Russian assault on power grid is the strategy of nihilism

Russia's cynical decision to target Ukraine's network of hydroelectric power stations on Monday represents a further, dispiriting escalation in its efforts to destroy the country's power supply.

Anger grows over deadly Halloween crowd crush

South Korea was in mourning as an investigation opened into the deaths of more than 150 people, mostly young adults, when a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in Seoul.

Lula’s to-do list Poverty, housing and the Amazon are at the top

While many Brazilians will have woken up with a hangover after celebrating the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro, president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will soon have his own headaches to deal with. He takes power on 1 January 2023 and will be charged with rebuilding a nation that has been left damaged and bitterly divided after four years of Bolsonaro's far-right policies.

Lula vows to protect the Amazon after era of destruction

The politician tipped to become Brazil's new environment minister has paid tribute to the murdered British journalist Dom Phillips and said Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's incoming government will battle to honour the memory of the rainforest martyrs killed trying to safeguard the Amazon.

Short change? Activists are divided over the value of direct action

Disruptive tactics have gained huge global coverage but are they alienating the people that they most need to reach?

What is loss and damage?

After a catastrophic climate year, expect to hear lots about loss and damage at Cop27, but what does it mean and why is it so contentious?

Too hot to handle?

The effects of global heating could soon reach a tipping point, but there are fears the summit in Egypt will get bogged down in recriminations as the damage accelerates

Nouveau Rishi

The former chancellor looked finished when he lost to Liz Truss, but now Rishi Sunak is Britain's third prime minister in two months. Can a man twice as rich as the king lead the country through a cost of living crisis?

Diversity Multicultural Milestone As UK Has Its First PM Of Colour

Sunak also becomes the first Hindu to lead the countryina symbolic moment for ethnic minority representation

Putin's Hidden Hybrid War Is Designed To Break Europe's Heart

Nato planners have always worried about the Storskog border crossing in Finnmark, where Arctic Norway comes face to face with Russia. In Soviet times, the 195-km frontier was a potential flashpoint. The Red Banner Northern Fleet's nuclear-armed submarines are still based at nearby Murmansk, on the freezing Barents Sea.

Ring Of Power Ruthless Xi Settles In For Another Five Years

Xi Jinping named acolytes in key political positions last Sunday as he was confirmed as China's leader for a precedent-breaking third term after a weeklong political meeting that eliminated rivals and strengthened his power.

'Social Media Firms Are Undermining Democracy'

YouTube and Facebook are allowing disinformation to be spread about Brazil's election campaign in an already polarised and violent election, according to a report by human rights organisation Global Witness.

Open House? Republicans plan to sink key Biden legislation

A standoff over the debt ceiling. Aid to Ukraine on the chopping block. And impeachment proceedings against homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - or perhaps even president Joe Biden himself.

Despite turmoil, star ballerina strikes note of optimism

Cuba's favourite ballerina, Viengsay Valdés, will run on to the stage of the island's National Theatre on 2 November, fairly certain that it won't collapse beneath her.

Terrified villagers flee as the battle for Kherson rages on

As she was driven by her son out of Dudchany, a small village in the north-east of the Kherson region a few days ago, Rosaliya Kovalchuk, 72, glimpsed something that will haunt her forever.

Foreign intervention has hollowed out the state and led to disaster

What comes first in Haiti: disaster or foreign intervention? The conventional, eg first world, wisdom has it that disaster comes first.

Can period tracking help athletes win?

For many sportswomen, fluctuating hormones can be the difference between winning a medal and going home empty-handed, but researchers and companies hope to turn monthly woes into record-breaking heights

Relief and unease as two years of isolation finally end

After more than two years of near-total isolation, Japan has reopened its borders to overseas visitors - but the road back to the pre-Covid tourism boom could be long and bumpy.

Xi's vision of greater isolation will make his country poorer

In August, there was an unexpected stir in China about a scholarly article. The piece, published in a respected but specialist journal, argued that during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing dynasty (1644-1911), China had been a country relatively closed off to the outside world. Most recent I scholarship has assumed that this was a bad thing and that greater openness in the modern era had led to China's rise in global standing and growth. But the article took a contrarian position, suggesting that there were economic and social advantages to the doors being closed in large part. The argument was then sent out on the social media feed of a thinktank closely linked to the Chinese Communist party. There was plenty of social media comment, mostly wondering whether the CCP was hinting that today, too, China should think about whether openness was quite such a good idea.

Confessions of a rock star

Bono on the birth of U2, that iTunes album, and the Live Aid show: 'There's only one thing I can see when I watch it: the mullet'

'I struggle with the so-called free world compared with life in prison’

When Chelsea Manning leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents, everyone thought they knew why. They were wrong

The truth behind the Cop27 masquerade

Sisi's Egypt is making a big show ahead of the summit. Meanwhile it is torturing activists and banning research. The global community should not play along

A busted flush Truss discredited high-octane, freemarket economics, perhaps for ever

Boris Johnson's tenure had been short, but it had been consequential. At first glance, a similar verdict on Liz Truss's 50 days in office seems improbable.

As Trump goes front and centre, Biden takes a back seat

Raucous music was played, bellicose speeches were given and big lies were told. Donald Trump held his 20th and 21st campaign rallies of the year in Nevada and Arizona last weekend, urging voters to support Republican candidates in the midterm elections.