05 March 2023
Ghana/Old Photographs: The article shows some of the 50,000 images of the Deo Gratias archive, formerly called JK Bruce-Vanderpuije’s studio, founded 100 years ago in the centre of Accra when it was the capital of Gold Coast. The beautiful old photographs “tell the Ghanaian story” over the last 100 years, mostly through “unknown people”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64451314
Mali: Two Red Cross workers have been kidnapped on the road between Gao and Kidal (east of the country).
BBC Africa Latest Updates 05 March 2023. 8:52
04 March 2023
Film/South Africa: Dance Me to the End of Time is a documentary that centres on the dying of breast cancer of London theatre director Nancy Diuguid, the life-partner of film-maker Melanie Chait. It is a “beautiful ode to lesbian love, an elegy of two women loving one another through sickness and health” and it is also about ecological and feminist politics.
https://theconversation.com/dance-me-to-the-end-of-time-south-african-film-on-death-is-a-powerful-celebration-of-life-200837
Gold: As the mining of gold the world over is extremely harmful for humans and the environment, the author suggests “a fully circular gold economy in which the world’s entire supply of gold (comes) from recycled sources”. The gold needed for dentistry and smartphones and the like (“industrial gold”) and jewellery would still be there, even if less – which would either push up prices or have people demand jewellery made of (cheaper and more durable) alloys of gold. If the end to gold mining was to become real, millions of people who make their living as artisanal gold miners would be left without their source of income.
https://theconversation.com/gold-mining-is-one-of-the-worlds-most-destructive-and-unnecessary-industries-heres-how-to-end-it-197447
Lake Chad Basin: Boko Haram, droughts, flooding have displaced 11.3 million of the 30 million people in the region with more than 11 million urgently needing aid. The article pleads, amongst others, for “local ownership, social inclusion, civilian protection and climate action” and more funding.
https://theconversation.com/the-lake-chad-basin-is-a-security-nightmare-5-guidelines-for-finding-solutions-199991
Green cities: The expansion of cities is a danger for green spaces (incl. public and private gardens, street trees, community parks, unmanaged vegetated land and reserves). Road construction, for one thing, has priority over the environment. The article looks into the many challenges of greening Tshwane (Pretoria).
https://theconversation.com/parks-versus-people-challenges-facing-the-south-african-capitals-greening-efforts-193560