Arkadag FC all-conquering in a bizarre football season in Turkmenistan | Football

Arkadag FC all-conquering in a bizarre football season in Turkmenistan | Football

There is a new power in Central Asian football and, a year ago, it did not even exist. Turkmenistan’s Arkadag FC kicked their first-ever ball in a competitive game just in April with a 2-1 win over Merw in the country’s top division. They then strolled to the league title…

Economic downturn punctures joy of festive season in Nigeria | Business and Economy

Economic downturn punctures joy of festive season in Nigeria | Business and Economy

Lagos, Nigeria – Chinenye Ikechukwu’s Decembers are usually dotted with concerts, parties, and restaurant and beach outings with friends. But this year, the 27-year-old resident of Yaba in Lagos has stayed mostly at home due to the economic downturn plaguing Africa’s largest economy. The rising cost of living and soaring…

‘No way to leave’: Sudan paramilitary traps civilians in breadbasket state | Conflict News

‘No way to leave’: Sudan paramilitary traps civilians in breadbasket state | Conflict News

When Sudan’s second largest city, Wad Madani, fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on December 18, Afnan Hind and her family fled to a nearby town to stay with relatives. But the paramilitary group came there too and prevented residents from leaving. Hind and her family were trapped by…

‘Collective punishment’: Ethiopia drone strikes target civilians in Amhara | Armed Groups

‘Collective punishment’: Ethiopia drone strikes target civilians in Amhara | Armed Groups

Weeks after a deadly drone attack on November 30 killed five civilians in the town of Wegel Tena in Ethiopia’s Amhara region about 570km (350 miles) north of the capital, Addis Ababa, a witness is still reeling from the trauma. “It’s extremely difficult to even describe the scene of the…

In Zimbabwe, a small publisher that helped launch big voices shuts down | Arts and Culture

In Zimbabwe, a small publisher that helped launch big voices shuts down | Arts and Culture

Harare, Zimbabwe – In 2006, a small but supportive publisher helped Zimbabwean author Valerie Tagwira make the transition from doctor to published author, picking up her first novel, The Uncertainty of Hope. Then based in the United Kingdom, Tagwira had sent out her manuscript to UK and Australian publishers and…

‘Piles of body parts’: Gaza’s Maghazi residents find families ‘in pieces’ | Israel-Palestine conflict

‘Piles of body parts’: Gaza’s Maghazi residents find families ‘in pieces’ | Israel-Palestine conflict

Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – It has been four days since Gaza’s smallest refugee camp was pounded in yet another series of Israeli air strikes, but Palestinians there are still digging up the bodies of their loved ones from under the rubble. The onslaught in central Gaza’s Maghazi late on…

When death metal becomes one of 84,000 ways to practise Buddhism | Music

When death metal becomes one of 84,000 ways to practise Buddhism | Music

Taipei, Taiwan – In the past few years, many of Taiwan’s largest music festivals have seen the unlikely ensemble of a shaven Buddhist nun introducing a band of five black-clad musicians whose faces are smeared blood red. When the first riffs break through the sound system, their hard yet atmospheric…

In bid to counter China, US ramps up effort to boost military ties in Asia | Politics News

In bid to counter China, US ramps up effort to boost military ties in Asia | Politics News

On May 30, the United States accused China of intercepting one of its spy planes in an “unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre” over the South China Sea. The American RC-135 plane, according to the US military, was conducting routine operations over the sensitive waterway when the Chinese fighter jet flew directly in…

Displaced Palestinian mother in Gaza gives birth to quadruplets | Israel-Palestine conflict

Displaced Palestinian mother in Gaza gives birth to quadruplets | Israel-Palestine conflict

Iman al-Masry is simply exhausted after giving birth to quadruplets in a hospital in southern Gaza, miles away from her home in the north of the war-torn Palestinian territory. In mid-October, days into the Israel-Hamas war, the young woman fled her family home in Beit Hanoon on foot with her…