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Monthly Archives: October 2023

Ethiopia. A country is falling apart.

Less than one year after the war in Tigray, Ethiopia has been hit by another conflict in the Amhara region. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has seemingly embarked on a military strategy. Many intellectuals warn that this could lead the country to fall apart. Less than one year after the end of the war in Tigray,…

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Music. Vietnam. Between Tradition, Pop and Rap.

For the Vietnamese people, music has always been of great importance. A tradition with millennia of history behind it and a present perfectly integrated into international pop trends. As a land of conquest for the great planetary pop stars – Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and the most popular Korean BTS –  but also…

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The Role of France in the Indo-Pacific.

The French administration of Emmanuel Macron has given a strong impetus to its foreign policy in the context of the Indo-Pacific. This is a region of the world with a long historical tradition for the geopolitical interests of the Elysée and which today has become one of its priorities. As explained in the 2019 document…

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The Role of Masato in the Peruvian Amazon.

Masato is the typical and preferred drink of the Asheninka, the Shipios and other indigenous groups of the Peruvian Amazon. Masato is a fermented drink based on yucca, which is a big tuber also known as cassava, its ancestral name is piarentsi. In some regions of South America Masato can be prepared with other ingredients such as corn or rice…

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Iran returns to Africa.

Three countries visited. Cooperation contracts. The intention is to get out of a state of political and economic isolation imposed by Western sanctions. Last 12 and 13 July, a delegation, made up of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif and businessmen and led by the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, visited the African continent,…

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The search for a just peace in Ukraine.

“Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth by falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages”.  That’s Samuel Johnson in November 1758 writing in his The Idler essays for the London Weekly about the growing role of journalists – ‘news-writers’.  You wonder what he might have made…

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Central African Republic. The Queen of the gold mines.

Zhao Baomei controls the country’s gold market. With her IMC, she has received numerous licenses, particularly in the areas of Yaloké, Bambari, and near the border with Cameroon. The IMC has caused serious damage to local populations and the environment. The queen of the mines of the Central African Republic is a 54-year-old Chinese entrepreneur.…

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Herbs & Plants. Harungana madagascariensis. An edible medicinal plant.

The plant has been used over many years in African herbal medicine for the treatment of a wide range of human illnesses. It is a small to medium-sized bushy tree, about 4-7m in height. Bark brown, rough and scaly, with orange sap when damaged. Leaves opposite, elliptic, up to 20 cm long, dark shiny green…

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Chameleon wins a wife.

One day frog swam to the surface of a little pond and glanced around him for a place to rest: “The water is cold today – he complained – it would do me good to bask in the sun for a little while.” And so, he left the water and crouched on a warm, flat…

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Advocacy

South Africa. Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu.

Activists Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu have stopped destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off South Africa’s Eastern Cape, in an area known as…

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Baobab

Beautiful Kaya.

Kaya was the most beautiful girl in the village. All the boys courted her, each bringing her small gifts. There were so many invitations from her…

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Youth & Mission

Tunisia. The future in the hands of young people.

While the country is in the grip of a serious economic crisis, in the oasis city of Tozeur, the OxyJeunes youth Centre focuses on schooling and…

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