Zeynure Hasan was at home in Istanbul in July 2021 when her husband finally called. It had been four days since she last heard from him as he got ready to board a flight to Casablanca. The silence had been torturous. But the news Idris now shared with her was even worse. He had been arrested and imprisoned on arrival in Morocco and told he was going to be deported to China. “You should call anyone who can help me, anyone who can rescue me,” he told her, before the…
Tag: Africa
China is eyeing superpower status via Africa and the Caribbean. But are they partners or pawns?
At a high-profile global summit held by China this month, there were strong statements directed at the west’s “bullying” as well as renewed calls to stabilise “global governance”. The meeting was the clearest indication yet that China is vying to become a world superpower, aiming to marshal an anti-western bloc. But the foundations of that position partly lie in Africa and the Caribbean, where China has been building relationships for decades. A stable partner or a trap? Iconic modernist space … the Friendship Hall, on the banks of the river…
Weather tracker: Typhoon Podul pounds southern Taiwan
Typhoon Podul crossed southern Taiwan on Wednesday with wind speeds of up to 110mph (177km/h), equivalent to a category 2 hurricane. Podul had developed a week earlier, near the Northern Mariana Islands, and tracked west across the Philippine Sea, achieving typhoon status on Tuesday before making landfall in south-east Taiwan the following day. Podul whipped up high waves along the east coast, where a man died after being swept away while fishing. As the storm travelled overland, it dumped large amounts of rain across the south of the island, with…
The DOGE Alum Asking if Foreign Aid Is America’s Problem
We have an entire computer system dedicated to memos at the State Department, right? And if you actually upload anything there, it’s on Reuters within an hour, so you can’t use it. So we’re hand walking around paper like we’re in the ‘40s. Who is actually running the U.S. government under this administration? Did the spirit of DOGE outlast Elon Musk? How are DOGE and America First changing U.S. foreign policy? My guest today is a youthful veteran of the Department of Government Efficiency, and now he’s in charge of…
How the global trade in donkey skins threatens the lives of women and girls | Letter
Re your editorial (The Guardian view on China, Africa and disappearing donkeys: an unexpected crisis offers a clue to perils ahead, 25 June), last year, The Donkey Sanctuary revealed at least 5.9 million donkeys are slaughtered for their skins every year to produce ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine. Donkeys suffer at every stage – from capture and transport to brutal slaughter. With China’s donkey population depleted, the industry has turned to other countries in the global south. Despite its scale, this cruel trade remains largely unregulated and invisible, and it…
The Guardian view on China, Africa and disappearing donkeys: an unexpected crisis offers a clue to perils ahead | Editorial
What can help to protect women’s health, boost the incomes of impoverished families and thus allow girls to avoid early marriage? What – when it disappears – can set back children’s education, damage mental wellbeing, drive conflict within communities and become a vector for racial hatred? The humble donkey has rarely been in the spotlight. Yet Chinese demand for its skin proved so destabilising that African governments agreed to a continent-wide ban on the slaughter of the animal for its hide last year. This week, officials are meeting in Ivory Coast…
Poorest 750 nations face ‘tidal wave’ of debt repayments to China in 2025, study warns
The most vulnerable nations on Earth are facing a “tidal wave” of debt repayments as a Chinese lending boom starts to be called in, a new report has warned. The analysis, published on Tuesday by Australian foreign policy thinktank the Lowy Institute, said that in 2025 the poorest 75 countries were on the hook for record high debt repayments US$22bn to China. The 75 nations’ debt formed the bulk of the total $35bn calculated by Lowy for 2025. “Now, and for the rest of this decade, China will be more…
India, Mauritius upgrade strategic ties with eye on China
NEW DELHI — India and Mauritius have upgraded their ties, say leaders of both countries — a move analysts say is aimed at increasing New Delhi’s influence in the Indian Ocean as it seeks to counter China’s expanding footprint in the region. The announcement of upgraded ties came during a two-day visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mauritius, an island nation that sits along vital seaways in the western Indian Ocean. Modi, who was chief guest at Mauritius’s National Day celebrations on Wednesday, said that the countries had…
African beats entice China and US investors
Africa’s entertainment industry is another stage where global competition between China and the U.S. is playing out. African artists see it as an opportunity. Kate Bartlett has the details from Johannesburg. Camera and video editing by Zaheer Cassim. Voice of America
Angolan fishermen blame Chinese trawlers for declining fish stock
In the port of Benguela on Angola’s Pacific coast, fishermen and fish traders are struggling to make ends meet. They say their catch is getting smaller and they blame illegal fishing by Chinese trawlers. For Joao Marcos, Barbara Santos has this report. (Mayra de Lassalette contributed) Voice of America