Government of Christopher Luxon has made sweeping cuts to climate projects in its first budget, with no new significant environmental investments

As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to jobs and religion, the residents of a tiny, ecologically sensitive island have only one concern: Survival. As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to jobs and religion, the residents of a tiny, ecologically sensitive island have only one concern: Survival.

The residents of Ghoramara in the Sundarbans delta on the Bay of Bengal are fighting to save their homes from disappearing into the sea in the face of rising sea levels and increasingly fierce storms, putting climate change front and centre for politicians trying to win their vote.

Home to more than 4.5 million people, the Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world and regarded as a climate change hotspot as the planet gets warmer. The region is shared by India and Bangladesh.

“For us, the protection of the island is the main issue in this election,” said Bimal Patra, 60, one of just over 3,700 registered voters in Ghoramara, an island in the delta.

India is holding a massive general election over seven weeks. The people of Ghoramara go to the polls on Saturday, the final day of voting, as part of the Mathurapur constituency.

The plight of the island’s inhabitants highlights the broader concerns about the impact of climate change on the environment and the urgency for solutions.

The African National Congress appeared on course to lose the parliamentary majority it has held for 30 years, partial results from South Africa's national election showed, in what would be the most dramatic political shift since the end of apartheid.

If the final results confirm the loss of its majority, the ANC will be forced to make a deal with one or more other parties to govern - a situation that could lead to unprecedented political volatility in the coming weeks or months.

"There will be checks and balances on the ANC power, but the ultimate risk is that the infighting could make governance ineffective," said Simon Harvey, head of foreign exchange analysis at Monex Europe.

With results in from 16.7% of polling stations, the ANC's share of the vote in Wednesday's election stood at 42.5%, with the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) on 25.8%, data from the electoral commission showed on Thursday.

The Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party was on 8.5%, while uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, was snapping at its heels on 8%.

"I don't think it's likely for the ANC to reach a majority," said pollster Reza Omar of Citizen Surveys, noting that while the picture would evolve, it was unlikely to change to that extent.

South African broadcaster eNCA projected that the ANC's final score would land on the 45% mark while the DA would remain the largest opposition party on 21%.

"The ANC looks forward to a clear mandate from voters to continue the work of transforming South Africa and building a better life for all," the party said in a statement.

Tessa Dooms, director of the Rivonia Circle think-tank in Johannesburg, said the early results were skewed towards rural areas where she would have expected the ANC to be performing more strongly than it was.

"The rural vote comes in early and it's always much smaller. The urban vote comes in quite late. I think this election will be a lot more contested in the urban areas," she told Reuters at the results centre in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.

Under South Africa's constitution, the newly elected National Assembly will elect the next president. With the ANC still on course to be the largest party, that is likely to be its leader Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent.

However, a poor showing could make him vulnerable to a leadership challenge from within party ranks, whether in the immediate future or at some point during his term.

With South Africa entering uncharted political territory, Harvey said the speed at which a coalition could be formed would be an indication of what was to come.

Caretaker medical health minister Pia Dijkstra is planning to experiment with compensating women who have undergone female genital mutilation for the cost of operations if they suffer sexual or psychological complications.

Operations to help women with physical problems after undergoing FGM are currently covered by health insurance, but they are not paid if the woman is only suffering sexual or psychological complaints.

Dijkstra said in answer to MPs questions that money should not be an obstacle to women undergoing a reconstruction procedure, and wants to introduce a trial for one year...

In the East African nation, femicide is often documented as normal death, making it difficult to separate these cases from general murder statistics.

On May 25, 2024, African leaders and other stakeholders met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the 20th anniversary of the African Union Peace and Security Council, chaired by President Samia Suluhu Hassan for May 2024. Among the issues that were widely discussed in the ceremony included the ongoing conflicts, resurgence of unconstitutional change of government, and terrorism.

During the opening ceremony, President Samia highlighted the evolving nature of conflicts in Africa and the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government and terrorism as persistent challenges.

President Samia urged leaders to reflect on addressing the root causes of issues. She emphasized the importance of improving prevention capabilities, effectively using available instruments and strengthening relationships to resolve challenges.

The sentiment was echoed by a panel of African elders, including former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, former Nigerian President Oluṣẹgun Ọbasanjọ, and Domitien Ndayizeye the former president of Burundi.

African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) are the world's largest living land-based animals, reaching a height between 10 and 13 feet (roughly 3 to 4 meters) and weighing between 4 to 7 tons. One in particular, Doma, is the most dominant male in his group. Yet he seems to have developed this superiority as much through charisma and kindness as from sheer girth. All the other elephants in his herd run to him at the first sign of trouble; during calmer times, they willingly present him with their rumps in a seeming sign of submission...

Via @jeffw

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville spent a month with revolutionary forces at jungle bases and on front lines in Myanmar....Two loudspeakers, as big as the men carrying them, are brought to the rocky hilltop. Some 800m below, in the town of Hpasang, lies a sprawling Myanmar army base.

It’s a blisteringly hot day - above 40C - and behind, on bamboo poles, more young resistance fighters carry a large, heavy battery pack and amplifier. Leading the ascent is Nay Myo Zin, a former army captain who, after 12 years in the military, defected to the resistance.

With his dark green camouflage jacket draped over one shoulder, he has the air of a performer about to take the stage. He is here to urge the soldiers in the base below, who are loyal to the country’s ruling military, to switch sides.

Via @Alyaza

Completed just before his assisted death, the French New Wave master director talks through his ideas as illustrated in his hand-drawn scrapbook

Heavy rains triggered flash floods and caused torrents of cold lava and mud to flow down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 41 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing, officials have said. Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, national disaster management agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said on Sunday.

Cold lava, also known as lahar, is a mixture of volcanic material and pebbles that flow down a volcano’s slopes in the rain.

As of Monday morning 41 people had been killed in the flooding and another 17 were missing, according to Ilham Wahab, a West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency official.

Three were missing in Agam district and 14 in Tanah Datar, both the worst-hit areas of the flood and home to hundreds of thousands of people, Ilham said.

About half of the dead were found in the village of Canduang in Agam on Sunday, while nine were found in Tanah Datar and eight were found in the region of Padang Pariaman.

The Prime Minister has been heavily criticised after documents from his government criticising Australia and New Zealand against China were leaked to media. The leaked document from Tonga’s Foreign Affairs Ministry shows that kingdom’s officials sharply criticised Australia and New Zealand’s response to the security pact signed by China and Solomon Islands, while declaring that Pacific diplomacy from Western nations was “failing”.

“The views expressed by ANZ [Australia and New Zealand] on the situation in the Solomon Islands are that only they (or the Pacific) can decide which countries Pacific states should align themselves with,” the document says.

“This clearly shows they remain far removed from Pacific realities and only echoes the condescending rhetoric that we, unfortunately, see too often from ANZ leadership.”

The document acknowledges China’s “growing clout” in the region and says many Pacific island states are facing “threats to strategic independence as a result of growing indebtedness to Beijing”.

But it says that in the end, Solomon Islands is a “sovereign nation and has the right to make decisions about its own security”.

“Tonga should continue to promote that fact including the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states,” it reads.

EXCLUSIVE: First came Cocaine Bear and Cocaine Shark. Now meet Cocaine Werewolf. Ireland’s Tarf Media has secured worldwide sales rights (excluding North America) to the indie comedy-horror film, which is written by Ford Austin and Tyger Torrez. Mark Polonia, who directed Cocaine Shark, is directing. David Sterling and Tim Yasui are producing for Cleopatra Entertainment. …