World News

A bronze cockerel kept at Cambridge University that had been looted in a British raid on what is now Nigeria will be handed back this month. The Benin bronze, known as an ‘okukor’, was given to Jesus College in 1905.

In 2016 it was removed from display and the Legacy of Slavery Working Party (LSWP) recommended it be returned.

Eleven Pablo Picasso artworks that have been on display at a Las Vegas hotel for more than two decades were sold at auction for nearly $110m (£80m).

The works, which were owned by MGM Resorts, featured in the Picasso Restaurant at the Bellagio Hotel.

Given how low fuel prices fell during the initial lockdowns, it’s hard to believe that we’ve ended up here, with petrol prices rising to unprecedented levels.

From the Iraq War, to the financial crisis, to the rise in crude oil prices at the start of last decade, petrol and diesel prices have fluctuated greatly in recent times, but nothing like that is being seeing today.

Australia’s award-winning travel adventure company Aurora Expeditions is calling for applications to join the world-first Antarctic Climate Expedition in 2023, led by renowned oceanographer, marine biologist, explorer and conservationist Dr Sylvia Earle.

This exclusive invitation is open to all that are interested.

Following great anticipation after their safe and successful Cancun, Mexico edition, the promoters of ‘Carnival En’ are gearing up to activate an intimate, premium all-inclusive Caribbean Carnival weekend this December in the picturesque resort town of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The event ‘Carnival En Punta Cana’ is best described as a Hyper-Inclusive Carnival-Infused Vacation Weekend Experience.

With all of the buzz following April 2021’s ‘Carnival En Cancun’ the organizers (known for popular Caribbean Diaspora event staples such as Silent Morning and Water Colours J’ouvert Boat Party) have pulled out all of the stops to bring forth a creative yet authentic Caribbean Carnival experience in a controlled environment complete with all of the beloved elements commonly associated with the festival.

Former England defender Steven Caulker says he has a strong connection with Sierra Leone as he awaits FIFA clearance to play for the Leone Stars. The former Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool centre-back, who played for England in 2012, has a link with the west African country through his paternal grandfather.

A new report says Africa needs to invest up to $50bn (£36bn) a year in order to cope with the growing threat of climate change.

The African Union and World Meteorological Organisation warn that about a 120 million poor people face floods, drought, displacement, and extreme heat by the end of this decade if nothing is done.

Tributes were being paid to former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died of Covid-19 complications. A highly decorated army officer who saw service in Vietnam, he became a trusted military adviser to a number of leading US politicians.

During his tour was injured by stepping on a punji stick, a sharpened wooden stake hidden in the ground and used as a booby trap.

Deadly floods have devastated towns and villages in India as heavy rainfall in Kerala state has caused deadly landslides and flooding, with at least 26 people said to have died - some are still missing with homes washed away in the deluge. Villages have been cut off with people becoming trapped in the district of Kottayam.

Thousands of people had to evacuate with a mass number of relief camps having to be set up across the state.

Costa Rica was awarded the first ever Earthshot Prize award yesterday, granted by The Royal Foundation to encourage change and to help protect the planet. The country won the highest prize for the ‘Protect and Restore Nature’ category.

Costa Rica was amongst 15 other countries which were selected as finalists, three for each of the five categories announced by Prince William and The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Jamaican Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett says airline and cruise partners are clearly impressed with Jamaica’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have been showing a renewed interest in the island as a destination of choice.

Minister Bartlett’s comments were in response to the planned return of TUI, the world’s largest tourism company and that Carnival and Royal Caribbean (the world’s two biggest cruise companies) have committed to bringing back a fleet of vessels to the island over the next 12 months.

GXO Logistics, Inc., the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, today announced plans to hire more than 9,000 logistics employees across the U.S. and Canada ahead of the peak holiday season. Globally, GXO is recruiting more than 20,000 employees and will continue to expand its use of advanced automation to boost productivity, enhance safety and improve the employee experience.

“We’re proud to offer opportunities to thousands of people across the U.S. and Canada ahead of the busy holiday shopping season,” said GXO’s Chief Human Resources Officer Maryclaire Hammond.

At their annual meeting, Commonwealth Finance Ministers were urged to take action to change the current development finance architecture, enhance access to finance for countries vulnerable to climate change and address debt sustainability.

Chairing this year’s virtual 2021 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM), the Rt Hon Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda said: “It is high time that climate vulnerability is included in the allocation of concessional finance.

A lead figurine of a wrestler produced during the Roman era is now understood to be an African warrior, new research by English Heritage has just revealed.

The figurine, discovered a century ago at Wall Roman Site in Staffordshire, was first thought to depict an enslaved person, and later a wrestler, but the charity has now discovered evidence that the figurine originally carried a spear in one hand, finally revealing its true identity as an African warrior.

Theresa Kachindamoto could not have imagined ever leaving her job in a college in Zomba, in Southern Malawi. But, after 13-years of dedicated service, and following a 2012 United Nations survey, which found that more than half of the country’s girls were married before the age of 18, she was appointed the paramount chief, or Inkosi, of the Dedza District, with informal authority over more than 900,000 people to dissolve the litany of child marriages – and, in its stead, encourage education for both girls and boys.

Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. The prize is awarded by the Swedish Academy and is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.14m / £840,000).