F.W. De Klerk, South Africa’s last President of the apartheid era, and instrumental in ending it, has died aged 85. Frederik Willem De Klerk was born into an Afrikaner political dynasty and after a short career as a lawyer became a career politician. He was elected an MP in in 1972, scaling the ranks of … Continue reading “Death of F.W. De Klerk: Last Apartheid-Era South African President”
In a short and moving speech to the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Elizabeth Wathuti highlighted the plight of of populations in sub-Saharan Africa who are suffering the worst effects of climate change, which is threatening their livelihoods and even their lives. As a teenager in 2016, Wathuti founded the Green Generation Intiative in Kenya, which … Continue reading “Young Kenyan Activist Asks World Leaders to Open their Hearts to Climate Victims”
On 21 October, the Caribbean nation of Barbados took the first step towards becoming a republic when the joint houses of Parliament chose Dame Sandra Mason as the country’s first president, to replace Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Ms Mason, a trained lawyer and former magistrate, has been the Governor-General of Barbados since … Continue reading “Barbados Elects its First President”
The Eternals movie is based on the Eternals comic and characters created by Jack Kirby, which was first released in 1976. Kirby’s involvement with the company dated back to his co-creation of Captain America in 1941. Along with Stan Lee, Kirby is widely considered one of the most important figures in comic book history, with … Continue reading “Jack Kirby: the Man who Created the Eternals”
In September 2021 in California, two wildfires, one called the Colony Fire and the other Paradise Fire merged together to became the KNP Complex, a terrifying front of flames. These big fires burned through the Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada that is home to some of the largest trees in the world, which … Continue reading “2021 California wildfires: Giant Sequoia Killers”
The British Royal Foundation is awarding five prizes a year till 2030 for innovative ideas to help the planet. The Earthshot prizes have been named in reference to President Kennedy’s Moonshot project which concentrated innovators’ energies on putting a human on the Moon in the 1960s. Prince William explained that the aim of the Earthshots … Continue reading “The Earthshot Prizes”
Sir David Attenborough has fascinated viewers around the world for decades with his documentary series like The Blue Planet and Life on Earth. Now the 95-year-old naturalist is using his communication skills to try to explain the complex issues to be tackled the United Nations’ COP26 environmental summit in Glasgow from 31 October. Attenborough was … Continue reading “David Attenborough: People’s Advocate for the Planet”
Little Amal is anything but small: she’s a giant puppet of a Syrian refugee girl making her way across Europe. The 3.5-metre-tall puppet began an 8,000 kilometre journey in Turkey on 27 July. After the south of France in September, she’ll be making stops across the north in October before embarking for the U.K. The … Continue reading “Walking Across Europe for Refugees”
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to two journalists with a long track record of fighting to protect freedom of expression: Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, working in the Philippines and Russia. Both journalists are working in countries with populist governments which seem to have little respect for freedom of expression and both have … Continue reading “2021 Nobel Peace Prize Supports Freedom of the Press”
The Canadian actor William Shatner, aka Star Trek Captain Kirk, will be aboard the next rocket from Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, on October 13, 2021. It’s a dream come true for Captain James T. Kirk who led the original Star Trek series on screen from 1966 to 1996. Shatner confirmed that he would be … Continue reading “Captain Kirk Goes Back to Space!”
