When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Geopolitics

African Union Elects First Woman President – She’s Also Jacob Zuma’s Ex-Wife

AFRISCOOP, INFOPLUS GABON, BUSINESS DAY

Worldcrunch

For the first time ever, the African Union has a woman president: South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will lead the continent-wide body, after defeating incumbent Jean Ping following four rounds of voting.

Senegalese website AfriScoop reports that Dlamini-Zuma, 53, who had been serving South African Minister of Home Affairs and is the former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma, was elected President of the African Union Commission late Sunday.

Newspapers across Africa on Monday cast the election as largely a competition between the English-speaking and French-speaking nations. There was some bitterness in francophone Gabon, the home country of the defeated Ping, who'd held the post since 2008.

"The summit in Addis Ababa showed the French bloc was divided and indecisive," wrote Info Plus Gabon website: "The headquarters of the African Union were taken over by a large South African delegation, determined to win the seat of President of the African Union Commission."

The vote, some observers noted, raised an ongoing rivalry between continental heavyweights South Africa and Nigeria, as well as worries of the smaller countries about the possible South African control over the 54-nation organization. But Dlamini-Zuma, a longtime anti-apartheid activist who has served as bothe Health and Foreign Minister under previous South African administrations assured that: "South Africa is not going to move to Addis to control the African Union."

For the South African website Business Day, Dlamini-Zuma's election at the head of the African Union represents a ‘political coup" for President Jacob Zuma.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Green

Environmental Degradation, The  Dirty Secret Ahead Of Turkey’s Election

Election day is approaching in Turkey. Unemployment, runaway inflation and eroding rule of law are top of mind for many. But one subject isn't getting the attention it deserves: the environment.

Photo of a man in a burnt forest in Turkey.

Post-fire rehabilitation of the forests in the Icmeler region of Marmaris, Mugla in Turkey, which burned down in the big wildfire in 2021.

Tolga Ildun/Zuma
İrfan Donat

ISTANBUL — A recent report from the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) paints a grim picture of the country's environmental situation, which is getting worse across the board.

Soil is extremely fragile in Turkey, with 78.7% of the country at risk of severe to moderate desertification, mostly due to erosion, which costs Turkey 642 million tons of fertile soil annually. Erosion effects 39% of agricultural land and 54% of pasture land. Erosion of the most fertile top layers pushes farmers to use more fertilizer, TEMA says, which can in turn threaten food safety.

Nearly all of Turkey's food is grown in the country, but agricultural areas have shrunk to 23.1 million hectares in 2022, down from 27.5 in 1992 — a loss of almost 20%.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest