Jihadists burst into the gold mine where Moussa Tambura worked in Burkina Faso, forbidding everyone from smoking and drinking. It wasn't long before the men returned and leveled the place to the ground. They attacked the site, killed people and burned houses, said Tambura, 29, clenching his fists. He was able to find work again after fleeing to Bouda, another town in country's north that still has small-scale mining. Still, he struggles to provide for his family since his new job isn't as lucrative as his old one. Jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State organization have been overrunning gold mines like Tambura's one by one as they try to gain control of Burkina Faso's most lucrative industry. The extremists are then collecting a protection tax from communities living around the gold mines and also forcing the miners to sell them the gold exclusively, which is then smuggled and sold across the border in places like Benin, Ghana or Togo. The violence already has shuttered ...

A Colombian advertising company is pitching a novel if morbid solution to shortages of hospital beds and coffins during the coronavirus pandemic: combine them. ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal railings that designers say can double as a casket if a patient dies. Company manager Rodolfo Gmez said he was inspired to find a way to help after watching events unfold recently in nearby Ecuador. Families in the coastal city of Guayaquil waited with dead loved ones in their homes for days last month as COVID-19 cases surged. Many could not find or were unable to afford a wood coffin, using donated cardboard ones instead. Gmez said he plans to donate 10 of his new beds to Colombia's Amazonas department, where resources are in short supply. So far there is no indication whether the beds will be put to use and no orders have been placed.

The number of people dying from the coronavirus in Ohio's nursing homes has continued to increase at an alarming pace. Close to 500 residents of long-term care centers have died of COVID-19 in the past three weeks, according to data released by the state this week. That's nearly double the total reported for the previous two weeks. The increase in deaths could be attributed to a significant jump or a backlog of cases being added over the past week, said Melanie Amato, a spokeswoman for the state health department. Since mid-April, more than 4,300 nursing home residents and staff members have tested positive for the virus. The numbers don't tell the entire story of how the virus has devastated nursing homes during the pandemic because the Ohio Department of Health has only released the totals for just the past three weeks. Before that, the state didn't require local health departments to report nursing home deaths linked to the virus.

A 40-year-old Indian-origin woman in Singapore was charged with five counts, including use of criminal force, in a court here on Saturday for refusing to wear a face mask for protection against COVID-19 and assaulting a police officer who tried to ascertain her identity. Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamswamy was arrested after the incident that happened at a shopping mall on May 7 and was captured on video. Retnamswamy, who is a Singaporean, was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric evaluation after the incident, reported The Straits Times. She was taken to a court on Saturday and faced five charges, including use of abusive words and criminal force against a public servant. The next hearing is scheduled for May 22 after her remand in the IMH. According to the police statement on Friday, the woman insulted the mall staff and hurled abuses at a security officer who was trying to get her to put on her mask correctly. The widely-shared video of the incident shows a ..

Tens of thousands of people have turned out in the capital of Belarus despite sharply rising coronavirus infections to watch a military parade celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Belarus has not imposed wide-ranging restrictions to halt the virus' spread and authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed concerns about it as a "psychosis." At Saturday's parade of some 3,000 soldiers, Lukashenko said Belarus' ordeal in the war is incomparable with any difficulties of the present day. Some aged war veterans in the stands at the parade wore masks, but in general there were few masks to be seen in the throng of spectators. Belarus, a country of about 9 million, has recorded more than 21,000 cases of coronavirus infection.

South Korea's capital closed down more than 2,100 bars and other nightspots Saturday because of a new cluster of coronavirus infections, and Germany scrambled to contain fresh outbreaks at slaughterhouses, underscoring the dangers authorities face as they try to reopen their economies. Elsewhere, Belarus, which has not locked down despite increasing case numbers, saw tens of thousands of people turn out to mark Victory Day, the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945. That was in contrast to Russia, where a muted event took place over an empty Red Square. Around the world, the US and other hard-hit countries are wrestling with how to ease curbs on business and public activity without touching off a deadly second wave of infection. Germany and South Korea have both carried out extensive testing and contact tracing and have been hailed for avoiding the mass deaths that have overwhelmed other countries. But even there, authorities have struggled with finding the balance between ...

Nepal on Saturday raised objection over India inaugurating a strategically crucial link road connecting the Lipulekh pass at a height of 17,000 feet along the border with China in Uttarakhand with Dharchula, saying this "unilateral act" runs against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving the border issues. Nepal's Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement said the government "has learnt with regret" about the inauguration of the link road connecting to Lipulekh pass, which Nepal claims to be part of its territory. The 80-Km new road inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday is expected to help pilgrims visiting Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet in China as it is around 90 kms from the Lipulekh pass. After inaugurating the road through video-conferencing, Singh said pilgrims going to Kailash-Mansarovar will now be able to complete their journey in one week instead of up to three weeks. The road originates at Ghatiabagarh and ends at Lipulekh pass, the ...

Jharkhand on Friday reported its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 21 people testing positive, taking the total number of infections to 153 in the state, officials said. Of the total 455 swab samples tested during the day, 21 tested positive for COVID-19, said the Director of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Dr D K Singh. He said 25 more people recovered from the infection, bringing the total number of cured people in the state to 77. The officials did not provide any details of the 21 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the state on Friday. Since the outbreak of the pandemic on March 31 in the state, two persons have died of the infection while one COVID-19 patient died due to underlying health condition after testing negative.

The northeastern region, which has traditionally been disciplined, has emerged as the model of coronavirus management and the rest of the country should emulate it, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday. He said people in the eight northeastern states - Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Assam - have been following the lockdown-related guidelines in letter and spirit. "By tradition and by lifestyle, people of northeastern region are civilised and disciplined. That is why they could very easily follow the lockdown guidelines. There has been no problem in ensuring implementation of the lockdown-related guidelines there," Singh told PTI. He said within six years of the Modi government, the northeastern region has emerged as the model for development for the entire country. "Similarly, during the lockdown due to COVID-19, entire northeast has become model for the whole country to emulate it," he said, adding that the way people are ...

Filmmaker Satyanshu Singh has launched a unique initiative to raise relief money for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The director has started online classes for budding cinema students and has roped artistes from different fields of filmmaking for the initiative. Actor Vinay Pathak, screenwriters Anjum Rajabali and Sudip Sharma, cinematographer Siddharth Diwan and director Shoojit Sircar have come aboard the initiative. Since April 1, more than a dozen lectures have been conducted with students from cities like Bokaro, Kota, Bhilai, Almora, and Coimbatore taking part in them. Overseas students have also showed interest in the lectures. Through the initiative, Satyanshu has so far raised Rs 15 lakhs which has been donated to non-for-profit organisations like Milaap, Goonj, Sarvahitey, and Sneha, providing food and support to out-of-work labourers, women and children in slums, and the homeless. The daily wage workers from the film industry are also benefitting from this ...

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was discharged from a Lucknow hospital where he was admitted after he complained of stomach and urine-related issues. The Samajwadi Party founder, admitted to Medanta Hospital on Wednesday, was discharged on Saturday afternoon and he is fine now, party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said. He had gone to the hospital for a routine check-up but the doctors admitted him for observation, Chaudhary said. Chaudhary said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met him on Friday and enquired about his health.

As many businesses around the world struggle, a Canadian disinfectant company is increasing production to keep up with demand during the novel coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Ron Kolumbus/WSJ

Ramesh Ramanathan.

Ravi Agrawal and Kishore Wankade say that the state of mercury pollution in India is alarming and needs the concern of all. They provide a factsheet with alternatives.

Vermicomposting to convert household waste into manure is widely used worldwide, but using it to treat toxic waste is relatively recent and yet to gain acceptance. Surekha Sule reports on the work of Dr.Suneet Dabke.

An expert working group established to create a roadmap for the state's new independent Department of Environment has made recommendations to strengthen environmental conservation and protection. A number of state agencies, especially the Pollution Control Board, have come in for strong criticism. P N Venugopal reports.

The climate system is a global, inter-locking one, and its many facets cannot be considered in isolation. However, this is precisely what the National Action Plan on Climate Change has done, writes Sudhirendar Sharma.

Hasmukh Dhumadia narrates his experience of helping the local residents of a village in Gujarat in their fight for environmental justice.

In this edition we look at the implications of the recent amendent to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), the performance of the present government which completed one year in the office, the poor menstrual hygiene effecting our older school-going girls, the sad state of sanitary conditions in the slums of Assam, how Muslim women are stepping out to set up businesses in Kashmir while in Uttar Pradesh they suffer as their husbands are being branded a terrorist, the review of Harsh Mander's latest book, and much more.

The ongoing Syrian and Mediterranean refugee crisis makes us look into our nation's as well as South Asian region's refugee policies in this edition. We also take a look at the widespread malnutrition amongst Indian children, why the proposed National Waterways Bill in its curent form is not a good idea, how Ladakh's cultural heritage and natural resources are deteriorating, the six-decades long suffering of Manipuri women under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts, a panel discussion on Nehru’s India: Essays on the Maker of a Nation a book by Nayantara Sahgal, a review of a newly released movie on the challenges faced by the Parsi community, and much more.

The ongoing Syrian and Mediterranean refugee crisis makes us look into our nation's as well as South Asian region's refugee policies in this edition. We also take a look at the widespread malnutrition amongst Indian children, why the proposed National Waterways Bill in its curent form is not a good idea, how Ladakh's cultural heritage and natural resources are deteriorating, the six-decades long suffering of Manipuri women under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts, a panel discussion on Nehru’s India: Essays on the Maker of a Nation a book by Nayantara Sahgal, a review of a newly released movie on the challenges faced by the Parsi community, and much more.

In this edition we look at the recently concluded India-Africa Forum Summit, how the original habitants and workers of Mumbai Port are being ignored in the port redevelopment plans, how the RTE Act faring in the State of Tamil Nadu, the rights of the Indian domestic workers, the business of illegal sand mining, how a village is showing the way to sustainable living and much more.

The centenary of admitting Dalit children into public schools in Kerala is an opportunity to remember Ayyankali, whose leadership of the movement isn't part of mainstream history. A proper retelling of this history is now the responsibility of a new generation of historians, writes N P Chekkutty.

Studies from China and the US show the limitations of Bt-based resistance. The bollworm evolves to resist the toxin eventually, and a number of secondary pests remain unaffected. Suman Sahai argues that this is not really a workable strategy except in the first few years.

An environment magazine recently carried a Gujarat government-funded NGO's advertisement portraying vast tracts of Saurashtra and Kachchh supplied with drinking water through pipelines forking off of the Sardar Sarovar Canal. Reports in the print media were telling quite a different story. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.

A senior advisor with the World Bank is quick to hail the establishment of water entitlements in India, but is it too quick? Merely promising quotas of water on paper, or setting up 'rights' that cannot be enforced, is hardly the same as actually providing water to meet citizens' needs, observes Videh Upadhyay.

For millions of people, the law does not explicitly direct that they are entitled to safe water. A United Nations resolution passed in July this year is about to change that. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

The extent of submergence of villages and farmland in the Narmada valley under the backwaters of Sardar Sarovar dam increases with successive monsoons. Himanshu Upadhyaya stresses the need for a more realistic and effective look at solutions to the woes of the region.

Elections 2004 are around the corner and Jayaprakash Narayan points out that the 'hate-politicians' attitude is perilous to democracy itself.

The government has recently announced its Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy. Even though there are some important improvements in it -- the move is timed during rising violence and resentment around the eastern region -- it appears to sidestep the tough questions. Shripad Dharmadhikary has the early verdict.

Although telecentres have caught the imagination of government, their adoption is caught in a false pedagogy that treats entitlements as services and citizens as customers who pay service charges. The focus on putting a price on governance must be stemmed, writes Vivek Vaidyanathan.

A complete and accurate database of dams and rivers in the country is the first pre-requisite for analysing hydrological issues and safety, but an analysis by Himanshu Thakkar shows that the authority entrusted to maintain such records clearly has a long way to go.

The draft River Basin Management Bill 2012 has been crafted with good intentions but threatens to be counter-productive unless the critical need for decentralisation of power is addressed; a review by Shripad Dharmadhikary.

The draft notification specifying emission standards for coal-based thermal power plants is a welcome first step towards regulation, but needs much greater attention to detail and further calibration, writes Debadityo Sinha.

The recent amendment to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification relaxes building norms for CRZ areas. There are certain necessary measures that should have preceded it, says Meenakshi Kapoor as she brings out the implications of the amendment.

Forget artificial intelligence for board games. Alibaba used artificial intelligence to predict the winner of a popular Chinese reality TV singing competition – and got the winner and finalists all correct.

'Rahul is not in a hurry. He believes he has time on his side. He wants to fight the battle in the long term, and believes the only way to do it is to reinvent the organisation.'

The Congress performance in Andhra Pradesh in the Lok Sabha poll may have been impressive, but party leaders are worried about the results of the assembly election, which turned out to be below their expectations. Though the Y S Rajasekhar Reddy-led Congress swept back to power, winning 157 seats in the 294-seat assembly, the party failed to secure an absolute majority.

'Dr Manmohan Singh's contribution is to end the strategic isolationism of India.' K Subrahmanyam, the doyen of India's national security experts, on the prime minister.

National Conference leader Dr Farooq Abdullah was not upset about being given the charge of the relatively unknown Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, according to his son, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.Dr Abdullah too denied reports about him being miffed with the low-profile portfolio. "I will make the ministry high-profile with my work and dedication. I am not angry. But my officers may get angry with me as I make them work," Dr Abdullah said.

BJP spokeperson Ravi Shankar Prasad says, 'It is the time for the real Manmohan Singh, the economist Manmohan Singh, to show his mettle in stemming the rot of the manufacturing sector, the industrial sector, the agricultural sector.'

It was once hoped that curbing election expenses would keep the process fairer. Today, the opposite is true, and neither the UPA nor the NDA wants to disturb this comfortable arrangement. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Anees Bazmi is now the unlikeliest part of Dr Singh's political life, thanks to his blockbuster.

Forget the first 100 days spiel about what Dr Manmohan Singh will do to kickstart the economy. That's just media hype and, in any case, the economy's on a recovery-path. As has been seen over just the last few days, despite the Congress getting 206 seats in the Lok Sabha and getting support letters from 100 more Members of Parliament, Dr Singh still hasn't been able to form his government -- just 19 ministers were sworn in with him.

Fishermen oppose a new notification by the Environment Ministry that would open up the coast to industrial development. Their state governments agree, but the Centre and the World Bank are pushing ahead nonetheless. Kanchi Kohli reports.

In the energy heartland of India, countless projects have wreaked havoc on the environment and displaced people extensively, sometimes more than once. With more projects planned, the future is just as bleak. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Commenting on the dress sense and looks of women in power is only one aspect of the tendency to run down their success. And women are expected to laugh this off, writes Kalpana Sharma.

As the Kerala government takes steps to re-inspire citizens to engage in grassroots level governance, P Mohammad Nizar draws attention to certain critical issues that must be addressed for the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state to be effectively revitalised.

Increasing firepower is the answer to the wrong question; security doesn't come neatly defined in military terms alone, says Firdaus Ahmed.

For some time now, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court has been reviewing the decisons of the Forest Advisory Committee, which grants permission for converting forest land for non-forest use. But this oversight may be coming to an end. Kanchi Kohli reports.

A new Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha, ostensibly to re-green India, is actually a blow to the environment. Rather than conserve forests, it advocates market mechanisms to make money off afforestation in degraded lands. Kanchi Kohli writes.