Environment: five innovative Earthshot Prize winners
A star-studded Earthshot Prize ceremony in Rio de Janeiro celebrated global ingenuity and hope for the planet, honouring five remarkable winners across its key categories. Brazil’s re.green, which uses AI and satellite technology to restore vast tracts of the Atlantic forest won the for Protect and Restore Nature category. The city of Bogotá, Colombia, took the Clean Our Air prize for cutting pollution through electrification and green urban design. The Revive Our Oceans award went to the High Seas Treaty, a landmark global accord creating the first legal framework for high-seas protection. Nigeria’s Lagos Fashion Week earned the Build a Waste-Free World award for transforming fashion sustainability in Africa. Finally, Bangladesh’s Friendship received the Fix Our Climate award for its pioneering community resilience work: by 2030 it will protect 4,000 miles of coastline with mangroves and expand disaster relief for 50 million people. Each winner embodies Earthshot’s vision - turning urgent environmental challenges into enduring hope. Prince William, the founder of the Earthshot Prize, said: ‘Tonight we have felt extraordinary optimism from these innovators. Their work is the proof we need that progress is possible. Their stories are the inspiration which gives us courage.’
Nigeria: Trump’s military threats over ‘Christian genocide’
Donald Trump’s threats to cut aid and launch military strikes against Nigeria over alleged ‘Christian genocide’, while resonating with US evangelicals, might misrepresent and oversimplify the country’s complex crisis. Nigeria’s conflicts, spanning insurgency, banditry, and communal clashes, are not purely religious but deeply rooted in ethnicity, identity, and government failures. Analysts warn that US intervention, whether through sanctions or drone strikes, could devastate civilians already trapped between terrorists and insecurity. History shows that ‘precision’ attacks often result in innocent casualties, worsening humanitarian crises. Arguably, Trump’s decision to freeze most foreign assistance programmes have exacerbated the problem, resulting in job losses for about 28,000 health workers and pushing vulnerable Nigerians deeper into hardship. His threats pose a dilemma for President Tinubu. If he cooperates, he might appear weak, but defying Washington might risk economic and military pain.
Pakistan / India: 2,000 Sikh pilgrims allowed to cross border
Pakistan’s reception of Sikh pilgrims from India on 4 November marked a rare moment of goodwill amid lingering hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. After deadly border clashes in May shut down the Wagah-Attari crossing, the arrival of over two thousand pilgrims to celebrate Guru Nanak’s 556th birth anniversary signals a cautious reopening of people-to-people ties. Pilgrims were warmly welcomed with flowers and rose petals before travelling to Nankana Sahib, Guru Nanak’s birthplace, and other sacred sites. Pakistan’s high commission in New Delhi said that its decision was consistent with efforts to promote ‘inter-religious and inter-cultural harmony and understanding’. For many Sikhs, visiting these shrines represents both spiritual renewal and a poignant reminder of Punjab’s divided heritage since partition. Yet, tensions remain high, with the Kartarpur Corridor (allowing visa-free access to the temple) still closed and both nations trading accusations over recent violence in Kashmir.
Pacific: airstrikes kill two more in US ‘war on drugs’
The latest US strike on a vessel in the Pacific, ordered by Donald Trump, has drawn renewed condemnation and concern. Two people were killed in what was described as an anti-narcotics operation, bringing the total death toll from similar maritime attacks to at least 67 since September. Despite claims that the vessels targeted were involved in drug trafficking, Washington has yet to provide evidence, prompting accusations of extrajudicial killings. Human rights advocates, including the UN’s Volker Turk, have warned that such actions violate international law and risk killing innocent fishermen. The escalation has drawn condemnation from Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro, who regards Trump’s intensified ‘war on drugs’ as a pretext to topple him from power. With an aircraft carrier about to join other US vessels already in the region, the world watches anxiously, fearing that a campaign meant to stop drugs could instead fuel regional instability and human suffering.
