Sudan, New Caledonia, Ghana.

Today's three stories you should know.

May 16, 2024

Sudan

When you’re trying to get a largely indifferent world to care about something as awful as what is happening in Sudan, it must be hard to find the right words to shake the world awake. But Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN’s top aid official in the country, today made a good try of it. Sudan’s people, she said, are “trapped in an inferno of brutal violence.” She’s not wrong. The country’s grinding civil war shows no signs of ending, people are starving to death, and nine million have been forced to flee their homes. Asking for “more funding and fast” from the international community to respond to the worsening hunger crisis, Nkweta-Salami said: “People are resorting to consuming grass and peanut shells. And if assistance doesn’t reach them soon, we risk witnessing widespread starvation and death in Darfur and across other conflict-affected areas.”

New Caledonia

Hundreds of people have been arrested as the French government imposed a state of emergency on the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. Protests over a bill extending voting rights in the territory’s provincial elections to residents arriving from mainland France turned violent and at least four people have now been killed. Critics fear the reform will marginalise New Caledonia’s Indigenous community, most of whom support independence for the archipelago.

Ghana

I’m a little late to this but it was an irrestible one to end with today. Legendary US musician Stevie Wonder has become a citizen of Ghana. Wonder has had a long-standing love affair with the country and believes his ancestral lineage can be traced there. The 74-year-old says he now plans to get involved in initaitives to help Ghana’s youth. "The youngest generation is in Africa. We need to begin to think about how their greatness can shine," he said. Click through and take a look at the pictures and video. It’s fair to say Stevie looks absolutely delighted.