Dirtied by success? Nigeria is home to city with worst PM10 levels
Updated 0350 GMT (1150 HKT) June 1, 2016
The word "Africa" often evokes romantic images of elephants crossing the Kalahari, thundering water at Victoria Falls, or panoramic views from Table Mountain.
But an increasingly common sight for Africans -- especially those in Nigeria -- is that of smog, rubbish and polluted water, according to a new report.
Four of the worst cities in the world for air pollution are in Nigeria, according to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Onitsha -- a city few outside Nigeria will have heard of -- has the undignified honor of being labeled the world's most polluted city for air quality, when measuring small particulate matter concentration (PM10).
Coral bleaching spreads to Maldives, devastating spectacular reefs
Exclusive: Images from the Indian Ocean archipelago reveal the extent of the longest global coral bleaching event in history• Coral bleaching in the Maldives – in pictures
The longest global coral bleaching event in history is now devastating reefs in the crystal clear waters of the Maldives, with images released exclusively to the Guardian powerfully illustrating the extent of the damage there.
Photographed by the XL Catlin Seaview Survey, the images captured the event in May as it moved beyond the now devastated Great Barrier Reef and into waters further west.
“The bleaching we just witnessed in the Maldives was truly haunting,” said Richard Vevers, founder of the Ocean Agency.
“It’s rare to see reefs bleach quite so spectacularly. These were healthy reefs in crystal clear water at the height of an intense bleaching event. The flesh of the corals had turned clear and we were seeing the skeletons of the animals glowing white for as far as the eye could see – it was a beautiful, yet deeply disturbing sight.”Isis face likely defeat in battles raging across Iraq and Syria - but how will power be shared between the victors?
In the second of a four-part series examining Isis, Patrick Cockburn says the terror group may be under threat, but regaining the terrority it captured would not necessarily stabilise the region
Isis is under attack in and around the last three big cities it holds in Iraq and Syria – Fallujah, Mosul and Raqqa. It is likely to lose these battles because its lightly armed if fanatical infantry, fighting from fixed positions, cannot withstand air strikes called in by specialised ground forces. They must choose between retreating and reverting to guerrilla war or suffering devastating losses.
It is two years since Isis launched itself on the world by capturing Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, though it had already taken Fallujah 40 miles west of Baghdad at the start of 2014. In its first campaigns, its ability to achieve surprise by using mobile columns of vehicles packed with experienced fighters was astonishingly effective.
It had developed these military techniques in the years of warfare that followed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, first fighting the Americans and later the Iraqi army. Its menu of tactics combined ideological fanaticism with a high degree of expertise and rigorous training, and was distinguished by the mass use of suicide bombers, snipers, IEDs, booby traps and mortar teams.DR Congo's Béni becomes a ghost town after massacre
OBSERVERS
Seventeen people were killed in the village of Éringéti, in the Béni region in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, in early May. Our Observer, a local radio journalist, traveled to the site of the massacre where he met several survivors who had made day trips back to the abandoned ghost town, now strictly controlled by the Congolese military.
The region located between the towns of Eringéti, Kamando and Mbau bears a grisly nickname: the “triangle of death”. Since October 2014, this region has been the site of numerous massacres. No group has ever claimed responsibility for these attacks and the perpetrators have never been even been identified, let alone brought to justice.
A month ago, about 350 people were busy living their lives in a village called Tingwe. But on the evening of May 3, a group of men armed with machetes and axes attacked the village, slaughtering eight women, four children and five men. The survivors of the attack fled, emptying the entire village within a matter of minutes.
How an ancient Chinese town survived the tumultuous Cultural Revolution
UNDERSTANDING OTHERS
In an unexpected partnership, a strategic Red Guard leader and tireless preservationist helped save a walled town from likely destruction.
PINGYAO, CHINA — Every day, hordes of Chinese and foreign visitors crowd into this medieval county seat, which Lonely Planet calls “China’s best-preserved ancient walled town.”
They stroll down lantern-festooned lanes, admire Ming Dynasty architecture and climb the steps to town walls that date back 640 years. And many leave with a question: How did this UNESCO World Heritage site manage to survive China’s tumultuous history, including the orgy of violence half a century ago that was the Cultural Revolution?
Mao Zedong launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in May 1966, ushering in a chaotic era that spelled catastrophe for China’s antiquities. Driven by Mao’s edict to attack the “four olds,” gangs of Red Guards smashed up temples, destroyed artwork, and demolished libraries and cemeteries.
Vox Sentences: 1,000 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean last week, but sure, let's talk about a gorilla
Updated by Dara Lind and Dylan Matthews
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