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As sand becomes more valuable, Sierra Leone’s Mahera Coast grows more vulnerable

PORT LOKO, Sierra Leone — When the tide pulls away from the beach in the agricultural regions in Mahera in Lungi, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) across the sea from the country’s capital, Freetown, the digging commences. Young men shovel sand into cement bags and carry them to a flat open area to pile sand into heaps to be sold by local women to truck drivers. These women are dedicated sand sellers. They negotiate prices, buy sand from the shovelers and sell to heavy-duty truck drivers to be transported to Lungi, Port Loko and other areas. The income helps pay for food, school fees and other basic needs of their families.  However, their work relies heavily on the seasonal tide: The sellers can buy sand during low tide but are banned from doing so during high tide. In Mahera, the sand trade began as a survival strategy for 14 women who became family breadwinners, mostly due to absent partners. Aminata Kargbo is the chairperson of the sand sellers in the locality in Mahera, and entered the business to support her seven children after her husband’s death. “Most of these women have lost their husbands, and the money we make goes to support our children,” she said. She oversees about 19 sand sellers, the majority of them women. Many of these women have become widows after losing their husbands to Sierra Leone’s civil war (1991-2002) and various illnesses. Aminata Kargbo, chairperson of the sand sellers in Mahera, stands in front of…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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The WHO searches for a new leader as US funding dries up and trust in science wanes

From left to right: María Neira, Gevorg Tamamyan, and Hanan Mohamed al Kuwari, three of the candidates to lead the World Health Organization.

A woman in her 70s holds a sign against the World Health Organization (WHO) in the rain outside the World Health Summit in Berlin, one of the main international forums on global health. The image catches the eye of Gevorg Tamamyan, an Armenian physician and candidate to lead the agency. “When I was a child, the WHO meant trust. Why has that trust become so fragile?” he asks hours later during the first debate among several of the seven contenders to succeed Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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Airbel reforça aposta na hotelaria e abre primeira loja na Madeira

TnewsA Airbel, empresa especializada em marketing olfativo com mais de uma década de atividade, está a reforçar a sua aposta no setor hoteleiro. Em entrevista ao TNews, a empresa explica como são desenvolvidas identidades olfativas adaptadas ao posicionamento, conceito e perfil de cada unidade hoteleira e descreve a abertura da sua primeira loja na Madeira, no passado dia 1 de outubro, como um "passo importante" na consolidação da presença na região.
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Why Democrats think they can finally flip Texas in the Senate

Despite years of political defeats in Texas, Democrats are hoping that the 2026 midterm elections will finally turn a Senate seat in the staunchly red state purple. James Talarico, a rising star within the party, is seen as one of the keys to achieving that new shade. For Republicans, he has become one of the biggest challenges in this closely contested campaign. So much so that a substantial share of the money being spent in the race has gone not toward promoting their controversial Senate candidate, Attorney General Ken Paxton, but toward attacking his opponent.

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© Eric Gay (AP)

Supporters of James Talarico in Austin, Texas, on March 3.
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