Senegal's then president Macky Sall speaks during a plenary session at the COP28 UN Climate Summit, on 1 December 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (KeystoneAP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

🗳️Why Macky Sall can’t count on Africa in his bid to lead the UN. The former Senegalese president is continuing to meet with countries bilaterally to shore up support for his candidacy for the top UN position, even as an endorsement from the African Union remains out of reach.

🗣️Opinion: Sexual and reproductive health rights include access to safe abortion services Rather than preventing them from happening, increasing restrictions by countries worldwide are making abortion unsafe, argues Maggie De Block, a medical doctor and Belgium’s former minister of social affairs and health.

📍War, climate change, and AI: What’s at stake at this year’s UN Indigenous forum. Delegates are arriving in New York this week for the world’s largest gathering of Indigenous peoples. Amid other challenges, the US has made it increasingly difficult for delegates to secure visas to attend.

⛏️Pollution, corruption, land grabbing by Chinese companies: in the DRC, the heavy price of the gold rush. In a country plagued by poverty, gold mining, fueled by soaring gold prices, is proving devastating for the environment and local communities.