How Nigerians reinvented an Italian tinned tomato brand by Femke van Zeijl

The once ubiquitous De Rica tomato paste brand lives on in Nigerian markets and kitchens in more ways than one. [Jawahir Al-Naimi/Al Jazeera] The once ubiquitous De Rica tomato paste brand lives on in Nigerian markets and kitchens in more ways than one. In a busy Lagos food market, a customer points at an enamel …

A Solemn (and Somewhat Bewildering) Look at the Life of Donald J. Trump As it might have been prepared, with grim determination, the BBC Obituaries Unit. By Lawson Akhigbe

By a BBC Obituarist (Who Definitely Didn't Have This One on Their Bingo Card) The BBC News obituaries team, as is well known, maintains carefully crafted portraits of notable public figures, ready for that inevitable day. The files range from revered monarchs to celebrated artists . The guiding principle, as former BBC obituary editor Nick …

Analysis: Donald Trump’s top 25 lies of 2025 by Daniel Dale

Just like his first presidency, President Donald Trump’s first calendar year back in the White House was an unceasing parade of lies. In 2025, though, the variety of Trump’s false claims shrunk even as he maintained his trademark staggering frequency.Trump’s lying has always been characterized by dogged repetition. It became especially repetitive in 2025. While …

The US Republican Bait-and-Switch: Populism for the Poor, Power for the Rich

If American politics were a magic show, the Republican Party would be the magician forever sawing the working class in half — all while asking for applause. They call it populism; I call it professional pickpocketing with flags and Bible verses. For decades now, the GOP has mastered the art of political ventriloquism — speaking …

Forget ID cards — tech giants already own our digital souls by AJ Bekker

I find the UK’s outrage over digital ID rather quaint — a little like watching someone panic about electricity while clutching a torch (“Starmer gives green light to digital ID plan”, Report, FT Weekend, September 20; and “In defence of digital ID”, Magazine, Life & Arts, October 4). In South Africa, we’ve lived with a …