By Professor Mammo Muchie, his former MPhil student

I heard of the passing away of our truly beloved Robin Murray from my long-time friend, Gwen Sullivan, to whom Gordon White had introduced me when I was a DPhil student in 1984. I was unable to speak upon hearing the tragic news, several days after Robin had passed away. Upon hearing the pain in my silence, Gwen gently asked: “Mammo, you didn’t know?” How I wish I had known about his illness and kept in touch with him. His spirit has always been with me, though I have not seen him physically for a long time. The sadness in my heart and soul still remains deep. Why had no one told me?

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

“I think it’s very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated.” – Angela Merkel, BBC News, Jul 8, 2017

Such gatherings and summits are not always smooth, but on a planet bearing witness to a Trump presidency, there was always going to be a chance for more excitement at the G20 meet at Hamburg. Storm clouds have been brewing over economics, trade, and security, and these threatened to open with a deluge of resentment and threat. As proceedings continued, a general sense did eek through discussions: the G20 would have been far more appropriately termed the G19+1.G20, Angela Merkel, Donald Trump, Vladmir Putin, EU, US

By Molly Crabapple | The Baffler 

Remembering America’s black antifascist vanguard

They exist now mostly in archives. Photos show a beautiful young woman bent over an operating table, staring toward the camera with a mixture of defiance and exhaustion. A man in a sweater adorned with the Lion of Judah jauntily holds his flight helmet in one hand. A military commander points into the distance of a rocky Spanish valley. Salaria Kea, John Robinson, Oliver Law: they’re three of the tens of thousands of black Americans who, a year before the Abraham Lincoln Brigade turned up as defenders of Republican Spain, protested, fundraised, and fought to save Ethiopia from Fascism, in an episode that even leftists have forgotten.

By Socrates Mbamalu | This Is Africa

When it comes to the issue of skin colour, the black woman is always told she has too much melanin. Does anyone ever complain of too much non-melanin? South Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech was asked by her uber driver if she'd lighten her skin for $10,000. Find out her answer.

By Donald G. McNeil Jr and Nick Cumming-Bruce

The New York Times — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia was voted director general of the World Health Organization on Tuesday, the first African ever to head the agency.

By William Davison for The Messenger

Former colleagues of the British government’s candidate for the top job at the World Health Organization (WHO) describe him as a skilled, intelligent manager but one who is also controlling and sometimes intimidating toward his staff.

By William Davison for The Messenger

Leaning over a wooden desk in his rudimentary OiLibya office, Ethiopian gas station supervisor Abebe Begashaw points on his notebook where a fuel order was recorded the previous week.

By Linda Flood

Sales of huge land areas of Ethiopia, by the Ethiopian government, to foreign investors, have led to starvation and forced displacement. In his documentary Dead Donkeys Fear no Hyenas, Swedish film director Joakim Demmer exposes the consequences of land grabbing, and holds the World Bank complicit.