Rorisang Modiba delivers daily updates from around the world.
Kenya – At dawn in the Sera Community Conservancy, northern Kenya, Dr Mukami Ruoro-Oundo leads a team tracking white rhinos, the first in Samburu County. Poaching nearly wiped out these rhinos by the 1990s, but Kenya’s black rhino population has doubled since 1989, reaching 1,900 by December 2022. Sera Conservancy established East Africa’s first community rhino sanctuary in 2015, growing from 10 to 21 black rhinos, with four white rhinos joining in February 2024. Dr Ruoro-Oundo tracks a pregnant white rhino she calls Sarah, using EarthRanger to monitor her remotely. Each white rhino has GPS tags, enabling real-time tracking through mobile devices or the conservancy’s operations centre.
Belgium – Thousands cast their ballots at South African embassies worldwide last weekend, but food influencer and chef Fikile Zungu says she was denied her right to vote. Living in Belgium since 2010, Zungu, who has a large social media following and has cooked for celebrities like DJ Zinhle, could not vote despite checking her registration in January. She was told at the embassy that she was registered to vote in South Africa, not Belgium, though she had previously voted in Belgium. A supervisor apologised but said nothing could be done.
North Korea – A North Korean propaganda song praising Kim Jong Un as “a great leader and a friendly parent” has gone viral on TikTok, with mashups and dances with millions of views. In response, South Korea banned the song, saying it was “psychological warfare”. On Monday, Seoul’s media regulator blocked access to Friendly Father, a propaganda song that became an unexpected social media hit. The song debuted in April during a concert in Pyongyang, and its lyrics laud Kim as a caring leader. The music video shows North Koreans enthusiastically singing about Kim’s affection. Friendly Father has received over two million views to date.
Britain – A 73-year-old British man died of a suspected heart attack following major turbulence on a London-Singapore flight, which injured dozens of passengers who were thrown into the ceiling and overhead lockers. Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from Heathrow had to make an emergency landing in Thailand. The plane departed London on Monday night, diverted to Bangkok, and landed at 3.45pm local time on Tuesday. The pilot declared a medical emergency due to extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000 feet about 10 hours after departure.
Pictured above: GPS tags allow rangers to monitor endangered white rhinos in Kenya.
Image source: Stock
