Eagle Mujinga walks a tightrope in DRC’s dangerous mines to meet the world’s demand for cobalt. Eagle Mujinga defends workers’ welfare.
Workers at the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Shabara cobalt mine are led by Eagle Mujinga. The DRC contributes to the global supply chain that fuels renewable energy and electric vehicles. It is the world’s largest producer of cobalt. Miners in the DRC are exposed to risky working conditions and only make a few dollars per day to supply the multibillion-dollar industry.
When miners accuse foreign buyers of underweighing and undervaluing the cobalt they extract, there is an ape caught in the middle. Can Mujinga manage demands from miners while maintaining contact with foreigners once he becomes a miner himself?
Republican nominee Matt Van Epps, who defeated Democratic state Representative Aftyn Behn, won Tuesday’s special US House election in Tennessee thanks to US President Donald Trump.
Mark Green, a former representative, resigned in July, taking the seat that Van Epps has vacated.
Recommended Stories
list of 1 itemend of list
The Republicans’ 219-213 House majority would have been even more narrowed if they had gotten upset by a Democratic upset.
What should I know:
What were the special election results in Tennessee in the end?
Middle Tennessee’s election was won by Van Epps. After Republican leaders made a late push to woo their voters, the Associated Press called the election.
Van Epps received 53.9 percent of the votes, while Behn received 45 percent, according to the AP.
In a statement, Van Epps stated that “this race was bigger than just one campaign.” It marked a turning point for Tennessee, the country, and the country’s direction, according to the author.
He added that cost-of-living issues would be one of his top priorities as a result of the greater attention given to those issues in races this year, including the governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey and the New York City mayoral race.
Republican nominee for the House of Representatives, Matt Van Epps, delivers his victory speech [Brett Carlsen/Getty Images via AFP]
Republicans typically enjoy a seat in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District. Trump increased that margin to 22 points in 2024 after winning by 15 points in 2020. However, unexpected outcomes can occur during special elections, as revealed by recent polls.
Trump congratulated Van Epps and called it “another fantastic night for the Republican Party” in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday night.
What caused this special election to take place?
After Green, who had previously won the seat in 2018, resigned in July as a result of his decision to retire, Tennessee decided to hold the special election.
He had won the district’s re-election by 21 points to lead the district.
The seat he vacated belongs in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, a sizable portion of Nashville’s downtown area that extends from the Kentucky border to Alabama. After the state’s Republican-controlled legislature redefined congressional boundaries in 2022, the district’s political climate shifted more significantly.
Nearly all of Nashville was grouped under one firmly Democratic district prior to that redistricting.
The seventh district was then divided into three distinct districts by the city’s leaders, who combined Nashville’s heavily Republican suburban and rural counties.
By dispersing the city’s overwhelmingly Democratic, urban voters, who are disproportionately younger, Black, and more progressive, across a number of districts, the new map diluted Nashville’s Democratic voting bloc.
Large suburban and rural areas that consistently vote Republican, made up of older, whiter, and more conservative voters, were then combined with each other’s parts of the city.
Seats like the 7th Congressional District’s Democratic bloc were significantly more likely to elect Republican candidates because of this redrawing, which dispersed the Democratic bloc in Nashville’s Republican-leaning districts.
However, national Republican groups had to intervene this time to save the seat.
Aftyn Behn’s supporters watch the results of the US 7th Congressional District’s special election on December 2, 2025. [George Walker IV/AP Photo]
What were some of the factors that led to Van Epps’ victory?
Van Epps’ 8.9-point victory is notable in contrast to the district’s previous Republican victories.
The significant investment from national Republican groups, who viewed the race as closer than expected, is credited as a key factor in shaping the outcome, according to analysts.
According to Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, who is based in Washington, DC, “It is undoubtedly going to concern the Republicans,” so much so that a poll suggested Behn might actually win.
Trump’s personal Political Action Committee (PAC), which she claims traveled to a rally with the candidate for more than $1 million, said the candidate. The president also called the rally at a campaign rally.
The super PAC, which supports Trump, has been funding campaigns for the first time since the election of last year.
Van Epps firmly supported Trump in his victory speech, stating that “running with Trump is how you win.”
He praised the president for his unwavering support, which he said propelled us to victory and charted this movement. “President Trump was in complete agreement with us.” That was crucial. I’ll support him in Congress.
One of his main goals, he added, was to stop rising living costs, which is a theme that is becoming apparent in a lot of campaigns this year.
Democrats recently had impressive victories in key races, including the New York mayoral contest, and they hoped a strong showing in Tennessee would help the party prepare for the midterm elections in November.
Behn stated in the Tuesday evening press release that “the momentum has been on our side.” “We are losing less in other areas than we should be,” the statement reads.
Aftyn Behn addresses supporters at a watch party after the party’s special election ended on December 2, 2025.
What did Matt Van Epps run on, and who is he?
Van Epps, a West Point graduate, a decorated helicopter pilot, and a lieutenant colonel who served in the Tennessee Army National Guard, are described on his campaign website.
His public service includes positions in the governor’s office’s office and the state government of Tennessee, where he served as the department’s commissioner of general services’ deputy chief operating officer.
Van Epps describes himself as a strong fiscal conservative who supports tax cuts, Medicaid changes, and supports the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. As part of Trump’s agenda, the bill passed in July increases immigration funds, cuts welfare programs, and increases tax cuts.
Additionally, he supports a “secure border”.
Matt will work with President Trump to finish the wall, give Border Patrol more authority, and put an end to the woke left’s open-border agenda to keep our borders safe. They will restore law and order, safeguard American families, and prioritize our country’s security, according to his website.
He has endorsed Israel on issues of foreign policy and Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, saying he will “ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”
Congressman-elect Matt Van Epps, welcome to the @HouseGOP! 🇺🇸 pic. twitter.com/HUw5T3qlxU
Analysts claim that the outcome is still a “big warning sign for Republicans” despite his victory.
According to Al Jazeera’s Culhane, “This will give Democrats a little bit of energy,” and it will serve as a referendum on Donald Trump.
Rights group Amnesty International has called for a war crimes investigation into an assault by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a displaced persons camp in Sudan’s North Darfur state earlier this year.
A report issued by the NGO on Wednesday documents accounts of atrocities committed by the RSF during a large-scale attack on the Zamzam camp. The RSF has been accused of indiscriminate killing and mass rape, among other crimes, numerous times amid its conflict with the military government of Sudan that has been running since April 2023.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The assault on the famine-hit camp came as the paramilitary force laid siege to el-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur. The RSF now holds full control over the state and is pushing eastwards into the vast central Sudanese region of West Kordofan, adding to the millions of people who have been displaced.
The attacks on Zamzam – the largest for internally displaced people in North Darfur state – between April 11 and 13 saw RSF fighters deploy explosives in populated areas and shoot randomly in residential areas, according to the report.
People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp, shelter in the town of Tawila, close to el-Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan, on April 15, 2025 [Reuters]
The document details dozens of accounts of deadly attacks on civilians, with witnesses recounting seeing RSF fighters fatally shoot at least 47 civilians who were hiding in their homes, fleeing the violence or sheltering in a mosque.
“The RSF’s horrific and deliberate assault on desperate, hungry civilians in Zamzam camp laid bare once again its alarming disregard for human life,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.
“Civilians were ruthlessly attacked, killed, robbed of items critical to their survival and livelihood, and left without recourse to justice.”
The assault, which also saw RSF fighters deliberately set fire to homes and other buildings, and undertake acts “that may amount to” rape and pillage, caused an estimated 400,000 people to flee the camp during two days alone, the report said.
‘Shooting anywhere’
Based on interviews with 29 people – including witnesses, survivors, and the relatives of victims, as well as videos and satellite imagery – the report is the latest to accuse the RSF of committing atrocities in Sudan’s 30-month war, including mass killings, summary executions and rapes.
The military government’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has also been accused of numerous war crimes.
The kind of depictions given by survivors of the Zamzam assault, of RSF fighters shooting and setting fires indiscriminately to send residents fleeing, have become familiar.
“[RSF] fighters were just shouting and shooting anywhere, so that is how many people were killed,” one man told Amnesty.
Another said: “You could not identify where the shelling [was] coming from. It was everywhere.”
One woman, a volunteer for a nongovernmental organisation, described an RSF fighter firing randomly from his vehicle as he drove near the camp’s main market.
Amnesty said that shooting without a specific military target could constitute an indiscriminate attack, a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
Another man described how he had witnessed about 15 armed men storm his compound and fatally shoot his 80-year-old brother and 30-year-old nephew.
“No one is concerned with our situation,” he said.
No end in sight
Amnesty also once again criticised the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the report for supporting the RSF – a widely made accusation.
The UAE has staunchly denied that it supplies arms or financial support to the RSF.
The SAF and RSF have remained locked in a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million since hostilities broke out in April 2023.
Efforts to broker a truce have made little headway. The RSF announced a unilateral ceasefire last month following a peace plan issued by the “Quad,” a group of mediators including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the United States.
Football reporter at the training facility in Cobham
3 Comments
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea’s manager, is well aware of Moises Caicedo’s significance.
The Ecuadorian midfielder will start 50 of Maresca’s 51 Premier League games against Chelsea.
Caicedo will miss three games, including those against Bournemouth and Everton, after getting sent off in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal.
Maresca gave Caicedo the same billing as former NBA player Cole Palmer during a Tuesday speech.
Maresca remarked, “We are a better team with Moi, and we are a better team with Cole.”
Caicedo has been a key player for the Blues this season, but only a late South American return prevented him from starting their 2-0 victory over Burnley following the international break in November.
Maresca responded to BBC Sport by saying, “I won’t do it any more. I want to keep winning.” This is the final opportunity!”
Although he may have been making jokes, his words may have some truth to them.
Caicedo is regarded by his manager as one of the two best defensive midfielders in the world, along with Rodri, who won both the club’s players’ player and fans’ player of the year awards in 2024 and 2025.
Opta’s data sources for football support that conclusion.
Santos is “ready” to take over from Caicedo.
Andrey Santos, who impressed in Chelsea’s victory against Burnley on November 22nd, is their primary replacement for Caicedo.
Maresca told BBC Sport, “Andrey is prepared.” Like Moi’s position, his position plays as a six. He’s ready”.
Santos has also been used in more specialized roles by Maresca. The 21-year-old has a high standing with the Stamford Bridge hierarchy after working at partner club Strasbourg on loan.
Santos, who has four Brazil caps, made the move from Vasco da Gama for £11 million before taking on loan spells at Nottingham Forest, Strasbourg, and then at Vasco da Gama.
In the future seasons, Chelsea plans to send teenagers to Ligue 1 for 12 to 24 months in order to prepare them for the Premier League. As a result, the French side will likely become a well-known pathway to first-team football.
Santos believes that the partnership will succeed.
He told BBC Sport, “I’m so happy I was the first one.” “Madamou Sarr, Mike Penders, and Emanuel Emegha are some of the top players in Strasbourg this season,” said Penders.
Who else might be a possibility?
He does have options if Maresca needs to relocate.
Enzo Fernandez, who played the full 90 minutes for Chelsea last week, is capable of playing deeper but lacks Caicedo or Santos’ physicality and tackling prowess, making him susceptible to being overrun.
Reece James could be the main choice if Chelsea wanted to move defenders into midfield. Caicedo and the Chelsea captain won the match’s man of the match with a stunning performance against Arsenal. However, Maresca claims that the England international will likely miss out on the game against Leeds.
Caicedo’s bright side
Maresca may have had a difficult time due to Caicedo’s absence, but it will mean the 24-year-old will have a chance to rest before the busy holiday season.
Caicedo admitted to having a knee problem before the Arsenal game.
He said, “Sometimes I feel pain.” But I won’t be stopping until I break. I never give up. I accustomed to playing this way.
Caicedo, according to BBC Sport, has admitted to expending too much time with his close friends and family. He was named as one of the footballers with “unequal workload,” according to the global players’ union FifPro.
When asked whether resting Caicedo, who played for Ecuador in two full matches last month, represented the upside of his ban, Maresca responded, “Yes, that’s the positive part.
He participates in almost every game, along with the international team.
JavaScript must be enabled in your browser to play this video.
Amy Canavan
Estadio Municipal de Chapin, BBC Sport Scotland
Ten victories, two victories, two draws, and six defeats. Twenty-eight goals were scored.
Eight debutants, two head coaches, and one League A relegation.
It has been a long time since Scotland, which had a chance to enter Euro 2025 on December 3rd, 2024, frozen in Finland.
This year was likely to be one of rebuilding and regaining momentum because of that devastating defeat and miserable missed opportunity.
When the calendar year begins with six stern A-League games. Sophie Howard, a defender, said Scotland “needed” the four friendlies to end the year, which is perhaps why.
Michael McArdle, who has been in charge for four games, did the interim boss’s first four games, getting the ball rolling by introducing six uncapped players and eliminating nine of those who made the miserable trip to Helsinki.
Melissa Andreatta, Pedro Martinez Losa’s permanent replacement, has fought on with the baton while capturing both of Australia’s two victories since moving to Scotland’s west coast from Australia.
Twelve members of her Jerez, Spain, squad for the year-ending friendships did not take the agonizing flight home last year.
October 15
two days ago
Fresh eyes on the ground ready to prosper
This year, Emma Lawton, Eilidh Adams, Freya Gregory, Kathleen McGovern, Mia McAulay, Georgia Brown, Miri Taylor, and Maria McAneny all made their Scottish debuts.
In February, Celtic team-mate McAneny scored a 96th-minute debut goal to salvage a draw against Ukraine, while defender Lawton received her first international goal against the Netherlands in February.
With two goals in four games, Hibernian striker McGovern has already argued that she is the Scots’ go-to scorer. She would have enjoyed her chances in Jerez as well had she been fit.
After all, Andreatta did refer to her as “a beast” of a forward.
The latter appears to be a smart move with her experience telling in the middle of the park, while the former England youth players Gregory and Taylor have caught the eye.
They have all given an otherwise well-known squad new life, but it is impossible for them to bear the weight of leading this dark blue tanker back to the top of the major tournament stage.
If the Scots want to win the World Cup in 2027, senior players and experienced campaigners must continue to do more.
In the wake of her second win in six games as head coach, Andreatta declared, “I’ve learned so much.”
This team is “very excited and detests to be back on the world stage,” says coach Jeremy McLean. They are also so eager to improve and be better, support their teammates and do the crest proud.
Anything is possible when you have that kind of mindset, because they are constantly eager to learn and grow.
SNS
Squad is unable to shake “Scottish way.”
It would have been a very different post-mortem if Scotland had stopped in Jerez after 15 minutes.
There were rumors that they might be able to compile a 3-0 tally like the Lionesses did against China on Saturday.
That would be too simple, though. The Scots favor going through “the Scottish way.”
Kirsty Howat’s first start gave her the opportunity to add a hat-trick after scoring two special first-half goals, restore Scotland’s three-goal lead, but her strike kissed the left post and was saved with the rebound.
It was a necessary but emotionally wrenching end to the encounter, going from potentially 4-1 to 3-2.
The dominant Scots needed that stunning McAneny finish just days before to draw draw with Ukraine, and Andreatta’s first victory against Morocco in October was secured in the 90th minute thanks to Caroline Weir’s incredible strike.
The pressure “kind of eases up a little bit,” Andreatta said, “but then they go and score and it makes it super interesting, which is the Scottish way, apparently.”
“I believe what we did was to show really good character. Excellent defense was done. I believe that in tight games and tournament football, to deny them chances from all those crosses is what you’re going to need.
However, how can Scotland reverse the trend and prevent their supporters from advancing a few years?
The Australian continued, “We’re really going to use the beginning of the February camp to have a good training block where we focus on some of those details.”
Belief returning to the big stage still beams.
February is never going to be enough for Andreatta and her players.
When their World Cup qualifying match against Luxembourg on March 3 will take place, they will meet again there.
It’s not as simple as booking their tickets to Brazil and Scotland placing first in Group B4 with Belgium, Israel, and Luxembourg. Navigating a play-off pathway is also required.
However, they are confident that their lengthy recovery will put an end to their three consecutively stale major tournaments.
In the weeks leading up to last year’s play-off against Finland and the play-off pain before that against Northern Ireland, the same message was being conveyed.
However, Andreatta makes clear that this group is “hungry” to make their country proud.
Sophie Howard, the defender, earlier in the week, stated that “I think we’re finally developing a belief that we should be there.”
After dating for four years, Miley Cyrus’ representative confirmed the details of the custom engagement ring.
3 images to be seen
Miley Cyrus and Maxx Morando are engaged(Image: BANG Showbiz)
Miley Cyrus has got engaged to Maxx Morando and admitted it has left her feeling “astounded”. The 33-year-old actress and the musician, 27, are set to tie the knot after four years together.
When the pair stepped out on the red carpet for Avatar: Fire and Ash’s Los Angeles premiere earlier this week, there was a lot of speculation about their engagement. The chart-topping superstar was spotted flashing a diamond encircling a chunky gold band during one of the glittery events.
Miley’s representative, Francesca Consulting, later confirmed that Jacquie Aiche, a designer, had created the stunning engagement ring in-house. Francesca provided additional information, revealing that Miley was sporting a “chunky” 14-karat yellow gold band.
READ MORE: Adam Thomas shocks fans with major announcement saying ‘I have to do what’s right for me’READ MORE: Freddy Brazier hits back at pregnant ex’s drug claims in scathing rebuke
Dan Morando, Maxx’s father, has already congratulated the happy couple on social media. Miley has now touched on the special moment briefly without giving away too much.
Speaking to PEOPLE, the former Hannah Montana star said: “The detail that I can share is that for us, our privacy and us kind of keeping it small has been something that I’ve been astounded that I’ve actually been able to have and being able to kind of have more choice.”
She continued, “I think it’s also being older and being more receptive to what I’m willing to share.”
Miley and Liam Hemsworth were previously married from 2018 to 2020, and the pop star has openly discussed how difficult it was to reconcile.
She stated on The Howard Stern Show that, “Sometimes, things get easier, and sometimes you miss people more than others.” Time kind of heals itself, but that was at a time when I experienced great strength. And then I stop doing it on occasion.
Miley acknowledged that the wildfire that claimed the former couple’s California home caused a pivotal moment in their relationship. She admitted, “Every song I had ever written was in that house, and I had so much, and it was all gone.”
I lost everything, even the photos my parents gave me and my scripts. And so I ran toward the fire in an effort to put that back together instead of saying, “Oh, nature kind of did something for me, it forced me to let go. Which is normal because many animals do this and pass away, such as deer who scurry into the forest.
Continue reading the article.
What could be purposeful about this, you ask? “You’re attracted to that heat and me being an intense person, and not wanting to sit with it, and not wanting to go. I just clung to the things that were still in that house, which were me and him. And I really do love him deeply and still do and will always do”.
Following their breakup, Liam and Liam are engaged once more. In September, it was revealed that he had asked Gabriella Brooks to marry him.
