CONGO
A pilot program to trace the world’s first ethically sourced
cobalt is under way. The program, headed by British-based
supply chain auditor RCS Global, plans to electronically
track cobalt from small-scale mines in Congo all the way
to consumers’ smartphones and electric car batteries. If
successful, the new system may allow companies such as Apple
to allay growing concerns among customers that the metal in
their devices involved environmental or human rights abuses,
including child labor.
FINANCIAL TIMES, BLOOMBERG
NEPAL
A small hare species,
long thought to be
extinct, has been
spotted. The hispid
hare was sighted for
the first (and what
was thought to be the
last) time in Chitwan
National Park in 1984,
but a conservationist
recently caught one on
camera. Scientists were
encouraged because
it is a baby, meaning
there are male and
female parents.
SCIENCEDAILYZIMBABWE
The Southern African nation
took a big step away from use
of the death penalty. President
Emmerson Mnangagwa in
March commuted the death
sentences of inmates who had
been on death row for more
than 10 years to life in prison.
Amnesty International lauded
the move, saying it was another example of how sub-
Saharan Africa and much of the world are moving away
from the death penalty. Zimbabwe has not executed
anyone since 2005.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONALA WEEKLY GLOBAL ROUNDUP
REUTERS/FILEAP/FILE
A PRISON OFFICER LOOKS OUT FROM THE
WATCHTOWER AT CHIKURUBI MAXIMUM
SECURITY PRISON IN HARARE, ZIMBABWE.