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Beina Lesanjir, a woman who escaped gender based violence, participates in a traditional dance at the Umoja village, Kenya.
Hard Numbers: A Kenyan “No man’s land”, Nicaragua strips critics, Eastern migrations soar, big money Bible
0: The defining feature of Umoja, a village in northeastern Kenya, is that it has precisely zero men. The town, which bans the Y-chromosome entirely (at least among adults), was set up decades ago as a refuge for women fleeing domestic violence, genital mutilation, or child marriage. Some 40 families now live there.
94: The Nicaraguan government of strongman Daniel Ortega has stripped 94 of his critics of their citizenship. The move, which violates international law, is part of a two-year-long crackdown on civil society in which hundreds of Ortega’s critics or opponents have been jailed or forced abroad.
64: The number of migrants undertaking treacherous migrations from East Africa through Yemen and onward to the Gulf countries has increased 64% over the past year. Women and children make up a large part of the rise along the so-called “Eastern Migration Route.”
50 million: The Bible warns against “love of money,” sure, but if you’ve already got $50 million burning a hole in your robes, you could be the owner of a nearly complete Hebrew Bible from a thousand years ago. The book goes on auction at Sotheby’s in May.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the media in Brussels.
What We're Watching: Macron gets a boost, East Africa trade bloc welcomes DRC
Macron’s Ukraine boost
Less than two weeks before France’s presidential election, incumbent Emmanuel Macron has a nine-point lead ahead of far-right firebrand Marine Le Pen. The war in Ukraine has given Macron a chance to showcase his statesman bonafides, boosting his lead in the polls. He has spoken with Vladimir Putin many times over the past month and is trying to coordinate a humanitarian corridor for residents of Mariupol (though that seems to have failed). Macron’s critics say he’s used the war to avoid going head to head with rivals on domestic issues. Still, Macron isn’t popular. The centrist is seen by many as an aloof elitist detached from real people’s problems. What’s more, while unemployment is at a 13-year low, soaring food and fuel prices are fueling voter antipathy and, for some, apathy. A recent poll found that only one-third of French voters plan to cast their ballots. But with the left imploding and the far-right remaining divided, Macron wins by default (though the second-round runoff with Le Pen could be much closer than their 2017 face-off).
DRC joins East African economic bloc
The Democratic Republic of Congo was admitted on Tuesday into the East African Community, the regional economic bloc. Once lawmakers ratify accession, DRC’s citizens will be able to travel visa-free to the other six members — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda — while most tariffs will be lifted for most DRC products. The EAC, in turn, theoretically gains access to the Atlantic Ocean via a tiny strip of DRC land, as well as the DRC’s 90 million people and natural resources. But there are two big problems. First, the DRC urgently needs to upgrade its road and rail networks. Second, and more importantly, the DRC government must do a much better job on security. Last December, it asked Ugandan troops to help combat the Allied Democratic Forces, one of several rebel groups operating in the resource-rich eastern part of the country. On Monday, DRC forces clashed with M23 militants, which a decade ago controlled swaths of Kivu province but have since mostly retreated to neighboring Rwanda and Uganda (which the DRC and UN have accused of supporting the rebels).