Tom Gardner

1 week ago | economist.com | Tom Gardner

The Inuit on Little Diomede are watched over by Russian soldiers. But that's not their biggest problem in these icy badlandsScenes from the earthquake's aftermathThe Vatican wants him to be the next Mother Teresa. But what did Carlo Acutis really believe? The Russian invasion has created an epidemic of phantom pain. My jaw is just one of the casualties They claim to fight for victims, but are they just trying to go viral? Syria's new president is a chameleon.

Nov 19, 2024 | economist.com | Tom Gardner

The outside world cares less about it than about Gaza and UkraineBy Tom Gardner, Africa correspondent, The EconomistNo city in Sudan besides the capital, Khartoum, is more fiercely fought over than el-Fasher, in the western region of Darfur. For much of 2024 it was under siege by the Rapid Support Forces (rsf), a paramilitary group that has spent more than 18 months trying to vanquish the regular Sudanese army, the Sudanese Armed Forces (saf), and seize control of the state.

Nov 19, 2024 | economist.com | Tom Gardner

Neither democracies in Africa nor the West will force them By Tom Gardner, Africa correspondent, The Economist The covid pandemic accelerated a general turn away from free and fair elections in Africa. Several governments—most notably Ethiopia’s—took the virus as an excuse to delay, or otherwise tamper with, the electoral process. Most alarming, however, was the flurry of coups, starting with Mali in 2020, followed swiftly by Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gabon and arguably Chad.

Oct 31, 2024 | literaryreview.co.uk | Tom Gardner

Building a state takes decades of hard labour. Destroying one can be done virtually overnight. In September 2018, the prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, flew to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, to sign a tripartite pact with Isaias Afwerki and Mohamed Abdullahi (known as ‘Farmaajo’), presidents of Eritrea and Somalia respectively. Both Abiy and Farmaajo were young and charming, apparently free of the shackles of their countries’ troubled pasts.

Sep 6, 2024 | foreignpolicy.com | Tom Gardner

To catch the eye of his new boss, Abiy Ahmed had an idea. One day in the early 2000s, the young radio operator walked into the office of General Teklebrhan Woldearegay, then the head of Military Intelligence’s Technological Information Department, and presented him with a proposal. He had recently written his own Amharic-to-English dictionary, he told the older officer. Now he needed money to publish it. Could the Ministry of Defense help?