I couldn't believe - well, I could because it's normal - how far down the TV headlines the news from the Democratic Republic of Congo was yesterday. Thousands of people killed, over a hundred women raped and burned alive. We had to hear all about Trump's doings first, of course, plus other news that I can't recall now. Imagine how this African news story would be treated if it happened in a western country. It's true what Kate Adie says in her book "The Kindness of Strangers", i.e. that there's an unfortunate pecking order to the news based on how "like us" the people concerned are perceived to be. I think there's definitely a racial pecking order imposed on the news, with Africans (or people of African origin, e.g. Haitians) seeming to be at the bottom.

Strangely when a COVID variant reached Africa, it miraculous weakened and things got sort of back to normal. I guess there was no money in it.