Jennifer Ugwa

Sexual Abuse Thrives in Nigeria’s IDP Camps with No Recourse for Victims

Women make up more than 50 percent of the IDP population in Nigeria. And as they are forced to survive on less than ₦780 (US $1.90), their livelihoods are largely reliant on goodwill donations from charitable and government organizations. Consequently, due to overlapping vulnerabilities related to economic security and protection, many find themselves at risk of sexual and gender-based violence in the camps.

Can an AI-Guided Robot Help a California City Resist Sea Level Rise and Sequester Carbon?

A San Rafael startup proposed a sci-fi solution to raise areas facing the twin threats of land subsidence and sea level rise. Some officials and experts are skeptical.

In South Memphis, Elon Musk’s Colossus Operated Gas Turbines Without Appropriate Permits, Residents and Activists Claim

In an area long plagued by air pollution, permitting irregularities have opponents of what’s predicted to be the world’s largest supercomputing facility fearing the world’s richest man is getting special treatment.

New home kitchen permit opens entrepreneurial door for Contra Costa County cooks

It’s been almost half a century since Debbie Carrillo’s journey as a home cook began in her mother’s kitchen in Hayward. She and her sister, Deeann Carillo, discovered their love for cooking while learning how to make savory and sweet dishes rooted in their Italian and Puerto Rican ancestry.

EU Rules Fail to Stop Dumping of Banned Pesticide

For Nigerian farmer, Prince Manu, using pesticides is the norm, as it is for almost every farmer he knows. He believes pesticides make farming far easier. However, after his daughter, Beatrice died at the age of 13 from stomach cancer, Manu often wondered whether chemicals used on his farm in Suleja, Niger State, Nigeria, caused her death.

AC Transit riders get to keep bus shelters after Oakland backs off plan to remove them

When the winter rains arrive, Oakland public transit riders will find shelter once again at their bus stops. But that's only because the city's Transportation Department agreed to postpone a plan to remove 100 bus shelters. Josh Rowan, Transportation Department director, also agreed to work on alternatives with AC Transit.

BART using federal loan to build new police headquarters in Oakland

BART is gearing up plans to relocate its Police Department to new headquarters in downtown Oakland in 2026, after receiving a $150 million federal loan to fund construction. BART police are vacating their current headquarters at 800 Madison St. in Oakland to make room for a new BART development project, which will include affordable housing units, shops and parking. The new headquarters will be about a mile away, at 2000 Broadway.

ELECTION DAY COVERAGE: Continuous updates from the polls in Oakland

While most of the attention on Election Day will focus on Vice President and East Bay native Kamala Harris' attempt to make history and become the nation's first woman president, Oakland North will focus on the races that will change the makeup of the Oakland City CouncilFive council seats are up for reelection and only two incumbents are asking voters to return them, which means the council will have at least three fresh faces in January.

The Pollution ‘Caused by Nigeria’s Largest Sugar Refinery’

When Philip Evan first suffered a chest pains, he thought it was a one-off symptom that would disappear. During the period, many of his fellow workers who sprayed chemicals on crops grown at the Dangote Sugar Refinery, had also complained of having breathing problems. Deeming the pain a temporary discomfort, Evan brushed it off. "It's just a part of the job," he thought. He, however, continued to experience the pain for months, then years.