Meanwhile... in Khartoum, Sudan, an all-female band named Salute Yal Bannot is making waves

In Khartoum, Sudan, an 11-member all-female band named Salute Yal Bannot is making waves.

The band members – seven vocalists, a guitarist, a bass guitarist, and a drummer – say they believe there has been no all-female musical group in sharia-governed Sudan since the 1970s. 

The group writes its own music in both English and Sudanese Arabic, and they say they hope to be heard around the world. 

“We’re not just singing,” band member Hiba Elgizouli told Deutsche Welle. “We want to change what’s happening. Not just in Sudan. Everywhere where women are put down and told not to speak up. We want to change that.” 

Performances by Salute Yal Bannot can be seen on YouTube. 

In Thailand, the government is using new technology to fight an old problem.

Thailand’s fishing business – the fourth largest in the world – uses large numbers of migrant workers from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Accusations of worker abuse and forced labor dog the industry. In 2015 the European Union threatened to boycott Thai fish products if these problems are not addressed. 

As a result the government is now using optical scanning technology to keep track of who is working on its country’s fishing boats. So far about 70,000 workers have been registered. 

The optical scans make it possible for inspectors to ensure that workers are really on the boat they were registered with, Petcharat Sinauy, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Labour, told The National. “It is to find out whether the fisherman is truly in the list of this ship and has not been sold and rotated to work for many ships all the time.” 

In Bethlehem, South Africa, two rescued African lions are turning the page on new chapters. 

Four-year-old Simba was found last winter at the Mosul Zoo in Iraq after Islamic State forces had retreated. He was one of only two animals left alive. The others had all died from either starvation or bombardment.

Two-year-old Saeed was found emaciated in an abandoned park in Aleppo, Syria, last summer. 

But now – after a rehabilitation period in Jordan and then a 33-hour flight – the two young lions are in a new home at Lion’s Rock sanctuary in South Africa, the BBC has reported. They will be joining 78 other lions in more than 3,000 acres of wilderness. It is hoped that each will be able to start his own pride.