CARICOM Calls for Nominations for 2025 Women, Youth Energy Awards

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has announced the opening of nominations for the 2025 editions of the Women in Sustainable Energy Awards (WISE) and the Sustainable Energy Youth Awards (SEYA), aimed at celebrating excellence, innovation, and inclusivity in the energy sector.

In a statement, the CARICOM Secretariat said nominations will remain open until 31 August 2025, urging citizens and residents across the region to either apply or nominate deserving peers, mentors or mentees.

The awards, organised in partnership with the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), are designed to spotlight the roles of women and youth as professionals, entrepreneurs, policy advocates and community champions driving the clean energy transition.

According to CARICOM, WISE seeks to honour women who have made outstanding contributions at community, national, regional, or international levels. Submissions will be assessed in four categories: Business/Entrepreneurship; Social Impact, Community and Advocacy; Policy and Regulations; and Utilities and Industry.

On the other hand, SEYA focuses on individuals between 16 and 35 years old, recognising young innovators and advocates whose work reflects creativity, leadership, and commitment to the sustainable energy movement across public, private, and civil society sectors.

Both awards will be presented at the 9th Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum (CSEF IX) scheduled to hold in Grenada from 28 to 30 October 2025.

The Secretariat noted that the initiative also seeks to promote gender diversity and intergenerational leadership as critical elements for the success of the region’s energy transition agenda.

Nigeria Deports 50 Chinese, Dozens of Others in Crackdown on Cybercrime Syndicate

Nigeria has deported dozens of foreigners, including 50 Chinese nationals, in a sweeping crackdown on what authorities described as one of the country’s “largest foreign-led cybercrime syndicates.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which coordinated the operation, said the deportations followed convictions for offences bordering on cyberterrorism and internet fraud.

“This brings the total number of repatriated convicted foreign nationals to 102 in the ongoing exercise,” the Commission announced in a statement.

The deportees were part of 192 suspects arrested in Lagos last Friday during a sting operation code-named Eagle Flush.

According to the EFCC, actionable intelligence had linked the suspects to a sprawling cybercrime ring operating across Nigerian cities.

Of those arrested, 148 were Chinese nationals, while the others included citizens of the Philippines and several West African countries.

Photos released on Thursday by the EFCC showed the foreigners lined up at an airport, wearing facemasks and clutching their luggage, moments before boarding flights back to their home countries. The agency added that “further deportations are scheduled in the coming days.”

This marks the second major clampdown on foreign cybercriminals in less than a year. In December last year, nearly 800 suspects — including 148 Chinese and 40 Filipinos — were arrested in connection with organised online romance scams and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes.

Nigeria has long battled the scourge of cybercrime, popularly associated with so-called Yahoo Boys.

While local syndicates remain widespread, the involvement of foreign nationals has added a new layer to the country’s cyber-fraud landscape.

The EFCC links the rising wave of internet crime to youth unemployment, a weak regulatory environment and the lure of quick wealth.

Experts have also warned that the growing sophistication of these schemes poses a major risk to Nigeria’s digital economy.

Global tech giants have also waded into the fight. Last year, Meta — owners of Instagram and Facebook — removed thousands of Nigerian-linked accounts and more than 5,700 Facebook groups tied to sextortion and online scam networks.

Despite sustained enforcement, the Commission maintains that international collaboration remains key to breaking up transnational cybercrime networks.

Grief, Fear and Silence as Rebels Kill 140 in Eastern DR Congo

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused M23 rebels of killing at least 140 people, including women and children, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last month, describing it as one of the worst atrocities since the group resurfaced in late 2021.

The rights group, in a report released Wednesday, said the killings took place between July 10 and 30 in at least 14 villages near the Virunga National Park in Rutshuru territory.

Witnesses alleged that Rwanda-backed fighters used machetes and gunfire to attack residents, largely from the Hutu ethnic group, during an offensive against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Accounts from survivors detailed harrowing scenes. One man said he lost five members of his family on July 11 in Katanga area.

A woman recounted how rebels killed her husband with a machete before forcing about 70 women and children to sit along a riverbank, where they were shot at.

Another survivor told HRW he watched helplessly as his wife and four young children were murdered.

Victims’ families were reportedly ordered to bury corpses in nearby fields or leave them exposed, while several bodies were dumped into the Rutshuru River.

While HRW estimates at least 140 people were killed, it warned the death toll may exceed 300, citing corroborating findings by the United Nations earlier this month.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had reported that the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) backed the M23 in killings of at least 319 civilians across four villages in Rutshuru between July 9 and 21.

M23 has denied the allegations, accusing HRW of falsifying evidence and serving as “an instrument of propaganda” for the Congolese government. Its political allies in the AFC opposition bloc also dismissed the report as “hearsay” and “deceptively interpreted imagery.”

Rwanda, for its part, rejected the UN and HRW reports, insisting that it has no control over the rebels.

“The M23 is not Rwanda-controlled, and these questions should be raised with them,” Kigali said in a statement, warning that “sensational allegations” risk undermining peace efforts.

Fighting in eastern DRC escalated in January after M23 captured swathes of territory, including areas around Goma, the provincial capital.

The conflict has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and left thousands dead, despite peace initiatives led by the United States and Qatar.

Last month, Kinshasa and the M23 signed a ceasefire agreement in Doha. But the truce faltered after the rebels pulled out of talks, accusing the government of reneging on its commitments. The Congolese army has also accused the M23 of fresh violations.

HRW has urged the UN Security Council, the European Union and partner governments to condemn the atrocities, impose sanctions, and ensure the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.