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Africa: Former Liberia president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was awarded the Ibrahim Prize on Monday (Feb. 12).

The Ibrahim Prize was founded in 2006 by Sudanese billionaire businessman and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim to celebrate excellence in African leadership.

Sirleaf is the first woman leader to receive the $5 million prize.

She was recognized for her good governance of Liberia during her two terms as a truly democratically-elected president, as well as her efforts to rebuild her nation, which was devastated by over a decade of civil wars and the Ebola epidemic.

The former Liberia president is the fifth African leader to have received the prize after Joaquim A. Chissano of Mozambique, Festus G. Mogae of Botswana, Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires of Cape Verde, and Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia.

Nelson Mandela of South Africa is an honorary laureate.

For more we go to BBC Africa:

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Mexico: A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Oaxaca State of Mexico on Friday (Feb. 16).

The epicentre was about 145 kilometres from the Pacific Coast surfer resort of Puerto Escondido in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, according to the US Geological Survey.

Thirteen people were killed on the ground and 15 were injured when a military helicopter crashed while on its way to Pinotepa Nacional, a Oaxaca town near the epicentre.

Mexico’s interior minister, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, and the governor of the state of Oaxaca  were both on the helicopter. They sustained minor injuries.

No immediate casualties or major damages from the earthquake were reported.

Meanwhile, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck the south-west of England and south Wales on Saturday, the British Geological Survey reported.  Tremors were felt across Wales as well as Bristol and Cornwall and parts of southwest England.

For more we go to NBC News:

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UK: Oxfam’s Deputy Chief Executive Penny Lawrence resigned on Monday (Feb. 12) after accusations of staff scandals in Chad and Haiti.

In one of the allegations, staffers of the British charity group in Haiti and Chad were reported to have hired prostitutes.

Several staff members were dismissed, including the group’s country chief for Haiti who also worked in Chad.

Oxfam’s country director in Haiti between 2012 and 2017 had already been sacked a year earlier for “mismanagement.”

The charity group also acknowledged that some of its employees were responsible for offenses including bullying, harassment, intimidation, and sexual misconduct.

On Friday, the charity’s executive director, Winnie Byanyima, announced that an independent commission would be appointed to investigate claims of sexual exploitation, and promised to provide justice for anyone abused by its staff.

Meanwhile, Oxfam has agreed not to seek funding from  the UK government. The charity group received about GBP 32 million in the last financial year.

For more we go to CBC News:

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Lead-In Image (Antique Newspapers) Courtesy of aceshot1 / Shutterstock.com