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Lemi Limbu, a woman with severe intellectual disabilities in Tanzania, has had her conviction and death sentence quashed after spending more than a decade in prison awaiting execution. Limbu, now in her early 30s, was convicted of the murder of her daughter in 2015.On 4 March, a court in Shinyanga, northern Tanzania, declared she can appeal. She will face a retrial, but a date has yet to be set. Lawyers and activists have condemned her sentence, saying she should not be in prison at all. Limbu, who remains incarcerated, is a survivor of brutal and repeated sexual and domestic violence and has the developmental age of a child.Under Tanzanian and international law, Limbu should not be held criminally liable, given her intellectual disability. “She was not supposed to be in prison in the first place,” said Anna Henga, executive director of Legal and Human Rights Centre, a Tanzanian human rights advocacy organisation.At her first trial, Limbu pleaded not guilty. Unable to read or write, she said she did not know the contents of a statement that police claimed she had made admitting to the murder. Her original conviction in 2015 was nullified in 2019 due to procedural errors. In 2022, she was retried and sentenced to death a second time.The court did not allow evidence to be heard from medical professionals about her intellectual disabilities or history of abuse. A clinical psychologist who evaluated her had concluded she had a severe intellectual disability and the developmental age of a 10-year-old child or younger.A coalition of 24 African and international human rights groups last year condemned Limbu’s sentence as part of an appeal to the African court on human and peoples’ rights to look at the plight of women on death row throughout Africa. In Tanzania, the death penalty is the mandatory sentence for murder, although no executions have been carried out since 1995.

Choreographer Alexander Whitley's latest works, Mirror and The Rite of Spring, are a thought-provoking exploration of the relationship between technology and human performance. In Mirror, dancers Gabriel Ciulli and Daisy Dancer move in tandem, their bodies studded with motion-capture markers, as they interact with digital doppelgangers that appear on stage.The use of technology in Mirror creates a sense of tension, as the dancers' movements are echoed and eventually upstaged by their digital counterparts. This tension raises questions about the role of technology in dance and whether it enhances or detracts from the human performance.In The Rite of Spring, Whitley reimagines Stravinsky's classic score with a glitched and layered version, accompanied by rudimentary choreography. The piece features five dancers and a makeshift maypole, but ultimately feels disjointed and lacking in energy.Whitley's use of technology in both pieces is a deliberate attempt to explore the boundaries between human and digital performance. While Mirror is a more successful exploration of this theme, The Rite of Spring feels like a missed opportunity to fully integrate technology and tradition.

A meteorite event occurred over Ohio on Tuesday morning, producing a significant sonic boom that was felt across a wide area, including parts of Pennsylvania. According to NASA, the meteorite entered Earth's atmosphere at approximately 9 am local time. The meteorite, described as a small asteroid about 2 meters in diameter and weighing around 6 tons, moved at a speed of 45,000 mph. This event caused widespread reports of a loud boom, with residents in Cleveland and as far east as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and into New York state, describing the sound as similar to fireworks or thunder. NASA's meteoroid environment office confirmed that the asteroid was spotted near Medina, Ohio. Despite its relatively small size, the meteorite produced a considerable sonic boom, which was captured on video by a National Weather Service (NWS) employee in Pittsburgh. The NWS's Cleveland office confirmed that satellite data suggested the boom was caused by a meteorite. So far, there have been no reports of debris being found, although it's possible that small fragments may have fallen to Earth. NASA noted that about 17,000 meteorites fall to Earth annually, but most burn up in the atmosphere. The agency also stated that space rocks smaller than a football field typically break apart in Earth's atmosphere, although they can occasionally explode in mid-air.

The announcement of BTS's comeback album has transported me back to a bygone era, one marked by all-consuming passion and a dash of secrecy. As a teenager, I was deeply invested in K-pop, particularly BTS, but I often found myself hiding this obsession from peers due to fear of ridicule. In those days, it was uncommon for groups of girls to openly discuss or watch new music videos from popular K-pop bands like BTS or One Direction. We'd often gather in private settings, like late-night Skype calls or in the back of a classroom, to share and enjoy our favorite content. This clandestine nature of fandom was partly due to the stigma attached to being a 'fan girl.' The author recalls feeling self-conscious about their enthusiasm and downplaying it to avoid being labeled as 'crazy' or 'obsessed.' This behavior was not unique; many teenage girls have similar experiences, often softening their passions to fit in or avoid criticism. The question remains: why is it that displaying genuine emotion is frequently misconstrued as unhealthy dependence? Looking back, the author feels a sense of protection and softness towards their younger self, who found solace, connection, and belonging through BTS's music and universe. During a particularly challenging time, when the author moved to Melbourne alone at 17, BTS's extensive content provided comfort and something to look forward to. This period of intense fandom ultimately helped the author make meaningful connections and discover creative outlets like writing. The experience was pivotal in their personal development, offering a safe space to express themselves and explore their creativity through fan art, fan fiction, and more. With the release of BTS's new album, Arirang, and a world tour on the horizon, the author is eager to revisit their teenage self, embracing the excitement and joy that comes with being a fan. This nostalgia-tinged comeback is not just about the music; it's about reconnecting with a part of themselves that they had set aside.

Netflix's Historic Night at the 2026 Academy AwardsStreaming giant Netflix dominated the 2026 Academy Awards, securing a total of five Oscars. The wins for Guillermo del Toro’s *Frankenstein* and the animated hit *KPop Demon Hunters* highlight a growing trend of premium content production from non-traditional studios. While the Best Picture award remains out of reach for the streamer, the sweep of technical categories demonstrates a high ceiling for their creative output.Guillermo del Toro’s *Frankenstein* and *KPop Demon Hunters* Sweep the Visual CategoriesThe ceremony was a landmark night for Netflix’s diverse portfolio, with two distinct films taking home hardware across different genres.Frankenstein: Director Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of the classic tale won three prestigious awards: Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The film was a heavy favorite, entering the night with nine nominations, including the coveted Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor.KPop Demon Hunters: Netflix’s most-watched movie ever, *KPop Demon Hunters*, secured Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, proving that the streamer’s investment in global pop culture phenomena pays off on the awards stage.The Streaming Giant's Growing Influence on Award SeasonNetflix’s success tonight reinforces the reality that streaming companies are now integral to Hollywood’s award season ecosystem. The wins for *Frankenstein* and *KPop Demon Hunters* add to a growing list of streaming titles recognized by the Academy, following in the footsteps of Roma, The Power of the Dog, and All Quiet on the Western Front. This trend suggests that the barrier to entry for critical acclaim is lowering, even if the path to commercial dominance remains competitive.The Elusive Best Picture Prize for StreamersDespite the technical triumphs, the industry is still waiting for a streaming service to capture the Best Picture award. Host Conan O’Brien humorously acknowledged Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ presence, noting, “This is exciting: It’s his first time in a theater!” While *Frankenstein* was a top contender, the top prize ultimately went to *One Battle After Another*. This distinction marks Apple’s *CODA* (released during the pandemic) as the only streaming film to date to win Best Picture.The Future of Award-Winning Content in the Streaming EraThe 2026 Oscars indicate that while Netflix and Apple are winning technical and creative awards, the Best Picture title remains a rarefied air reserved for traditional studio powerhouses. However, with the volume of high-budget content increasing, the gap is likely to narrow. We can expect more streaming films to dominate the technical categories, but the Best Picture race will likely remain a battleground where theatrical exclusivity still holds significant sway.

Researchers at Cortical Labs in Melbourne have created a 'biological computer' using living human tissue, which can play the 1993 shooter game Doom. The team used 10ml of blood from CEO Hon Weng Chong to harvest 100 white blood cells, which were then reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These cells were used to create a dish of 200,000 neurons that can interface with a computer system.The brain cells were taught to play Doom by encoding game state information, passing it through a neural network, and converting it into signals the neurons can understand. The neurons then fire an output, which the system decodes and converts back into actions in the game. This process is similar to how humans operate, with information going into the retina, being converted into electrical signals, processed in the brain, and resulting in an output.While the achievement has sparked concerns about sentience and consciousness, Chong believes the brain cells are not conscious, stating, 'At first it didn’t know how to move, aim or shoot. Then it would shoot two enemies and stop. So it’s definitely learning.' The next step could be integrating this technology with Neuralink, a brain-machine interface developed by Elon Musk.The application of biological computing lies not in gaming, but in medicine, such as disease modeling for conditions like epilepsy. This technology could allow for personalized drug testing and tailored treatments. Meanwhile, Eon Systems in San Francisco has created a virtual insect brain that can behave like a real fly, challenging the assumption that intelligence must be acquired.Biological systems like these could eventually power robots, drones, and other machines that need to navigate complex environments. As Chong notes, 'Abstract reasoning, mathematics and language are relatively recent in evolutionary terms... but motor control and probabilistic decision-making are things we’ve inherited through millions of years of evolution.' While we're far from uploading human consciousness into the internet, this technology marks a significant step in the development of biological computing.

The USAID agency was a primary financial backer of Liberia's eco-guards, who help protect species from poaching and trafficking. The eco-guards, all of whom live in forest communities, patrol for signs of illegal activity and share their findings with rangers from nearby parks and forests.In late January 2025, the SCNL learned that USAID, the eco-guards' primary financial backer, was being dismantled by the Trump administration and that funding had been abruptly suspended. The SCNL programme manager, Michael E Taire, a Liberian who lives in the capital, Monrovia, spent several days travelling over rough forest roads to break the news to the eco-guards, who were shocked and distraught.Conservation organisations large and small lost tens of millions of dollars, forcing some to function with a fraction of the resources they had expected and others to shut down programmes entirely. Efforts to address the root causes of wildlife trafficking across the globe were axed, as was USAID's forest-protection programme in the Congo basin of central Africa, one of the agency's largest and most enduring endeavours.David Kaimowitz, a longtime advocate of community-led conservation in the Amazon basin and Central America, puts it bluntly: 'We’re talking about an end to a whole era of conservation.'Diane Russell, an American anthropologist who has worked for USAID in the Congo basin since the 1980s, says the agency helped draw international attention and funding to the region’s remarkably rich remaining forests, which are home to mountain gorillas and forest elephants. It also enabled conservation to continue through extraordinarily difficult conditions.'The callous glee with which [the Trump] administration choked off aid is something I will never forgive or forget,' Kevin Starr writes.'We cannot replace USAID, but we can do big things, because we, the locals, were the engine behind what USAID was doing in this region,' Dida Fayo says.