what happened last week

Women's football got a huuuge push in Africa in 2022

The African Women's Champions League, a club tournament that is only two years old, did not offer any prize money in 2021. However, in a major development and huge surprise, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) back in October announced that it will provide prize money for the 2022 tournament. (CAF Online)

How much money are we talking about?
The winning team will receive $400,000, the runner-up will receive $250,000, and the third-placed team will receive $200,000. This is big money, even compared to the prize money offered in the European Women's Champions League, which was US$230,000 or £200,000 for 2022.

Who won in 2022?
Morocco (and Africa) did not only score big in the men's football World Cup 2022 by becoming the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final. The female Moroccan team AS FAR also emerged as the winners of the African Women's Champions League, beating Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa (who were the defending champions).

Why this matters: The introduction of prize money shows Caf's commitment to promoting women's football in Africa, and it is likely to encourage more women to participate in the sport across the continent. This increased interest will also attract media attention, further raising the profile of women's football in Africa.

We discovered a lot of new species of animals and trees around the world

Biologists have made a number of exciting discoveries about unfamiliar species this year, from a millipede named after Taylor Swift (Nannaria swiftae in the United States) and a tree named after Leonardo DiCaprio (read more below) to a bamboo-dwelling tarantula (Taksinus bambus in Thailand) and a leafhopper with a metallic sheen (Phlogis kibalensis in Uganda). 

Why this matters: Over the past 250 years, biologists have found and described around 1.2 million different plant and animal species. However, there are likely many more species that have not been discovered yet. Some estimates say that about 86% of the planet's plants and animals have not been formally classified, including about 91% of species that live in the ocean. (PLOS Biology)

So, wait... We found entirely new species?!
Yes and no. Sometimes, scientists found completely new species that have never been studied before. Other times, they looked more closely at a species and its subspecies and decided that they should be considered separate species. Here's a more extensive list of the species found this year but I curated my favorite ones for you:

• Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, an extremely beautiful rainbow reef fish (look), was actually found in the 1990s, they usually hang around off the coast of the Maldives. Back then, scientists believed it to belong to an already acknowledged species. This March though, other scientists were like, 'hold on... It's a completely separate species!!' (ZooKeys)
   
• Synapturanus danta, a small frog with a big nose, was found in the Amazon rainforest back in February because it is so loud (listen). It looks like the Amazonian tapir, a species of the rhinocero family that has a fleshy trunk, but it is its very own species. (Rainforest Alliance) The researchers think that these hard-to-find frogs are a good sign for the health of the area and show that there is a lot of hidden biodiversity in the region. (Evolutionary Systematics)
   
• Lamarckdromia beagle, a veeeeery furry, fluffy sponge crab (look), was found in Australia. It lives in shallow water or areas with a lot of sea sponges. They collect, clip, and wear sea sponges and other creatures on their shells to blend in and avoid being seen by predators. This new crab is covered in soft fur, which may help protect it from predators by making it harder to see. (Council of Australasian Museum Directors)
   
• Otus bikegila is a new species of owl that is only found on a small island called Príncipe, part of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe in Central Africa. The owl was found because of its unique call (a short "tuu" repeated at a fast rate when the night has fallen) and lives in the island's native forests. There are about 1,000 to 1,500 of these owls, but because they are only found in this small area, the researchers who discovered them suggested that the species should be classified as "critically endangered." (ZooKeys, The Conversation)
   
• Uvariopsis dicaprio, a new species of a tropical tree that scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in Cameroon. It is four meters tall and has big, shiny yellow-green flowers on its trunk (look). The tree was found in the Ebo Forest, which is one of the largest rainforests in Cameroon and is home to many different species. The forest is also the ancestral home of several local communities. The new tree species was named after the actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who helped to protect the forest. The species might have been lost if a logging concession had gone ahead, which would have caused the forest to be cut down and burned for agriculture. (Discover Wildlife)
  • Fun fact: Naming new species after humans isn't new. Did you know that there are over 40 species named after Sir David Attenborough? (Discover Wildlife)

A lot of exciting new books by authors from Asia, Africa and Latin America are out this/next year

I'm Team "New Year's resolutions are not lame". In 2023, I want to read a lot (if not only) literature with a focus on perspectives from the so-called Global South (really dislike this term; do you have an alternative?), and here's what's on my list: 

• Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein. Kevin Jared Hosein’s Hungry Ghosts is a novel about heavy topics (my usual go-to): violence, religion and class, as well as the lasting effects of past trauma on future generations. Set in 1940s Trinidad and during colonial rule, the story follows two families who are divided by their wealth and social status but are brought together by a mysterious disappearance. It's not out yet but soon. 
   
• Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future by Mya-Rose Craig. Out on March 28. Craig is a British-Bangladeshi environmental activist and this is her memoir/travelog. Oh, and she's 20 years old, super dedicated to saving the planet and completely obsessed with birdwatching. Read this if you want need reassurance that our future is in good hands.

• gal-dem's Ayesha Safia Chaudhry wrote a little forecast, "11 unmissable books by authors of color coming in 2023" (I found out about Hungry Ghosts from her!)

• Africa Is Not A Country by Dipo Faloyin and How To Write About Africa by Binyavanga Wainaina. Both books are much-needed reality-based (and witty) portraits of modern Africa, treating the continent with the respect it deserves and breaking many of the (Western) stereotypes that exists in a lot of reporting on Africa.
   
• Dead Girls by Selva Almada chronicles the lives and deaths of three young women who were brutally murdered in 1980s Argentina: 19-year old Andrea Danne, stabbed in her own bed; 15-year old María Luisa Quevedo, raped, strangled, and dumped in wasteland; and 20-year old Sarita Mundín, whose disfigured body was found on a river bank.
   
• Plus, I'm taking some inspiration from The New Yorker's "The Best Books of 2022" selection. How I know it's a good list? Iranian writer Solmaz Sharif's poetry collection Customs is on it.
   
• Unfortunately, a lot of books that I want to read have still not been translated to any of the languages I have learnt. For example, if only I knew Kiswahili, I'd order Biubwa Amour Zahor: Mwanamke Mwanamapinduzi by Zuhura Yunus ASAP to educate myself further on feminism from Tanzania. So, if you know Kiswahili, you're in luck.

Good news from 2022 you might have missed 

Music video of the week

On a funny note