- World Report 2024: Angola (hrw.org)
Angolan state security forces were implicated in serious human rights abuses, including more than a dozen extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, and arbitrary detentions. Authorities continued to forcibly evict people and conduct demolitions without the necessary procedural guarantees or the provision of alternative adequate housing or adequate compensation for those evicted. The press was under attack on several occasions throughout the year, as authorities continued to use draconian media laws to repress and harass journalists. Freedom of association was under pressure as the government tried to pass a new nongovernmental organization (NGO) law limiting the activities of civil society groups. Women and girls, particularly street traders and migrants, continued to suffer abuses by security forces. In August, Angola assumed the one-year rotating presidency of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional body.
- First report on quality and purity evaluations of avocado oil sold in the US (sciencedirect.com)
The demand for avocado oil has increased significantly as consumers resonate with its potential health benefits, however, due to the lack of enforceable standards, consumers are unprotected from fraud (i.e., economic motivated adulteration). This study analyzed avocado oils currently on the market in the US to evaluate their quality (e.g., free fatty acidity, peroxide value, UV absorbances, vitamin E) and purity (e.g., fatty acids, sterols, triacylglycerols). Our results showed that the majority of commercial samples were oxidized before reaching the expiration date listed on the bottle. In addition, adulteration with soybean oil at levels near 100% was confirmed in two “extra virgin” and one “refined” sample. These findings demonstrate there is an urgent need to develop standards for avocado oil not only to ensure the consumers receive high quality and authentic products but to establish a level playing field to support the continuing growth of global avocado oil industry.
- Angola - The World Factbook (cia.gov)
Bantu-speaking people settled in the area now called Angola in 6th century A.D.; by the 10th century various Bantu groups had established kingdoms, of which Kongo became the most powerful. From the late-14th to the mid-19th century, a Kingdom of Kongo stretched across central Africa from present-day northern Angola into the current Congo republics.
- Angola (Wikipedia)
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda.
