Dr Obadele Bakari Kambon.
Historian/Linguist
Honorary Award

The G20 nations, made up of the world's biggest economies, struck an historic agreement on restructuring debt for some of the world’s poorest nations.It goes beyond the current deal to freeze debt repayments until June of next year.It is significant because it includes China, which has been reluctant to sign up to any deal that would cancel or restructure debts.

Despite the deal, Zambia has defaulted on its debt.Plus: Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. We explain why central banks are thinking about introducing negative interest rates.And, Brazil drops out of the ranking of the top 10 economies.

One month ago, BBC Africa Eye released an investigation into child trafficking that sent shockwaves throughout Kenya. Many of the children featured in the film were stolen. But others were willingly sold by their own mothers, often for tiny sums. This is the story of one mother and her baby, trapped between poverty and the child traffickers.

Twenty years after the liberation from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Africa's youngest nation, has emerged as strategically vital to the stability of the region and the wider global agenda. Eritrea is struggling to balance the needs of its people with the perceived threats to the nation.Al Jazeera's Jane Dutton conducts a rare interview with Isaisas Afewerki, the president of Eritrea.Al Jazeera confronted him with the allegations about Eritrea's ties with Iran, Hamas, al Shabab in Somalia and rebel groups in Sudan and Houthis in Yemen."This is a deliberate distortion of facts, where is the evidence, these are fabrications, where is your evidence?", he said."How possibly could one blame Eritrea for sympathising or supporting one group over another in Somalia we have never done that." he said. When asked about Eritrea's relation with Ethiopia today and the border dispute he said: "This border issue war was a senseless conflict instigated by the US."It is a cover up for the failures of the misguided policies of the United States in the horn of Africa for the last 20 years."It is not a problem with Ethiopia we have worked with these people for almost two decades to remove a government in Ethiopia, and we want to see a relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia based on mutual respect and common interest," he said."There is no presence for Iran in this region, Eritrea is not for sale, not for Iran, Israel, the United States or anybody," he said.

Do the best you can...take care of yourself!

Morning Meditation

Blacknotes Libation: In Praise of Oshun