New York, USA, 13 March 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Violence against women and girls in Africa demands urgent action. As of 2023, it is estimated that one in three women and girls between ages 15 and 49, have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Last November, South Africa classified violence against women as a a national disaster.
When the African Union adopted its Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in early 2025, UN Women and several governments celebrated it as progress. But across the continent, women’s rights organizations are warning against premature optimism and calling for the treaty to be strengthened.
Indeed, the African Union needs to increase compliance with the existing legal framework, and strengthen the latest one, if it is to lead to tangible improvements for women and girls.
Africa already had one of the world’s most progressive regional frameworks addressing this crisis: the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, commonly known as the Maputo Protocol, adopted in 2003 (effective 2005). Maputo guarantees comprehensive protections; from generally obligating states to enact and enforce laws to prohibit all forms of violence against women to taking appropriate measures to prevent and eliminate such violence.
However, there have been significant setbacks to enforcing it, such as slow passage of national laws and enforcement, and reservations by some countries on key provisions—reproductive health and safe abortion, equality in marriage. The new convention will face similar obstacles if the AU doesn’t address the warnings that it may be used to water down protections already guaranteed under Maputo, burden governments with duplicate reporting requirements, and create confusion around enforcement because of the competing legal frameworks.
The AU Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls includes some provisions that add to the Maputo Protocol: explicit protections against cyberviolence and femicide, stronger workplace harassment provisions, and attention to marginalized groups like women with disabilities and refugees. These are important provisions that align with international treaties including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention (C190) on violence in the world of work.
However, the convention, with its narrower operational focus, doesn’t explicitly incorporate the comprehensive rights framework for preventing violence such as Maputo’s provisions for sexual and reproductive health rights, including access to safe abortion (article 14), and on equality in marriage, divorce, and inheritance (articles 6 and 7), and safeguards against child, early, and forced marriages.
Any regional framework that addresses violence without confronting the underlying inequality risks treating symptoms rather than root causes. At a minimum, the African Union should ensure that the Convention on Ending Violence is read together with the full scope of Maputo’s obligations to complement and enhance them and not to diminish them.
The document is riddled with vague language, such as “positive masculinity” and “African values and norms,” that could risk loopholes for enforceable rights, by arguing for cultural discretion.
We’ve already seen this play out with Cameroon’s and Uganda’s reservations to the Maputo Protocol, contending that some provisions are inconsistent with African ethical and moral values or principles, though Maputo also recognizes “the crucial role of women in the preservation of African values based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy.” Without clear definitions, the new convention could be used to open the door wider.
The new convention relies on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to monitor its implementation—as it already does with the Maputo Protocol—rather than creating a new treaty body. The commission already faces significant challenges, primarily due to severe resource constraints and a heavy existing workload. For it to act as a monitoring body for the convention, and to prevent weakening the existing legal framework, the AU needs to provide clear guidance on the relationship between the two instruments and overlapping obligations, and standards to avoid complications in reporting and an increased strain on an enforcement system that already lacks adequate resources.
At the same time calls to “pause ratification” also require caution. In AU practice, prolonged ratification pauses have often led to political stagnation rather than substantive reform, allowing states to evade both existing and new obligations. Moreover, a pause without a clear AU-mandated review process risks creating uncertainty and fragmented obligations across governments, with some proceeding with ratification and others not, running counter to AU norms of requiring all countries to meet the same standards.
Once the AU has adopted a treaty, it has not traditionally suspended or paused ratification, even when important gaps existed, but instead it has favored progressive development that complements existing requirements.
Consistent with its treaty-making norms, as happened with the Malabo Protocol amending the African Court Statute, a mechanism to close the gaps could take the form of an amendment or interpretive protocol that clarifies the relationship between Maputo and the new convention and reinforces existing obligations, while avoiding creating parallel regimes, or interpretations that lower established standards.
The path to ending violence against women and girls in Africa requires first getting states to ratify the Maputo Protocol without reservations and to push for governments that have reservations to withdraw them. It means the AU should increase funding for robust implementation and monitoring mechanisms, including more resources allocated to the Commission to match the expansion of its mandates.
In the meantime, the AU should commit to addressing gaps in its new Convention on Ending Violence through inclusive consultations with civil society. Meaningful participation is not a courtesy; it is a foundational principle of the African Charter. A convention of this nature without robust consultation risks undermining its own legitimacy. We cannot afford to continue wasting time.
HBO Max just added some fantastic new additions to its movie library in February, and Watch With Us is excited to dig into them this weekend.
It was hard to pick only three favorites from the expansive list. From iconic comedies to beloved romance dramas and Old Hollywood classics, there’s a lot of great stuff to choose from.
Thankfully, we narrowed it down. Our first choice is Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola‘s ravishing biographical drama starring Kirsten Dunstas the eponymous French royal.
Fourteen-year-old Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette (Dunst) marries the Dauphin of France, the future King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), to ally with the two rival countries. Marie Antoinette thus follows Antoinette throughout her formative years, leading up to her ascension as the queen consort following the death of King Louis XV (Rip Torn) and the French Revolution. But at thePalace of Versailles, Antoinette is insistent on defying conventions and living a life of hedonistic pleasures, all while her marriage remains unconsummated, the people of France struggle and her public image deteriorates.
Marie Antoinette polarized critics upon release, some of whom felt that the depiction of Antoinette’s life as more like a pop video than a crucial piece of history diminished its significance. However, savvy viewers understood that it was meant to feel hyperactively unreal, that this lent itself to eventual cathartic reality and, of course, infamous tragedy. Sofia Coppola’s film is also, at its core, another of the director’s films about female isolation and loneliness. In the end, the film is more clever than you might think; at the very least, that soundtrack is outstanding.
‘The Shape of Water’ (2017)
In a covert government facility in 1960s Baltimore, mute, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) works as a cleaning lady, whose only friends are her coworker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) and her closeted neighbor, Giles (Richard Jenkins). But Elisa finds unexpected companionship in the form of a new arrival at her workplace — a strange, humanoid amphibious creature (Doug Jones) from South America who is mostly bound to a water tank. Through their wordless communications, Elisa and the creature form a strong bond, but her new friend is being sought out for recapture by a ruthless colonel (Michael Shannon).
Guillermo del Toro‘s Best Picture-winning fantasy drama is an unconventional love story for the ages. Combining distinctive visuals with an emotional narrative and a fantastic ensemble cast, The Shape of Water sees the director firing on all cylinders. Of course, the real stars of the show are Hawkins and Jones, who manage a genuinely moving and even erotic relationship despite the intermingling of species and lack of language. But as The Shape of Water affectingly proves, love is something beyond language.
‘Malcolm X’ (1992)
Spike Lee‘s epic biographical drama charts the life of the controversial black activist Malcolm X, played by Denzel Washington in a career-best performance. The film sees Malcolm from childhood through his rise to power as a leading figure in the struggle for black liberation, touching on a number of key periods in Malcolm’s life. After hitting bottom in prison during the 1950s, Malcolm reemerges as a Black Muslim and a significant figure in the Nation of Islam. Though his career was tragically cut short after his assassination at Washington Heights’ Audubon Ballroom in 1965, he left behind a groundbreaking legacy.
With a runtime clocking at more than 200 minutes, MalcolmX may seem like a daunting experience to sit through. In reality, it is directed with such verve and tenacity that the runtime is finished before you know it. Lee gives the film an epic feel truly worth of its subject, and Washington portrays the man himself with both power and vulnerability — which ultimately landed him a nomination for Best Actor at the 65th Academy Awards. Ultimately, Malcolm X is a dramathat is both artistically rewarding and loyal to its subject.
According to Rachael Bennett, who is a senior lawyer at Sullivan Law & Associates, newly released court documents may undermine some of the Gossip Girl alum’s arguments.
“Her case is fairly complex in that there are multiple claims being made. We obviously have the sexual harassment component of the case, and then we also have this accusation that Justin Baldoni engaged in a smear campaign intended to really wipe out her reputation,” Bennett — who is not affiliated with the case — exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, January 22. “I know everybody’s looking at these text messages. I know I’ve started looking at them, but there are thousands of pages.”
When looking at the text messages between Lively, 38, and Swift, 36, specifically, Bennett claims that “there could be an argument that some of the conversations undermined her claims that there was a hostile work environment or that there was some kind of imbalance of power, based on the way that they were speaking about him.”
At the same time, Bennett acknowledged that if somebody really harms you, it’s not out of the ordinary to “go off and say a couple of crappy things about them.”
“It doesn’t necessarily change what had happened in the past, and we may see that argument come out in the future,” Bennett claimed, “especially as this trial begins to unfold here soon.”
Lively and Baldoni worked together on the 2024 film It Ends With Us, which was based on Colleen Hoover’s book of the same name.
In December 2024, Lively sued Baldoni and accused her costar and director of sexual harassment and orchestrating an alleged smear campaign against her.
Baldoni has vehemently denied the allegations and subsequently countersued Lively. His lawsuit, however, was dismissed by a judge in June 2025.
As Baldoni and Lively’s lawyers gear up for a May 2026 trial, private text exchanges between the actress and other Hollywood stars were released by Team Lively in response to Team Baldoni’s “motion for summary judgment.”
When asked if Baldoni or Lively has an edge in the case at this point in time, Bennett said, “It’s hard to tell.”
“I do think any time the court unseals records, there’s a reason why somebody wanted them sealed in the first place,” she shared. “Obviously, I think Blake Lively has every interest in trying to protect the privacy and the social ramifications for all of her famous friends that were pulled into this.”
Blake Lively and Justin BaldoniGetty Images (2)
“We’re talking about impact on somebody for alleging sexual harassment or hostile work environment,” Bennett continued. “The impact to her and her frame of mind and how she was speaking about it is really relevant here. I haven’t seen anything.”
Although a New York judge has advised Lively and Baldoni to settle outside of court before a trial begins, both sides appear ready to plead their case in front of a jury.
When marking one year of the legal fight in December 2025, Lively and Baldoni’s legal teams shared a glimpse into their mindset.
“One year ago, Blake Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department to continue to stand up for a safe workplace after the experiences she and others had on the film It Ends With Us,” Lively’s lawyers Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said in a statement to Us. “Over the past year, Blake has persevered against a billionaire-financed effort to try to ‘bury’ her, her family and businesses through retaliatory lawsuits and a relentless media and digital campaign. With their retaliatory lawsuits dismissed and only her claims set for trial in May, Ms. Lively is more determined than ever to shine a light on the forces that work behind the scenes to silence and discredit women who dare speak up.”
As for Baldoni’s legal team, they shared a message of gratitude for those who hope “truth” will win.
“My clients are deeply grateful for the support and kind words they’ve received over the past year,” Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement to Us. “We trust that the truth will ultimately prevail, and the care that so many have shown has been a meaningful source of strength during an incredibly challenging time.”
By Zwelethu Bashman, Managing Director, MSD South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, Marloes Kibacha, Managing Director, Africa Health Business, Cheyenne Braganza, Senior Project Associate, Africa Health Business
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 22 January 2026 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/ –
Introduction Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women globally, despite being almost entirely preventable. In Africa, it continues to claim lives not because science has failed, but because policy ambition has fallen short. Over 200 strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) exist, with 12 high-risk types responsible for most HPV-related cancers. [1] Although HPV vaccines can prevent almost 90% of cervical cancer, most women remain unvaccinated, leaving cervical cancer among the top killers of women worldwide, with more than 94% of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. [2] At current rates of vaccination and coverage, hundreds of thousands of African women will die from a cancer that could have been prevented with vaccines already available.
Cervical cancer hits the hardest where vulnerability is greatest. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies sub-Saharan Africa as the region with the highest prevalence of cervical HPV, affecting nearly one in four women. [3] Women living with HIV face an even steeper risk, as weakened immune systems make them more susceptible to persistent HPV infection and four to five times more likely to develop invasive cervical cancer. [4] Without urgent action, these inequities will continue to drive preventable deaths across the continent. Recently, Gavi’s inclusion of higher-valency HPV vaccines is an important development in the global HPV prevention landscape and a relevant consideration for countries across sub-Saharan Africa as they continue to strengthen cervical cancer prevention efforts.
Vaccinating Girls First: Africa’s Critical Foundation In 2018, the WHO launched a global call to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat, built on three pillars: vaccination, screening, and timely treatment. Central to this strategy is fully vaccinating 90% of girls by age 15. [5] This focus on adolescent girls is a critical foundation, and African countries have made meaningful progress in recent years.
Rwanda offers a powerful example. In 2011, it became the first African country to introduce a national HPV vaccination program targeting adolescent girls through a robust school-based platform. Today, Rwanda has achieved over 90% coverage among eligible girls, one of the highest rates globally. [6] This success reflects strong political leadership, community trust, and effective delivery systems. But even Rwanda’s success highlights a fundamental limitation. High coverage among adolescent girls alone does not protect older women, boys, or men, nor does it fully interrupt HPV transmission within the broader population. A girls-only strategy, while necessary, is insufficient for elimination.
HPV Is Not a Women-Only Virus HPV continues to be framed primarily as a women’s health issue because of its link to cervical cancer. This framing is both incomplete and counterproductive. Men are not only carriers of HPV, they are also affected by HPV-related disease. Globally, one in three men is infected with at least one HPV strain, often after age 15. [7] In sub-Saharan Africa, HPV prevalence among men remains high, sustaining community-level transmission. [8]
HPV also causes anal, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers, conditions that disproportionately affect men and are increasing globally. [8, 9] Excluding boys and men from vaccination strategies perpetuates transmission to women and leaves men unprotected from largely preventable cancers.
Why Gender-Neutral Vaccination Matters for Elimination If Africa is serious about elimination, vaccination strategies must reflect how HPV actually spreads. Expanding vaccination to boys and men is not only a matter of equity, it is an epidemiological necessity. Gender-neutral vaccination accelerates herd immunity, reduces circulation of high-risk HPV types, and offers critical protection for high-risk populations, including people living with HIV. [10]
Yet progress remains uneven. Only 29 of 54 African countries have implemented national HPV vaccination programs, and nearly all focus exclusively on girls aged 9 to 14. [11]This is an important starting point, but it will not break the cycle of transmission. Elimination demands moving beyond a single cohort and a single gender.
The Forgotten Cohort: Women Who Aged Out While adolescent girls remain the priority, millions of women across Africa missed HPV vaccination entirely. Many aged out before programs were introduced, while others were missed due to COVID 19 disruptions. [12] These women, now in their 20s and 30s, represent the largest group at near term risk and will drive cervical cancer incidence over the next decade if left unprotected. [13]
In addition, women living with HIV (WLHIV) require tailored protection. Sub-Saharan Africa carries the world’s highest prevalence of HIV among women. [14] WLHIV experience higher rates of persistent HPV infection, faster quicker disease progression, increased recurrence, and poorer outcomes. Modelling shows that vaccinating WLHIV aged 10–45 could reduce new cervical cancer cases by 4.7% overall and by 10% among WLHIV. [15]
The evidence is clear. Sexually active women over 15 still benefit from HPV vaccination, as they may not have been exposed to all high-risk HPV types. [16, 17] Catch-up vaccination, particularly when combined with screening, can substantially reduce future cancer incidence. Integrating HPV vaccination into HIV care, university health services, and workplace health programs offers practical, scalable pathways to reach this cohort. [18]
The socioeconomic case is clear. Women contribute an estimated 35–45% of GDP across the region. Preventing cervical cancer protects households, sustains productivity, and reduces catastrophic health expenditure. [19] Yet across the continent, adult women remain largely invisible in HPV prevention policies. This gap is not scientific. It is political.
Leadership, Systems, and Smarter Policy Choices African governments are central to closing the HPV protection gap. While the number of countries delivering HPV vaccines has tripled since 2019 and coverage has doubled, the regional average remains just 52%, far below the 90% target. [20] Sustainable progress requires integrating HPV vaccines into routine immunization schedules, securing predictable domestic financing, and strengthening supply chains.
Kenya’s recent decision to introduce a single-dose HPV vaccine for girls shows how policy can adapt to improve efficiency and access. However, simplification alone will not address missed cohorts or limited population-level protection. Other countries in the region are also adapting policy to expand reach, with Botswana integrating higher-valency HPV vaccines within national prevention planning aligned with HIV care, and Eswatini expanding HPV vaccination in 2024 to include adolescent girls and young women living with HIV. [21, 22]
Adult vaccination pathways should be integrated into reproductive health services, alongside catch-up vaccination for older adolescents and women. Efforts should target cohorts missed by school-based programmes, including out-of-school girls and WLHIV – using multi-channel delivery platforms such as clinics, HIV programmes, mobile outreach, and innovative community-based models. [23]
As science evolves, policy must keep pace. Transitioning to nonavalent vaccines offers broader protection against high-risk HPV types and greater long-term impact in high-burden settings. [24] Procurement decisions should be driven by epidemiology, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability, not short-term constraints.
The Role of Partnerships and Innovation Industry, alongside governments and civil society, has a role to play in supporting national cervical cancer elimination goals.
Between 2021 and 2025, MSD supplied over 115 million HPV vaccine doses to low- and middle income countries, supported by a US$2 billion investment in manufacturing capacity. MSD has also reaffirmed its commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to support sustainable HPV vaccine supply and equitable access across Sub-Saharan Africa.
These efforts support broader vaccination strategies, including protection of older cohorts and women living with HIV, and enable country transitions to higher-valency HPV vaccines – an important step toward averting millions of future cancer cases and deaths.
The Choice Africa Must Make Africa cannot eliminate cervical cancer and all other HPV-related diseases by protecting adolescent girls alone. HPV does not respect age, gender, or delivery platforms, and elimination requires population-level protection. This means vaccinating girls, protecting boys, catching up women who were left behind, and building resilient systems that sustain coverage over time.
The tools exist. The evidence is overwhelming. What remains is the choice. If governments and partners act decisively now by expanding HPV vaccination beyond adolescent girls and investing in durable prevention systems, cervical cancer can become a disease of the past. Elimination is not a question of feasibility. It is a question of ambition, and the time to choose is now.
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[2] “World Health Organization,” 5 March 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact sheets/detail/human-papilloma-virus-and cancer#:~:text=The highest prevalence of cervical,variable based on sexual trends .. [Accessed 11 November 2025].
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[4] S. M. T. N. B. R. Liu G, “HIV-positive women have higher risk of human papilloma virus infection, precancerous lesions, and cervical cancer.,” AIDS, October 2018.
[5] K. M. K. S. Wilailak S, “Strategic approaches for global cervical cancer elimination: An update review and call for national action.,” Int J Gynaecol Obstet., 2025. [Online].
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[8] T. B. M. C. C. J. A. K. K. &. K. S. K. Olesen, “Human papillomavirus prevalence among men in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.,” Sexually transmitted infections, 2014.
[9] P. JM., “Human papillomavirus-related disease in men: not just a women’s issue.,” J Adolesc Health, 2010.
[10] G. J. Scheepers VC, “Expanding the case for gender-neutral human papillomavirus vaccination in South Africa: Emerging neonatal and ethical considerations.,” Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med., 2025.
[11] E. I. Eric Asempah, “Accelerating HPV vaccination in Africa for health equity,” PubMed Central- National Library of Medicine, no. PMID: 39294815, 2024.
[12] I. L. C. M. Sad SA, “Revisiting HPV vaccination post-COVID: geopolitical, sociocultural, and ethical disparities in global health,” Int J Equity Health., 2025.
[13] S. P. Castanon A, “Is the recent increase in cervical cancer in women aged 20-24years in England a cause for concern?,” Prev Med., 2018.
[15] W. J. e. al., “Modelling the Impact of HPV Vaccination among Women Living with HIV.,” Lancet Global Health.
[16] X. M. N. P. P. F. D. M. J. A. K. L. J. M. E. M. S. B. O. M. B. J. V. S. H. R. M. &. S. A. Castellsagué, “End-of-study safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of quadrivalent HPV (types 6, 11, 16, 18) recombinant vaccine in adult women 24- 45 years of age.,” British journal of cancer, 2011.
[17] “Human papillomavirus vaccination for adult women,” Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet, 2022.
[18] S. N. e. B. E. A.-D. Kimeshnee Govindsamy, “Effectiveness of integrating cervical cancer prevention strategies into HIV care programmes: A mixed-methods systematic review protocol,” PLOS One, 2024.
[23] “Cervical Cancer Data Surveillance in Sub-Saharan Africa,” WHO & IARC, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://gco.iarc.fr/.
[24] V. V. C. H. e. a. Bobadilla ML, “Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection and Risk Behavior in Vaccinated and Non Vaccinated Paraguayan Young Women.,” Pathogens, 2024.
[25] T. G. e. al., “Implementing HPV Vaccination Services in People Living with HIV in Trinidad and Tobago: A Brief Report,” Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers, 2025.
[26] G. M. E. Al., “Human papilloma virus vaccination in the resource-limited settings of sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and recommendations,” Vaccine X, vol. 20, 2024.
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[31] e. a. Alison G Abraham, “Invasive cervical cancer risk among HIV-infected women: A North American multi-cohort collaboration prospective study,” PubMed Central- National Library of Medicine, no. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e31828177d7, 2014.
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[33] M. Goretti, “Vellum,” 24 October 2025. [Online]. Available: https://vellum.co.ke/kenya-switches-to-single-dose hpv-vaccine-to-boost uptake/#:~:text=Kenya has taken a major,local scientists and international expert s.. [Accessed November 2025].
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[36] H. S. S. G. S. G. Soumendu Patra, “HPV and Male Cancer: Pathogenesis, Prevention and Impact,” Journal of Medicine in Africa (JOMA), vol. 2, no. 1, 2025.
[37] I. Z. E. Al., “Cervical Cancer Prevention in Rural Areas,” Ann Glob Health, 2023.
[38] L. B. E. Al., “Global and regional estimates of genital human papillomavirus prevalence among men: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” Lancet Global Health, 2023.
Meghan Markleand Prince Harry’s chief publicist, Meredith Maines, is stepping down from her role after one year in the job.
Us Weekly can confirm that Maines will no longer work for the Sussexes in her role as .Chief Communications Officer (CCO), which she began in January. Maines worked in conjunction with US-based PR firm, Method Communications. The Sussexes have cut ties with the consultants after seven months.
“After a year of inspiring work with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Archewell, I will be pursuing a new opportunity in 2026,” Maines said in a statement to Us. I have the utmost gratitude and respect for the couple and the team, and the good work they are doing in the world.”
A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: “Meredith Maines and Method Communications have concluded their work with Archewell. The Duke and Duchess are grateful for their contributions and wish them well.”
Meanwhile, a source praised Maines’ skills, exclusively telling Us on Friday, December 26 that Maines is “best in class.”
“Anyone who has worked with Meredith knows she’s best in class — she’s no nonsense, highly strategic and has done it all. They’ve accomplished a ton over the past year and it’s time for what’s next,” the source said.
In May, Forbes reported that Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, added Method Communications to their communications team as they continued to grow their careers and community efforts.
“Chief Communications Officer Meredith Maines has retained the global firm Method Communications to bolster her team overseeing the growing business portfolio and philanthropic efforts of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” a spokesperson for the royals told the outlet at the time. “Method is an integrated PR and marketing agency specializing in high-growth tech and consumer brands. The Sussex team also recently welcomed Emily Robinson as Director of Communications. Method is serving as an extension of that team.”
“Ms. Robinson oversaw project-based work for a very successful season of With Love, Meghan and additional support for the production company,” a spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex told Us Weekly in a statement on October 24. “She did an excellent job and completed these projects with great success.”
Robinson joined Meghan and husband Prince Harry’s team in June after a previous stint doing publicity for Netflix. The Times of London and People reported that Robinson left on her own accord.
In June, there was another staff shakeup when it was reported by multiple outlets that four team members had parted ways with the Sussexes.
Meghan has been accused in the past of being difficult to work for.The Times of London reported in 2021 that the Suits alum had allegedly bullied and reduced staff members to tears at Kensington Palace. In August 2024, NewsNation claimed Meghan and Harry had lost 18 employees between their time in the U.K. and the U.S. (they launched Archewell Foundation in 2020), with a source blaming an “unbearable” and “condescending” Meghan for the “churn and burn” rate.
However, several former and current staff members denied these reports. Speaking to Us in September 2024, former head of content Ben Browning, who secured the couple’s Harry & Meghan documentary Netflix prior to his exit in 2023, described his experience working for the couple as “positive and supportive.”
He added, “We all continue to be friends. The narratives we’ve seen suggesting the contrary are untrue.”
“Tonight is our Christmas show, and we have a tradition,” Che, 42, began during their “Weekend Update” segment on Saturday, December 20. “Colin [and I] give each other jokes to read that neither of us have ever seen before.”
Jost, 43, however, revealed that he didn’t prepare any jokes this time around.
“That’s interesting because you specifically said that we were not doing it this year,” Jost said. “You know that I didn’t write any jokes for you.”
Che, with a laugh, told his coanchor to read aloud his newly crafted jokes instead — including one about Jost’s wife, 41-year-old Johansson.
“New research shows that millions of women leave the workplace due to menopause, which means there’s only a couple years left on my gravy train,” Jost said, stifling a laugh, as a pic of Johansson was shown on the screen. “My girl already be like, ‘Colin, I’m warm. Colin, I’m sweating.’ Bitch, you having a hot flash, but don’t worry about me. I’ve got a backup [because] they don’t call Wednesday ‘hump day’ for nothing.”
As another photo of Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega flashed on the screen, Jost subsequently buried his head in his hands.
“Wow, Colin, I wouldn’t have done that one,” Che quipped, referring to the insinuation that Jost could leave Johansson for Ortega, 23.
Jost succinctly replied, “Wednesday?!” and started coughing. Che quickly asked his pal whether he “was OK” before continuing on with the live broadcast.
Jost and Johansson have been together since 2017, getting married three years later in 2020. Since then, the Marvel actress has become consistent fodder for SNL jokes.
“I now rarely watch [SNL] without having a sense of … not overwhelming panic, just like a slight underwhelming panic because I just feel like at any moment something’s going to fall apart,” Johansson previously said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in July 2021. “And that’s the excitement of SNL and for all audiences, right? Because it’s absolutely live.”
She continued, “When you’re emotionally invested in it and not just entertained by it, it takes on a little bit of a different life.”
Johansson did watch Jost and Che’s 2024 joke swap live after appearing on the variety show in other sketches but wasn’t pleased her husband was forced to make a crude joke about her vagina.
“Costco has removed the roast beef sandwich from its menu,” Jost read aloud during the December 2024 holiday episode. “I’ve been eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid.”
Colin Jost and Michael Che during the Saturday, December 20, episode of ‘Saturday Night Live.’Will Heath/NBC
Johansson, who gave birth to the pair’s son in 2021, was taken aback by the joke. (Johansson also is the mother of daughter Rose from a previous relationship.)
“I was, obviously, surprised by everything, but they gave her a heads-up,” Jost said on a January episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “They were like, ‘Hey, would you be OK if Michael made a little, like, kind of vagina joke at some point?’”
According to Jost, Johansson was “open to” the mention.
“I didn’t know where it was going and then the graphic came up for Arby’s,” Jost recalled. “Scarlett is backstage, like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s what it is?’”
Che later issued a public apology to Johansson during a May episode of SNL.
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
Former Dancing With the Starshost Brooke Burke won’t be making a return to the ballroom for the show’s 20th birthday special after her 2014 exit.
Burke, 54, explained why she won’t be attending the highly anticipated event during the Tuesday, November 4, episode of Jennie Garth’s “I Choose Me” podcast.
“A redo is hard for me,” Burke told fellow former contestant Garth, 53. “I guess there’s some things that are worth a repeat in your life, but I feel like I wrung it out and I did everything I needed to do on that show.”
Burke added that despite the “amazing relationships” she formed during her time on DWTS as both a competitor and as cohost, she ultimately feels her time on the series is behind her. “It was one of the most watched shows on television. It would be hard to go back there with the same level of excitement and appreciation,” she said.
Garth, for her part, joked that she also “got an email” about the special — which airs November 11 — that she “purposely did not read.”
Burke and Garth were both paired with former pro Derek Hough — now a judge on the show — during their respective seasons. Garth landed in fourth place on season 5 in 2007, Hough’s first season, while Burke and Hough took home the mirrorball two seasons later. Burke later hosted the show with Tom Bergeron from seasons 10 through 17.
“I never say no, never closed doors professionally, but I mean, it was eight seasons, and I did everything I needed to do in the ballroom,” Burke continued, adding that she “had so much fun” on DWTS even though it was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my entire life.”
This isn’t the first time Burke has addressed her exit from DWTS. She opened up about being let go from the show during a 2024 episode of Getting Grilled With Curtis Stone, revealing that while she was “ready to do other things” at the time, it was “disappointing” to find out she wasn’t being asked back.
“But I think it’s shocking when there’s a change in our business, just to humanize it, to be honest, to be vulnerable,” she added. “I think it was really disappointing. I wasn’t expecting it.”
As for why she was “let go,” Burke said there were a “number of reasons on both sides.”
Burke detailed how she found out she wouldn’t be returning for season 18 on her Modern Mom blog shortly after the news broke in 2014.
“The only shocking thing about it, for me, was the way in which it all went down,” she wrote, claiming she found out “just weeks” before the premiere. “I would have appreciated a heads-up and the courtesy of communication, but we are not always privileged to get that in the workplace.”
She also shared how difficult it was to tell her kids, who didn’t understand the difference between being let go and being fired. (Burke shares kids Neriah, 24, Sierra, 22, Heaven, 18, and Shaya, 16, with exes Garth Fisher and David Charet.)
“My son shouted, ‘You got fired, Mommy?!’” she remembered son Shaya asking her. “I tried to explain the difference between being fired and being let go. Then he yelled, ‘You quit!’ I laughed at the fine line in it all. Then I did my very best to describe to my children the reality of change and the need to maneuver through it with grace.”
Burke is not the only DWTS cohost to be asked to exit the ballroom over the years. Audiences were shocked when original emcee Bergeron announced in July 2020 that he and then-cohost Erin Andrewswould not be returning for season 29.
“Just informed @DancingABC will be continuing without me,” Bergeron wrote via X at the time. “It’s been an incredible 15-year run and the most unexpected gift of my career. I’m grateful for that and for the lifelong friendships made. That said, now what am I supposed to do with all of these glitter masks?”
He later appeared on an October 2023 episode of Cheryl Burke’s “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans” podcast to discuss his exit, claiming his desire to keep politics out of the ballroom was partially to blame. (Bergeron was previously vocal about Sean Spicer’s casting on season 28.)
“I’m sure they’ll give you a different reason [as for why I was fired],” he added, noting that he would “never” return as host. “It’s not the same show. It’s not the same world. There’s no point. What would I prove? … Let the show either exist with the fresh blood that it has now or die a natural death.”
Dancing With the Stars’ 20th Birthday Special airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, November 11, at 8 p.m. ET. It will be available to stream next day on Hulu.
The new cast of Vanderpump Rules is determined to surpass their predecessors in the first look at season 12, which has everything from fights in SUR’s back alley to conversations about penis pumps.
“It is funny, I used to say SUR is where you take your mistress but now it is probably where you meet her,” she says. “I have always said that with my staff, give me anything but don’t give me boring.”
The sneak peek quickly dove into the drama when Demyana Selem tells producers she “works with idiots” as the scene shifts to servers fighting over whether a drink is “gay enough” for the menu. Another moment shows an employee complaining to Lisa that she “worked here for two years” but feels like her work family is telling her they “hate” her.
Despite the disagreements, Venus Binkley promises that the cast is “able to work, party, have sex.” There is even mention of a “penis pump” with Marcus Johnson saying, “Athletes stretch, I pump. We all have a routine.”
This wouldn’t be Vanderpump Rules if there weren’t arguments in SUR’s back alley, coworkers in tumultuous relationships and tears in the workplace.
“When it comes to bro code, you don’t do that,” says one new cast member before another scene had a girl firing back to a friend, “There was a boundary crossed with the way you were texting him.”
Lisa appears hopeful about the new group, saying in a confessional, “This is SUR, we are a family. They are not perfect but they are mine.”
According to the official synopsis, season 12 follows “the deep-rooted, dynamic group of friends, frenemies and lovers that have been working for Lisa Vanderpump at SUR for years are shaking things up — from pump-tinis to chaos. Despite new uniforms and a few fresh faces in the mix, the drama remains as messy and complicated as their iconic predecessors.”
The show, which returns Tuesday, December 2, comes after a shocking overhaul. The Vanderpump Rules franchise began as a spinoff of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which Lisa starred on from 2010 to 2019. Scheana Shay then helped launch Vanderpump Rules when she sat down with Brandi Glanville on an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2013 to discuss her affair with Eddie Cibrian.
After more than a decade, viewers were left divided on the future of the franchise courtesy of Tom Sandoval‘s secret romance with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss while in a relationship with Ariana Madix. The network eventually confirmed in November 2024 that Vanderpump Rules will be returning — but with an entirely new cast.
“The last 12 years of filming have been an extraordinary run full of laughter, tears and everything in between,” Lisa said in a statement at the time. “I can’t thank enough those who have shared their lives. How I love you all. In the restaurant business, one shift always gives way to another. Cheers to the next generation of Vanderpump Rules.”
Season 12 might be moving away from the past but the trailer did include a scene filmed at Ariana and Katie Maloney‘s Something About Her. Bravo is also releasing a Raise Your Glass to 11 Seasons look back at the most iconic moments and never-before-seen footage from the show before introducing the new crew.
The retrospective airs on Bravo Tuesday, November 25, at 9 p.m. ET. Season 12 of Vanderpump Rules premieres on Tuesday, December 2, at 9 p.m. ET.
AVA Hotel Nairobi, Tapestry Collection by Hilton becomes Aleph Hospitality’s fifth hotel under management in Kenya
DUBAI, 24 October 2025 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- Aleph Hospitality, the largest independent hospitality management company in the Middle East and Africa, has signed a management contract for the first Tapestry by Hilton branded hotel in Kenya with owner AVA Hotel Limited, further solidifying the company’s position as a leading hotel operator in Kenya and the region.
The milestone agreement underscores Aleph Hospitality’s commitment to East Africa, where the company has been strategically expanding its footprint in key cities and tourism hubs. With a growing portfolio and a reputation for operational excellence, Aleph Hospitality is uniquely positioned to meet the evolving demands of the region’s hospitality sector.
Ava Hotel Nairobi, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, has an authentic connection to its location in the heart of the upscale Lavington suburb, just minutes away from Nairobi’s city centre. Surrounded by leafy avenues, modern shopping malls, and gourmet restaurants, the hotel will feature 91 thoughtfully designed guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, a rooftop, swimming pool, fitness area, meeting rooms, and a business centre.
Bani Haddad, Founder and Managing Director of Aleph Hospitality, said: “We are honoured to have been entrusted with the management of AVA Hotel Nairobi, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, and proud to introduce Kenya’s first Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel. We have a close and collaborative relationship with Hilton, and our shared goal is to drive exceptional guest experiences, optimise operations, and create a healthy bottom-line for the owner.”
Carlos Khneisser, Chief Development Officer, Middle East & Africa, Hilton, said, “We are delighted to partner with AVA Hotel Limited to introduce our lifestyle Tapestry Collection by Hilton brand to Kenya. As we continue with our plans to nearly triple our presence in Africa to more than 160 trading hotels in the coming years, we remain focused on diversifying our portfolio to meet evolving guest needs. We look forward to welcoming guests at this exciting new property which will be managed by Aleph Hospitality.”
Tapestry Collection by Hilton is a global portfolio of independent hotels, each with its own original, vibrant personality. When it opens, Ava Hotel Nairobi, Tapestry Collection by Hilton will be part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest loyalty programme which gives members access to instant benefits, including earning Points on stays, exclusive member discounts, free standard Wi-Fi, Digital Check-in with room selection and Digital Key.
Bani Haddad, Founder and Managing Director of Aleph Hospitality, said: “We are honoured to have been entrusted with the management of AVA Hotel Nairobi, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, and proud to introduce Kenya’s first Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel. We have a close and collaborative relationship with Hilton, and our shared goal is to drive exceptional guest experiences, optimise operations, and create a healthy bottom-line for the owner.”
Carlos Khneisser, Chief Development Officer, Middle East & Africa, Hilton, said, “We are delighted to partner with AVA Hotel Limited to introduce our lifestyle Tapestry Collection by Hilton brand to Kenya. As we continue with our plans to nearly triple our presence in Africa to more than 160 trading hotels in the coming years, we remain focused on diversifying our portfolio to meet evolving guest needs. We look forward to welcoming guests at this exciting new property which will be managed by Aleph Hospitality.”
Tapestry Collection by Hilton is a global portfolio of independent hotels, each with its own original, vibrant personality. When it opens, Ava Hotel Nairobi, Tapestry Collection by Hilton will be part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest loyalty programme which gives members access to instant benefits, including earning Points on stays, exclusive member discounts, free standard Wi-Fi, Digital Check-in with room selection and Digital Key.
Headquartered in Dubai, with regional offices in Riyadh, Casablanca, Abidjan, Cape Town and Nairobi, Aleph Hospitality is the first and largest independent hotel management company in the Middle East and Africa. Aleph Hospitality manages over 50 hotels, representing 7,000+ rooms across 23 countries and 39 cities. Working for hotel owners, either with a franchise for branded properties or as a white label operator for independent hotels, Aleph Hospitality handles all aspects of hotel operations at any stage of development – from site and brand selection to technical assistance, pre-opening and day-to-day operations. Aleph Hospitality’s regional expertise has earned the trust of leading brands such as Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Accor, Best Western, Rotana, Wyndham and Onomo. Visit www.alephhospitality.com
About Hilton
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 24 world-class brands comprising more than 8,800 properties and nearly 1.3 million rooms, in 139 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed over 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, was named the No. 1 World’s Best Workplace by Great Place to Work and Fortune and has been recognized as a global leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. Hilton has introduced industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the more than 226 million Hilton Honors members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can’t buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit stories.hilton.com for more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
About Tapestry Collection by Hilton
Tapestry Collection by Hilton is a portfolio of more than 170 independent hotels each with an original, vibrant personality, encouraging guests to enjoy off-the-beaten-path experiences in destinations worth exploring. While each property has a unique story to share that comes to life through uplifting design and unique food & beverage, every Tapestry Collection property is united by the reliability that comes with the Hilton name, in addition to the benefits of the award-winning Hilton Honors program. Experience Tapestry Collection by Hilton by booking at tapestrycollectionbyhilton.com or through the industry-leading Hilton Honors app. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have access to instant benefits. Learn more about Tapestry Collection by Hilton at stories.hilton.com/tapestry, and follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram and X.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 15th May 2025-/African Media Agency(AMA)/- SAP today released a new report, ‘Africa’s AI Skills Readiness Revealed’, which provides research into how African companies are transforming their skills development efforts to meet the demands of the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Nazia Pillay, Interim Managing Director for South Africa at SAP, says: “The data is clear: African companies expect the demand for AI skills to increase this year, with six in ten saying AI skills are ‘extremely important’ to their success. The business impact of a lack of AI skills availability is already evident, with 90% of companies in our research citing negative impacts that include project delays, failed innovation initiatives, and an inability to take on new work.”
SAP’s latest report follows an earlier tech skills report released in 2023 which unveiled specific challenges and opportunities for African organisations seeking greater tech skills availability.
“Our first report was conducted just as we exited the worst of the pandemic impact. At the time, companies were facing several challenges with attracting, retaining and upskilling suitable qualified tech workers, especially in the wake of the rise of remote and hybrid work environments. This year, the business landscape has been transformed by the impact of AI technologies and the search for relevant skills.”
The research was conducted at the end of 2024 among both mid-size and enterprise-level companies in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
Universal need for AI skills
Every organisation that was surveyed as part of the research said they expect the demand for AI skills to increase in 2025. All companies also expected to experience some AI-related skills gap this year. “Skills related to AI are hugely in-demand among African organisations, with 85% saying AI development skills are a priority, and 83% prioritising Generative AI skills. To help close the AI skills gap, two-thirds of organisations are introducing career development initiatives with AI specialisation to upskill or reskill employees.”
Overall, the most in-demand tech skill among African organisations is cybersecurity. “Eighty-six percent of companies said cybersecurity skills were important to them, a significant increase over the 63% that said the same in our previous research. The growing importance of cybersecurity may be partly explained by the rapid growth of Africa’s digital economy and the millions of citizens that are being brought into the digital fold through public and private sector initiatives.”
Changing workplace expectations
There are far-reaching changes in the expectations of both employers and employees regarding skills and the workplace compared to a few years ago. “Eight in ten African organisations said supporting skilled employees’ requests for hybrid or remote work is their top skills-related challenge this year, a significant increase from only 32% who said the same in our previous survey.?
The non-technical attributes that African organisations look for in potential hires have also evolved. “In 2023, technical skills and industry-specific skills were the top attributes. Affordability was somewhere near the bottom, with less than a third of organisations saying they consider it during the hiring process. This year, affordability is the number one candidate attribute for African organisations, with adaptability a close second.”
Adaptability is essential in light of the need for employees to be upskilled or reskilled with AI skills. “Reskilling is a top skills-related priority for 38% of companies this year, with 48% saying the same of upskilling employees. Unsurprisingly, two-thirds of companies said helping employees understand why reskilling is necessary is one of the top challenges this year.”
Training, skills development in the spotlight
Pillay says companies are stepping up their IT training and skills development efforts to help meet the demand for skills. “Ninety-four percent of African organisations offer training and skills development to employees at least monthly, an increase from 74% in our last survey. The number of companies offering training opportunities to employees at any time also increased from 28% in our last survey to 37% this year.”
Surprisingly, the portion of companies’ IT or HR budgets allocated to skills-related initiatives has declined since 2023. “The drop in budget allocation for skills development requires an urgent rethink. Organisations that don’t invest in appropriate skills now may find they are unable to leverage new innovations and emerging technologies, leaving them trailing their more skills-enable competitors.”
SAP’s ‘Africa’s AI Skills Readiness Revealed’ report is now available and can be downloaded here.
As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, SAP (NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
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