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South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Death of scientist in Dundee ‘being treated as murder' as man charged
Police Scotland on Sunday named the victim as Dr Fortune Gomo, 39, who was a mother living in the area. Officers were called to a report that a woman had been seriously injured in the city's South Road at around 4.25pm on Saturday. She was treated by paramedics but pronounced dead at the scene. 'A post-mortem has taken place and her death is now being treated as murder,' the force said on Sunday. Dr Gomo's high school and university friend said her 'brilliance in the classroom was only matched by her emotional intelligence'. Angela Machonesa studied with Dr Gomo at Chinhoyi High School and the National University of Science and Technology, which are both in Zimbabwe, south-east Africa. In a social media post, she said: 'She was the kind of person you'd go to when you needed clarity, not just of mind, but of heart. She listened. She cared. She uplifted. 'No wonder she went on to earn her PhD. It was only natural. Her path was written in the stars long ago. To serve. To lead. To heal. And she was doing just that. 'But now, that dream, our Fortune's dream, has been violently, senselessly, stolen from us all. She added: 'A child will now grow up without the love and presence of a mother. A family will mourn a daughter who once lit up their home with hope and promise.' Ms Machonesa said she and Dr Gomo went their separate ways after their studies. Dr Gomo was an environmental and water resources scientist and her specialisms included water resources management, environmental sustainability, and policy. According to social media, she was employed by Scottish Water in water resources planning. She was awarded a PhD in Geography and Environmental Science from the University of Dundee. Her doctorate looked at the links between the environment and policy making in the Zambezi river basin, particularly in Malawi. Professor Nigel Seaton, University of Dundee's interim principal and vice-chancellor, said the death of the former research assistant 'is a truly shocking event in our city and for our university community', BBC News reported. He added: 'It will be particularly distressing for those who knew and worked with Fortune throughout her time here at the university, and for all of those in our close-knit community of African colleagues and students.' A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and the man arrested is to appear at Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday. Detective Superintendent Peter Sharp, the officer in charge of the inquiry, said his thoughts are with Dr Gomo's family. 'They are being supported by specialist officers and I would ask that their privacy is respected,' he said. Det Supt Sharp added: 'Our enquiries are continuing and I remain satisfied that the incident poses no wider risk to the public. 'At this early stage of the investigation we are following a number of lines of inquiry.' He said he is 'acutely aware of content circulating on social media' and urged members of the public not to speculate on the circumstances of the incident. There will be an increased police presence in the area. Witnesses and anyone with information on the incident have been asked to contact the force on 101 quoting incident number 2283 of July 5 2025. They can also speak to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Daily Maverick
24-06-2025
- Daily Maverick
Tracking the Shangani Wanderer — vulture survival, poaching threats, and hope from the skies
The Shangani Wanderer is a young white-backed vulture fitted with a tracking device at Shangani in Zimbabwe — a region where the critically endangered birds have fallen prey to poaching and poisoning. For now, the Wanderer flies on. Every evening, just before bed, Josephine Mundava checks her phone, not for messages, but to see where the Shangani Wanderer is. The young white-backed vulture, fitted with a tracking tag as a nestling on Shangani Ranch in Zimbabwe, has become a symbol of hope and survival in a region shadowed by poisoning incidents and poaching. 'Yes, the Wanderer is still safe,' she says with cautious relief. 'This morning, it was in Kafue National Park in Zambia.' Earlier in the week, it had been on the Angola-Namibia border. 'It moves a lot.' Mundava is a lecturer at the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe, and, together with her postgraduate students, researches and monitors the vulture numbers and breeding habits at Shangani. Concern over the welfare of the Shangani Wanderer and vultures across the region has heightened following the poisoning of 100 of the birds in the Lionspruit Game Reserve near Kruger Park in May. This came weeks after 100 vultures were killed and 84 rescued after being poisoned in the Kruger National Park. In both cases, white-backed vultures, already on the critically endangered list, made up the highest number of deaths. The deaths are often deliberate, as poachers poison carcasses to kill birds whose presence is erroneously believed to give away poacher activity, or collateral deaths when poachers poison animals such as elephants for their tusks. Furthermore, vultures are also killed for cultural and traditional medicine reasons. Of the eight vultures tagged at Shangani so far — three in 2023 and five in 2024 — one dropped off the radar, in Namibia in September 2024. 'We don't know what happened,' says Mundava. 'The tag just stopped transmitting, in the Chobe reserve in Botswana. We haven't been able to retrieve it.' The Wanderer was one of two vultures tagged in the nest on Shangani Ranch, at the end of November 2024. It wasted no time exploring the southern African landscape after it took wing, says Mundava, heading west across Botswana with stopovers in South Africa. 'With wingspans reaching 2.3 metres, these magnificent scavengers typically begin their independent journeys around 120 days after hatching,' says Mundava. 'Our data shows Shangani Wanderer has already traversed international borders, demonstrating the critical importance of transboundary conservation efforts.' White-backed vultures face numerous threats, including poisoning, electrocution and habitat loss. Their rapid decline has placed them on the 'critically endangered' list, making this satellite tracking project vital for their protection. Tracking such individuals gives scientists a rare chance to follow a bird's journey from fledgling through its wide-ranging forays across southern Africa. The broader tagging project, sponsored by Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation, was born from a need to understand how vultures use landscapes — protected areas, private ranches and communal lands — amid growing threats. The Shangani vulture population itself has grown from about 10 nesting sites in 2012 to an estimated 80 to 100 today. 'Some areas aren't easily accessible, so that's a rough estimate,' says Mundava. Satellite tags Because monitoring every nest isn't feasible, the research team uses satellite tags to track select individuals and build a picture of how vultures navigate southern Africa's complex landscapes. Patterns are already emerging. 'Most birds spend a lot of time in protected areas — national parks and private reserves — and some come back to Shangani regularly,' she says. This raises the question: How do vultures 'know' where it's safe? 'They don't,' she laughs. 'They follow food. What we call protected areas often have better wildlife management and more carcasses. That's what draws them.' One of the birds being tracked, for example, nests in the Tuli region along the Zimbabwe-Botswana border but regularly returns to Shangani, likely for feeding. 'If there's a carcass, they'll show up on the map, then disappear again,' says Mundava. Now, a Stellenbosch University honours student is analysing the movement data in greater detail, looking at habitat use, land types, and foraging hotspots. 'When vultures feed, they often stay in one place for a while. So we can create heat maps showing their favourite feeding grounds.' Though the team can track where vultures go, they don't always know what they're feeding on. 'There's someone starting a PhD in Hwange who will look into that,' says Mundava. 'It's a long-term project. But for now, with the Wanderer, we're just seeing movement patterns.' Vultures tend to be opportunistic, though carcass size matters. 'Larger carcasses attract more birds. Small ones might not be worth landing for,' she explains. 'But in terms of species, we don't know if they're picky.' The Shangani ranch has provided fertile ground for student involvement. Each year, Mundava is accompanied by students, whose projects have included studies on community attitudes toward vultures, lead contamination in birds, and basic breeding patterns. 'When we tagged birds, we also collected blood, feathers, and bones to test for lead exposure,' says Mundava. Results are expected soon. Lead poisoning occurs when vultures feed on carcasses left behind by hunters. 'Bullets fragment and leave tiny pieces throughout the meat,' she explains. 'Even when hunters cut out the wound channel, fragments can be far beyond it. If vultures ingest them, they're at risk.' Poisoning But lead isn't the only danger. Vultures across southern Africa have increasingly fallen victim to poisoning, sometimes deliberate, sometimes incidental. 'The reasons are diverse and hard to predict,' says Mundava. In Zimbabwe's worst incident, 183 vultures were killed in 2013 at Gonarezhou National Park, near the border with Mozambique. 'It was an elephant carcass laced with poison. The tusks were gone, and the vultures' heads were cut off, likely for rituals.' Other cases, like the cyanide poisonings in Hwange, are more straightforwardly tied to elephant poaching. 'In those, nothing was taken from the vultures; it was just collateral damage,' she says. 'But it's very difficult to prosecute. Poachers are usually long gone by the time carcasses are discovered.' Legislation has toughened since then. In Zimbabwe, the maximum sentence for vulture-related crimes is now three years. 'It used to be just months,' says Mundava. 'Now there's more advocacy and stiffer penalties.' Unfortunately, white-backed vultures, the species to which the Wanderer belongs, are among the hardest hit. 'They're the most abundant, so they arrive in the largest numbers and suffer the most in poisonings,' she explains. 'They're also critically endangered.' Still, it's not all grim. The tracked birds provide rare insight into just how far vultures travel. Mundava cites one bird, which they tagged at Shangani at 3pm, but by nightfall it was already in Gonarezhou, more than 400km away in a straight-line distance. 'They cover huge areas,' notes Mundava. She checks her phone to give an update on the tagged vultures. The Wanderer is in Kafue National Park in Zambia. Another bird is in Angola, near the Caprivi Strip. One remains in the Shangani region; another hovers between South Africa and Botswana. Another pops up in Zambia. 'They seem to like Zambia and Namibia,' she says. Every ping from a tracking tag is a sign of life, and a small reprieve from the constant worry that another might go silent. For now, the Wanderer flies on, following the invisible threads of thermals and food, and watched, always, from below. DM Yves Vanderhaeghen writes for Jive Media Africa, science communication partner of Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation.
Observer
23-06-2025
- Health
- Observer
NRH aims to shape the future of rehabilitative sciences
The National Rehabilitation House (NRH) has been opened, reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of Oman's evolving healthcare landscape. The formal unveiling was held under the auspices of Dr Ahmed bin Salim al Mandhari, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Health for Planning and Health Regulation. The NRH is a centre for healing, education and research that aims to shape the future of rehabilitative sciences in Oman. By combining clinical excellence with academic innovation, it stands as a model for how academic institutions can drive sustainable healthcare development and elevate rehabilitation standards locally and regionally. An initiative of the National University of Science and Technology (NU), NRH is built on the principles of integrated, patient-centred rehabilitation and aims to reinforce its role as a cornerstone of Oman's evolving healthcare landscape. NRH has already begun delivering essential services to individuals in need of therapeutic recovery. The ceremony brought together senior representatives from the Ministry of Health (MoH), ambassadors, healthcare professionals and dignitaries from both local and international sectors - reflecting the broad support and shared vision to elevate rehabilitation services in the Sultanate of Oman. 'The establishment of NRH reflects the strategic foresight of the university in responding to Oman's growing need for integrated, high-quality rehabilitation services. Rooted in the country's long-term healthcare goals outlined in Oman Vision 2040 and the Tenth Five-Year Plan, NRH aims to create a lasting impact through a holistic and inclusive model of care,' said Dr Ali bin Saud al Bimani, Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Science and Technology. 'This House embodies our collective vision, dedication and unwavering commitment to advancing healthcare and improving the quality of life for our society. It is a beacon of hope for those in need of rehabilitation services, offering state-of-the-art facilities and comprehensive care that enable individuals to regain independence and reintegrate into society with dignity,' he added. Dr Al Bimani also acknowledged the collaborative efforts that led to the creation of the centre and lauded the instrumental support from Dr Hilal bin Ali al Sabti, Minister of Health, and Dr P Mohamed Ali, Chairman of the Board of Directors, underscoring the House as a realised promise of collaborative service to the nation. Dr Fadwa al Araimi, who reflected on the deeper purpose of the centre, said, "The National Rehabilitation House is a health centre and a space for healing and returning to life with a new spirit and renewed hope. It reflects our belief in comprehensive care that restores dignity and enhances the quality of life.'
Observer
27-05-2025
- Science
- Observer
Al Barwani honoured with Jayakar Award
MUSCAT: Prominent Omani technologist, thought leader, and community influencer Tariq bin Hilal al Barwani has been awarded the distinguished Jayakar Award by the Indian Science Forum, in a high-profile event held at the National University of Science and Technology. The award was presented by G V Srinivas, Ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman, in the presence of Dr J Retnakumar, Chairman of the Indian Science Forum, and Syed Ahmad Salman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman. Named in honour of Sir Jayakar, an eminent Indian scholar and visionary, the Jayakar Award celebrates exceptional individuals who have demonstrated unwavering commitment to the advancement of science, education and social development. Al Barwani's contribution to technology, youth empowerment, and cross-cultural collaboration made him a natural recipient of this year's accolade. "This award is not just a recognition of past achievements, but a call to continue building, inspiring, and transforming lives," said Tariq al Barwani. "I dedicate this honour to every young dreamer who believes in the power of knowledge, resilience and service to society." The event gathered leading academics, innovators, and students from diverse backgrounds, reinforcing the spirit of unity through science and education. Al Barwani's recognition is seen as a symbol of the strong and growing relationship between Oman and India, built on shared values of innovation, mutual respect and community progress.
Muscat Daily
13-05-2025
- Science
- Muscat Daily
AI takes centre stage at Science Fiesta 2025
Muscat – Over 1,000 Indian students from various Indian schools in Oman will gather for the Annual Science Fiesta 2025 to be held at the National University of Science and Technology, Al Hail Campus, on May 23-24. The two-day event – being organised by the Indian Science Forum (ISF) – is focused on the theme of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The fiesta will feature a range of competitions, exhibitions, quizzes, and workshops aimed at sparking scientific curiosity and fostering innovation among students. A major highlight will be the felicitation and award ceremony for the 8th Sastra Pratibha Contest winners, a prestigious science talent competition that has become a key part of ISF's educational outreach. The event will be attended by H E G V Srinivas, Ambassador of India to Oman, as the chief guest. Adding further prominence to the festival, Prof Dr Monojit Choudhury, a leading authority in Natural Language Processing (NLP) from the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), Abu Dhabi, will deliver the keynote address. An exclusive interactive session with Prof Choudhury for students is also scheduled for May 23. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Dr J Retnakumar, Coordinator of ISF, said, 'We are considering extending the event to include other schools as well. We have already received proposals from Omani schools, and we welcome this opportunity.'
