海角大神

After the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight this weekend, Ryan Brown, our Africa bureau chief, shared her thoughts on what the roster of passengers says about Africa鈥檚 place in the world. We thought you鈥檇 like to hear them:

A young who loved sweet potatoes and believed they could help save his country from hunger. A who dreamed of advocating for refugees in east Africa. A known for his acerbic wit and聽 challenges to the powerful.

Like so many of the victims of Flight 302, which crashed near Addis Ababa Sunday, Kodjo Glato, Cedric Asiavugwa, and Pius Adesanmi were people whose lives reached across borders.

聽who died were academics, aid workers, activists, doctors, clergy, and tourists from 30-plus countries. Nearly two dozen worked for the United Nations. One of Somalia. 聽worked聽as a missionary in Congo.

It鈥檚 hard to imagine a group that better encapsulates how interconnected the world is or how important Africa is to that story. The wingspan of this tragedy stretches from Beijing to Ottawa. Its victims will be mourned in Maputo, Bratislava, and Moscow.

I would venture few would want to be remembered as victims of anything. 鈥淲e are 鈥� dedicated to meeting the African continent at the level of agency and not victimhood,鈥� Mr. Adesanmi a few years ago.

Indeed, the passengers were the agents of 157 extraordinary lives. Lives defined聽by scathing satire. By the pursuit of justice. And by sweet potatoes.

Now to our five stories for today.