Congolese journalist Rosie Pioth, 43, had no intention of leaving her country. However, at the end of July, after receiving death threats, she was forced to pack her bags.

Pioth is a correspondent for France 24 and director of the news website Fact-Check Congo. Her crime was publishing an article about the anniversary of one of the most violent events in the history of the Republic of the Congo: the 1982 bombing of the Maya-Maya International Airport in the capital, Brazzaville. In her report, Pioth stated that, 43 years later, the victims’ families were still demanding justice and compensation. She also opined that the investigation into what happened should continue.

“The investigation revealed contradictions in the presidential pardons granted to the defendants in the 1986 trial. It also highlighted the fact that one of the convicted men said he learned of his sentence through the press, without anyone questioning him when he returned to Congo a year later, and that the promised compensation to the victims’ families was never paid out,” Pioth explains to EL PAÍS in a WhatsApp message. “All of this demonstrates that the judicial, political and human treatment of the attack was incomplete. That’s probably why I received threats,” she notes.

I knew I was taking a risk doing this kind of an investigation, but I never imagined I’d have to get out so suddenly and leave my family behind

Rosie Pioth, Congolese journalist

Pioth lived in hiding for days, hoping that the threatening phone calls and messages would stop, but they didn’t. And so she had no choice but to leave. “I knew I was taking a risk doing this kind of investigation, but I never imagined having to get out [of the country] so suddenly and leave my family behind,” she sighs. “My whole life has been turned upside down: my home, school, my income, my family’s stability…”

“Professionally, I had to stop going to report in person and prioritize working remotely. [I also had to] strengthen my digital and physical security, and put some projects on hold. Today, I’m safe. But I’m facing significant material and administrative hardship,” she adds.

Self-censorship for fear of reprisals

Pioth’s ordeal has once again highlighted concerns about the state of press freedom in the Republic of Congo, where journalists are increasingly subjected to intimidation — although not to the same extent as in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranks the Republic of Congo 71st out of 180 countries in its annual ranking.

“Congo-Brazzaville is no haven for press freedom. Although there are a significant number of media outlets, the authorities continue to influence content, [while] security conditions are poor. Rosie Pioth’s case is a prime example,” Sadibou Marong explains, in a Whatsapp message to this newspaper. He’s the director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa bureau.

“She and her family have been living in alarming conditions since July. But the message sent by the Congolese media regulator [the institution that’s] responsible, among other things, for protecting journalists to the rest of the profession is dramatic: it encourages self-censorship, instead of implementing concrete measures to guarantee the safety of investigative journalists,” he affirms.

Although there are a significant number of media outlets, the authorities continue to influence content. Security conditions are not good

RSF

The Republic of Congo has long been a country of great concern to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In this country — which has been ruled by the authoritarian regime of Sassou Nguesso, president from 1979 to 1992 and again from 1997 to the present — journalists have suffered arrests and persecution for doing their work.

“Journalist Ghys Fortuné Dombé Bemba was imprisoned for nearly 18 months in 2017 and 2018. Raymond Malonga, a magazine editor, has been imprisoned twice since 2013. And the recent death threats received by journalist Rosie Pioth have raised further fears for the safety of the press in the country,” says Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa director, in a WhatsApp message. “Unfortunately, these are common dangers for journalists across Africa, but the Republic of Congo is particularly repressive; critical reporting faces many restrictions,” she explains.

Fact-Check Congo has suspended publication of the remainder of Pioth’s report, which was set to be released in three installments, pending full guarantees for her and her family’s safety. When she received death threats, Pioth filed a complaint through a human rights organization. However, she says that, to date, she has received no clear response from the authorities.

The incident, in July 2025, was not the first time she had faced pressure or intimidation for her work, but never before had she suffered such serious threats. “Press freedom in the Republic of Congo is conditional. Some topics are tolerated, and others, much less so,” Pioth points out. “Access to official sources is limited, protection for journalists is insufficient and threats often go unpunished,” she adds.

The Congolese government did not like my reports, which put them in a compromising position. And, since they couldn’t stop me or shut me up, they ordered my physical elimination

Christian Perrin, journalist

Detention and torture

Ghys Fortuné Dombé Bemba, director of Talassa, an independent newspaper, has lived in exile in France since 2018, after spending 28 months in pre-trial detention in his country. Bemba was arrested in January of 2017, accused of “being an accomplice in maneuvers to undermine state security.” This occurred because of an article he published about high-ranking army officers, which included comments from former rebel leader Pastor Ntumi, who is wanted by the Congolese government for terrorism.

“It wasn’t a legal arrest, but a kidnapping, because they didn’t present me with any arrest warrant,” he explains via WhatsApp. “I was about to board my flight to Paris when five armed men in civilian clothes grabbed me and dragged me into a vehicle. They took me to the jail for political prisoners, where I was tortured for two days. And then, they took me to the gendarmerie headquarters, where I was subjected to continuous interrogations for a week before being brought before the prosecutor,” he recalls.

Bemba was accused of being a “murderer” and a “terrorist” who had been caught red-handed in an operation against state security. He was held in pre-trial detention.

“I lived through hell: they kept me in complete isolation, didn’t allow any family members to visit me and locked me in a small, dark cell,” Bemba recalls. He has recounted his terrible experience in a 2019 book titled De l’enfer à la liberté (“From hell to freedom”).

“I defecated right there, in a small bucket that served as a toilet. I became seriously ill. The only time I saw several hours of daylight was when I was rushed to a clinic in the city because I was on the verge of death,” he says, explaining that his health deteriorated irreversibly during this time.

Access to official sources is limited, protection for journalists is insufficient and threats often go unpunished

Rosie Pioth, journalist

After his release, Bemba went into exile in France. But in 2024, he was stabbed in the neck at the train station in Corbeil-Essonnes, a town on the outskirts of Paris. The journalist is convinced that the attacker was hired by his country’s government. The French prosecutor’s office later announced that it had opened an investigation for “attempted murder” to determine the motive for the attack. “I lost more than a liter of blood. I was on sick leave for a month. I’m sure this was the work of the Brazzaville government, which doesn’t tolerate my accusations against it,” he reiterates.

Living in constant fear

Christian Perrin, 55, also had to leave the country because of death threats related to his profession. His troubles began when he reported on the massacre of dozens of young Congolese men in the city of Pointe-Noire, between October 17 and 20 of 2015, by the army and police. This coincided with the campaign for the referendum on President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s continued rule.

“The Congolese government didn’t like my reporting, which put them in a compromising position. And, since they couldn’t stop me or shut me up, they ordered my physical elimination,” this journalist, who fled the country with his family in March 2016, states in a WhatsApp message.

Starting a new life as a refugee was difficult. And, according to Perrin, the persecution never stopped.

Despite their bitter experiences, Perrin, Pioth and Bemba haven’t lost their desire to return to their homeland. Perrin says that practicing journalism in the Republic of Congo means choosing between two options: supporting government propaganda to be able to work without hindrance, or practicing the profession according to ethical principles and accepting the consequences, including the possibility of losing one’s life. “Freedom of the press is a concept that doesn’t exist in Congolese society,” he asserts.

Bemba says that being a journalist in Congo means “constantly living in fear.”

“The political situation is precarious,” he emphasizes. “Freedoms are being suppressed, judges obey [government] orders, public safety isn’t guaranteed and armed gangs do as they please in our cities. Of course, prison or death remain a risk, but I don’t rule out returning to Congo someday.”

Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani.

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Southern Spain sits at the heart of one of Europe’s most seismically active regions due to the slow but constant convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. This geological process has made Málaga, Almería, Granada and Murcia the provinces with the highest level of earthquake activity in Spain, according to geological research and national monitoring data.

The movement of the plates is gradual, advancing by only a few millimetres each year. However, the stress that builds up in the Earth’s crust as a result is released through frequent earthquakes, most of which are small but regularly felt by residents across southern and south-eastern Spain.

The tectonic forces beneath southern Spain

A complex plate boundary under the Alborán Sea

Spain lies close to the boundary where the African plate moves northwards against the Eurasian plate. This interaction is particularly complex beneath the Alborán Sea, the stretch of Mediterranean water between southern Spain and North Africa. Rather than a single fault line, the area contains a dense network of faults and fractured crust.

This tectonic setting affects the Betic Cordillera, which runs through much of Andalucia, and extends eastwards into Murcia. Compression and sideways movement between plates deform the crust, causing seismic energy to be released. Scientists regard this region as one of the most geologically active zones in western Europe.

Why these provinces are most affected

Geography and fault systems converge

Málaga, Almería, Granada and Murcia are located above or near several active fault systems. Granada experiences particularly frequent earthquakes due to shallow faults beneath the Granada Basin. Almería and Málaga are influenced by offshore seismic activity originating in the Alborán Sea, while Murcia is affected by inland fault systems such as the Alhama de Murcia fault.

Because many of these earthquakes occur at shallow depths, even moderate tremors can be felt clearly by the population. This contributes to a higher perception of seismic risk, even though most events do not cause structural damage.

Recent seismic activity and monitoring

Constant surveillance by national networks

Spain’s National Geographic Institute records thousands of earthquakes each year, with the highest concentration consistently detected in the south and south-east of the country. The vast majority of these tremors are below magnitude 3 and pass without incident, although clusters of stronger earthquakes occur periodically.

Authorities stress that this pattern is expected given the region’s geological characteristics. While earthquakes cannot be predicted, continuous monitoring allows scientists to study trends and refine seismic hazard assessments.

What this means for safety and infrastructure

Preparedness rather than alarm

Experts emphasise that higher seismic activity does not mean southern Spain faces an imminent disaster. Building regulations in Andalucia and Murcia already incorporate seismic risk, and emergency response systems are designed to deal with earthquakes of varying intensity.

Public awareness campaigns focus on preparedness rather than fear, encouraging residents to understand basic safety measures. Specialists also note that frequent small earthquakes may help release accumulated energy over time, although this does not eliminate the possibility of stronger events.

Key points

• Southern Spain lies along the boundary between the African and Eurasian plates.
• Málaga, Almería, Granada and Murcia record the highest seismic activity in Spain.
• Earthquakes are caused by slow, continuous plate convergence.
• Most tremors are minor and cause little or no damage.
• Monitoring and building standards help manage, but not remove, risk.

A permanent geological reality

A region shaped by deep-time forces

The convergence of Africa and Europe is a long-term geological process that will continue for millions of years. As a result, southern Spain will remain the country’s primary seismic zone.

While earthquakes can be unsettling, scientists stress that understanding the underlying geology is essential for managing risk. For Málaga, Almería, Granada and Murcia, seismic activity is not an exception, but a defining feature of the region’s natural landscape.

Aunque a los científicos no les gusta ya hablar de eslabones perdidos de la evolución humana, está claro que en algún lugar vivió el último ancestro común de los humanos, algo así como el tatarabuelo de los Homo sapiens, y de sus especies hermanas, los neandertales y los denisovanos. Este miércoles se anuncia el hallazgo en una cantera de Casablanca, en Marruecos, de los restos más cercanos conocidos a ese ancestro común. Se trata de tres mandíbulas con dientes y algunas vértebras que, según sus descubridores, iluminan los primeros compases de la evolución humana y la sitúan en este país del Norte de África. Los nuevos restos tienen 773.000 años y pertenecieron al ancestro de los Homo sapiens, la única especie humana que queda en el planeta.

El hallazgo supone que el origen de nuestra especie está en África, algo que hace décadas se pensaba indudable, pero que más recientemente se ha cuestionado, pues hay posibles ancestros en Europa e incluso Asia. El más conocido de ellos es el Homo antecessor hallado en los yacimientos de Atapuerca, en Burgos. Los nuevos fósiles marroquíes son parecidos a los de antecessor, pero también presentan rasgos modernos característicos de los Homo sapiens. Según sus descubridores, liderados por el paleoantropólogo francés Jean-Jacques Hublin, los restos descubiertos no representan al codiciado ancestro común de todos los humanos, sino que ya están en la rama exclusiva de la que posteriormente surgió nuestra especie. Antecessor quedaría como un ancestro de neandertales y denisovanos, aunque es una interpretación polémica que destacados miembros del equipo de Atapuerca no comparten.

Los autores del hallazgo han sido muy cautos, y no atribuyen los fósiles a una especie concreta. “No son Homo sapiens”, explica Hublin a EL PAÍS. “Yo los definiría como una población norteafricana de Homo erectus evolucionados que tenían un mosaico de rasgos primitivos y avanzados. Esto nos plantea una imagen más compleja de la evolución humana con distintas poblaciones a ambos lados del Mediterráneo, más que una sola población ancestral” representada por el Homo antecessor de Atapuerca. “Esto también refuerza que las raíces más profundas de nuestra especie están en África”, destaca Hublin. El hallazgo se publica hoy en Nature, referente de la mejor ciencia mundial.

El conjunto incluye tres mandíbulas, dos adultas y una de un niño, dientes y varias vértebras, de individuos cuyos cadáveres fueron posiblemente devorados por carnívoros. Los restos tienen rasgos arcaicos parecidos a los del Homo erectus, el probable ancestro de los sapiens que apareció en África hace unos dos millones de años, y que fue la primera especie humana en caminar completamente erguida y que salió del continente africano hacia Asia y Europa. Gran parte de las conclusiones se basan en el análisis de los dientes, que según los responsables del estudio muestran características claramente distintas de antecessor. Estos últimos ya estarían en el camino de originar a los neandertales, mientras que los restos marroquíes no tienen tantos rasgos neandertales y están ya en el linaje que conduce a los sapiens.

En 2017, el mismo equipo liderado por Hublin ya halló en Marruecos los restos de los Homo sapiens más antiguos conocidos, que vivieron hace unos 300.000 años, lo que consolidó a este país norteafricano como una posible cuna de nuestra especie mucho más antigua que la que se sostenía hasta el momento, situada en Etiopía hace unos 200.000 años.

La datación de los nuevos restos se ha hecho gracias una feliz coincidencia. Los sedimentos de la cantera conservan marcas de la última reversión del campo magnético terrestre, que sucedió hace unos 773.000 años.

Los resultados sitúan la divergencia entre los linajes humanos en un tiempo posterior del que se pensaba hasta ahora. Pero estos datos encajan con lo que dice la genética, que estima que el último ancestro común, ese ansiado eslabón perdido, vivió hace unos 800.000 años.

Antonio Rodríguez Hidalgo, miembro del equipo de Atapuerca, que no ha participado en el hallazgo, cree que se trata de una “contribución fundamental a uno de los grandes temas de la paleoantropología”.

El registro fósil vuelve así a respaldar el clásico modelo “Out of Africa” para explicar el origen de Homo sapiens, debilitando la alternativa en boga en las últimas décadas que plateaba la posibilidad de un origen en asiático. “La propuesta de Hublin refuerza el origen africano de nuestro linaje y hace menos probable que Homo antecessor represente el último ancestro común entre neandertales y humanos modernos. El registro fósil vuelve así a respaldar el origen africano de Homo sapiens, debilitando la alternativa en boga en las últimas décadas que plateaba la posibilidad de un origen en asiático”, destaca.

Dos de los principales valedores de esa tesis son José María Bermúdez de Castro, codescubridor del Homo antecessor —que fue anunciado en 1997 en la portada de la revista Science, el otro gran referente mundial de la investigación— y María Martinón Torres, científica destacada del equipo de excavaciones en Burgos y directora del Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre Evolución Humana. Martinón señala una carencia del nuevo estudio, pues no ha tenido en cuenta ciertos fósiles claves hallados en Asia, como los de Harbin, Hualongdong y Yunxian, que tienen características que pueden identificarlos como un posible origen de los Homo sapiens. El propio antecessor, resalta Martinón, también tiene ese tipo de rasgos. “Para sostener de forma sólida un origen africano son necesarios estudios comparativos más amplios que incorporen todo el nuevo material asiático. De hecho, los fósiles del Pleistoceno Inferior y Medio de Asia y Europa muestran rasgos faciales más gráciles, más próximos a Homo sapiens, que cualquiera de los fósiles africanos conocidos hasta la fecha para ese mismo periodo. La propuesta de que el ancestro está en el norte de África me parece muy enrevesada”, añade la científica.

Antonio Rosas, paleoantropólogo del CSIC, destaca en un artículo complementario también en Nature varias preguntas sin respuesta a la luz de estos hallazgos. La más evidente es: “¿Dónde están los fósiles humanos en el lapso de tiempo entre hace 700.000 años y 300.000 años?”. No se conoce ni uno. La otra se centra en un detalle morfológico: los fósiles marroquíes, a pesar de su edad, ya muestran un rasgo en la mandíbula que sería característico de los neandertales evolucionados que vivieron en Europa cientos de miles de años después. “¿Por qué las raíces del linaje de Homo sapiens tenía rasgos neandertales?”. Por ahora, es un enigma.

La forma más evidente de responder todas las preguntas sería encontrando ese eslabón perdido, el último ancestro común de todos los humanos. El objetivo es endiabladamente complicado, opina Hublin. “Puede que encontrar un fósil concluyente del último ancestro común sea imposible, pero claramente el norte de África es el lugar donde podemos documentar estas poblaciones”, explica. Gracias a nueva técnicas como el análisis de proteínas podría permitir caracterizar a estos homínidos “incluso si nunca encontramos el fósil”, destaca.