Lesotho has imposed a 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. curfew to curb rising gun violence after investigative journalist Ralikonelo Joki, known as Leqhashasha, was gruesomely murdered.

Mr Joki ran a current affairs programme on radio which exposed corrupt dealings in government and the participation of state officials in organised crime.

In 2021, his story exposed no less than five notable politicians who were illegally trading alcohol.

He was killed on Sunday night while returning from his radio show with gunshots at close range to his head and body.

The curfew was enacted on Tuesday and will only exempt essential workers such as hospitals, media workers and security sectors.

Media organisations and press freedom groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), have condemned Mr Joki’s killing and urged the country’s government for a swift investigation.

CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, Angela Quintal, in her statement that the country must thoroughly investigate Mr Joki’s death and killers must be brought to justice to deter those who believe they could kill journalists without consequences.

“Authorities in Lesotho must thoroughly investigate the killing of Ts’enolo FM host Ralikonelo ‘Leqhashasha’ Joki and ensure those responsible are brought to justice,” stated Ms Quintal.

She added,

“An attempted murder trial after a similar attack on Lesotho Times editor Lloyd Mutungamiri in 2016 has dragged on for years. Authorities must send a clear signal to those who believe they can attack or kill journalists without consequence, that in Joki’s case at least, there will be swift accountability.”

IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellange said it “is a matter of public interest to ensure the safety of those who fulfil their obligations towards the public’s right to know.”

An indigenous woman in Mexico was sentenced to six years and two months in prison for the murder of her rapist.

The court acknowledged that the woman, named only as Roxana N, acted in self-defence when she killed her attacker in 2021 but said she used excessive force.

The woman, 23, first knocked the man unconscious, then strangled him and finally tried to dismember his body.

She kept the body for at least 20 hours before putting it in a plastic bag on the street.

The court said it took into consideration the woman’s “vulnerability as a woman and as an indigenous person” in its sentencing.

“It was my life or his life,” the woman said. “I only wanted to defend my life from a rapist,” she said, adding that she acted out of fear.

She can still appeal the verdict.

The single mother from the southern state of Oaxaca is supported by women’s organisations.

She had already spent nine months in pre-trial detention before being released for the trial.

WWE superstar, Billy Graham has passed on at the age of 79.

Graham died on Wednesday, May 17, after being taken off life support. His daughter and wife were by his side.

Billy’s wife Valerie announced on Monday, May 15, that he had been in the ICU for three weeks as a result of various health issues.

She said doctors wanted to take Billy off life support Monday night, but she initially refused.

Known for his prowess as a wrestler and a bodybuilder, Billy rose to fame back in the day wrestling for the American Wrestling Association and later the World Wrestling Federation.

Billy mentored big-time wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Scott Steiner, Ric Flair and Jesse Ventura, and in 2004 the WWE inducted Billy into its Hall of Fame.

Billy’s recent health issues took a toll on his body; his family said he lost 45 pounds while suffering from congestive heart failure, diabetes, hearing loss, and a significant infection in his ears and skull. His kidney was also failing.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk has called on the Iranian authorities to abolish the death penalty or halt all executions.

Mr Türk, who made the call on Tuesday in a statement, said the number of executions in Iran this year was “frightening.”

According to him, executions are carried out “mostly” for drug-related offences, noting this is “incompatible with international human rights norms and standards.”

More than 10 people are put to death each week in Iran, high commissioner Türk said, making the country “one of the world’s highest executors,” with at least 209 people executed since the beginning of the year according to sources quoted by the UN rights office (OHCHR).

OHCHR said that minorities were over-represented on Iran’s death row and said that according to sources, at least 45 people, including 22 from the Baluch minority, were executed in the last 14 days alone.

“Most were executed for drug-related charges,” added the UN rights chief.

At this rate, Iran is worryingly on the same track as last year, when around 580 people were reportedly executed, said Mr Türk, stressing that this “is an abominable record, particularly when you consider the growing consensus for universal abolition of the death penalty.”

Only a small number of countries still impose and apply the death penalty, said OHCHR.

On Saturday, Iran executed Habib Chaab, a Swedish-Iranian citizen from the Ahwazi Arab minority, the rights office added, who had been charged and found guilty of “corruption on earth” – a capital offence under Iran’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Reports on Monday said Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare had been executed for crimes including blasphemy, said OHCHR.