September 19
Africa: XEC - What You Need to Know About the New Covid Variant
A new COVID variant is spreading rapidly and could soon become the dominant variant around the globe. The variant, called XEC, was first detected in Germany in August and appears… Read more »
Africa: UN Peacekeeping in Africa - Essential Reads On What's Gone Wrong and What Can Be Done
The United Nations security council - the most powerful body of the UN - is the institution that is primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security. But it's… Read more »
Africa: Africans Who Apply for Schengen Visas Face High Rejection Rates - Migration Scholar Explains Why
Africans face a high rejection rate for visas to enter the Schengen group of countries. The group is made up of 29 European countries that have officially abolished border controls… Read more »
September 17
Africa: Scientists Have Found Evidence of Past Extreme Solar Storms. Their Return Could Be Disastrous for Our Technology-Based Societies
In September 1859, the same year that Darwin published On the Origin of Species, telegraph systems across Europe and North America stopped working and started sparking, leading to… Read more »
Africa: The Sierra Leonian Gangster Who Gave up Violence and Drugs for Poetry
For the past five years, the GANGS project, a European Research Council-funded project led by Dennis Rodgers, has been studying global gang dynamics in a comparative perspective.… Read more »
Africa: Why China Is Seeking Greater Presence in Africa
China's relationship with Africa is set to deepen. At a summit in Beijing in early September, China's president, Xi Jinping, pledged to deliver US$51 billion (£39 billion) in… Read more »
Africa: Four Ways Africa Is Already Seeing the Effects of Climate Change
Africa is already being heavily affected by climate change. Between 1991 and 2023, the African continent warmed at a rate of 0.3°C per decade, a rate slightly faster than the… Read more »
Africa: South Africa Needs More Nautical Scientists and Maritime Engineers
When most people are asked to picture an engineer at work, they probably imagine a civil engineer in a hard hat at a construction site, a chemical engineer in a laboratory or an… Read more »
September 12
Africa: African Countries Are Adopting Two Houses of Parliament to Boost Democracy - but That's Not Always What Happens
At independence, most African states had two legislative chambers - a lower and upper chamber - in their parliament. African leaders saw that as a colonial legacy and as… Read more »
Africa: Why Mpox in Africa Was Ignored for Too Long and Children Are Dying As a Result - Podcast
An epidemic of mpox in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is spreading quickly, particularly among young children. At least 20,000 people are known to be infected in… Read more »
September 11
Africa: Global Media Tell Only Part of Africa's Story - New Report Shows Which Outlets Perform Best and Worst
Media coverage of Africa has always been dominated by narratives of disease, poverty, conflict and political instability. These portrayals, rooted in colonial histories, continue… Read more »
Africa: Fire Safety Tips At Home - the Risks and How to Avoid Them
In many African communities, fire hazards are a concern due to the materials used for building and daily activities such as cooking and heating. The risks are increased by the use… Read more »
September 10
Africa: Ghana Is Africa's Largest Gold Producer, but It Has an Illegal Mining Issue - 5 Essential Reads
Ghana is one of the world's gold hotspots. It is Africa's largest producer of gold and it ranks sixth globally. In 2023, 4 million ounces were produced. It is essential to Ghana's… Read more »
September 09
Africa: Rating Agencies and Africa - the Absence of People On the Ground Contributes to Bias Against the Continent - Analyst
Rating agency Fitch recently warned that the rapid spread of the mpox virus in sub-Saharan Africa could add to the fiscal pressures many countries in the region are already… Read more »
September 08
Africa: Africa Desperately Needs Mpox Vaccines. but Donations From Rich Countries Won't Fix This or the Next Health Emergency
Africa says it needs an estimated ten million doses of mpox vaccine to control this public health emergency. Read more »
September 04
Africa: Humans Infecting Animals Infecting Humans - From Covid-19 to Bird Flu, Preventing Pandemics Requires Protecting All Species
When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, humans had been the only species with reported cases of the disease. While early genetic analyses… Read more »
Africa: Long Covid Inflicts Deep Scars On the Lungs, but Targeting Specific Immune Cells Could Reverse Damage - New Research in Mice
The long-term effects of respiratory viral infections such as COVID-19 are a major public health burden. Some estimates suggest over 65 million people around the world suffer from… Read more »
Africa: Looting of African Heritage - a Powerful New Book Explores the Damage Done By Colonial Theft
European colonisation of Africa was not only about armed conquest, massacres and the exploitation of resources. It was also about the appropriation of spiritual and political… Read more »
Africa: Chinese and Russian Disinformation Flourishes in Some African Countries - Anti-U.S. Sentiment Helps It Take Hold
The spread of disinformation is one of the biggest risks to societies. Recent examples have been conspiracy narratives about COVID-19 vaccinations and false claims about Russia's… Read more »
September 03
Africa: Mobile Phones Are Not Linked to Brain Cancer, According to a Major Review of 28 Years of Research
A systematic review into the potential health effects from radio wave exposure has shown mobile phones are not linked to brain cancer. The review was commissioned by the World… Read more »
September 02
Africa: Belief in Alien Visits to Earth Is Spiralling Out of Control - Here's Why That's So Dangerous
The idea that aliens may have visited the Earth is becoming increasingly popular. Around a fifth of UK citizens believe Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials, and an… Read more »
September 01
Africa: We Found Teenage Girls Don't Know Vulvas From Vaginas or When Their Menstrual Cycle Starts
It is important for everyone - but especially girls, women and people who menstruate - to understand how ovulation and menstruation work. Read more »
September 03
Africa: China's Investments in Africa Aren't Working As Well As They As They Should for Cities - This Needs to Change
Over the past two decades African leaders have become increasingly drawn to Chinese financing and investment. These investments are made rapidly and with reportedly less stringent… Read more »
September 02
Africa: China Reaps Most of the Benefits of Its Relationship With Africa - What's Behind the Imbalance
The ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing takes place under the theme of "Joining hands to advance modernisation and build a high-level China-Africa community with a… Read more »
Africa: African Nations Can Do More to Benefit From Ties With China, the World's Second-Strongest Economy
China's relationship with Africa is vital to Beijing's efforts to expand its influence in the western-dominated world order. China is Africa's most significant trading partner and… Read more »