South Africa: Can a Coalition Govt Work in South Africa?

South Africa's municipal government elections in 2021 produced a number of largely unstable local government coalitions. There's now a strong possibility that the next government… Read more »

Africa: How Climate Change Influences the Spread of Disease - Four Essential Reads

Climate change has led to extreme weather events such as floods and drought. These events have become more frequent and more severe. Natural disasters associated with climate… Read more »

Africa: COP27 - Which Countries Will Push to End Fossil Fuel Production? And Which Won't?

Fossil fuels have provided a crucial source of energy over the past 200 years. But they also account for 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, enable massive… Read more »

Africa: Malaria in Africa - Why Most Countries Haven't Beaten It Yet

Malaria remains one of the most devastating parasitic diseases affecting humans. In 2020 there were around 241 million cases and 672,000 malaria-related deaths. This is a sharp… Read more »

Africa: Has the Modern World Discovered the Ancient Truths of Buddhism or Simply Invented a New Version?

For many people, Buddhism appears to be uniquely compatible with modern lifestyles and world views. It provides staunch atheists - those who do not believe in the existence of any… Read more »

Africa: COP27 Explained By Experts - What Is It and Why Should I Care?

COP27 is the 27th Conference of the Parties (countries) that signed up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The convention was established at the Rio Earth… Read more »

Africa: Understanding How News Works Can Short-Circuit the Connection Between Social Media Use and Vaccine Hesitancy

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. Read more »

Togo: Renewable Energy Could Get Togo to Its Goals - Experts Identify What's in the Way

Togo is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita gross domestic product of US$644. Most of the population depend on subsistence agriculture. Over 56% live in… Read more »

Africa: Go Slow and Accept Your Limitations - How to Exercise If You're Recovering From Long Covid

A significant proportion of people who contract COVID are left with ongoing symptoms, commonly termed "long COVID". The nature of these symptoms and the duration of the illness… Read more »

Africa: COP27 Must Work Out How to Cut Carbon and Still Develop African Economies

Averting a climate disaster without compromising economic growth and development is a key issue for African countries. Energy production and use is the single biggest contributor… Read more »

Egypt: Why Tutankhamun's Curse Continues to Fascinate, 100 Years After His Discovery

The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 was a monumental event for archaeology. It was the first largely intact ancient Egyptian royal tomb to be found and hence provided major… Read more »

Egypt: Five Things Science Has Told Us About the Mummy of Tutankhamun

One hundred years ago, our understanding of ancient Egypt changed forever when the tomb of King Tutankhamun was found on November 4, 1922 in the Valley of Kings. Born around… Read more »

Africa: Climate Change - the Effects of Extreme Heat On Health in Africa - 4 Essential Reads

Scientists are sounding the alarm about the extreme increases in the Earth's temperature. A new report by UNICEF warns that 2022 could be the "coldest year of the rest of our… Read more »

Lesotho: Lesotho's Election Brought Change. Six Things Needed to Promote Peace and Democracy

Lesotho's 2022 general election, its tenth since its independence from Britain in 1966, was unique in more ways than one. Read more »

Africa: Astronomers Have Detected Another 'Planet Killer' Asteroid. Could We Miss One Coming Our Way?

If you surfed the web this morning, you may have seen news of the latest existential threat to humanity: a "planet killer" asteroid named 2022 AP7. Read more »

Ethiopia: Ethiopia-Tigray Deal Signed - Expert Insights Into Two Years of Devastating Conflict

The main combatants in the two-year Ethiopia-Tigray war have announced a dramatic pause in hostilities. What started on November 3 2020 as a swift armed mission by Ethiopian prime… Read more »

Uganda: Ebola - Lessons From Covid Show That Heavy-Handed Lockdowns May Be a Bad Idea

Since the first case of the current Ebola outbreak in Uganda was confirmed in mid-September, the number of cases has topped 127 across seven districts, including 17 in the capital… Read more »

Africa: From Centaurus to Xbb - Your Handy Guide to the Latest Covid Subvariants (And Why Some Are More Worrying Than Others)

The Omicron variant of concern has splintered into multiple subvariants. So we've had to get our heads around these mutated forms of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,… Read more »

Africa: South Africa's Dance Music Craze, Amapiano, Could Conquer the World - If Its Stars Step Up

There's a lot of hype around amapiano. The South African dance music genre has dominated dancefloors since 2019, spreading from South Africa to West Africa and now to the world.… Read more »

Africa: Loss and Damage - Who Is Responsible When Climate Change Harms the World's Poorest Countries, and What Does Compensation Look Like?

You may be hearing the phrase "loss and damage" in the coming weeks as government leaders meet in Egypt for the 2022 U.N. Climate Change Conference. Read more »

Africa: Who Is Responsible When Climate Change Harms the World's Poorest Countries?

You may be hearing the phrase "loss and damage" in the coming weeks as government leaders meet in Egypt for the 2022 U.N. Climate Change Conference. Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Deadly Conflicts Over Water and Grazing Pasture Are Escalating - Here's Why

Violence in the Sahel is escalating, killing more than 11,000 people in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso since 2012. Such conflict has emerged for a number of reasons, including… Read more »

Africa: 3 Things a Climate Scientist Wants World Leaders to Know Ahead of COP27

World leaders and climate experts are gathering for pivotal United Nations climate change talks in Egypt. Known as COP27, the conference will aim to put Earth on a path to net-zero… Read more »

Africa: Lockdowns Had a Huge Impact in the Mental Health of the Elderly

In Spain we suffered one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in response to the COVID pandemic. For a time, we were only allowed to go to the supermarket, the bank and the… Read more »

Africa: Pancreatic Cancer Could Be Diagnosed Up to Three Years Earlier - New Study

Every year, more than 10,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, for most of those people, the disease is diagnosed too late to be cured. Less… Read more »