June 16
Nigeria: Nigerians Tell Their Stories of Banditry. 'A Month Will Not Go By Without Someone Being Killed in This Village.'
Banditry is widespread in Nigeria. It has been defined as "a loose collection of various criminal groups involved in kidnap-for-ransom, armed robbery, cattle rustling, rape and… Read more »
Africa: Asteroid or Comet? Meteor or Meteorite? How to Identify and Classify the Rocks You See Streaking Through the Sky
Have you ever been out at night and seen a streak of light blast across the sky and disappear? Ever wonder where that shooting star came from, or how it got to be in your sky? Read more »
Zimbabwe: Great Zimbabwe - Debunking the Myth of Tyrants and Forced Labour
For more than a century, Great Zimbabwe has stood at the centre of a powerful story about the Zimbabwe culture. This remarkable African civilization flourished in southern Africa… Read more »
Africa: Western Troops Have Been Expelled From Africa's Sahel - So Why Are Italy's Carabinieri Still There?
Western forces have largely beat a hasty retreat from Africa's coup-prone Sahel region in recent years. Read more »
June 15
Kenya: Kenya Wants to Close Refugee Camps - the Promise and Risks of Its Ambitious New Plan
Kenya hosts nearly a million refugees, mainly from South Sudan and Somalia. Many of them have been living in refugee camps for decades. Read more »
Africa: South Africa Is Short of 2.6 Million Homes - Vienna's Approach to Social Housing Offers Useful Lessons
South Africa faces a housing backlog of at least 2.6 million units, for more than 12 million people. The state supply of new, subsidised housing has declined over the past decade… Read more »
Africa: Conflict Hits Schooling Hardest Where Children Are the Target - Study
According to Unesco, around 250 million children (16%) globally are out of school although they are of an age to be at school in their countries. Available evidence suggests that… Read more »
Africa: Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim Crafted a Magnificent New Culture for South Africa
Adolph Johannes Brand was born on 9 October 1934 in Cape Town. He would become better known as Dollar Brand and then Abdullah Ibrahim, an artist of mixed ethnic descent who… Read more »
June 14
Africa: Ebola, Hantavirus, Diphtheria - How Distrust in Health Care Is Fuelling Multiple Outbreaks Across the Globe
The first half of 2026 has been marked by three different disease outbreaks: Ebola, hantavirus and, in Australia, diphtheria. Each has exposed vulnerabilities in how we detect,… Read more »
Africa: The Giant Viruses That Orchestrate Life in the Polar Regions
Viruses play a major role in the functioning of ecosystems. They profoundly influence the dynamics of microbial communities, flow of matter and global biogeochemical cycles. Yet… Read more »
South Africa: Ma Vesta Smith - Why This Unsung Activist Matters 50 Years After the Soweto Uprising
While many men are remembered as heroes of political struggles, women seldom get enough attention. Vesta Smith is a good example. She fought for South Africa's liberation from… Read more »
South Africa: Young, South African and Unemployed - Finding Direction Starts With Knowing Yourself - Counsellor
Thirty-two years after South Africa became a democratic state, the futures of millions of young people in the country are shaped to a large degree by uncertainty, exclusion,… Read more »
South Africa: The Story Behind Soweto Blues, Miriam Makeba's Famous Song About the June 16 Uprising
Miriam Makeba sang a famous song about the 16 June 1976 uprising in her birthplace, South Africa. The protest was a pivotal point in the fight against apartheid and white minority… Read more »
South Africa: Want to Learn a South African Language? Your Options Are Limited - Here's Why
It's 50 years since the Soweto uprising in South Africa. On 16 June 1976, tens of thousands of young black South Africans protested against being taught in the Afrikaans language… Read more »
June 12
Africa: Fungal Highways Are Vast, Yet Hidden Underground - New Study
Beneath our feet lie some of the largest living organisms on Earth. Fungi are mostly invisible and largely overlooked, but they help sustain the ecosystems and food systems that we… Read more »
June 11
West Africa: Forced Labour in West African Cybercrime Academies - How Fear Traps Young Men
Forced labour in cybercrime might call to mind scam compounds in south-east Asia. A growing body of scholarship, journalism and policy attention has entrenched that stereotype.… Read more »
Africa: Sharks, Seals, Hunters, Tourists - How Wildlife-Human Interactions Matter for Conservation
Our relationships with wildlife are dynamic. They can change rapidly and unexpectedly. Read more »
South Africa: Foot and Mouth Disease in South Africa - How a Tracking System Would Control Outbreaks
Foot and mouth disease is common in South Africa's wildlife reserves. There are constant efforts to make sure it doesn't spread to farmed animals. But since 2019 the country has… Read more »
Africa: Appolonia - the Story of an African Kingdom That Resisted the Atlantic Slave Trade
The transatlantic slave trade was a multilayered, highly commercialised global enterprise that lasted from the early 1500s to the mid 1800s. Read more »
South Africa: How Traditional Music Helps the Elderly in a South African Care Centre
Being an elderly person in South Africa presents a range of challenges. Apartheid shaped diverse experiences of ageing and elderly care along racial and ethnic lines. In the… Read more »
June 10
Africa: World Cup 2026 - the Real Story of the Resilient African Migrants Reshaping Global Football
Global football body Fifa is branding the World Cup 2026 - and global football in general - as a celebration of inclusivity and diversity. It's presented as a harbinger of peace… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Jobs Crisis - What 10 Years of Tax Data Tells Us
It's time South Africa faced up to an honest question: what if the formal economy can't deliver the jobs that are needed? Read more »
Africa: AI Regulation in Africa - Why Copying the European Model Won't Work
Mauritius set out its national AI strategy in 2018, the first by an African country. Since then over a dozen African states have adopted national AI policies of some sort or… Read more »
Africa: Do Aid Cuts Fuel Violent Conflict in Africa? How to Promote Peace
The last 18 months have seen a historic decline in development aid budgets from various donor countries, in a period where many of them are earmarking more funds for rearmament.… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria Raised Electricity Prices to Improve Supply. Why It Hasn't Worked
Nigeria's electricity regulator triggered a big tariff shock in April 2024. It increased rates for some consumers by over 240%, citing the cost of producing and delivering power. Read more »
