November 29, 2023
Africa: COP28 - How Bad Is Climate Change Already and What Do We Need to Do Next to Tackle It?
As the latest UN climate change summit (COP28) gets underway in Dubai, conversations around limiting global warming to 1.5°C will confront a harsh reality. Global temperatures… Read more »
Nigeria: Climate Change - 3 Key Goals Nigeria Must Focus On At COP28
Global environmental stakeholders will converge in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, from 30 November to 12 December 2023 for the UN Climate conference known as COP28. The… Read more »
Africa: Climate Action for Africa in 2023 - Three Big Developments
2023 is highly likely to be the hottest year ever recorded. And climate change is to blame for one-quarter of the global population being exposed to dangerous levels of extreme… Read more »
South Africa: Opera in Cape Town - Critics Trace How a Colonial Art Form Was Reinvented As African
Many people thought that classical opera in South Africa - regarded as a western, colonial art form that was the preserve of white people during apartheid - would die with… Read more »
Ghana: Ghana Wants to Restrict Imports On 22 Products - An Economist Explains How, Why and What Else Must Be Done
Ghana's Ministry of Trade and Industry has tabled in parliament a proposed ban or restrictions on imports of certain goods, including rice, sugar, poultry, fruit juices and animal… Read more »
Africa: Low Emissions and Economic Survival - Countries in the Global South Aren't Getting a Fair Deal
In 2015, more than 140 countries signed up to the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. For countries in the global south this is a huge task. On the one hand they have… Read more »
November 28, 2023
South Africa: Sharpeville - New Research On 1960 South African Massacre Shows the Number of Dead and Injured Was Massively Undercounted
On 21 March 1960 at 1.40 in the afternoon, apartheid South Africa's police opened fire on a peaceful crowd of about 4,000 residents of Sharpeville, who were protesting against… Read more »
Zambia: Zambia's Foreign Debt Tragedy - What Needs to Happen to Resolve the Crisis
Three years after defaulting on its foreign debt, Zambia is still trying to reach agreement with all its creditors on how to manage this situation. This has left the southern… Read more »
Africa: Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year - Authentic - Reflects Growing Concerns Over AI's Ability to Deceive and Dehumanize
When Merriam-Webster announced that its word of the year for 2023 was "authentic," it did so with over a month to go in the calendar year. Read more »
Africa: As Seas Get Warmer, Tropical Species Are Moving Further From the Equator
Climate change is causing tropical species in the ocean to move from the equator towards the poles, while temperate species recede. This mass movement of marine life, termed… Read more »
Africa: As Disasters and Heat Intensify, Can the World Meet the Urgency of the Moment At the COP28 Climate Talks?
Eight years ago, the world agreed to an ambitious target in the Paris Agreement: hold warming to 1.5°C to limit further dangerous levels of climate change. Read more »
Africa: Umaru Shehu - Nigerian Public Health Giant Who Played a Major Role in Polio Eradication
Professor Emeritus Umaru Shehu, who died on 2 October 2023, was born in Yerwa (Maiduguri), Nigeria, in 1930. Widely regarded as one of the country's early leaders in public health… Read more »
Africa: Faith Communities Are Rallying to Check Climate Change - Their Size and Influence Counts
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), more than 80% of the global population are motivated by a faith or spirituality. Faced with the triple planetary… Read more »
November 27, 2023
Africa: Earth's Magnetic Field Protects Life On Earth From Radiation, but It Can Move, and the Magnetic Poles Can Even Flip
The Earth's magnetic field plays a big role in protecting people from hazardous radiation and geomagnetic activity that could affect satellite communication and the operation of… Read more »
Mozambique: Rwanda's Troops in Mozambique Have Done Well to Protect Civilians - The Factors At Play
Rwanda's involvement in peacekeeping operations for the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) has increased since 2004. Read more »
Africa: Online Foreign Exchange System Aims to Enable Cross-Border Payments in Local Currencies - What You Need to Know
The high cost of making cross border payments on the African continent has driven governments on the continent to seek options of settling trade and other transactions in local… Read more »
Africa: Stones Inside Fish Ears Mark Time Like Tree Rings - And Now They're Helping Us Learn About Climate Change
As a marine biologist, I've always found it fascinating to learn about how animals adapt to their habitat. But climate change has made it more important than ever - wild animals'… Read more »
Africa: COP28 - Inside the United Arab Emirates, the Oil Giant Hosting 2023 Climate Change Summit
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the world's seventh largest oil producer, will host the 28th UN climate change summit (COP28) in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. Presiding… Read more »
Zimbabwe: John Hlatywayo - Remembering a Great Artist Who Was Woefully Neglected By History
John Hlatywayo, who has died at 96, was a great painter, sculptor and mentor. However he is woefully neglected in the art history of Zimbabwe and southern Africa. Read more »
Africa: Stem Cell Therapy Shows Promise for Treating Multiple Sclerosis - New Study
Over 2 million people globally have multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that affects the nervous system and can lead to problems moving, seeing and thinking. Read more »
November 26, 2023
Africa: How Worried Should We Be About the Pneumonia Outbreak in China?
Reports of a surge in pneumonia-like illness primarily affecting children in northern China have captured our attention. The last time we heard about a mysterious respiratory… Read more »
Ethiopia: What Is Federalism? Why Ethiopia Uses This System of Government and Why It's Not Perfect
Federalism is a system of government where power is shared between a central authority and smaller regional governments. Read more »
November 24, 2023
Rwanda: UK's Failed Asylum Deportation Plan Puts Rwanda's Human Rights and Refugee Struggles in the Spotlight
The UK Supreme Court ruled on 15 November 2023 that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. The plan would have seen tens of thousands of asylum seekers sent from the UK to… Read more »
Southern Africa: Southern African Troops Versus M23 Rebels in the DRC - 4 Risks This Poses
The security situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to deteriorate. The region comprises North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces.… Read more »
Africa: The Way a Sperm Tail Moves Can Be Explained By Mathematics Worked Out By Alan Turing
Alan Turing might be best known for his work helping to crack Germany's "Enigma" communications code during the second world war. But he also came up with a theory where patterns… Read more »