May 18
Africa: Hantavirus in Africa - Why Climate Change, Rats and Weak Surveillance Are Worrying Scientists
Hantaviruses are not new. They have circulated for decades in rodent populations, particularly in rats and mice. Humans can become infected if they are bitten or scratched by a… Read more »
Africa: Ebola Outbreak Declared a Global Health Emergency - What You Need to Know
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a "public health emergency of international concern", with cases now… Read more »
Liberia: Ebola Survivors Struggle to Return to Normal Lives - What I Found Out in Sierra Leone and Liberia
During the Ebola epidemic of 2014 to 2016, Musu, a resident of Monrovia, Liberia contracted the Ebola virus along with her husband, five sons and daughter. Read more »
Congo-Kinshasa: What You Need to Know About the Ebola Outbreak That Has the Who Concerned
The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency of international concern. Read more »
May 17
Congo-Kinshasa: DR Congo Is Sending in the Military to Guard Mines and Critical Minerals. Will It Be Enough?
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is taking an unusual step to secure its critical minerals. It plans to create a new paramilitary unit to protect mining sites and transport… Read more »
South Africa: Water Tank Delivery in South Africa Has Stopped Pipes Getting Fixed and Opened the Door to Corruption - Research
Across many cities and towns in South Africa, turning on a tap no longer guarantees water. Instead, trucks - known as water tankers - arrive to deliver water to communities facing… Read more »
Africa: The World Bank Wants to Change the Way It Manages Complaints - the Fixes That Could Make It Better
The World Bank made history in 1994 by creating the Inspection Panel, the first independent accountability mechanism at any international organisation. Its function is to… Read more »
Africa: A Football World Cup Is a Global Cultural Exchange. How Will That Work in Trump's America?
The most culturally diverse men's football World Cup in history is taking place in the United States at a time when foreign nationals feel less and less welcome in the country. Read more »
May 15
Africa: From Medieval Plague Ships to Hantavirus - How Outbreaks At Sea Helped to Shape the International Public Health System
Cruise ships are convenient floating hotels by which to see far-flung parts of the world - but as an epidemiologist, I know they are also everything an infectious pathogen could… Read more »
May 14
Africa: Hantavirus - a Cruise Ship, a Deer Mouse, and the Fictional Line Between Human and Animal Health
In February 2025, the classical pianist Betsy Arakawa died in her New Mexico home from a virus most people had never heard of. Her husband, the actor Gene Hackman, died a week… Read more »
South Africa: Julius Malema - South Africa's Performative Revolutionary Is Facing His Biggest Battle
Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa's fourth-largest party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), is a divisive figure: loved by some, hated by others. Read more »
Sudan: In Sudan, a Migrant Community Reveals a Resistance to Malaria - the Genetic Study Helping Shape Medicine
Sudan lies at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East. It has played a key role in human demographic movements, reflected in the diversity of its cultures and languages.… Read more »
Africa: How the World Can Avoid Millions Going Hungry When Supply Chains Collapse
Millions more people will face hunger in the coming months if the conflict in the Middle East is not resolved soon, the UN has warned. The price of energy, which instantly affects… Read more »
Nigeria: Informal Workers in Lagos Are Left to Cope With Devastating Floods Alone - Why Things Must Change
There have been four major floods in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, over the past 14 years. The floodwaters swamp the open-air markets of Oshodi, one of the city's largest informal… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's War On Traditional Alcohol - a Colonial Hangover About What It Means to Be 'Civilised'
At the dawn of Kenya's colonial era in 1902, consumption of home-made alcohol was deeply embedded in society. For instance, among the Mijikenda of coastal Kenya, palm wine was… Read more »
May 13
Africa: Bottom Trawling Is Scraping Oceans of Wildlife
Bottom trawlers extract one-quarter of the world's fisheries catches by weight and raise significant ecological, economic and social concerns. Given that, you'd think there would… Read more »
Africa: 100 Million African Children Are Not in School. What's Driving the Trend and How to Reverse It
Many countries across Africa have embraced universal basic education policies in recent decades. But recent data has revealed that more than 100 million children and adolescents… Read more »
Africa: Agriculture in Africa - Science and Research Can't Make an Impact Without Investment and Good Policies
Agriculture is the lifeblood of Africa. More than 60% of African households depend directly or indirectly on the land for their livelihoods. And the continent has nearly 60% of the… Read more »
Tanzania: Better-Designed Homes Could Cut Three Major Child Diseases By Up to 44% - Tanzania Trial
Malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia are preventable childhood diseases that are major causes of death in young children. They're transmitted largely in and around the home, where… Read more »
Africa: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - How They Stack Up On Reusing Waste
The global economy still largely follows a simple pattern: extract natural resources, manufacture products, use them and then throw them away. This "take, make, dispose" model has… Read more »
May 12
Egypt: Why Was an Egyptian Mummy Stuffed With a Fragment of Homer's Iliad?
Archaeologists have found something unexpected inside a 1,600-year-old Roman-era Egyptian mummy: a fragment of Homer's Iliad. It wasn't placed beside the body, but inside the… Read more »
Africa: Millions of Farmers in Africa's Great Lakes Region Face Rising Temperatures. Study Predicts How Crop Disease and Pests Could Spread
Farming in the Great Lakes region of Africa (which includes Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Kenya) is challenging because of changing… Read more »
Africa: Africa Has the World's Greatest Genetic Diversity, Yet It's Missing From Research - We're Filling the Gap
Throughout history, most of the world's genomic research has relied on DNA data from people of European ancestry. Read more »
May 11
Western Sahara: We Found Hundreds of Huge Ancient Mass Graves Hidden in the Sahara Desert
We have been on a years-long campaign of satellite remote sensing of the vast desert landscapes in Eastern Sudan. Read more »
Ghana: Ghana's Transport System Is Chaotic - How It Can Move More People With Fewer Vehicles - Research
Every morning in Accra, Ghana's capital, thousands of commuters sit in traffic while minibuses and taxis compete for limited road space. Read more »
