November 02, 2022
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 »
November 01, 2022
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 »
Ghana: Ghana's Illegal Mining Continues Because the Rules and Reality Are Disconnected
Artisanal and small-scale mining - a low-tech, indigenous mining subsector - is taking on increasing economic importance in many developing countries. Over 150 million people… Read more »
South Africa: Large Tortoises Lived in South Africa Long Ago - How We Recorded Their Fast-Disappearing Traces
In 1835 Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, was exploring an island in the Galápagos archipelago when he encountered "two large tortoises, each of which… Read more »
Kenya: Digital Solutions Are Boosting Agriculture in Kenya, but It's Time to Scale Up. Here's How
Digital agricultural services have proliferated across Africa over the last decade. Most are services that work on mobile phones, although more advanced technologies are in use too… Read more »
Africa: The Horn of Africa Has Had Years of Drought, Yet Groundwater Supplies Are Increasing - Why?
The Horn of Africa - which includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and some surrounding countries - has been hit by increasingly frequent and devastating droughts. Despite this, it seems… Read more »
Nigeria: Serena Williams' Investment Shows That Tech Sector Is Attractive - But Things Can Be Better
Nigeria is the leading African destination for foreign direct investments in technology startup businesses. Between 2015 and 2022, Nigerian technology startups have secured funding… Read more »
October 31, 2022
Congo-Brazzaville: Wild Chimpanzees and Gorillas Can Form Long Friendly Associations That Last Decades - New Research
To survive, animals compete for resources, be it food, mating partners or territory. But a ground breaking recent study shows chimpanzees and gorillas form friendships, some… Read more »
Kenya: Police Killings Point to Systemic Rot and a Failed Justice System
Barely a month into office, President William Ruto of Kenya ordered the disbandment of a special police unit placed at the centre of a widening investigation into a wave of… Read more »
Ghana: Ghana's National Museum - Superb Restoration but Painful Stories Remain Untold
Ghana's national museum has reopened its doors after a seven-year closure to allow for major renovations. Read more »
Africa: Who Sees What You Flush? Wastewater Surveillance for Public Health Is On the Rise, but a New Survey Reveals People Are Still Unaware
Flush and forget? Not if you have a toilet that flushes to one of over 3,000 sites around the world where researchers are using wastewater to track SARS-CoV-2, the virus that… Read more »
Egypt: Podcasting in Egypt - How Feminist Activism Has Emerged Through Shared Stories
After more than a decade of teaching audio production to my college students in Cairo, it finally dawned on me that podcasts themselves can serve as teaching tools that highlight… Read more »
Africa: How Debt-for-Climate Swaps Can Help Solve Low-Income Countries' Fiscal and Environmental Challenges At the Same Time
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley spoke passionately to the United Nations General Assembly in September about the mounting debt many developing countries are shouldering… Read more »
Africa: Omicron BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 - An Expert Answers Three Key Questions About These New Covid Variants
Two new omicron subvariants, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, are quickly gaining traction in the US, collectively accounting for 27% of infections as of October 29. Both are descendants of BA.5,… Read more »
October 30, 2022
Africa: How Covid-19 Damages Lungs - Virus Attacks Mitochondria, Continuing an Ancient Battle
Viruses and bacteria have a very long history. Because viruses can't reproduce without a host, they've been attacking bacteria for millions of years. Some of those bacteria… Read more »
South Africa: Emergency Services in South Africa Are Overwhelmed - How One Community Created Its Own
In a medical emergency, the time it takes emergency services to respond could be the difference between survival or death. Ambulance response time is a global benchmark of… Read more »
Africa: Vaccines Could Be a Game-Changer in the Fight Against Malaria in Africa
The development of an effective vaccine for malaria has proved to be far more challenging than developing a vaccine to protect people from COVID-19. Several different COVID-19… Read more »
October 28, 2022
Nigeria: How Floods Affect Food Security
Food insecurity is a serious, growing problem in Nigeria. It was reported that 7 out of 10 Nigerians did not have enough to eat in 2021. Read more »