insert_link Africa Ghana’s new vehicle tax aims to tackle pollution – expert unpacks how it’ll work and suggests reforms By Theophilus Acheampong, University of Aberdeen Ghana has introduced an annual carbon levy on vehicles and industrial emissions. It’s only the third African country to introduce an explicit carbon tax, after South Africa and Mauritius. The tax is intended to address harm associated with vehicle emissions. But it has prompted a pushback from various citizens, civic and consumer groups. The Conversation Africa’s Godfred Akoto Boafo spoke […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 19
insert_link World Israeli siege has placed Gazans at risk of starvation − prewar policies made them vulnerable in the first place Displaced Gazan children wait in line to receive food. Belal Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images Yara M. Asi, University of Central Florida The stories of hunger emerging from war-ravaged Gaza are stark: People resorting to grinding barely edible cattle feed to make flour; desperate residents eating grass; reports of cats being hunted for food. The numbers involved are just as despairing. The world’s major authority on food insecurity, the IPC Famine […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 13
insert_link Environment Rhinos can’t sweat, making them vulnerable to overheating: global warming could wipe them out in southern Africa By Timothy Randhir, UMass Amherst Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world’s 23,432 white and black African rhinos. But they’re facing grave threats because of a warming planet. Now, the first study of how climate change affects rhinos in southern Africa has found that they will cease to exist in the region’s national parks by 2085 if the world takes the worst-case scenario climate change […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 16
insert_link Opinion Pieces Israel-Egypt peace treaty has stood the test of time over 45 years: expert explains its significance By Ofir Winter, Tel Aviv University The peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, signed in 1979 to end hostilities and normalise relations between them, turns 45 on 26 March. The Conversation Africa asked Ofir Winter, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, who studies Egyptian politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict, for his insights on the peace deal and the key challenging moments since it […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 17
insert_link Opinion Pieces Rafah: A Point of No Return By Mona Ali Khalil The catastrophe in Rafah has begun. In the 131 terrible days since the horrible Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, we have watched 1.8 million Palestinian civilians pushed from the north of Gaza to the south and even further south until they reached Rafah at the very end of the strip. Adults and children alike have been bombed and shot relentlessly in […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 24
insert_link Business / Economics South Africa has spent billions in 4 years to create jobs for young people: how their wages affect the broader economy By Joshua Budlender, UMass Amherst and Ihsaan Bassier, London School of Economics and Political Science In October 2020 the South African government launched a collection of public employment programmes, initially intended as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, called the Presidential Employment Stimulus, has been extended since then. The total budget allocation to March 2024 was R42 billion (US$2.1 billion). By December 2023 it had […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 3
insert_link Opinion Pieces Wagner Group is now Africa Corps. What this means for Russia’s operations on the continent By Alessandro Arduino, King's College London In August 2023, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died after his private jet crashed about an hour after taking off in Moscow. He had been Russia’s pointman in Africa since the Wagner Group began operating on the continent in 2017. The group is known for deploying paramilitary forces, running disinformation campaigns and propping up influential political leaders. It has had a […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 8
insert_link Business / Economics The rise of robo-retail: Who gets left behind when retail is automated? By Mathew Iantorno, University of Toronto Canada’s first robotic cafe, RC Coffee, opened in Toronto in October 2020. The flagship location of the coffee chain revived the long-dormant retail concept of the automat: a restaurant where food and drinks are served by technology, rather than human staff. The new coffee automat consisted of a touchscreen for placing orders, a window that allows customers to watch a […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 22
insert_link Health / Medical Why forgetting is a normal function of memory – and when to worry Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock, CC BY Alexander Easton, Durham University Forgetting in our day to day lives may feel annoying or, as we get older, a little frightening. But it is an entirely normal part of memory – enabling us to move on or make space for new information. In fact, our memories aren’t as reliable as we may think. But what level of forgetting is actually normal? Is it OK […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 17