Contributed, Author at Future Media News

Syria’s Enduring Turmoil Heads Into 2024

Escalating violence in northwest Syria left 66 people dead in attacks by the government and Russia, according to the White Helmets/Syrian Civil Defense, above, in October 2023. The war, nearing its 13th year, has created the largest displacement crisis globally. Peacemaking efforts by the United Nations go on, but Russia’s crucial cooperation is growing more remote. By Jusaima Moaid-azm Peregrina via PassBlue The Syrian conflict, now nearing its 13th year, […]

23 January, 2024

Environment

Conservationists aim to save South America’s super tiny wild cat, the guina

Image courtesy of Jerry Laker/Fauna Australis. By Petro Kotzé via MongaBay For more than 200 million years, the ancient Valdivian Temperate Forest in southwestern Chile has been a refuge for plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth. This global biodiversity hotspot is home to monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana), the endangered chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera), threatened southern pudu (Pudu puda) — the world’s smallest deer — and two critically endangered species: the […]

23 January, 2024

Sport

Zion Bethonico talks about the brotherly love that fired him up to win Brazil’s first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games medal at Gangwon 2024

Zion Bethonico has been reflecting on becoming Brazil’s first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) medallist and how having his brother there to share it with him made it even sweeter. At the end of the men’s snowboard cross event on Saturday, one Bethonico stood beaming on the podium, while another looked on with tears streaming down his face. Zion had just made history. Elder brother Noah tried to do […]

22 January, 2024

Business / Economics

Major Belgian factory investment marks development of new harvester set to enhance arable farm efficiency

World-leading combine harvester to be produced at New Holland’s Center of Harvesting Excellence in Zedelgem, Belgium Machine to be produced on completely renewed assembly line part-funded by government support alongside investment from parent firm CNH Industrial New CR11 combine extends further the productivity, efficiency and sustainability credentials of the existing world-record-holding CR10.90 In a major development in high-capacity harvesting set to help large farms gather their crops more efficiently […]

22 January, 2024

Africa

Weaver Press is closing – how one small, brave Zimbabwean publisher made a difference

By Tinashe Mushakavanhu, University of Oxford With the news that it is to halt operations it’s a fitting time to take stock of Weaver Press in Zimbabwe. The publishing house started small in 1998 and remained small, co-managed by its two full time employees, the husband and wife team of Murray McCartney and Irene Staunton. At the same time as Weaver Press was celebrating its 25th anniversary, McCartney revealed […]

22 January, 2024

Africa

Rwanda pushes Africa towards universal smartphone access

By Seth Onyango, via bird story agency Progressive policy reforms and the influx of budget-friendly smartphones are steering Africa towards complete digital connectivity in just over a decade. Rwanda's recently-announced, three-year target is the most ambitious on the continent, although statistics show that other nations are also rapidly closing in on similar milestones. As part of Kigali's innovative funding scheme, citizens can obtain handsets at the subsidised price of […]

22 January, 2024

Business / Economics

Why dancers are better workers, according to research

WitthayaP/Shutterstock Michela Vecchi, Kingston University and Ian Marsh, City, University of London Breakdancing in the break room might not seem like the best way to get ahead at work, but research shows recreational dance can actually improve productivity performance in the workplace. It is well known that engaging in physical activity has many health benefits – from reducing the risk of diabetes, to lowering the risk of developing coronary heart […]

22 January, 2024

Africa

Congo’s blackwater Ruki River is a major transporter of forest carbon – new study

River Ruki. Photo by Matti Barthel, Author provided Travis Drake, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; Johan Six, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and Matti Barthel, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich The Congo Basin of central Africa is well known for its network of rivers that drain a variety of landscapes, from dense tropical forests to more arid and wooded savannas. Among the Congo River’s large tributaries, the […]

22 January, 2024

Environment

Why are floods in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal so devastating? Urban planning expert explains

By Hope Magidimisha-Chipungu, University of KwaZulu-Natal The devastation caused by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa demonstrates again that the country is not moving fast enough to adopt appropriate urban planning. It should be integrating risk assessment and management in the design and development of cities. This is becoming more urgent as the frequency of floods increases. Most South African cities were built a long time ago, before […]

22 January, 2024