insert_link Environment Unmasking the environmental impact of tires By bhishyant Kidangoor and Sandy Watt via MongaBay Ever since tires were invented, they have rolled into our lives and changed the way we live. From cushioning wheels, one of humanity’s greatest inventions, to moving us around safely, tires have essentially reshaped how we function. The tremendous applications, however, come at an expense. Right from when raw materials are sourced to produce tires up until the time they end up in […] todayJanuary 15, 2024 16
insert_link Opinion Pieces South Africa’s legal team in the genocide case against Israel has won praise. Who are they? By Narnia Bohler-Muller, Human Sciences Research Council South African justice minister Ronald Lamola led a top legal team to argue the country’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 11 January. South Africa argues that Israel’s indiscriminate retaliatory bombing and siege of Gaza contravenes the Genocide Convention. More than 23,000 Palestinians, including at least 10,000 children, have been killed. Narnia Bohler-Muller, an international law […] todayJanuary 15, 2024 8
insert_link Opinion Pieces US election: third party candidates can tip the balance in a tight race – here’s why Robert F Kennedy Jr matters By Thomas Gift, UCL US politics will start with a bang in January 2024. The long-awaited Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries promise to provide early clarity on a likely Donald Trump v Joe Biden rematch for the presidential election this year. But beneath the hoopla of the first-tier White House candidacies will be another race – the sprint to get on the ballot for those not running as Republicans […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 12
insert_link Africa Empowering Dreams: Pwani Teknowgalz in Mombasa, Kenya, Breaking Barriers in STEM Education for Young Women By Velma Pamela and Irene Mumbi, via bird story agency It's quiet at Pwani Teknowgalz. Really quiet. You'd almost think no one was home. Across from the reception counter, a handful of young women are engrossed in activities on their laptops. Many are wearing coloured hijabs; brown and black are the predominant colours, initially making it difficult to identify Latifah Noor. It turns out that the 25-year-old is seated […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 37
insert_link Business / Economics South Africa, Joburg building fire survivors demand better housing after their settlement floods By Kimberly Mutandiro via GroundUp Albert Street building fire survivors and activists, who are part of the Marshalltown Fire Justice Campaign, meet at the Denver settlement on the outskirts of the city centre on Wednesday to discuss their poor living conditions. Photo: Kimberly Mutandiro Survivors of the Albert Street building fire in Johannesburg and activists gathered on Wednesday for an emergency meeting. The building was engulfed in a fire in August […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 19
insert_link Africa South Africa’s new intelligence bill is meant to stem abuses – what’s good and bad about it By Jane Duncan, University of Glasgow When South Africa became a constitutional democracy in 1994, it replaced its apartheid-era intelligence apparatus with a new one aimed at serving the country’s new democratic dispensation. However, the regime of former president Jacob Zuma, 2009-2018, deviated from this path. It abused the intelligence services to serve his political and allegdly corrupt ends. Now the country is taking steps to remedy the situation. […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 5
insert_link Africa Coca-Cola in Africa: a long history full of unexpected twists and turns By Sara Byala, University of Pennsylvania A new book called Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African tells the story of how the world’s most famous carbonated drink conquered the continent. It’s a tale of marketing gumption and high politics and is the product of years of research by critical writing lecturer Sara Byala, who researches histories of heritage, sustainability and the ways in which capitalist systems intersect with social and […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 13
insert_link Environment ‘Cowboys’ and intermediaries thrive in Wild West of the carbon market Women making skirts from grass in Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Image by Rita Willaert via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). By John Cannon via Mongabay When Andrea Babon learned about what a company called Kanaka Management Services (KMS) had been up to in Papua New Guinea, she was aghast at the apparent incoherence of its plans. The India-based carbon credit consultancy had scoped out a forest conservation project in Oro province that […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 11
insert_link Namibia Ethiopia’s quest for access to the sea: success rests on good relations with its neighbours By Bizuneh Yimenu, University of Birmingham and Robert McCabe, Coventry University On 1 January, Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding granting Addis Ababa direct access to the Gulf of Aden. This strategic agreement paves the way for Ethiopia to establish commercial and military bases along the coast. Under the agreement, Somaliland will lease 20km of coastal land to Ethiopia for 50 years. Ethiopia commits to offering Somaliland […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 6