insert_link South Africa South Africa’s unity government: 5 parties that need to find common ground By Joleen Steyn Kotze, University of the Free State Following South Africa’s historic 2024 general election, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has started a process to establish a government of national unity. This, after it lost its parliamentary majority. As a political scientist, I believe that five political parties, including those with the highest shares of votes, are key to constituting a unity government. […] todayJune 11, 2024 16
insert_link Africa The tiny African island nation of Cape Verde will add to its Olympics retinue with a sport that is flourishing Africa-wide By Bonface Orucho, bird story agency The 2024 Paris Olympics will be historic for Cape Verde, the island nation that seems to be outperforming across the board, as the nation debuts in a new sport for the country's Olympics team: fencing. The milestone highlights just how much the sport is growing, not only on the Atlantic Ocean island, but across the African continent. According to […] todayJune 10, 2024 55
insert_link World Trump’s post-conviction windfall shows democracy is increasingly a pay-to-play game By Daniel Drache, York University, Canada and Marc D. Froese, Burman University In the hours immediately following Donald Trump’s recent hush-money conviction in a Manhattan courtroom, his presidential campaign raked in US$53 million from small donors. Why are regular people without deep pockets throwing so much money at a convicted felon? In the United States today, as in many other countries with a populism […] todayJune 10, 2024 15
insert_link World EU parliament election sees shaken centre hold – but far right now has chances to show its strength By Amelia Hadfield, University of Surrey After the four-day, 27-state democratic marathon that is the European parliamentary election, a picture has emerged of a fragile centre just holding amid a shift to the right that carries a significant potential to shape the near future of the EU, despite having fallen short of producing the earthquake some predicted. The big shock came in France, with […] todayJune 10, 2024 11
insert_link Africa Farming with a mixture of crops, animals and trees is better for the environment and for people – evidence from Ghana and Malawi Moving away from intensive farming practices comes with many benefits. Nikada By Laura Vang Rasmussen, University of Copenhagen; Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong, University of Denver; Ingo Grass, University of Hohenheim; Marney Isaac, University of Toronto, and Rachel Bezner Kerr, Cornell University Farming just one kind of crop in a field at a time, and using a lot of chemicals, poses a risk to both people and nature. This simplified […] todayJune 10, 2024 32
insert_link Health / Medical Michael Mosley used science communication to advance health and wellbeing. We can learn a lot from his approach By Lauren Ball, The University of Queensland and Kirsten Adlard, The University of Queensland Overnight, we learned of the tragic passing of Michael Mosley, who went missing last week while on holiday on the Greek island of Symi. The British celebrity doctor was a household name in many countries, including Australia. Mosley was well known for his television shows, documentaries, books and columns on […] todayJune 10, 2024 21
insert_link Science & Technology What will a robot make of your résumé? The bias problem with using AI in job recruitment Parradee Kietsirikul/Getty Images By Melika Soleimani, Massey University; Ali Intezari, The University of Queensland; David J Pauleen, Massey University, and Jim Arrowsmith, Massey University The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has begun, spreading to almost every facet of people’s professional and personal lives – including job recruitment. While artists fear copyright breaches or simply being replaced, business and management are becoming increasingly aware to the possibilities of […] todayJune 10, 2024 19
insert_link Health / Medical Cholera can kill you within hours if left untreated: how to recognise the symptoms and protect yourself By Samuel Kariuki, Kenya Medical Research Institute Cholera is a deadly disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, associated with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water. But it has also been found in seemingly clean places, including affluent neighbourhoods, hotels and restaurants with poor hygiene practices such as handling food with dirty hands and using contaminated water to wash utensils and prepare food. […] todayJune 10, 2024 30
insert_link Africa Hunter-gatherer diets weren’t always heavy on meat: Morocco study reveals a plant-based diet By Zineb Moubtahij, Leiden University About 11,000 years ago, humans made a major shift from hunting and gathering to farming. This change, known as the Neolithic Revolution, dramatically altered our diets. For decades, scientists have thought that pre-agricultural human groups ate a lot of animal protein. But analysis has always been hampered by a scarcity of well-preserved human remains from Pleistocene sites. So, in fact, […] todayJune 10, 2024 18