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Coronavirus: UN security council finally calls for global ceasefire after US and China delay talks
Eventually: members of the UN Security Council pass a resolution calling for a global cesefire on July 1. UN Web TV In the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in late March, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, issued a call for a global ceasefire. He described it as theContinue Reading
Blindsight: a strange neurological condition that could help explain consciousness
Brain scan of a boy with fever and alteration of consciousness. Suttha Burawonk Imagine being completely blind but still being able to see. Does that sound impossible? Well, it happens. A few years ago, a man (let’s call him Barry) suffered two strokes in quick succession. As a result, BarryContinue Reading
Rwanda’s COVID-19 pool testing: a savvy option where there’s low viral prevalence
alexandersr/shutterstock Many countries in East Africa have turned to contact tracing and carrying out COVID-19 tests on thousands of individuals as a way of monitoring and trying to limit transmissions of the new coronavirus. In Rwanda, they have been investigating how they can scale up testing significantly. But instead ofContinue Reading
Why rural electrification won’t fix deforestation in Zimbabwe
GettyImages Reliance on biomass such as fuelwood for energy in rural areas has a strong bearing on Zimbabwe’s environment. Rural communities in Zimbabwe meet 94% of their cooking energy requirements by using traditional fuels, mainly fuelwood, and 20% of urban households use wood as the main cooking fuel. For thisContinue Reading
Football betting among young Nigerians may create problems but a ban isn’t the answer
European football leagues' popularity and increased internet access make football betting attractive among young people in Nigeria. Catherine Ivill/AFP via Getty Images In Nigeria, football betting has a long history that can be traced to colonial times, when pool betting was popular, especially among older adults. Since then, more youngerContinue Reading
Why does racism prevail? Leading scholars apply their minds
Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images All people belong to one biological species and there are no human “races”. So why does belief in race persist? It may be a scientific misconception, but it is real. It defines the lived experience of many people and determines how governments act and howContinue Reading
Technology is a powerful determinant of change, but labour can shape its direction
Technology is a powerful determinant of change but so are trade unions and the state Shutterstock Technology is a product of human labour. The working class and society can therefore shape its direction. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), long-term technological change has created more employment than it hasContinue Reading
South African banks need to do more to ensure financial inclusion
Photo by Frédéric Soltan/Corbis via Getty Images An analysis of financial inclusion in South Africa shows that affordability limits poor households’ access to formal financial services. In our study, which looked at people’s use of financial goods and services between 2008 and 2015, we found that there was a generalContinue Reading
Mexico City buried its rivers to prevent disease and unwittingly created a dry, polluted city where COVID-19 now thrives
Situated on a plateau and surrounded by mountains, Mexico City is a bowl that traps smog and dust. AP Photo/Marco Ugarte Mexico City is a dust bowl, a polluted megalopolis where breathing is hard and newly washed clothes hung out to dry turn stiff by evening. Even before the COVID-19Continue Reading
How racist is Britain today? What the evidence tells us
When seeking to get a picture of the inequality and social injustice faced by black and minority ethnic groups in the UK, a good place to start is the government’s own figures). It’s starkly evident that major ethnic and racial inequalities persist in employment, housing and the justice system. BlackContinue Reading