Showing 1 - 10 of 11
A new page as France quits key bases in Africa
News, John J Metzler, Published on 02/08/2025
» It's a turning of the page in Franco-African diplomatic relations. For the first time since the decolonisation of the French colonies in the 1960s, there will be no formal French military bases on the African continent.
Shift from elections to governance
Oped, Adam Nelson & Kristen Sample, Published on 01/10/2024
» With half of the global population having already voted or preparing to do so in 2024, the "year of elections" has had a profound impact on democracies worldwide. Now, as the year enters its final quarter, it is becoming increasingly apparent that 2025 will be an equally transformative "year of governance".
A new political 'youthquake' takes hold
Oped, Binaifer Nowrojee, Published on 31/08/2024
» Six months ago, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's grip on power in Bangladesh appeared unbreakable. The ruling Awami League had just won a fourth term in an uncontested election, allowing it to stay in full control of the country's institutions. With journalists, human rights defenders, opposition members, and other critics facing politically motivated prosecution, prison, exile, and forced disappearance, a continued descent into authoritarianism seemed certain.
Asterisk more than just a footnote
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/06/2024
» In the ladies golf major tournament last weekend one of the top American amateurs was 15-year-old Asterisk Talley. I don't recall ever coming across Asterisk as a name before. Apparently her mother is Greek and the word asterisk in Greek means "little star". So it would seem quite an acceptable name for a baby.
Democracy survives crucial test in Senegal
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/04/2024
» The crisis in Senegal, the one country in West Africa that has never had a military coup, has passed. Few people outside Africa were paying close attention to it, but I'm sure you will be pleased to know that democracy has survived.
Watch Apple TV's Extrapolations for the science, not the story
Life, Faye Flam, Published on 10/04/2023
» Hollywood has long mined global warming to create terrifying scenarios of apocalyptic futures. Some of these aren't very realistic. Others are all preaching and no teaching. But the new Apple TV series Extrapolations takes a different, more science-steeped approach -- the episodes cascade through the future of this century, using real scientific projections and computer-generated special effects to show how global warming might play out under the most likely scenario.
'Forever chemicals' deserve far more scrutiny
News, Faye Flam, Published on 20/03/2023
» Most of us are walking around with an array of poorly understood chemicals in our bloodstreams and livers -- an unintended consequence of the great 20th century heyday of chemical innovation. They're so stable they've been dubbed "forever chemicals". That means that even if we stop producing them today, some might still course through people's veins centuries from now. We're barely regulating them, even though their harms have become better-known.
How a universal basic income helped Kenyans
Oped, Tavneet Suri and Nidhi Parekh, Published on 02/08/2022
» When the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting recession pushed 120 million people worldwide into extreme poverty in 2020, many countries relied on social-protection measures to cushion the blow. By May 2021, a total of 3,333 such schemes had been planned or implemented in 222 countries or territories.
Haven't had Covid? Maybe you've just been lucky
News, Faye Flam, Published on 15/07/2022
» There's a trend for experts who've yet to test positive for Covid to explain their disease virginity on social media, detailing all the steps they've taken to evade the increasingly pervasive virus. Covid virginity is becoming more special now that it describes a shrinking minority. The lucky few, like weight-loss gurus, are only too happy to share their secrets to success.
Censoring Covid-19 'misinformation' wrong
News, Faye Flam, Published on 10/06/2021
» Labelling misinformation online is doing more harm than good. The possibility that Covid-19 came from a lab accident is just the latest example. Social media companies tried to suppress any discussion of it for months. But why? There's no strong evidence against it and evidence for other theories is still inconclusive. Pathogens have escaped from labs many times and people have died as a result.