We live in a time of constant upheaval and infuriating inertia. Existential threats to Western democracy abound, but nothing seems to change. With new ideas and technologies transforming the ways we live and work, much of the public seems impatient, urging on change, while the rest demands control and protection. Amid such feverish division, elections…
In West Africa, fact-checkers are cooperating to expand their influence on local, national and international levels to curb misinformation about vaccines. Organizations are banding together, forming alliances with intergovernmental groups and creating cross-continent task forces to elevate health knowledge across Africa. “I think the most important thing is to highlight how fact-checkers leverage collaboration to…
I flew yesterday for the first time since the mask mandate was lifted…it was a bit surreal, to be honest…but strangely satisfying. My Airplane Trip Without A Mask…Two Years In The Making I am glad to see the mask mandate come to an end. At the same time, I respect those who choose to continue…
Former prime minister Theresa May has criticised the government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. Mrs May told the Commons she did not support the policy due to her concerns over whether it met standards on “legality, practicality and efficacy”. Home Secretary Priti Patel said the scheme would be “a major blow to…
Venture capital (VC) firms injected a record $5.2 billion into African startup firms in 2021, a nearly fivefold increase from 2020 levels, which dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA). As Reuters reported Tuesday (April 19), the success of Nigeria’s Paystack, which was…
As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army reduced one Ukrainian city after another to rubble, crushing civilians caught in apartment blocks and shopping malls under a rain of artillery and missile fire, many observers in the rich world bemoaned the dysfunction of the United Nations for not being able to overcome an obstacle written into its…
Many developing countries don’t keep official death records. A novel effort uses “electronic autopsies” to count deaths, and record their cause. FUNKOYA, Sierra Leone — Augustine Alpha begins gently. “Who lives in this home?” he asks the young man, who has come in from the fields to answer his questions. Your name? Age? Religion? Marital status?…
Africa is rich with a variety of traditional religions and spiritual belief systems. However during the colonial period missionaries spread Christianity throughout the continent, and suppressed many of these pre-existing belief systems. Africans continued to follow their traditional belief, in smaller numbers than before, and these faiths still exist today. Younger African people, particularly women, have…
Washington — The White House has announced the United States will co-host the second global COVID-19 summit virtually on May 12 to discuss increasing efforts to end the pandemic internationally and prepare for future variants of the coronavirus. “The emergence and spread of new variants, like omicron, have reinforced the need for a strategy aimed…
America has long thought itself exceptional, a blessed place destined to bring freedom to the world. China has an even longer history of self-proclaimed exceptionalism and, spurred by its many modern achievements, is more assertively promoting its brand of governance as a model for the world. The widening confrontation between the United States and China…