Common diabetes drug metformin could protect against long COVID: Metformin is a drug commonly taken by patients with type 2 diabetes. pikselstock/Shutterstock There are no drugs to treat long COVID – a condition that affects around 2 million people in the UK alone – so you can imagine the excitement when a cheap diabetes drug …
How Mexican indigenous languages are surviving against the odds – new research: Tzeltal Maya women attend a mass wedding celebration in Zinacantan, Mexico, in March 2023. SL-Photography/Shutterstock Being able to speak the dominant language wherever you are in the world has long been shown to be economically beneficial. This is particularly the case when you’re …
Ugandan church waged rebellion against tradition – today’s homophobic views are at odds with history: A view of an evangelical and pentecostal church in Kampala, Uganda. Franco Origlia/Getty Images On 26 May Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, assented to the “anti-homosexuality bill” of 2023. The bill’s aim is to protect the “cherished culture of the people …
Ukraine war: what international law says about the Russians fighting against their own country: In the weeks before Ukraine’s counteroffensive – and as Ukraine’s military activity in Russian-occupied areas of its country increased in intensity – there have been reports of attacks on the other side of the border directed against Russian targets. Ground raids …
Ghana’s informal mining harms health and the land – but reforms must work with people, not against them: Poverty is prevalent in most gold mining communities in Ghana. Wikimedia Commons Artisanal small-scale mining has been practised in Ghana for over a century. In 2018, small-scale miners generated 2.1 million ounces of gold, accounting for 43.1% …
Secure Citizen is changing the narrative in the fight against fraud.: Secure Citizen is changing the narrative in the fight against fraud. Fraud, identity theft and impersonation are three of the most significant risks South Africans face in an already stressful environment caused by the country’s energy crisis, a growing cost of living/unemployment crisis, and …
Uganda’s anti-homosexuality law is a patriarchal backlash against progress: Activists protest outside the Ugandan Embassy in Washington DC on April 25, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni assented to the anti-homosexuality bill on 29 May 2023. The new law legislates, among other things, a five-year jail term for “promoting homosexuality”, a seven-year jail …
Kenya cult deaths: a new era in the battle against religious extremism: Worshippers gather at the New Life Prayer Centre and Church. The head of the Church was recently arrested. Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images More than a hundred people in Kenya – among them children – have been found dead close to …
Queerphobia in Kenya: a supreme court ruling on gay rights triggers a new wave of anger against the LGBTIQ+ community: A demonstrator during Queer Republic protests in Nairobi, Kenya. John Ochieng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Kenyan supreme court recently struck down a government decision to ban the registration of an LGBTIQ+ community rights organisation, …
Childism: how discrimination against children plays out in law: BearFotos/Shutterstock Some acts are only considered criminal if they are committed by someone aged under 18. This doesn’t just include things such as drinking alcohol. In some US states, for example, it is illegal for children to run away from home or even to repeatedly disobey …
A brief history of school meals in the UK: from free milk to Jamie Oliver’s campaign against Turkey Twizzlers: Mashed potato, gravy, custard. When British people hear the words “school dinners”, it’s not always great memories that come to mind. That’s not the case for everyone. Indeed France is known for its gourmet school lunches …
Ukraine recap: as spring arrives in Ukraine an offensive against Crimea could be on the cards: Over the past few weeks there have been a growing number of reports that Russia is recruiting workers and – according to some sources, using forced labour – to dig trenches and build fortifications in Crimea across areas they …
Dominic Raab’s defence against bullying claims is that he is always ‘professional’ – but that doesn’t stack up: Is Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, a bully? This is what Adam Tolley KC, the barrister leading the investigation into Raab’s behaviour towards civil servants, is attempting to find out. Is Raab simply a tough boss …
Could the common cold give children immunity against COVID? Our research offers clues: Rawpixel.com/Shuttersock Why children are less likely to become severely ill with COVID compared with adults is not clear. Some have suggested that it might be because children are less likely to have diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, …
Russia pulls out of New Start nuclear treaty – we’ve already seen how such agreements have limited aggression against Ukraine: Vladimir Putin’s decision to pull out of the New Start nuclear weapons treaty with the United States will have predictable responses. Stocks in defence corporations will rise at the prospect of new markets for nuclear …
How the west is finally hitting back against China’s dominance of cleantech: Climate change policy has entered a new era. The growing row between the United States and the European Union over the impacts of the new American green subsidy regime makes that all too clear. Yet in many ways, this story is ultimately about …
BCG: how a century-old vaccine is being used against everything from cancer to autoimmune diseases: BCG vaccine scar TuktaBaby/EPA In March 2020, as the UK was preparing to go into lockdown, two new trials were posted on the clinicaltrials.gov database. The researchers were proposing that BCG, an old vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), should be tested …
Rare genetic disease may protect Ashkenazi Jews against tuberculosis – new study: Tuberculosis, humanity’s greatest infectious killer, is caused by bacteria that usually affect the lungs but can also affect many other organs in the body. In 2021, around 10.6 million people worldwide fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) and 1.6 million people died from the …