Russia rekindles old friendship with South Africa, its ally against apartheid: The recent announcement that the South African, Russian and Chinese navies will conduct joint exercises off the east coast of South Africa between February 17 and 27, has alarmed the United States. Washington has condemned the decision as the exercises would appear to compromise …
Bivalent COVID vaccines have now been in use for a few months – here’s how they’re stacking up against omicron: Bivalent vaccines target omicron alongside the original strain of COVID. Lithiumphoto/Shutterstock Vaccines have played a major role in mitigating the harms of the COVID pandemic since their rollout began just over two years ago. They’re …
Why aren’t children allowed to vote? An expert debunks the arguments against: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock Most people think democracy is something that adults do and regard the prospect of children voting as too silly to even contemplate. In the early 20th century, many democracies began (ostensibly) operating with universal suffrage, ensuring voting rights …
World Cup: Fifa needs Qatar 2022 to leave a legacy of progress against corruption: The men’s 2022 Fifa World Cup has ended, with Argentina crowned champions. But at this tournament in particular, there has been much to distract from the actual football being played. From start to finish, Qatar 2022 has been controversial. Naming the …
How celebrity footballers can help reduce prejudice against minorities – podcast: In the latest episode of Discovery, an ongoing series via The Conversation Weekly podcast, we hear about recent research that showed how a Muslim celebrity footballer helped reduce Islamophobia. When Mohamed Salah joined Liverpool football club in 2017, he quickly became the Premier League …
A liver disease drug could be repurposed to protect against COVID – new research: This drug could be effective regardless of the COVID variant. Explode/Shutterstock Almost three years into the pandemic, we’re still regularly seeing hundreds of thousands of new COVID cases recorded each day worldwide. In a new study, involving a combination of miniature …
Violence against women is staggeringly high in South Africa – a different way of thinking about it is needed: Agitated women vent their anger and frustrations at a gender-based violence summit with government in November 2018. GCIS South Africa has notoriously high levels of violence against women. The latest police figures show that 10,818 rape …
Cohousing is empowering people to fight back against a global housing crisis: The debate around how to fix the global housing crisis usually hinges on whether more market or more state is required. Some people stress the need for additional housing stock and less regulatory red tape, so that the market can create it. Others …
Vaccines could be a game-changer in the fight against malaria in Africa: The first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, was approved by the WHO in 2021. Brian Ongoro/AFP via Getty Images The development of an effective vaccine for malaria has proved to be far more challenging than developing a vaccine to protect people from COVID-19. Several different …
Liz Truss is now the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister – how does she stack up against George Canning, who previously held the record?: George Canning, now the second-longest-serving prime minister of the United Kingdom. Thomas Lawrence, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Liz Truss announced her resignation on October 20 2022, 44 days after taking office. …
South Africa’s struggle songs against apartheid come from a long tradition of resistance: Members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions sing political songs in 1987 in Johannesburg. Walter Dhladhla/AFP via Getty Images Struggle songs, also known as protest music or liberation songs, are defined as “expressions of discontent or dissent” used by politically …
Doreen Lawrence and Prince Harry’s lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher underlines need for Leveson Inquiry part two: One of the key moments of the 2011 Leveson Inquiry into press standards came when the Daily Mail’s then-editor, Paul Dacre, took to the witness box to accuse Hugh Grant of pursuing “mendacious smears driven by a hatred …
How financial technology can discriminate against people speaking minority dialects – new evidence from China: Chaay_Tee / Shutterstock In the UK, studies have repeatedly found evidence of accentism. Prejudice based on someone’s way of speaking can affect people in the classroom, the office and beyond. Our research of dialects and peer-to-peer lending in China found …
How money and technology are militarising the fight against the illegal wildlife trade: Thousands of animals and plants are bought and sold each year globally as food, medicine, clothing and furniture – even in the form of musical instruments. Wildlife, it seems, is big business. The illegal wildlife trade, which has an estimated value of …
The WHO has advised against the use of two antibody therapies against COVID – here’s what that means: Sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab are no longer recommended for patients with COVID. ice_blue/Shutterstock New guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) strongly advises against using the antibody therapies sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab to treat patients with COVID-19. This guidance, …
Climate change: colonial diaries in South Africa are helping scientists reconstruct weather patterns of the past to protect against future events: A copy of the VOC's registers for April 1789. These daily registers contained rich detail – including about the weather. Tracing History Trust The current climate crisis raises many questions. Some are forward-looking: how …
West Africa’s fisher women are experts at coping with job insecurity – but policymakers are using their resilience against them: A large number of West African women rely on the blue economy to survive MaaikeZaal/GettyImages All along West Africa’s coastline, women play a vital role in the fisheries sector as processors, traders and distributors. But …
Cost of living: four ways to stop banks and companies using complex maths against you: You can do it. Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock The cost of living crisis is dominating headlines at the moment. With so much conflicting information flying around, it can be hard to work out what is the best way to look after your household …