Assisted dying – medical anthropolgist on the complex practical and ethical road ahead: Steve Travelguide/Shutterstock The House of Commons narrowly passed the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill on June 20, a significant step toward legalising assisted dying in England and Wales. The bill must still pass through the House of Lords before it …
Children in west Africa are often sent to live with other families to help them get ahead – but fostering may be doing the opposite: In west Africa, it’s common for families to foster children informally. This helps ease the burden on parents and can give children from poorer families a chance to improve their …
Russia-Ukraine war spills into west Africa: Mali attacks signal dangerous times ahead: Russia suffered significant blows to its reputation in mid-2024. An attack on its territory by Ukraine came as a surprise. In west Africa, the Wagner mercenary group, supported by Russia, suffered one of its heaviest fatalities in Mali. An alliance of Tuareg rebel …
Deepfakes and disinformation swirl ahead of Indonesian election – podcast: A screenshot from a deepfake video shared on X purporting to show former Indonesian President Suharto. Erwin Aksa via X Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, goes to the polls on February 14 to elect a new president. It’s one of the largest elections to take …
Ukraine war: stakes are high for EU and Ukraine ahead of crucial European summit: When the EU’s heads of state and government come together in Brussels for their final European Council meeting of the year on December 14 and 15, their agenda is likely to be dominated by the war in Ukraine. As you’d expect, …
Westworld at 50: Michael Crichton’s AI dystopia was ahead of its time: Westworld turns 50 on November 21. Director Michael Crichton’s cautionary tale showed that high-concept feature films could act as a vehicle for social commentary. Westworld blended cinematic genres, taking into account the audience’s existing knowledge of well-worn narrative conventions and playfully subverting them …
Ukraine and Moldova have taken a huge step towards EU membership – but these hazards lie ahead: The European Commission has confirmed its support for opening the formal accession process for Ukraine and Moldova to become members of the European Union and for other nations in the western Balkans to move forward with their own …
Rwanda plan: Rishi Sunak has insisted on pushing ahead – here’s where he could take it next: The UK supreme court has ruled against the government’s plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. But this isn’t the end of the story – a version of the plan is likely to resurface in …
My mathematical model cautions Rishi Sunak against shifting to the right ahead of the next election: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave the strongest indication yet that he intends to call the next election for around October 2024 when he released a promotional video asking “What can a country achieve in 52 weeks?” to mark his …
Poland votes for change after nearly a decade spent sliding towards autocracy – but tricky coalition talks lie ahead for Donald Tusk: People were seen queuing in long lines outside polling stations in what appears to have been an election with record-breaking turnout (74.31%) in Poland. Now it seems the right-wing Law and Justice party …
Ukraine war: Russian-held elections seek to normalise illegal occupation and reveal reality of a long war ahead: Russia has recently held local elections, including – for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine last February – counting votes in the four territories annexed to Russia after a series of illegal and illegitimate referendums last …
Plaid Cymru’s new leader faces tough challenges ahead of next elections: You can read the Welsh version of this article here. Rhun ap Iorwerth was appointed as Plaid Cymru’s new leader mid-June 2023. He replaced Adam Price, who stood down in response to a damaging report which found evidence of a culture of sexual harassment, …
Microsoft and Activision: the big questions that will decide whether the US billion deal goes ahead: Microsoft’s proposed US$ 68 billion (£52 billion) acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard should be allowed to go ahead, according to a US federal judge. After five days of gruelling testimony, Judge Jacqueline Corley ruled the merger is …
Ghana and the IMF have struck a deal, but hard choices lie ahead: Ghana's economy is debt distressed. Wikimedia Commons/Flickr In mid-May 2023 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) finally approved a US$ 3 billion 36-month arrangement with Ghana. It immediately disbursed the first tranche of US$ 600 million. This is the second time in the …
Ukraine war: drone ‘attack’ on Kremlin – logic suggests a false flag to distract Russians ahead of Victory Day on May 9: Whether the alleged drone assassination attempt on the Russian president in the Kremlin was an audacious attack by Ukraine or a clumsy attempt at a false flag operation by Moscow may never be …
Turkey: Erdo?an worries about implications for his support ahead of May election: In the wake of Turkey’s worst earthquake since 1939, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is clearly concerned about how the government’s response will affect the result in the May elections. Erdo?an is striving to show he is at the forefront of relief efforts in …
Bitcoin has shot up 50% since the new year, but here’s why new lows are probably still ahead: Up, up and … CKA To the delight of investors across the cryptosphere, the price of bitcoin (BTC) has rallied over 53% since its low of US$ 15,476 (£12,519) in November. Now trading around US$ 23,000, there’s …
Global economy 2023: why there will still be plenty of pressure on food prices in the year ahead: Every little hurts. New Africa Welcome to this special report on the food industry, the fourth instalment in our series on where the global economy is heading in 2023. It follows recent articles on inflation, energy and …