Cleaner air in east Asia has driven recent acceleration in global warming – new study: A traffic jam in Beijing in China, where air pollution has drastically reduced. Hung Chung Chih/Shutterstock Global warming has picked up pace since around 2010, leading to the recent string of record warm years. Why this is happening is still …
What Assad’s fall means for the Middle East – and Russia: This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email newsletter. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox. Recalling the past week, two famous quotes spring to mind. Lenin is often …
Refugees in east Africa suffer from high levels of depression, making it harder to rebuild lives – new study: By the end of 2023, more than 100 million people globally had been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence, fear of persecution, and human rights violations. The majority are hosted in low- and …
World Update: Middle East conflict escalating rapidly – there’s no telling where it will end: This article was first published in our World Update email newsletter. To receive this in-depth weekly briefing on the most important global events and how they are shaping international affairs, sign up here. For months now, analysts and academic observers …
Gaza update: what the Lebanon pager attacks could mean for the Middle East conflict: This article was first published in our Gaza Update newsletter. Click here to receive our fortnightly updates on the conflict direct to your inbox. Israel tends not to rush to claim responsibility for assassinations and the like. But the reputation of …
Gaza update: Hamas appoints new leader as Middle East braces for more violence: Iran is going to launch a retaliatory strike against Israel for the dual assassinations of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, on July 31 and Hezbollah’s number two, Fuad Shukr, just hours before. The only questions are when, where and how far will Iran …
Rare megamouth shark found in east Africa for the first time – why so little is known about it: A rarely seen megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) was recently spotted in east Africa for the very first time. It was recorded in a market in Zanzibar, where it was being sold after being captured and killed. …
How second world war bomb rubble was used to make 135 football pitches in east London: Hackney Marshes football pitches with the city of London on the horizon. Alan Denney|Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND During the second world war, German forces dropped 28,000 bombs and almost 3,000 V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets on London. Nearly 30,000 …
4 must-read books from east Africa in 2023: from Tanzanian masters to Ugandan queens: East African literature continues to grow and reshape itself in exciting new ways – and 2023 was no exception. The world really did take notice of the region when Tanzanian-British author Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021. …
US-led taskforce deploys in Red Sea as Middle East crisis threatens to escalate beyond Gaza: The US is reportedly considering strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen that have been menacing commercial ships in the Red Sea since the conflict began in Gaza. The Pentagon has a range of options for missile attacks on Houthi positions …
What’s east Africa’s position on the Israel-Hamas war? An expert unpacks the reactions of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda: The reactions of some east African countries to the ongoing conflict in Gaza have been less dramatic than South Africa’s. South Africa’s parliament has passed a resolution calling for the closure of its embassy in Tel Aviv. …
East Africa’s troops are leaving the DRC: what went wrong and what comes next: The East African Community deployed a regional force for the first time into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2022. Just over a year later, the troops have started withdrawing amid tension with the host state. We asked Jenna Russo, …
4 east African countries are going for nuclear power – why this is a bad idea: The east Africa region has the fastest growing population in Africa. Between 2013 and 2017, its growth rate was twice the African average. The region is also experiencing strong economic growth. It’s sub-Saharan share of GDP has risen from …
Gaza war: how Qatar used its business connections to become a leading mediator in the Middle East: During the temporary ceasefire negotiated between Israel and Hamas with the mediation of the Qatar government, 81 hostages have been released in return for the freeing of 180 Palestinians held in Israeli custody. Hundreds of lorry loads of …
Turkana stone beads tell a story of herder life in a drying east Africa 5,000 years ago: On the shores of Lake Turkana in east Africa, about 5,000 to 4,000 years ago, pastoralists buried their dead in communal cemeteries that were marked by stone circles and pillars. The north-west Kenya “pillar sites” were built around …
Birds of east Africa: new book reveals their extraordinary diversity and changing behaviour: 101 Curious Tales of East African Birds is a new book that uses academic research to tell fascinating stories about the tropical birds of east Africa, from well-known species to rare ones. It also explores changing bird behaviour in the region. Its …
UK newspaper coverage of the 1967 six-day Arab-Israeli war foresaw decades of conflict in Middle East: How The Guardian covered the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The Guardian Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, describes his country’s war against Hamas as Israel’s “second war of independence”. The first was fought in 1948, but the war that gave Israel …
The divisions exposed in Britain by the conflict in the Middle East: Much of the reaction in Britain to a crisis that has yet to acquire a specific designation, has concentrated on words used, and not used – their significance amplified by what their use, or non-use, may be held to mean. “Pogrom is one …