Terrorists use food as a weapon: how Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab exploit hunger: Women receive food aid in Somalia. Terrorism creates food disruptions, undermining production systems and supply routes. Tobin Jones/Wikimedia Commons Over the last decade, there has been growing international focus on the role of food in conflict, particularly in Africa. The continent has …
How disappearance became a global weapon of psychological control, 50 years on from Chile’s US-backed coup: For the few remaining women of Calama in Chile’s Atacama desert, September 11 holds a terrifying meaning. They understand the pain of watching forensic investigators meticulously scour through particles of dust, seeking to retrieve the tiniest fragments of lives …
Water has long been used as a tactical weapon in warfare – the world now has a chance to end this: Experts and leaders will soon come together in their thousands at the first UN conference dedicated to water in nearly half a century. At the conference, which begins on March 22 in New York, …
COVID: antiviral drugs are a vital weapon – but misusing them could backfire: MargJohnsonVA/Shutterstock The “living with COVID” strategy being pursued by many countries relies heavily on two key pillars. First, that vaccines continue to protect most people from severe disease. And second, that where they don’t, people will receive antiviral treatments. But are the …
Artificial light may become a new weapon in the fight to control malaria: Artificial light may trick malaria-transmitting mosquitoes into changing their feeding habits, protecting people against bites. Professor Lizette Koekemoer/University of the Witwatersrand The world has not yet won the war against malaria. While the total number of cases has declined from about 81.1 …
Ukraine: what is the dangerous ‘vacuum bomb’ weapon Russia has been accused of using?: vaalaa/Shutterstock As Russia’s horrifying invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold, Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, has alleged that Russia used a vacuum bomb. According to reports, the attack was aimed at a Ukrainian army base in Okhtyrka and 70 …
Radio has a rich history as a weapon of the liberation struggle in southern Africa: Wits University Press Radio, known for decades as ‘Africa’s medium’, has many magical qualities. It’s an intimate medium with the ability to transcend borders. It chimes with Africa’s strong oral culture and it is ephemeral – it lives in the …
Zombie apocalypse? How gene editing could be used as a weapon – and what to do about it: Probably not… Tithi Luadthong/Shutterstock It has been over a year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. And perhaps the most important lesson is that we were completely unprepared to face the debilitating virus. …
South Africa in the news: Gandhian ideals the “greatest weapon” to give direction to the country, says Stalin: In his address after unfurling the Indian tricolour at Fort St George on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day, the first as chief minister, M K Stalin also recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s “deep …: “South Africa” – …
A cool Port Elizabeth image: The education weapon Image by DJM Photos The quote "Education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world" (Nelson Mandela) is written in large letters on the side of a bright yellow building that makes up a small primary school complex near Port Elizabeth, South …
South Africa in the news: Nukes Removed: How South Africa Agreed to Surrender the Ultimate Weapon: Why did South Africa decide to build nukes, how did it build them and why did it decide to give them up? The answers are largely idiosyncratic, although they may hold some lessons for the future of …: “South …
Education is both the victim and the best weapon in Central Sahel conflict: A child who fled from Central African Republic attending a class at a refugee camp in Chad. Getty Images South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, captured the value of education when he said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which …
Nobel peace prize: hunger is a weapon of war but the World Food Programme can’t build peace on its own: By awarding the 2020 Nobel peace prize to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), the Nobel committee said that it wanted to “turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer …
Why nursery schools are a secret weapon in the fight against inequality: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock State-funded nursery schools occupy a unique position in education. Serving children from two to four years old, they are disproportionately located in areas of deprivation – in 2015, 64% were in the 30% most deprived areas in England. They also support higher-than-average …
Art as a weapon in South Africa’s liberation struggle: Detail from a poster for the Codesa talks. Judy Seidman Judy Ann Seidman and her artwork embody the feminist maxim that the personal is political, and the political is personal. US-born Seidman is an artist and activist based in South Africa who, for more than four …
Weapon Detection Algorithms Could Dramatically Cut Crime: South Africa is the 37th most dangerous country on earth, according to this year’s recently-released Global Peace Index (GPI). “A key factor in making South Africa more dangerous even than gang-wracked El Salvador is the easy availability of firearms,” says Laurence Seberini, founder and managing director of Camatica. …
Sexual violence as a weapon of war: why the Nobel Prize for Peace matters: Joint winners of the Nobel Peace Prize: Nadia Murad (left) with Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege. EPA-EFE/Stephanie Lecocq For ordinary women and men, peace is vital – as essential as air itself. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, the recipients of the Nobel …
Margarine vs butter: how what we spread on our toast became a weapon of class war: Which are you? Shutterstock Margarine has seen its fortunes ebb and flow with the tide of popular opinion. But Unilever’s recent announcement that it’s dropping the margarine brands Flora and Stork marks a new low point for the spread. …