Government impunity and weak civil society have given way to state surveillance in Africa
African governments are using new technology and laws to increase surveillance of opposition figures, researchers warned on Thursday, calling for restrictions on the sale of tracking tools and tougher privacy protections. Existing laws have largely failed to stop state surveillance across the continent, from monitoring academics in Egypt to tracking...
How Trump administration undermined Western Sahara youth’s hopes of self-rule from Morocco
Western Sahara liberation movement, the Polisario Front’s hopes for independence suffered a major blow last year when the US in the waning days of the Trump administration backed Morocco’s claim to the territory, as part of efforts to get Morocco to recognise Israel. Other countries, including the Polisario’s main ally...
After 30 years in limbo Western Sahara’s liberation movement takes up arms against Morocco
As a glowing sun sank behind the sandy barrier that cuts across the disputed territory of Western Sahara, Sidati Ahmed’s battalion launched two missiles that sizzled through the air and then followed with an artillery attack. Within minutes, a barrage of mortar shells flew in the opposite direction, from Moroccan...
Military and police fuel crime, insecurity and human rights violations in South Sudan
State security forces in South Sudan are responsible for new and potentially arbitrary restrictions against prominent civil society leaders, issuing “credible” death threats undermining peace efforts, UN-appointed independent rights experts said this week. In an alert, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan alleged “over-zealous” security forces prevented dissent...
Covid hybrid immunity studies show vaccination after infection offers stronger virus resistance
Many studies of hybrid immunity haven’t followed naive vaccine recipients for as long as those who recovered from Covid-19, and it’s possible their B cells will make antibodies that gain potency and breadth with more time, additional vaccine doses or both, researchers say. It can take months for a stable...
Turning adversity into opportunity: How female refugee scientists cope in foreign lands
Unsurprisingly, female refugee scientists can face extra challenges – including gendered, cultural and socio-political barriers to academia. At the Council for At Risk Academics (CARA), a London-based charity that helps academics to continue their work at one of 124 partner universities and institutions in the United Kingdom or in other...
Keeping the faith in face of adversity: Trials and triumphs of refugee scientists
The Institute of International Education (IIE), a non-profit organisation based in New York City that supports international researchers, estimates that thousands of displaced scientists from nations such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen are now living as refugees elsewhere. Its figures are based on refugee counts, pre-war higher-education data from the...
