Human-to-rat brain transplant success has kicked up a storm over rodents with supercharged with human-like brains
Miniature human-brain-like structures transplanted into rats can send signals and respond to environmental cues picked up by the rats’ whiskers, according to a study. This demonstration that neurons grown from human stem cells can interface with nerve cells in live rodents could lead to a way to test therapies for...
East Ukraine residents wary of ruthless attacks Russian during freezing winter temperatures
Much of the aid in east Ukraine is being provided to people who remain in recently liberated areas is distributed by a decentralised network of volunteers and ad hoc aid groups. The groups – such as Volonter68 – started by husband and wife Serhiy and Galina Kharlamova, aged 52 and...
Nigerian court acquits leader Biafra separatist group Nnamdi Kanu accused of terrorism, treason
A Nigerian separatist leader accused of terrorism and instigating violence in the country’s southeast was acquitted on Thursday by a local court, his lawyer told journalists. The Nigerian Court of Appeal dismissed the government-filed charges against Nnamdi Kanu in Abuja, the nation’s capital, after a jury faulted the legality of...
Uganda president signs into law a bill that bans some internet activity and social media use
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law legislation criminalising some internet activity despite concerns the law could be used to silence legitimate criticism. The bill, passed by the legislature in September, was brought by a lawmaker who said it was necessary to punish those who hide behind computers to...
Ukraine’s liberated east faces cold season minus humanitarian aid and heating worries as winter sets in
In late September, as Albina Iliushchenko drove down the familiar streets of her childhood in Izium in eastern Ukraine, she choked back tears looking at the cracked, blackened facades of apartment blocks, and at the restaurants and shops reduced to rubble. At the elementary school where her mother used to...
Understanding bereavement: An emotional black hole for which puzzled psychologists prescribe ‘acceptance’
It was early springtime in Australia when my son died. I took jasmine and dark-red sweet peas from my garden to his funeral and laid them carefully beside him, wondering how I could even keep breathing through the pain. His name was Adam. He was 38, and more than six...
Little known Nigerian ‘keeper Uzoho denied Man United strikers 30 times, now he’s a hero of Europa League
Owen Hargreaves heaped praise on Omonia Nicosia goalkeeper Francis Uzoho after his stunning display in his side’s 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on Thursday night at Old Trafford. The Cypriot outfit were on the backfoot for the majority of the Europa League clash, but United could not find a way...
An Ivorian teenager once dreamed of living in Italy, 23 years later he’s elected to the nation’s parliament
When Aboubakar Soumahoro was a teenager in his native Ivory Coast, he used to clean shoes and dream of going to Italy, filling a scrapbook with pictures of Italian fashion designs that he cut out of magazines. He eventually made it to Rome in 1999, aged 19, but was shocked...
