US ticks spread: Tick viruses cause neurological damage, one in ten 10 people die of brain inflammation
A disease that is so rare in the United States that it is recognised in only about 40 people each year has taken the life of a person living in Maine. The cause, Powassan virus, is transmitted by ticks, which can pass it on within 15 minutes of biting. The...
US lawmakers pass concurrent resolution calling for targeted sanctions on Sudan coup leaders
US Senate and House of Representatives concurrently passed a resolution calling for targeted sanctions on the military coup in Sudan, six months after its introduction, increasing pressure on the Biden administration for concrete steps. Introduced on November 4, 2021, the Concurrent Resolution 20 was adopted on May 11, 2022. It...
Letter from Zimbabwe: Political change in a country where the military is so embedded in the state is no easy matter
I went home to Zimbabwe in December 2021 after over a year as a senior aid worker in Afghanistan, a period of intense turmoil and uncertainty, probably one of the most challenging assignments of my career. Yet Zimbabwe, my country, is also stuck in a political and economic crisis, and...
‘Selecting’ Somalia president: Gun prices soar in a country where your only protection is the number of weapons you own
The price of an AK-47, the standard weapon of Somali militias, has soared on gun markets ahead of a fraught ballot this weekend, when lawmakers will select the country’s next president. Parliamentarians from Somalia’s lower and upper houses will decide on May 15 from a list of 39 candidates that...
Sexual violence on the rise despite a decline in attacks in war-traumatised South Sudan
A decrease in violence against civilians in South Sudan is offset by cases of conflict related sexual violence more than doubling, compared to the same period last year, according to the latest report on civilian casualties by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). From January to March 2022,...
Somali MPs get ready to elect new president on Sunday against backdrop of growing al Shabaab attacks
Somalia is set to hold its long-delayed presidential vote on Sunday, ending the convoluted electoral process that raised tensions in the country when the president’s term expired last year without a successor in place. Authorities have registered 39 presidential candidates, a list that includes incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, two former...
Relationship science: No set of traits guarantees romantic happiness or preclude romantic happiness
The fascinating, if sometimes disturbing, data from online dating sites tells us that single people predictably are drawn to certain qualities. But should they be drawn to these qualities? If you are like the average single dater – predictably clicking on people with the traits the scientists found are most...
Worry not, there’s a remedy to menopausal symptoms: hormone replacement is effective for women – experts
What can academic and private-sector scientific workplaces do to help staff navigate the psycholotical and physical changes brought about by the onset of menopause? Jo Brewis, a management- and organisation-studies researcher at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, and an expert on menopause and the workplace, says the most...
Wrong dating: Computers’ ability to predict romantic success is worse than we might have guessed
People rarely turn to science for help with this all-important decision on relationships. Truth be told, science has had little help to offer. Scholars of relationship science have been trying to find answers, but it has proven difficult and expensive to recruit large samples of couples. The studies in this...
When menopause strikes, workplace support is key to continued productivity, overcome brain fog and crankiness
“No one ever talks to you about menopause,” says Carlotta Berry, an electrical and computer engineer at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. But a few years ago, it hit Berry “like a steam truck”. She got brain fog, she grew irritable and cranky, and her hair fell...
