Hate speech: Weaponisation of social media in Ukraine war should push UN into creating a body to fight the crime
Online hate speech and disinformation have long incited violence, and sometimes mass atrocities. When this has happened in the Global South, from Ethiopia to Myanmar, much of the world has looked away. But the war in Ukraine means no one can now ignore how social media is being weaponised in...
Sudan’s rapid economic collapse shifts attention to role of Russian mercenaries in gold smuggling
Sudan’s military rulers last week announced an emergency committee to address the country’s collapsing economy and pointed to its gold mining as a possible boost. Sudan’s ambassador to Russia has denied reports that Moscow has been smuggling gold from Sudan in preparation for sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. But...
ICC case against Kenyan lawyer Gicheru: It matters, but not for victims of the violence
The ongoing International Criminal Court (ICC) case against Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru has raised several questions about how the ICC should pursue and deliver justice with focus on victims. On the one hand, procedural justice is central to the ICC’s work as a court, where parties must work within the...
Covid’s death real figures: Pandemic killed population the size of Zambia’s 18 million people
The number of people who have died because of the Covid-19 pandemic could be roughly three times higher than official figures suggest, according to a new analysis1. The study, published on March 10 in The Lancet, says that the true number of lives lost to the pandemic by December 12,...
Child terrorists: Violent extremist group Boko Haram turns boys into ‘fodder of war’ as it spreads tentacles beyond Nigeria
In January, the violent extremist group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) released a video showing young boys undergoing strenuous combat training. As the clip ends, some children are seen executing soldiers captured from the battlefield. One of the instructors explains that the boys are being prepared for graduation and...
Latest archaeological findings say ancient Homo sapiens exported talent for cultural creativity from Africa to Asia
Discoveries at this site in southern Africa indicate that a small, relatively isolated human group developed cultural innovations between 92,000 and 80,000 years ago. Creativity runs deep in human evolution. Stone Age people steered their cultures through some inventive twists and turns as far-flung groups of Homo sapiens independently learned...
Chelsea owner Abramovich, Russian oligarchs sanctioned by Britain to choke off funds to Putin’s ‘war machine’
Roman Abramovich, the embattled owner of English soccer club Chelsea FC, has been sanctioned by the UK government, which has frozen his assets in the country. The Russian was one of seven oligarchs, including Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Levedev, to be officially added to the sanction list on...
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised fears of radiation leak at Chernobyl nuclear power plant
Fears of a potential radiation leak at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are growing after a power cut at the site. Without electricity it will be difficult to cool ponds that contain hazardous nuclear waste and to filter the air inside the vast containment building that houses the remains of...
I’m a Ukrainian official; we need more help on digital front to limit Russia’s participation in technology ecosystem
By now, it should be clear that Russia must be sanctioned for its unlawful invasion of Ukraine. As Ukrainians fiercely resist the occupation, we must urge international technology companies to take the drastic actions necessary to isolate the aggressor and stop Russia’s state propaganda across different platforms—as well as limiting...
Cites agree to maintain a tight leash on ivory trade to save endangered elephant species from extinction
The Standing Committee of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), has resolved agreed that countries must continue to report on their domestic ivory markets. The resolution was arrived in at its meeting in Lyon, France, on Wednesday during the 74 Cites...
