‘CIA officers play high-stakes game to accomplish their mission of uncovering and speaking the truth’
Two long-running spy thriller series, Brad Thor’s Scot Harvath and Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon, topped the New York Times Bestseller list during back-to-back weeks in August. The second season of the Jack Ryan series, tracking the adventures of the eponymous CIA analyst, was reportedly one of Amazon’s most popular shows...
Should the world use number of children a woman has at 50 years to foretell population growth?
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) team has done its study on population growth quite differently. Instead of basing its model on fertility rates, and how they would change, the group used a variable called completed cohort fertility at 50 years (CC50). This counts the number of children...
Demographers say Covid will slow down fertility in richer nations, fertility surge in poor countries
Predictions of population in both the near and long-term future typically come down to estimates of how quickly fertility will change. And that means demographers have to make some educated guesses about how people will behave as their circumstances alter. In high-income countries, these behavioural changes are usually driven by...
With fertility rates thinning in developing world, bitter disputes now dominate global population forecasts
The 1980s were a puzzling time for would-be parents in Singapore. The government initially told them to “Stop-at-Two” and backed up the policy with a series of measures to deter couples from having three or more children. It increased hospital fees for the delivery of third babies and withdrew maternity...
Human right: You can’t have a life of dignity, freedom and equality without environmental standard
As the impact of our species on the natural world intensifies, so does the knowledge of our dependency on it: from crop-pollinating critters and wild fish populations that nourish millions, to ecosystems that inhale carbon emissions and filter air and water. These connections have bolstered a legal argument around the...
Rosy picture Greece paints of low refugee numbers masks serious human rights violations in camps
A little over a year ago, the Moria refugee camp on Lesvos burnt to the ground – thrusting the dismal conditions in the overcrowded, under-resourced and squalid camps on the Greek islands into the international spotlight. The Greek government has since declared success in bringing the movement of asylum seekers...
Key Central American migration route grows deadlier as numbers crossing soar
For tens of thousands of people escaping poverty, conflict, disasters and abusive gangs and regimes, the dangerous land route between Colombia and Panama known as the Darién Gap is the only way on towards Mexico and their hoped-for final destination – the United States. Necoclí is the main waystation in...
‘I also knew he didn’t come he…to be a ballet dancer’, Wilder on how he was punched to pulp by Fury
Deontay Wilder admitted he “wasn’t good enough” against Tyson Fury before the American was taken to hospital as a precaution following the brutal knockout defeat. Wilder, 35, was knocked down in the third, 10th and 11th rounds as he failed to avenge his 2020 defeat to Fury at the T-Mobile...
Paradox of wealth and discontent in Africa rising at same time, limiting democracy to just elections
Like the rest of the world, the continent has seen public discontent growing even as wealth has improved. Public discontent, defined as the collective feeling of frustration and unmet expectations, has risen globally, despite improvements in overall wealth. The same is true for Africa. Between 1990 and 2019, gross domestic...
Kenya forms team to audit $700 million spent on wind power farm, how state robes electricity consumers
After years of financial fiddling in Kenya’s energy sector that scared off potential investors in manufacturing citing high cost of electricity and fuel, findings by taskforce appointed by the government to investigate the unusual happenings in the industry, point to serious accountability gaps. Shocked by the findings that are likely...
