Greens warn DR Congo against oil and gas permits auction in endangered gorilla habitat, ‘Africa’s lungs’
The Democratic Republic of Congo, home to one of the largest old-growth rainforests on Earth, is auctioning off vast amounts of land in a push to become “the new destination for oil investments,” part of a global shift as the world retreats on fighting climate change in a scramble for...
Nigeria’s inefficient justice system is blame for now-too-frequent jailbreaks – sociologists
On the night of July 5, 2022, 879 inmates escaped from the Kuje correctional facility in Abuja, Nigeria after an attack by suspected Boko Haram terrorists. Prior to this, the largest jailbreak was on April 5, 2021 when gunmen attacked Owerri correctional centre, Imo State and freed 1,844 inmates. There...
Organisational culture: Tales of successes are critical, but lie side by side with stories of perseverance and resilience in hard times
In addition to studying the adventures of the founders to understand organisational culture or corporate DNA or cultivating one, it is always important to review significant internal and external stories that punctuate the company’s history. Tales of expansion, new product launches and other successes are valuable, but so are stories...
Corporate culture: It’s not destiny; but that enduring sense of ‘the way we do things…even if we’ve forgotten them’
I gratefully acknowledge the influence of Dr Edgar Schein on my understanding of organisational culture and cultural DNA. Recently, several of my clients have become extremely interested in exploring what they call their “corporate DNA.” At first I resisted because I was concerned that this metaphor implied that they were...
Factual guilt: New study says trauma and moral injury rose steeply during Covid pandemic
During coronavirus pandemic lockdown between 2019 and early 2022, researchers turned their focus to the medical frontlines to understand moral anguish. One recent study led by Jason Nieuwsma, a clinical psychologist at Duke University School of Medicine, analysed data from a March 2021 survey of health care workers’ moral injury...
Lasting moral anguish: How severe loss of sense of goodness new studies show impacts quality of life
On a Sunday evening in September 1994, David Peters drove to a church service in Beckley, West Virginia, as the sun set over the horizon. He was 19 years old, just back from Marine Corps boot camp. He hadn’t been behind the wheel of a car all summer. The road...
Age just a number: Better remuneration, diet and lifestyle change makes playing past 30 years a new normal
One of the big anomalies of this summer’s transfer window has been the amount of money spent on what are perceived to be ‘older’ players. Whether it’s the reportedly boracic Barcelona dropping £40 million on the 33-year old Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi still plodding along for PSG at the ripe...
We are fighting against two armies: Rwanda and Uganda – army commander says of situation in Congo
Aid officials in eastern the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) say they have limited funding to support recently displaced people and that insecurity has disrupted their operations. “For 2022, we appealed for 1.8 billion dollars, we received barely 20 per cent of this amount,” says Joseph Inganji, head of...
Aid agencies in eastern DR Congo overstretched as M23 and other rebel groups spring back to life
The return of a long dormant rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is overstretching an underfunded humanitarian relief operation and piling hardship onto communities that are already contending with dozens of other armed insurgencies. For several months, the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group has fought Congolese...
Reading University study says regular intake of B6 and B12 vitamins can treat depression, anxiety disorders
Everyone may feel anxious or sad at times. However, some people may experience life-disrupting levels of these emotions on a regular basis, developing into a mental health disorder that requires treatment. Researchers at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom studied how vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 may impact...
