A two-legged dinosaur discovered in Zimbabwe rated the oldest ever found in Africa
The remains of a new species of plant-eating dinosaur have been unearthed in northern Zimbabwe. It is part of a huge assemblage of fossils from the Late Triassic that could help us understand how the period’s climate influenced the dispersal of early dinosaurs.a The near-complete fossil is the oldest dinosaur...
New report highlights how US abortion decision has impacted unwanted pregnancies in the world
The past decades have brought modest improvements to women’s reproductive health around the world. Over the past 30 years, global rates of unintended pregnancies have thankfully declined by almost 20 per cent, presumably in part because of better access to education and contraceptives. In 1973, the US Supreme Court, ruling...
When fun rather than hammer and tongs, easily changes company behaviour for the better
For years I’ve been fascinated by something that Jim Collins labelled “catalytic mechanisms” in a 1999 Harvard Business Review article. The article, titled Turning Goals into Results: The Power of Catalytic Mechanisms, described how to powerfully influence people in organisations to change their behaviour – easily, permanently and nearly effortlessly....
Illegal timber and charcoal demand from Africa accounts for up to $150 billion – new report
African countries are estimated to lose $17 billion to illegal logging each year. This is part of a global market with an economic value of between $30 and $150 billion. The net profit from the illegal charcoal trade alone in Africa is estimated to be as much as $9 billion,...
New study finds daily intake of at least two cups of black tea reduces death by 12 per cent
A prospective cohort study of tea-drinking habits in almost half a million people from the UK Biobank has supported the view that black tea lowers mortality rate. The new study has found that drinking two or more cups of black tea daily, with or without milk, may reduce mortality from...
New study finds daily intake of at least two cups of black tea reduces death by 12 per cent
A prospective cohort study of tea-drinking habits in almost half a million people from the UK Biobank has supported the view that black tea lowers mortality rate. The new study has found that drinking two or more cups of black tea daily, with or without milk, may reduce mortality from...
Long thought ‘dead’ resurgence of poliovirus in developed world stirs US, UK and Israel
The discovery of poliovirus in New York state, London and Jerusalem this year has taken many by surprise, but public-health researchers fighting to eradicate the disease say it was only a matter of time. “No country in the world is immune to the effects of polio,” says Zulfiqar Bhutta, a...
From Beijing with love: Ugandan government raises red flag over Chinese men scramble for local women
Chinese investments in Africa have gone extended beyond infrastructure and mining, and now there is hue and cry from African men and their governments. In Uganda, the government and Parliament have raised the alarm over the scramble by Chinese men to marry Ugandan women as a way of intrenching the...
Indiscriminate arrest and detention of non-Ukrainian refugees in Greece alarms human rights defenders
According to Kleio Nikolopoulou, an advocacy officer and lawyer for the Greek Council for Refugees, many refugees without papers are arrested and end up detained for months. Several Afghans and Syrians that the Greek Council for Refugees represented spent up to nine months in detention without a trial. “It seems...
Greece’s special treatment of Ukrainians and discrimination of African and Asian refugees questioned
Refugees from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, and Syria have long faced dismal living conditions while struggling to access asylum procedures and essential services in Greece. According to NGOs and human rights groups, Greece’s reception of Ukrainians escaping Russia’s invasion shows another way is possible – if only...
