Culture: When’s your child’s birthday? Himba of Namibia will tell you it’s when the mother first thinks about it
An impassioned and captivating debate is going on online regarding the date of birth of a child among Himba tribe of Namibia that defies the set norm – the day the child arrives in the world. To the Himba, the date of birth is determined by the time the thought...
One million refugees at risk of being denied access to food, medical support if UN withdraws from Syria
Faced with the dilemma of access to Syrian refugees who need for and medical supplies senior United Nations staff says NGOs will be able to scale up their work, only after a compromise is reached between the government, Russia and the UN Security Council. However, the officer pointed that...
Syrian humanitarian crisis set to deepen as UN debates access to refugees, Russia brandishes veto power
The UN Security Council is set to begin debating the renewal of a key mechanism for delivering aid to Syria on Monday. With a deadline looming, Russia holding veto power, and the Ukraine war complicating diplomacy and worsening the plight of Syrian civilians, humanitarians are understandably nervous. Since 2014, the...
When a lie detector fooled itself, sent Europeans back to drawing board on what AI to use at border points
In 2019, guards on the borders of Greece, Hungary and Latvia began testing an artificial-intelligence-powered lie detector. The system, called iBorderCtrl, analysed facial movements to attempt to spot signs a person was lying to a border agent. The trial was propelled by nearly $5 million in European Union research funding...
Covid brain fog: Now medics grapple with cause of impaired attention, memory fuzziness, speed of data processing
Allison Guy was having a great start to 2021. Her health was the best it had ever been. She loved her job and the people she worked with as a communications manager for a conservation non-profit. Allison could get up early in the mornings to work on creative projects. Things...
Report: Man’s testosterone level is directly related to whether his dad was present during teenage years
Most males in the animal kingdom do little parenting. Their strategy is simple: inseminate as many females as possible and hope for the best. Sometimes, though, parental investment by a male pays off. Songbird chicks are usually tended by both mother and father. Wolf packs see alpha males and females...
Supreme Court clips US environmental agency’s authority to curb greenhouse emissions
The US Supreme Court has limited the regulatory tools that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can use to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, dealing a massive blow to US President Joe Biden’s climate agenda. Academics and environmentalists lamented the loss of authority, as well as the precedent it could set for the...
Ukraine horrors: Without accountability, some agencies take ‘safari’ so their teams can get something to tell donors
Many Ukrainian civilians say they’re not getting enough assistance. Registration with the UN for cash aid – people are eligible for $74 a month for up to three months – has been slow. Several locals said they either register and don’t receive money, or they don’t know where or how...
Humanitarian agencies say horrors visited on Ukraine people by Russians will take long to overcome
Beneath the calmer facade of Ukraine major town and the capital Kyiv is a wake of death and destruction. Forty-six out of 69 towns and villages were impacted in the region, according to the government. In towns like Bucha and Irpin, civilians were slaughtered, their bodies left on the road;...
Ukraine aid response shifts from short-term to long-haul as humanitarian crises spiral out of control
Four months into the Russian invasion, Ukraine is facing multiple humanitarian crises on several different fronts, with local and international aid responders girding for the long haul amid the expectation that needs are only going to grow and last longer. Concentrated, brutal fighting in the east is preventing aid groups...
