Africa’s oldest DNA helping address science’s racial bias as new findings place the continent further at the heart of evolution
Human history is written in DNA. Where our ancestors lived and who they loved – the story is right there if we can see into their genes. The trouble is that the ravages of climate and time degrade DNA, making its secrets harder and harder to detect. Gradually, however, scientists...
Covid mutation: New Omicron sub-variant proves deadly to the unvaccinated, double-vaccinated and boosted individuals
Covid-19 researchers are rushing to understand why a relative of the main Omicron variant is displacing its sibling in countries around the world. The variant, known as BA.2, has spread rapidly in countries including Denmark, the Philippines and South Africa in the past few weeks. It follows the initial spread...
Birds ‘talk’ but is theirs a language? In their cheeps, trills and tweets scientists find parallels with human speech
In our quest to find what makes humans unique, we often compare ourselves with our closest relatives: the great apes. But when it comes to understanding the quintessentially human capacity for language, scientists are finding that the most tantalising clues lay farther afield. An explosion of research is finding that...
Sportswashing: Rwandan President Kagame uses Arsenal, PSG sponsorships to paint a glossy picture of his country
With international condemnation Rwanda President Paul Kagame via governments and human rights organisations, jailed Paul Rusesabagina’s daughter Carine Kanimba, a US-Belgian dual citizen, believes that her family will be reunited with their father, who has experienced adversity before. Kanimba says, “He truly is a strong person who follows his principles...
Arsenal and PSG told to get their hands off President Paul Kagame’s ‘blood money’ or risk their proud histories and reputation
Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain both have multi-million sponsorship agreements with the Rwandan government but the actions of authoritarian President Paul Kagame and the arrest of Paul Rusesabagina have led to allegations of human rights abuses Watch any match involving Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain and the message is impossible to miss....
China sets out space agenda with emphasis on missions with science at their heart, rather than technology development
China has had a bumper few years in space exploration, and its ambitions are about to get bolder. The China National Space Administration has released an overview of its plans for the next five years, which include launching a robotic craft to an asteroid, building a space telescope to rival...
Smartphone is your enemy No.1: How stepping back from connectivity restored Adam Weiss’s focus in the lab
In early 2021, I hit a rut in my studies. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago in Illinois, I work at the interface of polymer chemistry and immunology, using synthetic strategies to design safer, more effective materials for vaccine and gene delivery. Although I had been productive...
How President Aristide was hoisted to and ousted from power by criminal gangs that call the shots in Haiti
The rise – and fall – of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who saw himself as a champion of Haiti’s poor, represented a turning point for gangs in the island nation, particularly those in areas such as Cité Soleil where the grinding poverty contrasts sharply to that of the wealth...
Haiti, once a prosperous Black nation, is now a playground for criminal gangs patronised by power elites
Haiti was once one of the wealthiest colonies in the Americas, but centuries of colonial exploitation, foreign interventions, government mismanagement and natural disasters have contributed to more than half of today’s 11.4 million population living below the poverty line. The poverty, power imbalances and a lack of education have left...
Haiti criminal gangs: Gun violence is part of the island nation’s political culture – often deployed to support or quell opposition
the outskirts of Haiti’s capital, gunfire crackles in the seaside shantytown of Cité Soleil. Children playing soccer freeze for a moment. Down the street, a teenager bandages the hand he injured during a gunfight with a rival gang. The number of gangs in Port-au-Prince has grown from roughly three dozen...
