While Namibian judiciary protects media, Eritrean president adjudged world’s worst media freedom assaulter
Across Africa, laws and customs respecting the media vary considerably. As the world marked World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday, the occasion offered moments of reflection on the brightest and darkest situations for the continent’s news media. On the positive side is the southwest African nation of Namibia, ranked the...
New ISS report says dramatic surge in criminal activities of unknown gunmen in Nigeria does not occur in a vacuum
Insecurity in Nigeria is growing in scale, spread and sophistication, according to recently published research findings by the International Security Studies (ISS). The report says a total of 1,486 people in the country were victims of insecurity in January 2022, with 915 killed and 571 kidnapped. “While no zone or...
Blurred lines vs complementarity: Professional question the boundary between researchers and support staff
Professionals at research organisations are typically split into two categories: academic staff and support staff. As professionals working in research environments in the Netherlands and Australia, we have straddled the dividing lines between these conventional divisions. We’ve also met many other professionals who have operated across this divide. And we...
China State Council on research institutions focuses on ethics training to deter risky gene-editing scandals
China’s powerful State Council is calling on research institutions to expand and improve their ethics training. The directive, one of several detailed in a comprehensive ethics statement, is intended to address gaps in oversight exposed when Chinese researcher He Jiankui shocked the world by creating the first babies with edited...
Under military’s watch, Sudan’s former ruling clique is re-joining civil service, others freed from jail
Since Sudan’s military staged a coup six months ago many former allies of toppled autocrat Omar al-Bashir have been allowed to re-join the civil service while others have been freed from jail in an apparent push to form a government and reassure donors. The rehabilitation of the Islamist National Congress...
How Russian mercenaries have become Putin’s ‘coercive tool’ in Africa for ‘uprooting of democracy’
When abuses were reported in recent weeks in Mali – fake graves designed to discredit French forces; a massacre of some 300 people, mostly civilians – all evidence pointed to the shadowy mercenaries of Russia’s Wagner Group. Even before these feared professional soldiers joined the assault on Ukraine, Russia had...
Protection for women fleeing gender-based violence in Afghanistan has vanished under the Taliban reign
“It’s been closed for months now,” said Zahra, a former employee, as she walked through empty rooms once used to shelter women fleeing gender-based violence in this city in central Afghanistan. The safehouse for women has been shut since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August. Utensils were abandoned on...
Fresh fears in Horn of Africa about Somalia’s stability as Amisom winds up, mandate given to fragile government
The African Union Mission in Somalia – Amisom – has ended its 15-year political and military experiment in post-conflict state building. On April 1, 2022, a shift took place as the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) came into being. The transition’s mission is to pave the way for...
Traces of racism as Biden administration denies protection to Cameroonian exiles, but swift to embrace Ukrainians
The Biden administration has announced that it will offer temporary protected status to nationals of Cameroon, shielding them from deportation and enabling them to obtain work permits, amid escalating armed conflict that has spawned a humanitarian crisis in the African country. Some 40,000 nationals of Cameroon, many of whom sought...
Russia to Africa: We’ll decide for you economic and political set-ups and America will do nothing
On March 27 – a market day in Mali’s central town of Moura – Malian armed forces and suspected Russian mercenaries descended on the town in a helicopter, guns blazing. In an investigation published last week, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said the troops closed off all exits from...