By Estelle Razanatsoa, Junior Research Fellow, University of Cape Town
Lindsey Gillson, Associate Professor Plant conservation unit, University of Cape Town
Malika Virah-Sawmy, Visiting Scientist, Humboldt University of Berlin
Ancient baobabs in Madagascar have unlocked a 700-year rainfall record that is set to help scientists figure out how to adapt to climate change.
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By Emmanuel Remi Aiyede, Professor of Political Institutions, Governance and Public Policy, University of Ibadan
Nigeria’s new Electoral Act, passed in February 2026, is a significant attempt to overhaul the country’s electoral framework.
The act establishes a dedicated funding framework and requires that election funds be released no later than six months before a general election.
Technology will be the only method allowed for voter accreditation, and results will have to be transmitted electronically.
There will be stricter penalties…
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By Obert Matarirano, Associate Professor in the Department of Business Management and Economics, Walter Sisulu University
Trust Chireka, Associate Professor and Head of Accounting in the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, University of Fort Hare
When up to 3.5 million small businesses go green, this will benefit South Africa’s environment and help the businesses survive in a changing climate.
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By Kwasi Cudjoe
The success of states of emergency are not often assessed by how such measures intersect with social dynamics — which in turn shape concepts of masculinity insecurity, and youths’ lived experience.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image European Humanities University, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2019. © 2019 Elis Bodnar/Wikimedia Belarusian authorities are systematically using vaguely defined “extremism” laws to target dissent, including Belarusians in exile.Most recently, on April 14, the Belarusian Supreme Court designated the Lithuania-based European Humanities University an “extremist organization,” claiming it was “destabilizing the sociopolitical situation in the country.” This exposes thousands of current and former students and professors, the majority of them Belarusian, to criminal prosecution…
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Friday, April 17, 2026
The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
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By Subhashish Panigrahi
Taukeer Alam, a writer of Van Gujjari, a vulnerable dialect with low documentation, shares the need for audio-visual documentation and safeguards to protect against AI and other exploitations
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By Human Rights Watch
(Paris, April 17, 2026) – France has refused to grant an entry visa to Shawan Jabarin, the director of Al-Haq, one of the leading and oldest Palestinian human rights organizations, based in the occupied West Bank. Jabarin was due to travel to France to appear before the European Parliament’s Human Rights Committee in Strasbourg, alongside representatives from other Palestinian organizations. This is the second time Jabarin has been denied entry into France; in October 2025, French authorities rejected his application to renew his Schengen visa, reportedly citing “threats to public order or…
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By Mara Fischer, PhD Candidate, School of Environment, University of Exeter
Ruth H. Thurstan, Associate Professor in Marine and Historical Ecology, University of Exeter
Diners may soon need to rethink a staple of the classic English fish supper. The Marine Conservation Society, an environmental charity in the UK, recently downgraded all UK cod stocks and removed them from its list of sustainable seafood.
The Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide, a tool designed to help consumers make sustainable seafood choices, now lists Atlantic cod from the Arctic, northern shelf, and British seas with the worst possible rating: “avoid”.…
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By Jacob Parakilas, Research Leader, Defence, Security, and Justice Group, RAND Europe
Robots have a growing role on the battlefield – but for the immediate future, they are more likely to support the fight than lead it.
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