By Tony Roberts, Digital Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies
Between 2016 and 2024 there were 193 internet shutdowns imposed in 41 African countries. This form of social control is a growing trend in the continent, according to a new open access source book. It has provided the first-ever comparative analysis of how and why African states use blackouts – written by African researchers.
The book, co-edited by digital rights activist and internet shutdown specialist Felicia Anthonio and digital researcher…
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By Josep Bonsoms, Postdoctoral researcher and professor, Universitat de Barcelona
The Arctic landscape is changing at an unprecedented rate. In addition to rising temperatures, climate change is causing episodes of extreme melting, which occurs when ice losses that previously took weeks or months occur over just a few days.
These increasingly frequent events are altering the normal dynamics of ice loss. They are profoundly changing the state of snow and ice, which are the most vulnerable elements of the polar climate system.
Snow accumulation during winter no longer compensates for summer losses. This annual balance has been negative for decades, but…
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By Jean Sovon
The Cameroonian state incurs a colossal loss amounting to billions of CFA francs each year due to uncollected logging rights, unpaid taxes, and losses related to the underdevelopment of local processing.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Mourners at the funeral for seven victims of the attack on Nkana on November 23, 2025, in Makulu, Democratic Republic of Congo, December 5, 2025. © Private (Nairobi) – Militia fighters killed at least 22 civilians and injured many more in an attack in late November 2025 on a village in Kwamouth territory in western Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. Witnesses from the village of Nkana, about 75 kilometers northeast of Kinshasa, the national capital, said that militiamen with firearms and machetes carried out an apparent retaliatory attack…
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By Migrant Women Press
The Trump administration has reintroduced some of its most contentious border measures, leading to renewed targeting, detention, and deportation of migrant communities, leaving thousands seeking safety in increasingly perilous conditions.
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By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania
Greg Lehman, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Indigenous Knowledges, University of Tasmania
In Tasmania’s remote southwest, dry lightning storms are starting huge conflagrations across treeless plains. Could a return to cultural burning help?
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By Adam Daniel, Associate Lecturer in Communication, Western Sydney University
Rob Reiner, the celebrated Hollywood director whose diverse filmography was loved by a broad array of audiences, has died at 78.
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By Yao-Tai Li, Senior Lecturer of Sociology and Social Policy, UNSW Sydney
In the years since the 2020 introduction Hong Kong’s National Security Law, press freedom has slowly been limited. Lai’s conviction symbolises its end.
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By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of South Australia
As we prepare for the festive season, it’s easy to let COVID boosters fall off our to-do lists. But COVID is still circulating and new shots are available.
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By Henry Maher, Lecturer in Politics, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney
The stagflation crisis of the 1970s stands as a clear warning of what might happen if the Fed’s independence is compromised.
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