By Sam Jones, Senior Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University
Ricardo Jorge Moreira Goulão Santos, Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University
Each year, millions of young Africans enter the labour market in search of stable and fulfilling employment. In Mozambique alone, more than half a million young people join the workforce annually.
Many will find work in agriculture, but opportunities for formal employment remain limited. Even in urban areas, many jobs are informal, offering little security and falling short of the aspirations of an increasingly educated young population.
Since 2017, the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics…
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By Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu, Professor, Sol Plaatje University
Youth employment programmes need to be built around real jobs, capable institutions and the young people they are meant to serve.
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By Paolo Pozzilli, Honorary Professor of Diabetes and Clinical Research, Queen Mary University of London
Simonetta Vespucci is probably one of the most painted women of the Italian Renaissance. Sandro Botticelli is widely believed to have used her as his model for Venus, and she appears, transformed and idealised, across several of his most famous works.
She died in 1476, aged just 23. For centuries, historians have assumed tuberculosis was to blame – it was common, it was often fatal, and it fitted…
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By Junaid B. Jahangir, Associate Professor, Economics, MacEwan University
Recently, a group of high-profile economists wrote a piece for The Guardian about how growth is a doomed strategy.
The piece took a holistic look at global poverty, inequality, living wages, extraction of resources, debt servicing, Indigenous struggles and climate justice.
Such real-world issues are usually sidelined in introductory economics classes, which are typically concerned with building technical competencies…
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By Guy Guppy, Lecturer in Performance Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Kingston University
Evidence that beetroot juice can improve athletic performance has long been inconsistent. While some studies reported benefits, others found little or no effect. Now, a new study, combining results from 33 studies, provides the clearest evidence yet that it can enhance exercise performance.
The meta-analysis included data from more than 500 professional and recreational athletes. The results showed that consuming beetroot juice before exercise made a measurable difference…
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By Ethem Ilbiz, Associate Professor of Global Politics and Cybersecurity Governance, University of South Wales
Atakan Yılmaz, Assistant Professor in in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Bahçeşehir University
Mike Edwards, Senior Lecturer in International Security and Risk Management, University of South Wales
When Alexander Litvinenko was murdered in London in 2006, poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 slipped into a pot of tea, the UK was shocked. Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer who had become a critic of Vladimir Putin’s government, died after a highly publicised illness.
A later public inquiry concluded that his killing was probably approved at the highest levels of the Russian state. Yet the Litvinenko…
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By Catherine Clarke, Professor in the History of People, Place and Community, School of Advanced Study, University of London
“Netherfield Park is let at last!” go the famous opening words from Mrs Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. To her delight, the estate has been taken on by the eligible newcomer Mr Bingley – a “single man in possession of a good fortune” – who brings new marital opportunities for her five unmarried daughters.
In the beloved 1995 BBC television adaptation of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Edgcote House in Northamptonshire was chosen as…
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By Diane Watt, Professor of English, University of Surrey
Marie Maitland, a 16th-century Scottish gentlewoman, has for centuries been recognised as the likely scribe of the Maitland Quarto. This important manuscript, now held in the Pepys Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge, is an anthology of Scottish poetry by members of the noble Maitland family and their associates.
Maitland’s name appears twice on the first leaf and is also found in a partial anagram in the opening sonnet (“maid ane immortall”). By way of emphasis the anagram is repeated beneath the poem.
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By Chris North, Lecturer of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University
Sixty years ago, the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in a race to the Moon, which the USA won. The 21st-century lunar contest, with China stepping in for the Soviet Union, has many similarities, but key differences.
The Apollo astronauts planted the stars and stripes in lunar soil, bounced – and drove – around, set up experiments and collected scientifically valuable rock samples. Ultimately, however, there was no real plan to stay.
The new Moon race is different: space agencies…
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By Peter Stott, Science Fellow, Met Office, and Professor in Detection and Attribution, University of Exeter
London probably won’t disappear beneath the waves. But we still need to understand the most dangerous outcomes that remain possible – and avoidable.
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