By Ulf Engel, Professor, Institute of African Studies, University of Leipzig
The African Union held its 39th Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February 2026. The two-day assembly produced the usual number of decisions and declarations across African peace and security, trade, governance and development.
Such gatherings, however, can feel distant from the everyday realities of African citizens. They are a showcase of high-level diplomacy that can feel far removed from public life.
Since…
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By Lindy Heinecken, Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology., Stellenbosch University
When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of the South African National Defence Force to the provinces of Gauteng and the Western Cape in his 2026 State of the Nation Address, he was met with desperate applause by a crime-weary nation. This is largely due to police failure in almost every aspect of their duties in protecting…
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By Adewumi Badiora, Senior Lecturer, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Olabisi Onabanjo University
Nigeria is urbanising at a remarkable speed. Some of the world’s fastest growing cities are in the west African country.
With the current rate of urbanisation, Kano, Ibadan, Abuja and Port Harcourt will surpass the 10 million inhabitants mega city threshold by 2050. According to United Nations estimates,…
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By Gemma Ware, Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation
As the 21st century dawned, a newly elected Vladmir Putin was making friends on the world stage. He smiled for photo ops at G8 meetings, and was the first foreign leader to call George W. Bush after the attacks of 9/11, offering his support against terrorism.
So what changed? To understand Russia’s view of the world now – and its continued aggression towards Ukraine – it helps to know more about the psyche of the country and its leader.
In today’s episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we talk to James Rodgers,…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Demonstrators mark the anniversary of a far-right extremist attack on February 19, 2020 in Hanau, Germany, that killed nine persons of predominantly Muslim background, February 17, 2024. © 2024 Hasan Bratic, picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images Six years ago, on February 19, 2020, a far-right extremist shot and killed nine and injured six people predominantly of Muslim background in Hanau, Germany. The attack was motivated by racism and Islamophobia.Today, we remember: Ferhat UnvarHamza KurtovićSaid Nesar HashemiVili Viorel PăunMercedes KierpaczKaloyan VelkovFatih…
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By John Denham, Professorial Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations and Director of the Centre for English Identity and Politics, University of Southampton
Matt Goodwin, the Reform UK candidate for the Gorton and Denton byelection, is just one of the rightwing politicians to recently question the “Englishness” of people who aren’t white and born in England. The claim is clearly out of step with reality. Exclusivist views are certainly out there, but in the minds of an increasingly small minority. There is no popular upsurge in narrow ethno-nationalism.
On the other hand, the sudden prominence of such views marks more than the willingness of populist political forces to mobilise polarising ideas about national identities that were once…
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By Eanna Fennell, Postdoctoral Researcher, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick
Over 95% of the world’s adult population is infected with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), but most people never realise it. The infection often causes few symptoms and then stays in the body for life.
But for a small minority, EBV is linked to serious disease. For more than 50 years, EBV has been recognised as the first virus shown to contribute to certain cancers, and is therefore classified as a group one carcinogen.
More recently, strong evidence suggests it plays a key role in the development…
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By Claire O'Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in English, Loughborough University
Wuthering Heights initially baffled readers who dismissed it as “a strange book”.
Earlier readers found it was “wild” and “confused”, portraying a “semi-savage love”. Yet, in 1850, the poet and critic Sydney…
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By Otar Akanyeti, Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Aberystwyth University
Valentina Di Santo, Assistant Professor of Marine Animal Biomechanics, University of California, San Diego
Many fish appear to hang effortlessly in the water while they wait for prey, defend a nest or pause between bursts of activity. But our research shows that this quiet stillness is anything but effortless. Hovering, the behaviour that allows a fish to remain suspended in one place, is far more energetically demanding than scientists once believed.
In a comparative study of 13 near neutrally buoyant species, we found that metabolic rates during hovering were almost twice as high as during rest (when the…
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By Osama Mansour, Associate Professor in Information Systems, Lund University
Banks are sharing more of your data with fintechs, opening the door to products and services that could help you manage your money better.
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