Violent groups known as ‘political thugs’ have been used by the established political parties for decades to influence the electoral process. As Tobi Olayinka set out to vote on Saturday morning in Nigeria’s Lagos state, she took along a backpack filled with food and drinks and an umbrella against the sun. The 31-year-old first-time voter […]
Mar 11 2023 | Posted in
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MAGDALENE J. TAYLOR Sex is good. Sex is healthy. Sex is an essential part of our social fabric. And you — specifically — should probably be having more of it. Americans, in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, are not having enough sex. Across almost every demographic group, American adults old and young, single and […]
Feb 22 2023 | Posted in
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TAMMARY ESHO Female genital mutilation is a practice deeply rooted in cultural traditions around the world. The World Health Organization defines it as comprising all procedures that involve removal of parts of the external female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The cut is practiced for various reasons. Some communities use it as a rite of […]
Dec 30 2022 | Posted in
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KOFI AYIM That Ghana is up the creek without a paddle is indubitably undeniable, and the only way out of the current socioeconomic conundrum facing the 65-year-old country is for its leaders to sit up straight. The current economic challenges require some unpopular decisions that may not sit well with a cross-section of the populace […]
Nov 30 2022 | Posted in
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KOFI AYIM It takes an average of 10 hours – depending on tailwind – for a typical Boeing 767 aircraft to fly nonstop from New York City, U.S.A., to Accra, Ghana, for 5,111 miles. On arrival the ambient temperature contrast between the two cities is huge. While Accra is almost always warm and hot with […]
Sep 28 2022 | Posted in
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Gabon and Togo’s recent decision to join the Commonwealth seemed like a blow to France – but was it? PETER FABRICIUS On the face of it, France seems to be losing ground in Africa. It was forced out of Mali and appears to be losing popular support elsewhere in the Sahel. And then last week, […]
Jul 13 2022 | Posted in
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Silja Fröhlich Whistleblowers uncover corruption and help bring the truth to light, often benefiting society in the process. But in Africa they face dismissal, violence and murder. Extensive legislation seldom offers real protection. Babita Deokaran was shot dead in broad daylight outside her home in Johannesburg on August 23. She had just dropped her daughter […]
Mar 24 2022 | Posted in
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Numerous startups are creating synthetic palm oil in the lab, hoping to slow the loss of tropical forests to oil palm cultivation. But palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil, and producing a synthetic version on a large scale remains a daunting challenge. JAMES DINNEEN Tom Jeffries and Tom Kelleher met at Rutgers […]
Jan 27 2022 | Posted in
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NATASHA ROBINSON & DAVID MILLS “China wasn’t my first option for a PhD. Honestly, in Ghana the perception about China or the Chinese system, Chinese products, Chinese whatever, it is not very positive.” Dr. Courage Simon Kofi Dogbe is one of the thousands of Ghanaians who recently got their PhDs from universities in China. In […]
Dec 28 2021 | Posted in
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IFEANYI NSOFOR I’m fully vaccinated. I want to travel to Europe. And fully vaccinated visitors are welcome. But I can’t get in. That’s because the vaccine I received is not on Europe’s list of four approved vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca, but only the version manufactured in the United Kingdom or Europe […]
Jul 15 2021 | Posted in
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