Kenya has proposed the death penalty for wildlife poachers. Jeremiah Asaka argues that it’s a bad decision. Firstly, the death penalty undermines human rights. Secondly, poachers risk their lives to poach so the threat of the death penalty isn’t going to deter them. The government should rather focus on making sure existing laws are enforced.
There’s a 98% overlap in the DNA of chimpanzees and humans. This genetic closeness carries huge potential for medicine. For example, plants eaten by chimpanzees that keep them healthy might be adaptable for human use. Ahoua Constant explains how research is being done to identify which ones might be useful in developing medicines for humans.
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Kenya Wildlife Service rangers on patrol at the Meru National Park.
Flickr/IFAW
Jeremiah Ogonda Asaka, Middle Tennessee State University
Kenya's death penalty proposal is not the quick fix solution to curb wildlife poaching.
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Health + Medicine
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Ahoua Constant, Nangui Abrogoua University
The medicinal plants that chimpanzees feed on in the wild could hold the key in dealing with common diseases.
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Politics + Society
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Roger Southall, University of the Witwatersrand
ANC renewal and the war on corruption is one thing. But transforming the character of the South African political economy is quite another.
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Business + Economy
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Linda Ronnie, University of Cape Town
Human Resources must adapt quickly to changes in the workplace to remain relevant and useful.
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Science + Technology
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Gaokgatlhe Mirriam Tawane, Ditsong Museums of South Africa
Museums might look dull and old from the outside, but they house a wealth of knowledge that we cannot afford to lose.
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From our international editions
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Marco Aponte-Moreno, St Mary's College of California
The Venezuelan opposition is asking people not to vote in the country's May 20 election, which they call a 'farce.' President Maduro regime has jailed or blacklisted most of his competitors.
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Brian Tomaszewski, Rochester Institute of Technology
Maps can be an invaluable tool in a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis. A pilot project trained Syrian refugees at a Jordan camp to create their own.
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