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At the insistence of Burundi’s government, the United Nations has closed its local human rights office. This follows years of tension triggered by a UN report detailing abuses in the country. Christof Heyns says that this is a serious setback at a time when the country’s human rights record is deteriorating.
South Sudan plunged into conflict in 2013 soon after it became a republic. Since then, a series of peace deals and ceasefires have fallen apart. Andrew Edward Tchie predicts that the latest of these brokered deals will fail because it doesn’t address the root cause of the conflict.
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Doudou Diene, President of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi.
EPA-EFE/SALVATORE DI NOLFI
Christof Heyns, University of Pretoria
The UN doesn't have the magic formula to end tensions in Burundi. It's up to the country's leadership.
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It will be difficult to make the current peace agreement stick in South Sudan.
Mohamed Messara/EPA
Andrew Edward Tchie, University of Essex
Warring factions in South Sudan have signed numerous peace deals none of which have held.
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Environment + Energy
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Eduardo Alejandro Martínez Ceseña, University of Manchester; Joseph Mutale, University of Manchester; Mathaios Panteli, University of Manchester; Pierluigi Mancarella, University of Manchester
In sub-Saharan Africa there are more people with mobile phones than access to electricity, and their data could be useful.
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James Allan, The University of Queensland; Christopher O'Bryan, The University of Queensland; James Watson, The University of Queensland
New research looked at human impacts on more than 5,000 threatened species and found that a quarter of them have almost nowhere left to go to escape from the threats posed by human development.
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Politics + Society
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Ghaliya Djelloul, Université catholique de Louvain
Demonstrations against Abdelaziz Bouteflika have opened up a rare space for debate and self-expression – and could signal a change to a more free and involved civil society in Algeria.
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Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham; Giovanni Piazzese, University of Birmingham
As civil rights are trampled on, the Egyptian parliament is on the verge of endorsing his rule until 2034.
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From our international editions
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Stuti Bhatnagar, University of Adelaide; Priya Chacko, University of Adelaide
It started on February, 14 when a suicide attack killed more than 40 people in the Indian controlled part of Kashmir. Now, Pakistan and India's conflict over the disputed region is heating up again.
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Elena Merenda, University of Guelph-Humber; Nikki Martyn, University of Guelph-Humber
Parents' social media sharing about the potentially harmful impact of media on children reflects underlying questions about how to best protect and nurture impressionable minds.
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Stella Chatzitheochari, University of Warwick; Killian Mullan, Aston University
Children now spend more time at home and alone with their parents – new research.
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Chris Stafford, University of Nottingham
A last minute meeting with the EU couldn't save her universally detested deal. Now there's less than three weeks to Brexit – and no one knows what to do.
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