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Icons remembered
Aretha Franklin was the undisputed Queen of Soul; the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and an artist whose voice rang out at historical political milestones. Leah Kardos reflects on the incredible life and legacy of Franklin, who died aged 76 this week. The world of literature also bid farewell to a big name: Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul passed away aged 85. Dilip Menon looks back on his life and literary oeuvre.
Focus on the DRC
Incumbent Joseph Kabila has named his chosen successor and says he will not run again in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s December elections. This, after clinging to power for nearly two years after his constitutional term limits expired. Reuben Loffman warns that the strongman leader isn’t actually loosening his grip on power - in fact, he’s consolidating it. Meanwhile Maria Martin de Almagro examines how the country’s women are mobilising for change.
Conservation matters
The world’s cheetah populations are under threat, and conservationists agree that protected wildlife areas are crucial to helping keep the big cats safe. But, as Femke Broekhuis writes, these areas aren’t without their problems: the number of cubs a cheetah is able to rear is lower in areas that receive lots of tourists. And Leigh Ann Winowiecki and Tor-Gunnar Vågen share lessons from Kenya on how to tackle the issue of degraded land and soils.
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Peter Foley/EPA
Leah Kardos, Kingston University
Aretha Franklin, the 'Queen of Soul', was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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VS Naipaul after receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.
EPA
Dilip Menon, University of the Witwatersrand
Nobel prize winning author Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was as hard on himself as on others.
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DRC focus
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Reuben Loffman, Queen Mary University of London
Emmanuel Shadary is President Joseph Kabila's preferred presidential candidate meaning that Kabila could remain in power if not in office.
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Maria Martin de Almagro, University of Cambridge
Women in the DRC are much more than victims of violence and coming together to effect change.
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Conservation matters
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Femke Broekhuis, University of Oxford
New findings show that the numbers of cubs a cheetah is able to rear is lower in areas that receive lots of tourists.
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Leigh Ann Winowiecki, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); Tor-Gunnar Vågen, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
A Land Degradation Surveillance framework could solve this problem by systematically measuring and tracking indicators of land health in Africa.
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