As many had predicted, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won a second term in Mali’s presidential election. But Keita needed a runoff vote to win - unprecedented for an incumbent president in Mali. He must now contend with national legislative elections scheduled for the end of the year. Jonathan Sears predicts some turbulence ahead for Keita as he faces off with an electorate that’s developed a chronic mistrust of political institutions, processes and actors.
Last week’s ruling by South Africa’s Constitutional Court decriminalising the private growth and use of marijuana reverses a century of notoriously punitive criminal law in the country. Thembisa Waentjen traces the history of marijuana regulation in the country and explains why the ruling represents a landmark in South Africa’s history of human rights.
|
Supporters of Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in the capital Bamako.
Legnan Koula/EPA/EFE
Jonathan Sears, University of Winnipeg
Incumbent Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta will be Mali's next president but an unremarkable first term, and a flawed election, could put a dent in his legacy.
|
Celebrations after court rules that the personal use of dagga is not a criminal offence.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA
Thembisa Waetjen, University of Johannesburg
Court ruling may well undo decades of often racist cannabis law enforcement.
|
Environment + Energy
|
Asia Murphy, Pennsylvania State University
The fossa, Madagascar's largest predator, is a cat-like carnivore that eats everything from insects to lemurs. Because they are rare and elusive, scientists know very little about them, including how many there are.
| |
Craig E. Colten, Louisiana State University
Widespread flooding in North Carolina from Hurricane Florence shows the need for better advance planning in inland areas of the south and mid-Atlantic, especially near rivers.
|
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Gabriel Neal, Texas A&M University
Does it seem like everyone you know drinks apple cider vinegar, mainly in hopes of losing weight? Vinegar has a long history of high hopes attached to it. A doctor who loves vinegar explains.
-
Leon Lack, Flinders University
We’re often told by the popular press and well-meaning family and friends that, for good health, we should fall asleep quickly and sleep solidly for about eight hours – otherwise we’re at risk of physical…
|
|