Editor's note

There are laws in Uganda that restrict the amount of force police can use on civilians. But there is also a multiplicity of legislation that empowers the police and other security agencies to carry out arrests as well as to control and disperse crowds. These laws place no limits on the use of force or firearms. Sylvie Namwase writes that despite a key constitutional ruling that limited the police’s power to use unlimited force when dispersing crowds, loopholes still persist within Uganda’s legal framework.

A new antiretroviral drug has been given the thumbs up by the World Health Organisation and is now being introduced into many HIV programmes across the world. One of the factors that influenced the WHO’s decision were the preliminary results from studies that include an ongoing trial in South Africa. Michelle Moorhouse and Willem Daniel Francois Venter explain what the South African trial has found.

Julie Masiga

Peace + Security Editor

Top Stories

Uganda’s security officials have been known to use too much force when dealing with crowds. Dai Kurokawa/EPA

Why Uganda needs new laws to hold police in check, and accountable

Sylvie Namwase, University of Copenhagen

Uganda's police have powers to use excessive force on citizens.

The drug is set to improve HIV treatment. shutterstock

ARV breakthrough: trial in South Africa confirms effectiveness of new drug

Michelle Moorhouse, University of the Witwatersrand; Willem Daniel Francois Venter, University of the Witwatersrand

The study confirms that dolutegravir is an effective and well-tolerated ARV.

Science + Technology

How Africa’s science academies can help drive sustainable development

Himla Soodyall, Academy of Science of South Africa

Science academies have a crucial role to play in developing ways for scientists to engage more effectively.

Sharks: one in four habitats in remote open ocean threatened by longline fishing

David Sims, University of Southampton

Even the remote open ocean offers no escape from industrial fishing for sharks.

Politics + Society

Ramaphosa should focus on inequality rather than squeezing poor people

David Dickinson, University of the Witwatersrand

A clandestine system of transfer payment, with roots in apartheid-era boycotts, has developed into routine behaviour on which many family budgets now depend.

Universities in South Africa need to rediscover their higher purpose

Peter Vale, University of Pretoria; Harry Boyte, Augsburg University

South Africa's universities are detached from society because of a waning public and civic sector that once fueled the anti-apartheid struggle. Here's what can be done.

From our international editions

Boris Johnson: what first speech as prime minister suggests is in store for Britain

Simon Usherwood, University of Surrey

Britain's new prime minister has spoken ... now he needs to act.

Pure altruism – the connection that explains why we help strangers

Steve Taylor, Leeds Beckett University

Self sacrifice isn't all about selfish genes.

An asteroid just buzzed past Earth, and we barely noticed in time

Michael J. I. Brown, Monash University

A 100-metre-wide asteroid passed just 70,000km from Earth on Thursday, and we had little warning it was about to happen. What threat is posed by asteroids and how do we find them?

The internet is rotting – let’s embrace it

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, University of Oxford

Forgetting is beneficial for the human brain. But the internet has made it harder to let go of painful or problematic memories.

 
 
 
 

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