|
Threats of mass wildlife extinction events sometimes focus on large, well-known animals like polar bears or rhinos. Other animals, like reptiles, need attention too. In Africa, chameleons and vipers are the reptile species most at risk of extinction. Krystal Tolley and Graham Alexander are part of a team that assessed the state of all South Africa’s 401 terrestrial reptiles. They share their key findings.
Independent election bodies have played an important role in delivering democracy to African countries since the 1990s. But democratic backsliding is gaining momentum around the world. Sonali Campion examines whether this has weakened the continent’s election management bodies.
Press freedom safeguards the public’s right to information and helps to hold governments accountable. As the world marks press freedom day today, we’re resharing a recent article which examines the state of the media in east Africa.
|
Krystal Tolley, South African National Biodiversity Institute; Graham Alexander, University of the Witwatersrand
There are 401 indigenous terrestrial reptiles in South Africa.
|
Sonali Campion, University of East Anglia
Stakeholders, whether they be policymakers, political parties, civil society or the media, must proactively pursue electoral integrity.
|
Karen McIntyre, Virginia Commonwealth University; Meghan Sobel Cohen, Regis University
Important factors, such as conflict, are central to understanding a country’s degree of press freedom, development and democratisation.
|
Melanie Samson, University of Johannesburg
Because waste pickers go through trash and leave behind everything without value, they know better than anyone which plastics should be eliminated.
|
From our international editions
|
-
Stephen Badham, Nottingham Trent University
Young people are losing their advantage when it comes to IQ.
-
John J. Sloan III, University of Alabama at Birmingham
While most colleges and universities have their own police units, some schools, like Columbia University, have only private security − and then can call in outside police when they feel it is needed.
-
Stephen Wooding, University of California, Merced
Cassava’s many assets would seem to make it the ideal crop, except for one drawback: It’s highly poisonous. Human ingenuity has made cassava edible for millennia.
-
Christina von Roemeling, University of Florida; John Ligon, University of Florida
Cancer vaccines have gained much interest among scientists but face a number of hurdles. A new mRNA vaccine for glioma offers a step forward in training the immune system to fight cancer.
-
Abdul Sadka, Aston University
The upgraded AI systems may even be able to undertake a form of reasoning.
|
|
