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Social media, and Facebook in particular, was a major organising force for the public uprising that would topple the regime of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in 2011. The new regime took note and now closely monitors social media in the country. One of its main targets for arrests and detentions today is TikTok users, especially young women. But, writes social media scholar Gabriele Cosentino, the hugely popular TikTok is proving to have a more subtle form of political power, exposing the rift between rich elites and everyday citizens.
A marine fossil found in South Africa 25 years ago has recently been scientifically described and named. Palaeontologist Sarah Gabbott explains that the unusually good preservation of the specimen’s insides made it difficult to compare with other fossils. Hence the delay in giving it a place in the story of life on Earth. But what’s 25 years, after a wait of more than 440 million since the little creature was alive and swimming in an icy sea?
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Charl Blignaut
Arts, Culture and Society Editor
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Gabriele Cosentino, American University in Cairo
TikTok reveals both the liberating and the repressive effects of social media use in Egypt.
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Sarah Gabbott, University of Leicester
Just two specimens of Keurbos susanae, an unusually well preserved fossil arthropod, have been found.
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Arts, Culture + Society
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Stan Chu Ilo, DePaul University
The most pressing challenge facing African Catholicism is how to wean itself from western resources.
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Christophe Premat, Stockholm University
Few have challenged colonial knowledge systems as profoundly as Mudimbe.
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Health + Medicine
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Annettee Nakimuli, Makerere University
Research indicates that pre-eclampsia has a genetic basis. African women are at greater risk than other population groups.
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Science + Technology
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Martin Bekker, University of the Witwatersrand
The solution demands two simple and clear actions: declare that photo manipulation has taken place and disclose what manipulation was carried out.
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Carel Oosthuizen, University of Pretoria; Andre Ganswindt, University of Pretoria; Bruce Crossey, University of Pretoria; Grant Hall, University of Pretoria
African wild dogs are carnivores always thought to hunt in packs. But new DNA analysis has found they also eat small birds and hares and may hunt alone.
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Busani Ngcaweni, University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa has the opportunity to build a model of digital transformation that strengthens public institutions rather than diminishes them.
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Politics
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Aleksi Ylönen, United States International University
The US has been interested in Somaliland due to its strategic location on the Gulf of Aden.
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Environment + Energy
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Mohamed Okash, Simad University; Abdikafi Hassan Abdi, Simad University
Somalia’s competitiveness in global markets has weakened owing to climate change and conflict.
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Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, University of Pretoria; Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu, Sol Plaatje University
Investing more in agriculture, especially with external financing, offers the biggest gains in raising incomes and reducing poverty.
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Qinisani Nhlakanipho Qwabe, Nelson Mandela University
South Africa’s agricultural extension advisors need to start training farmers to grow nutritious indigenous crops that have been largely forgotten.
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Business + Economy
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Carolyn Chisadza, University of Pretoria; Eleni Abraham Yitbarek, University of Pretoria; Kehinde Oluwaseun Omotoso; Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, University of Pretoria; Nicky Nicholls, University of Pretoria; Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu, Sol Plaatje University
Economic modelling suggests that a basic income grant for all individuals aged between 18 and 59 could significantly reduce poverty and inequality in South Africa.
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Education
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Pearl S. Kyei, University of Ghana; Fred Dzanku, University of Ghana; Samuel Kobina Annim, University of Cape Coast
Literacy and numeracy have declined at the basic education level in Ghana.
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Fridah Gatwiri Kiambati, African Population and Health Research Center
A pilot programme in 15 schools demonstrates how targeted, structured interventions can rapidly close foundational literacy gaps.
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15 May 2025
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Stellenbosch
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15 May 2025
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16 May 2025 - 16 May 2026
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20 - 24 May 2025
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Johannesburg
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