IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva during the World Bank Group and IMF meetings in Washington in April 2023. Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) via Getty Images) Mon 16 October 2023: The annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are due to take place in Marrakech, Morocco, in mid-October. The city and […]
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Mon 16 October 2023: Amid the Israel-Gaza war, Indian right-wing accounts are among leading amplifiers of anti-Palestinian fake news. The cliche goes that the first casualty of war is truth. With Israel’s occupation of Palestine, disinformation often comes with a side of anti-Palestinianism and Islamophobia, turbocharged by social media amplification, especially under Elon Musk’s leadership […]
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Sun 15 October 2023: The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain Arab dynasty, or era. The black was the color of the banner of Muhammad; white was used by the Umayyad Caliphate; green was used by the Fatimid Caliphate; and […]
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Israeli tanks head towards the Gaza fence in southern Israel [Ariel Schalit/AP Photo] Sun 15 October 2023: As an invasion appears imminent, Israel has several reasons – even if lofty – for carrying out such an offensive. The order is ominous and is sowing panic and confusion. Israel’s military has told more than a million people living […]
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Mon 09 October 2023: Sometimes referred to as the “crack cocaine of gambling”, electronic gaming machines (EGMs) such as slot machines allow bets to be placed as quickly as once every 2.5 seconds, delivering a rapid and immersive gambling experience. Similar features are now being used to transform online sports betting, significantly increasing the risk of problem gambling. Sports betting […]
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Possible shod hominin tracks in the Garden Route National Park, South Africa. Charles Helm Sun 08 October 2023: When and where did our ancestors first fashion footwear? We cannot look to physical evidence of shoes for the answer, as the perishable materials from which they were made would no longer be evident. Ichnology, the study of fossil […]
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Sun 08 October 2023: In a ringing judgment for the right to privacy, the South African Constitutional Court declared sections of the country’s main communication surveillance law unconstitutional in February 2021. The court gave parliament three years to pass a new law remedying the areas of unconstitutionality. The February 2024 deadline for these amendments is looming fast. […]
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Fri 06 October 2023: Johannesburg and its surrounds, at the centre of the industrial heartland of South Africa, have been hit by severe water cuts. Water interruptions have been happening for years, but they have been scaled up dramatically in recent weeks. The deteriorating situation recently forced the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, to […]
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Thu 05 October 2023: The game brings to life a city that was the intellectual and artistic heart of the mighty Abbasid empire. For centuries, Baghdad seemed to stand at the centre of the world. Chosen as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate around the year 762, the city rose from the banks of the […]
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Wed 04 October 2023: In my digital studies class, I asked students to pose a query to ChatGPT and discuss the results. To my surprise, some asked ChatGPT about my biography. ChatGPT said I received my PhD from two different universities, and in two different subject areas, only one of which represented the focus of […]
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