‘WE ARE AT CROSSROADS’: TENSION BUILDS IN SENEGAL AMID ELECTION DELAY

Tue 06 February 2024: Dakar, Senegal – Plateau, the downtown Dakar neighbourhood that is home to the country’s National Assembly, was tense but quiet on Monday morning. Inside parliament, the assembly was anything but. Lawmakers were debating on President Macky Sall’s announcement to postpone general elections – originally scheduled for February 25 – for an additional […]

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SOUTH AFRICA IS FAILING PEOPLE WHO AREN’T POOR, BUT AREN’T MIDDLE CLASS EITHER

Mon 05 February 2024: Many South African households are trapped. They are neither poor nor middle class. As a demographic they hover above the indigence threshold financially. But they are not yet securely in the middle class. This aspirant middle class – individuals whose income is above the indigent thresholds but too low to afford […]

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SOUTH AFRICANS ARE OPTING TO GO OFF-GRID: HOW THEY’RE BEING HELPED, AND HINDERED, IN THEIR EFFORTS

Fri 02 February 2024: Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned power utility, struggles to generate and supply a stable flow of electricity to meet demand. In 2023, there were times when households and businesses had no power for up to 11 hours a day. Eskom has warned that load shedding will be worse in 2024. The result is that many South […]

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POWER PLAYS AND SHADOWS: THE PRO-ISRAEL LOBBY AND THE EPSTEIN CASE

Tue 30 January 2024: In the realm of politics, blackmail and lobbying can intersect, prompting serious contemplation about the ethical bedrock of power dynamics. Both entail the tactical deployment of influence. However, their methodologies are markedly distinct. Often, lines are crossed, and the power of lobbying is not only driven by financial power and influence; […]

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AUSTRALIA’S PRO-PALESTINIAN ACTIVISTS TO CONTINUE TARGETING ISRAELI SHIPS

  Police deployed pepper spray against the people blockading the port [Leo Mace/Al Jazeera] Mon 29 January 2024: Melbourne, Australia – Ports have emerged as the centre of pro-Palestine rallies in Australia as protesters target Israeli ships, and vessels alleged to have links with the country. Last week, dozens of people attempted to stop the ZIM […]

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HOW SUBTLE FORMS OF MISINFORMATION AFFECT WHAT WE BUY AND HOW MUCH WE TRUST BRANDS

Mon 29 January 2024: Misinformation isn’t just blurring political lines anymore. It’s quietly infiltrating our shopping trolleys in subtle ways, shaping our decisions about what we buy and who we trust, as my research shows. Spurred by political events, misinformation has garnered widespread media coverage and academic research. But most of the attention has been […]

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DON’T COVER IMRAN KHAN’S PTI: PAKISTAN’S MEDIA TOLD TO CENSOR POPULAR EX-PM

Fri 26 January 2024: Islamabad, Pakistan – Journalist Amir Mehmood* was getting ready for work when his phone buzzed with a WhatsApp message. As a member of the top management at a private news channel in Pakistan’s second-largest city, Lahore, Mehmood was used to getting non-stop calls and messages, even at odd hours. But the name […]

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HOW ISRAEL CONTROLS $188 MILLION OF PALESTINIAN MONEY EVERY MONTH

Wed 24 January 2024: Palestinian tax revenue destined for Gaza has been frozen by Israel since November – here’s what’s happening now. On Sunday, Israel approved a plan to send taxes earmarked for Gaza to Norway instead of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Since November, taxes that would ordinarily […]

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