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Papers from the conference include the following: "Activites orales et motivation dans l'etude du vocabulaire d'une langue etrangere (Oral Activities and Motivation in the Study of Vocabulary in a Foreign Language)" (M. Guisset); "Bridging High School and College Classes through the Multicultural Approach: The Case of Francophone Africa" (T. Mosadomi); "Foreign Language Education in the Middle School: A Special Education Teacher's View" (M. G. M. Finamore); "German Folk Dances: An Innovative Teaching Tool" (A. Wedekind); "How Can a Mess Be Fine? Polysemy and Reading in a Foreign Language" (H-W. Kang); "Interactive Pedagogy in a Literature Based Classroom" (V. Mayer); "Language Telecourses for Adults--Pros and Cons" (M. S. Pearlman); "Les Santons de Provence: Inspiration for an Interdisciplinary Project" (L. L. Lucietto); "More than a Required Skill in Today's Curriculum: Critical Thinking and Collaborative Learning in Foreign Languages" (C. E. Klein); "Music as a Means to Enhance Cultural Awareness and Literacy in the Foreign Language Classroom" (J. W. Failoni); "Near Immersion Results in One-Third of the Time" (J. Lang); "On Organizing a Learner-Centered Advanced Conversation Course" (D. Guenin-Lelle); "Opera and Art in the French Foreign Language Classroom" (L. Hekmatpanah); "Strategies for Producing a Video-Letter in the Foreign Language Classroom" (M. F. Dominguez); "The Language of Language: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Language Learning" (J. T. Mann); "Towards Teaching French Civilization in Context: A Technology-Aided Approach" (E. L. Corredor); and"Where Is the Text? Discourse Competence and the Foreign Language Textbook" (M. A. Kaplan, E. Knutson). (VWL)

Fourteen original research papers by faculty and students of the Linguistics Department and other related departments of the University of Kansas are presented. The titles and authors are as follows: "A Kinesic Approach to Understanding Communication and Context in Japanese" (Bruch); "Correlations between the Three Level Tones and Vowel Durations in Standard Thai" (Deepadung); "On Predicting the Glottal Stop in Hualapai" (Folarin); "Prefix "oni" in Yoruba" (Folarin); "The Study of Minority Languages in China" (He); "Lexical, Functional Grammar Analysis of Korean Complex Predicates" (Kim); "In the Social Register: Pronoun Choice in Norwegian and English" (Mills); "Diphthongization, Syllable Structure and the Feature [high] in Hmu" (Mills, Strecker); "A Transitional Orthography for Northern Canadian Native Languages" (Proulx); "A Relic of Proto-Siouan *ro/no 'One' in Mississippi Valley Siouan" (Rankin); "Making Sense in ESL: A Set of Three Rhetorical Structures" (Scott); "The Path Containment Condition and Argument Structure" (Stroik); "Social Deixis in Sinhalese: The Pronoun System" (Tilakaratne); and "The Behavior of Non-Terms in Shaba Swahili: A Relational Approach" (Obeidat, Kapanga). (LB)

The article presents an addendum to the position paper on the use of meningococcal conjugate vaccines (MMCV) in the African meningitis belt issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization at its meeting in September 2023. Topics include the WHO off-label recommendations for meningococcal vaccines and vaccination that apply to countries in the African meningitis belt and research priorities on the impact of Men5CV vaccine.

A growing body of research implicates inflammation as a potential pathway in the aetiology and pathophysiology of some mental illnesses. A systematic review was conducted to determine the association between parasitic infection and mental illnesses in humans in Africa and reviewed the state of the evidence available. The search focused on publications from Africa documenting the relationship between parasites from two parasite groups, helminths and protozoans, and four classifications of mental illness: mood affective disorders, neurotic and stress-related disorders, schizotypal disorders and unspecified mental illnesses. In the 26 reviewed papers, the prevalence of mental illness was significantly higher in people with parasitic infection compared to those without infection, i.e., 58.2% vs 41.8% (P < 0.001). An overall odds ratio found that the association of having a mental illness when testing positive for a parasitic infection was four times that of people without infection. Whilst the study showed significant associations between parasite infection and mental illness, it also highlights gaps in the present literature on the pathophysiology of mental illness in people exposed to parasite infection. This study highlighted the importance of an integrated intervention for parasitic infection and mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the features of the bank notes released by Biafra in Western Africa, which indicated a separate banking system and printed after its secession from the British Empire.

Keywords: %USD; AFRICA; ALLTOP; BASIC; BUSINESS; CMD; COS; FRX; GOV; GOVTOP; INDUSTRIES; MARKETS; METMNG; NORTHAM; US; WORLD EN %USD AFRICA ALLTOP BASIC BUSINESS CMD COS FRX GOV GOVTOP INDUSTRIES MARKETS METMNG NORTHAM US WORLD Zimbabwe's central bank plans to sell gold coins to the public from July 25 as a store of value to stabilize the nation's tumbling currency and offer an alternative to the US dollar. The coin forms part of measures to deal with a currency crisis that's seen the annual inflation rate jump to 192% in June and a sharp depreciation in the Zimbabwean dollar, which has lost more than two-thirds of its value against the dollar this year. [Extracted from the article]

South African civil-society organization Corruption Watch said it has launched an application in the High Court of Pretoria to have former Eskom board members declared delinquent. The application "focuses on the violation of fiduciary duties and gross negligence on the part of former board members", the Johannesburg-based Corruption Watch said in an emailed statement on Monday. [Extracted from the article]

Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in Africa has been as difficult as predicting the path of the pandemic, mainly due to data limitations. The advent of new data sources, including national accounts and phone survey data, provides an opportunity for a thorough reassessment of the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent expansion of social protection systems on the evolution of poverty in Africa. In this paper, we combine per capita GDP growth from national accounts with data from High-Frequency Phone Surveys for several countries to estimate the net impact of the pandemic on poverty. We find that the pandemic has increased poverty in Africa by 1.5-1.7 percentage points in 2020, relatively smaller than early estimates and projections. We also find that countries affected by Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) experienced the greatest increases in poverty, about 2.1 percentage points in 2020. Furthermore, we assess and synthesize empirical evidence on the role that social protection systems played in mitigating the adverse impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa. We review social protection responses in various African countries, mainly focusing on the impact of these programs and effectiveness of targeting systems. Although the evidence base on the protective role of social protection programs during the pandemic remains scarce, we highlight important findings on the impacts of these programs while also uncovering some vulnerabilities in social protection programming in Africa. We finally draw important lessons related to the delivery, targeting and impact of various social protection programs launched in Africa in response to the pandemic. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank Group and IFPRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and its impact on Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, particularly due to their weak healthcare systems. The authors emphasize the need for better global health security and international cooperation to manage such diseases. The paper aims to analyze the outbreak and response strategies in these three countries in order to provide insights for improving healthcare systems and responses to EVD and similar diseases worldwide. It is important to note that this preprint has not yet undergone peer review. [Extracted from the article]

Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) represents a prominent phenomenon in Africa. Several studies suggest that for certain products and countries, the value of informal trade may meet or even exceed the value of formal trade. This paper provides a review of existing efforts to measure informal trade. We list 18 initiatives aimed at measuring ICBT in Africa. The paper also summarizes discussions conducted with many stakeholders in Africa between December 2016 and May 2018 regarding the measurement, the determinants, and the implications of ICBT. The methodologies used to measure ICBT in Africa differ widely, but they do confirm that informal trade in Africa is both sizeable and volatile. Both evidence on the determinants of ICBT and discussions with stakeholders suggest that policies should aim to reduce the existing costs associated with formal trade and provide positive incentives for traders and producers to move into the formal economy in order to avoid the loss of economic potential stemming from informal trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was assured by a special national police unit that he isn't a suspect in its investigation of a tax-agency unit and won't be arrested, the Johannesburg-based Sunday Independent said, citing correspondence to his lawyers. Attribution Amogelang Mbatha: by reporter Nasreen Seria: editor responsible Jana Randow: editor Steve Geimann: editor. [Extracted from the article]

Despite enthusiasm on the potential of digital innovations to transform agricultural markets in Africa, progress made thus far has been limited to small-scale experiments that often fail to scale up. Realizing the full potential of digital innovations--tools, technologies, applications, and services--in Africa requires not just further development of these solutions at meaningful scales, but also more nuanced evidence from both successful and unsuccessful scaling efforts. This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence on the transformative potential of digital innovations for African agricultural markets with an in-depth examination of solutions that have been rolled out to date in the continent. Specifically, the review addresses the following questions: (i) how can digital innovations improve the functioning of agricultural markets in Africa? (ii) what explains the apparent failure of most pilots to scale up? (iii) what is required to realize their full potential? and (iv) what are the emerging risks and opportunities associated with these digital innovations for agricultural marketing? Although our review of the landscape and literature on market-focused digital innovations in Africa identifies several reasons to remain optimistic, the prevailing disconnect between pilots and scale-ups merits further evaluation. In particular, there is a need for more systematic assessments of both successes and failures at different stages of piloting and scaling of digital solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covers various issues in Africa as of April 28, 2005. Agreement between Mozambique President Armando Guebuza and South African President Thabo Mbeki to waive visas between the two countries; Amount to be invested by Finland in Nigeria's paper mills sector; Decision of Canada to resume financial aid to Kenya.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) describe a course of action to address poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all (https://sdgs.un.org/goals). More specifically, SDG 6 clarifies how water quality, quantity and access are crucial to human well-being, and yet human activities are compromising water resources through over-exploitation, pollution, as well as contributing to the spread of disease. Globally aquatic ecosystems are highly threatened and concerted efforts by governments and civil society to 'turn the situation around' are simply not working. Human-created problems require human-centred solutions and these require different ways of thinking and acting to those behaviour patterns that are contributing to the challenges. In this paper, we first consider causal approaches to attitude change and behaviour modification that are simply not working as intended. We then explore enabling responses such as citizen science and co-engaged action learning as more tenable alternatives. SDG 6 has a focus on clean water and sanitation for all. The SDGs further clarify how the extent to which this goal can be realized depends, to a large extent, on stakeholder engagements and education. Through stakeholder engagements and educational processes, people can contribute towards SDG 6 and the specific indicator and target in SDG 6.b - Stakeholder participation. Following a three-year research process, that investigated a wide range of participatory tools, this paper explores how the Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS; www.minisass.org) can enable members of the public to engage in water quality monitoring at a local level. The paper continues to demonstrate how miniSASS can contribute to the monitoring of progress towards Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.3, by providing a mechanism for data collection indicator 6.3.2. miniSASS is proving popular in southern Africa as a methodology for engaging stakeholder participation in water quality monitoring and management. The technique costs very little to implement and can be applied by children and scientists alike. As a biomonitoring approach, it is based on families of macroinvertebrates that are present in most perennial rivers of the world. The paper concludes by describing how useful the miniSASS technique can be for addressing data gaps for SDG 6.3.2 reporting, and that it can be applied in most regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bayobab white paper: read about the big developments taking place to extend connectivity across Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study published in Science Advances reveals that a third of Africa's gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees are at risk due to mining operations for metals essential to the global clean energy transition. The study estimates that nearly 180,000 great apes in Africa are threatened by mining activities, which drive deforestation. The impact may be even greater as mining companies are not required to disclose biodiversity data. The demand for minerals used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles is increasing, and Africa, home to a third of the world's mineral resources, is particularly vulnerable due to its diverse and fragile ecosystems. The researchers emphasize the need for a shift away from fossil fuels that does not jeopardize biodiversity. [Extracted from the article]

Sustainability is in corporate policy of almost every organization these days, either to achieve financial success for stakeholders or to use its financial success to work towards social development. The paper discusses the case of Volkswagen, one of the leading car manufacturers across the globe. For Volkswagen, sustainability is an opportunity to demonstrate their innovative capabilities and competitiveness in a way it works: bringing out innovation in personal mobility, motivating employees in one corner of the World to help those in another geographic location and improving relation with local government bodies to effectively implement the strategies. Paper focuses on Volkswagen's efforts in developing economies such as Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe an AI (Artificial Intelligence) that can “think like an African traditional doctor”. The system proposes to model and to use attitudes taken and concepts used by African traditional doctors when facing cases. It is designed to go deep into the concepts of African traditional medicine (ATM) by dealing with all the possible interpretations of those concepts, and to produce more much satisfying and accurate support for medical diagnosis and prescription than existing systems. Design/methodology/approach – To take into account the sometimes strange concepts used and attitudes taken by African traditional healers, including mystical considerations, the system relies on a deep ontology describing all those concepts and attitudes in a more computer readable manner allowing a multi-agent system to have full access to ATM knowledge. Ethnological inquiries, literary analysis and interviews of traditional doctors (the holders of African medicine knowledge) were performed to gather sufficient data to achieve the work. Findings – The paper addresses this question of how to build a practical large-scope computer-aided diagnosis and prescription system which can exploit deep descriptions of ATM concepts, including mystical considerations. The system also provides scientific interpretations to some concepts sometimes considered as mystical facts. It is a java web-based platform combined to a Java Agent Development framework multi-agent system accessing an ontology to provide its results. Research limitations/implications – Because of the origins of healers involved in this research (from Gabon and Cameroon, countries of Central Africa), the ontology and the collected data may lack generalizability in the African scope and then it is a prototype. Therefore, ATM experts all over the continent are encouraged to participate to improve and standardize the ATM ontology and to populate the knowledge base. On the other side, the system cannot give scientific explanations to all the mystical considerations in ATM, there still some facts which cannot be rationally explained for now. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates the practical usability of the implemented system on the diagnosis and the treatment of a patient case. Social implications – The research describes a system which once validated by traditional experts, will serve as a tool to assist them in their day-to-day diagnosis and prescription tasks and will also serve as a reference on ATM practices for all interested users. Originality/value – The paper provides an in-depth description of a computer-aided diagnosis system (CADS) that promotes indigenous technology from an African perspective. Comparing to the former systems identified in the literature, the proposed system is the first which deals with believes and mystical considerations in ATM, and also the first which provides a function to rank its results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the private media company Nation Group, with information on preferences for print materials in East African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Topics include the percentage of Nation Group's revenues from newspapers; the cost of full-page newspaper advertisements in Kenya; and media companies' gradual preparation for digital media. Linus Gitahi of Nation Group comments on the newspaper business.

Although women's empowerment and gender equality are associated with better maternal and child nutrition outcomes, recent systematic reviews find inconclusive evidence. This paper applies a comparable methodology to data on the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), a recent internationallyvalidated measure based on interviews of women and men within the same household, from six countries in Africa and Asia to identify which dimensions of women's empowerment are related to household-, women-, and child-level dietary and nutrition outcomes. We examine the relationship between women's empowerment and household-level food security and dietary diversity; women's dietary diversity and BMI; and child-related outcomes, controlling for woman, child, and household characteristics. We also test whether women's empowerment has differential associations for boys and girls. We do not find consistent associations between dimensions of empowerment and food security and nutrition outcomes across countries, but some patterns emerge. Overall empowerment scores are more strongly associated with nutritional outcomes in the South Asian countries in our sample compared to the African ones. Where significant, greater intrahousehold gender equality is associated with better nutritional outcomes. However, different domains have different associations with nutritional outcomes, suggesting that tradeoffs exist: higher workloads are associated with more diverse diets but lower women's BMI and child anthropometric outcomes. Identifying the overlap between the top contributors to disempowerment and those most strongly related to nutrition outcomes can inform the design and implementation of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to the academic support for scholarship, research libraries, and global publishing. It mentions changes in academic librarianship with literature documenting focused on North America and Europe; scholarly publishing in sub-Saharan Africa to a combination of technological and economic factors. It also mentions that poorly funded institutions can neither finance research projects nor afford many of the important resources upon which scholars rely.

The author describes her experience with Africa and its influence on her paintings. She studied the arts of sub-Saharan Africa for 30 years and was accustomed with the West African nation of Nigeria. She relates that she never painted Africa but teaches African sculptural forms until a friend told her to try it, which opened the opportunity for her to rediscover Africa. She used her experiences, memories and impressions to create paintings with a glow of African landscape featuring the darkness of African skin and the art of weaving.

A recent study conducted by the University of Bonn explores the impact and challenges of mobile phone usage on agricultural production in Africa. The research highlights the positive effects of digitalization on agricultural development in Africa, such as improved communication between farmers and end-users, and the dissemination of climate information through radio, SMS, and mobile apps. However, the study also emphasizes the need for infrastructure investment, including electricity provision and network availability, as well as government policies that promote internet connectivity in both rural and urban areas. This research provides valuable insights into the potential benefits and necessary conditions for utilizing mobile phones in African agriculture. [Extracted from the article]

A scoping review conducted by the Medical Research Group of Egypt analyzed neurosurgical research produced in Africa to identify gaps in the literature and provide recommendations for aspiring African neurosurgeons. The study found that while there has been an increase in African authorship in neurosurgical research, disparities still exist between African neurosurgeons and those from high-income countries. The most common types of research articles were retrospective cohort studies, case reports, and prospective cohort studies, with neuro-oncology, spinal surgery, and cerebrovascular being the most common research areas. The study recommends that African neurosurgical researchers focus more on clinical trials and systematic reviews to improve clinical practice and consider more collaboration between African authors. [Extracted from the article]

A paper published in the journal Nature Communications suggests that African countries could benefit economically and protect their seas' biodiversity by forming a "fish cartel" to sell fishing rights to foreign vessels. Currently, African nations sell access to their waters individually, which allows wealthy foreign fishers to negotiate lower prices. This results in a significant disparity between what African countries earn from their fisheries and what foreign fishers make. By joining forces, African countries could increase their fish biomass by 16% and make 23% more in profits. However, there are challenges to implementing a continent-level fish cartel, including differing interests and objectives among African countries. Nonetheless, an Africa-wide fisheries coalition could be a beneficial investment for Africans and their marine environments. [Extracted from the article]

The criteria included an audit and update on the company's valuation, a vesting period and above-par performance, the company said in responding court papers. New Hires The Lagos and San Francisco-based company was founded six years ago and facilitates cross-border transactions in multiple currencies for companies, including Alibaba's Alipay, Uber Technologies Inc., in primarily emerging and frontier markets. (Bloomberg) -- Africa's largest startup Flutterwave Inc. is battling allegations of financial impropriety and personnel harassment from Lagos to Nairobi, as it considers pushing ahead with plans to list the company. [Extracted from the article]

The Malabo Agenda on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation has brought technical challenges to the development of agricultural strategies by expanding the number of commitments and goals under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. In this paper, we describe and apply an economic modeling framework that was developed to identify the agricultural investment priority areas for a country and to define milestones to track its progress towards the Malabo goals. The framework consists of a three-layer simulation model that aims to capture multiple Malabo commitments and goals. First, the agricultural productivity analysis uses the stochastic meta-frontier technique to assess opportunities to increase agricultural productivity. Second, the economywide analysis uses an agricultural and investment focused computable general equilibrium model to capture the Malabo goals on agricultural growth, intra-African trade of agricultural commodities, and public and private agricultural investments. Third, the microeconomic analysis builds upon statistical economic modeling to allow direct measurement and simulation of the Malabo goals on poverty and hunger. The modeling framework is applied to Kenya using the most recent data. The Malabo Agenda simulation results indicate that Kenya's current nonagriculture-led growth is not sufficient to achieving the Malabo overarching goals on poverty and hunger. Agriculture-led growth complemented by extended social assistance is more likely to close the income growth and inequality gaps and contribute to achieving the multiple Malabo commitments and goals by 2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article sheds light on the situation of colonialism in Africa. And yet some 150,000,000 black Africans live under conditions which make them ripe for communism. They are politically oppressed and economically exploited, segregated and kept largely illiterate. The leaders are becoming increasingly impatient with the gradualist policies of the colonial nations. France is trying a novel experiment in the administration of its overseas black territories. On paper, at least, the natives of these territories have become full-fledged citizens of the Republic and are directly represented in the National Assembly.

African countries may seek to exchange their sovereign debt for new concessional paper to avoid using funds needed to battle the fast-moving coronavirus to pay private creditors, according to a United Nations body. Songwe said she is working on the proposal to pause about $16.25 billion in commercial debt payments this year with the backing of finance ministers including Ghana's Ken Ofori-Atta. If successful, the model could be replicated in other regions that seek a debt standstill while they weather the pandemic, Songwe said. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose This paper aims to understand and explore the causal relationship of elements responsible for the macro vicious cycle of poverty in Guinea-Bissau, and discuss policies to break it.Design/methodology/approach The methodology used in this study is based on the system dynamics simulation paradigm.Findings Breaking the Guinean poverty cycle requires a multifaceted approach involving more resources and the building of several national capabilities. Traditional approaches tend to fail.Research limitations/implications Limitations come from the level of abstraction used in the model, which does not detail the processes for building specific capabilities and their interrelationships, and the necessary exclusion of variables that may have an impact in the process. Considering implications, the study models the evolution of human development index (HDI) in Guinea-Bissau, linking it to the economy and political sectors and allowing the simulation of different scenarios.Practical implications The study presents a critical stance towards common recommendations from international agencies, and it provides a blueprint for development of more effective public policies.Social implications Overcoming the poverty trap in sub-Saharan countries remains a challenge for the international community. The study aims at helping in the process of integrating different frameworks into a compact and manageable model.Originality/value The study contributes to the system dynamics and economic development literatures by presenting an integrative model of human development in Guinea-Bissau. There is no study in the system dynamics literature modelling the relationship of HDI to economy and political sectors while different and contradictory points of view characterize the economics literature, leaving well-meaning public officials in Guinea-Bissau at a loss of mental models to tackle the poverty trap in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heineken, the beer-brewing company, has been treating employees in Rwanda and neighboring Burundi in Africa, where one in eight people is infected with HIV. Heineken has guaranteed antiretroviral drug coverage to its staff of 6,000 in Africa, and also their immediate dependents. Problems include bringing drugs into Nigeria--the government imposes 20% import duties on all medication--and persuading airlines to carry HIV-infected blood from countries like Sierra Leone, where there are no labs equipped to carry out AIDS tests. Nurses have made exceptions and have given flu or malaria pills to workers who were laid off. On paper, Heineken requires employees to make a token contribution ($10 a month for management, $5 a month for other employees) toward treatment, in order to motivate AIDS patients to stick to their drug regimen.

COVID-19 risks rolling back many of the efforts and global successes recorded in reducing poverty and food insecurity. We undertake a systematic review of the growing microeconomic literature on the association between COVID-19 and food (in)security in Africa, discussing its implications for food policy and research. In doing so, we highlight some of the methodological weaknesses in answering policy-relevant questions on the causal link between COVID-19 and food insecurity. We also review the various coping strategies households are using to build resilience to COVID-19 and explore the role of social protection and other tools in mitigating some of the negative effects of COVID-19. This review provides evidence that COVID-19 is associated with food insecurity both ex-ante and ex-durante. There are many attempts to suggest this relationship may be causal with some robust methods in some contexts, but data limitations prevail which constrains causal learning. We also find evidence that income losses, loss of employment, and heightened food prices may be mediating the relationship between COVID-19 and food insecurity. Going further, we additionally review the mitigating role of social protection and remittances in reducing the negative effects of COVID-19 on food insecurity. Relatedly, we also show evidence that households are using various coping strategies such as food rationing and dietary change to cushion themselves against the COVID-19 shock but most of these measures remain adversely correlated with food insecurity. We end with a discussion on some potential interesting areas where future efforts can be geared to improve learning on the relationship between COVID-19, food insecurity, and building resilience to shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ric Swift, the founder of the UK Wildlife Film School, plans to relocate his school to Africa and his Land Rover One Ten is an essential part of his plans. The vehicle is equipped with a large roof rack and a platform on the bonnet for easy access. It is used to transport film equipment, camping gear, and food for the students during their wildlife film courses in Scotland. Ric aims to take the school to Tanzania, but is also considering Botswana as an alternative due to import tax issues. He values the reliability and familiarity of his Land Rover for the long journey. [Extracted from the article]

In 2012, whilst studying the basic mechanisms of how bacteria defend themselves against viruses (some blue-sky basic science), Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna identified a method for genome editing. Less than a decade later in 2020, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of this method - which the scientific community now refers to as CRISPR genome editing. This began a gene editing revolution that is still ramping up, and that Africa and South Africa are actively taking part in. But a lot more can and should be done on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the results of a report by Reuters on a study done on poverty in Africa. Economist Xavier Sala-i-Martin and doctoral student Maxim Pinkovskiy, authors of the study, have concluded that the poverty rate in Africa is falling faster than had been thought and that it has been reduced steadily since 1995. The study also reports that poverty has been falling in all types of regions in all countries. News of the report has received little coverage in most news outlets and services around the world. The author concludes that the belief that Africa is doomed to failure is too hard for reporters to see beyond.

The article discusses the act of piracy committed against the cargo ship Maersk Alabama by Somalian pirates, and how U.S. political conservatives such as former U.S. ambassador John Bolton are using the incident to expand the war on terror to parts of Africa. The author discusses U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' reactions to the Al Shabab organization's acts, and the debate about how to deal with Somalian piracy.

The original and longer version of this argument was made in an invited plenary paper for the Deutsche Gesellschaft Volkerkunde Conference on Globalisation in Göttingen, 7-10 Oct. 2001, and later published in German.1 My aim here is to revisit the same issue fifteen years later and see what has changed, and what has remained the same. Perhaps surprisingly, most of the points made then remain live issues today. There have been breakthroughs, mainly by a handful of individual artists who have achieved "global" art market recognition while remaining resident in Africa, and the issue of claiming an African artistic identity or not has become instrumental as well as ideological, in response to art market forces. The global art market, swollen dramatically by new art fairs, biennials and auction houses, has become much larger than in 2001, making its operating rules a constant challenge to plot and follow. For example, Sotheby's just announced that it was opening a new department of "modern and contemporary African art" in its London offices early in 2017 in response to increasing demand.2 There are now far more biennials both in and out of Africa. What I attempt here is a revisited version of the original issues, brought up to date and more fully explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords for this news article include: Dumyat, Egypt, Africa, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Distance Learning, Education, Epidemiology, Health and Medicine, Pandemic, RNA Viruses, SARS-CoV-2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, Viral, Virology, Damietta University. Keywords: Dumyat; Egypt; Africa; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Distance Learning; Education; Epidemiology; Health and Medicine; Pandemic; RNA Viruses; SARS-CoV-2; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2; Viral; Virology EN Dumyat Egypt Africa COVID-19 Coronavirus Distance Learning Education Epidemiology Health and Medicine Pandemic RNA Viruses SARS-CoV-2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Viral Virology 2023 MAR 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx COVID-19 Weekly -- Investigators discuss new findings in Coronavirus - COVID-19. [Extracted from the article]