It is always a conundrum; which comes first the technology or the demand for its application? Many of us lived happily without smartphones, in fact we didn’t even know we needed one. Flash forward to the 4th generation of iphones, the latest blackberries and androids and it is difficult to ima
Refugees deserve our best efforts as humans. Great events well beyond them control make them flotsam within their home nation. Extreme stresses of poverty, disease, war and oppression see fellow humans undertake epic journeys in a search for peace and prosperity. They arrive sometimes on our sho
06.9.2010 | Africa, Europe | Stuart Ford
To those in the developed world any argument for priority protection between lion and cattle would be simply resolved. Cattle are plentiful and easy to replace. Lions are rare and worthy of protection. To the Masai of Kenya, however, the decision is not clear cut. To them cattle are their litera
Today’s youngsters are well-informed, technologically adept and love an opportunity to satirize politicians. In South Africa, ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema is the latest target of such public humiliation. Malema takes himself all too seriously and often compares himself to Mandela. Man
To a purist, the market is the most efficient mechanism for economic development. The morality of any such development takes a secondary role in the massive American military-industrial economy. The evangelicalism of fiscal conservatives also produces an ironic dualism in the uneasy marriage to
Debate is underway following proposals from Tanzania and Zambia to allow a limited sale of ivory. Kenyan officials are afraid that if sales are approved in neighboring countries, elephant poaching will increase and evidence is indicating they may be correct. Poaching of elephants has risen steep
The Muslims washing rite before prayers (wudu) is a deeply ingrained practice but one that consumes large amounts of water in often arid locations. The majority of more than 1.7 billion Muslims in the world are in Africa and the Middle East where water supplies are scarce. A new machine may w
Despite posturing and diplomacy in the public arena, if you really want to know what’s going on between nations you can do much worse than follow international arms contracts as we have reported before. Russia has an air defense system that is much in demand for example. Iran has been actively
At a time when Libya was providing arms to the IRA to support their attacks on Irish and British targets, Irish officials were happily and covertly engaged in international trade with the then pariah state of Libya. Alleged deals included aircraft maintenance contracts, airline technology tran
It appears that the African peace keeping troops did what escaped the US and European authorities, and arrested a potential bomber with a syringe and explosive chemicals before he boarded the flight. It is no surprise that Somalia lies just across the Gulf from Yemen, but this is a fact that see
The UN has just extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping forces in the Congo for another 5 months as opposed to the more usual year term. This echoes the Obama decision on Afghanistan, where he had to review the current progress and understand that the strategy being pursued was flawed. The U
In a good news story out of Ethiopia the power of collective action by women, despite the lack of confidence from their spouses, shows how much can be achieved when effective co-ordination happens. In the village of Nadugne Agam, women were expected to haul heavy loads of water for miles as no d
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