The US will likely lose its measles elimination status. Here’s what that means
The measles outbreak in South Carolina is showing little sign of slowing down. The state has confirmed 847 cases since the first case was reported in October, making the outbreak bigger than the one in Texas, which started just over a year ago. Dr. Linda Bell, South Carolina’s state epidemiologist, points out that in Texas, measles cases grew
Billionaire wealth at new high, Oxfam warns of political influence ahead of Davos
By: RFI The wealth of the world’s billionaires went up 16.2 percent in 2025, the anti-poverty group said in its report released to coincide with the opening of the Davos forum, which brings together some of the world’s wealthiest people together with political leaders, CEOs, financiers, and international institutions. Oxfam says the increase has been driven in
Africa is not in a democratic crisis – because democracy does not exist there
By Achille Mbembe The continent’s struggle is not about broken institutions but a failed model of ‘auto-colonisation’ where elites treat citizens as subjects. To explain the current dynamics unfolding across the continent as a “crisis of democracy” is a category error. Quite simply, substantive democracy does not exist in Africa. With the exceptions of South
Iyennayer and the grammar of the earth
The Amazigh New Year unfolds as a language spoken by land, labor, and memory rather than by numbers. Across North Africa, Iyennayer renews an ancient contract between people, soil, and time. At the dawn of every Amazigh year, time is not celebrated as a passing number but approached as an extension of memory, awareness, and
3 Australian poets explore sites of memory and history – with a degree of play
By Craig Billingham It was the French historian Pierre Nora who coined the term lieux de mémoire – “sites of memory”. He meant to suggest that places and objects can embody or contain personal and collective memories, and that such memories can also obtain in the intangible – in a scent or a colour, for instance. “Even an apparently
