FEATURES

Friday, 25 August 2023 05:04

What next for the Wagner group after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s reported death?

In the aftermath of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s “march on Moscow” two months ago, CIA chief William Burns predicted that Russian president Vladimir Putin would take his time exacting his revenge. “What we are seeing is a very complicated dance,” Burns suggested at the Aspen Security Forum in July. “Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback.” And while details of exactly what occurred remain murky in the immediate aftermath of the mercenary boss’s reported death in a plane crash, what is clear is that Wagner – the mercenary organisation that Prigozhin built – has essentially been first quartered and then dramatically decapitated.…

Friday, 25 August 2023 04:57

Wagner’s empire in Africa will live on after Prigozhin - Bloomberg

The day before his private plane crashed near Moscow, Yevgeny Prigozhin released a recruitment video for the Wagner Group. “The Wagner PMC makes Russia even greater on all continents and Africa more free,” he says, dressed in military fatigues, hoisting an assault rifle and standing in a barren landscape he suggests is on the continent. “Justice and happiness for the African people.” Prigozhin apparently spent his last days in Africa. His death will reverberate across the continent where he built a business empire over the past five years, becoming an iconoclastic celebrity in places like Mali and the Central African…

Tuesday, 22 August 2023 04:03

Nigeria projected to match US population by 2050. Here’s what that means

It was recently World Population Day. The annual United Nations designation is not only a chance to recognize "the dreams of all 8 billion of us on our planet," as UN Secretary-General António Guterres put it in a blog post on Tuesday, it's also a chance to take stock at just how rapidly the world around us is shifting. In just the past 12 months, the world's population topped 8 billion people for the first time, and India overtook China as the most populous country in the world. But even as the global population hits new milestones, one of the…

Saturday, 19 August 2023 05:04

Just how bad is alcohol? Eight experts weigh in on the risks and supposed benefits of drinking

Although it’s common knowledge that drinking too much is unhealthy, research sometimes conflicts about where the dividing line is between permissible and risky alcohol consumption — and whether drinking a small amount could come with any health benefits. In the last few months alone, two large studies have further complicated the picture: A March analysis found that moderate drinkers do not have a lower risk of death than lifetime nondrinkers, while a June study found that heart health benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption could be linked to the way it can reduce stress activity in the brain. Meanwhile, a…

Thursday, 17 August 2023 04:55

The deaf ‘hear’ music, dance to the delight of stunned audience in Oyo

Amateur dancer Omowunmi Otunuyi, who is deaf, delighted an audience in the Nigerian city of Ibadan, as she performed with her dance troupe in a show intended to challenge preconceptions about deafness. "I am so glad we were able to show the audience what we could do, I'm excited because we made it happen," said the 20-year-old in sign language. Public performances by deaf artists are rare in Nigeria, where there is little provision for people with disabilities to access cultural and artistic activities. Otunuyi's way into the world of dance came through professional coach Samuel James, who launched the…

Sunday, 13 August 2023 04:23

Eating like it’s the 1970s showed me the madness of our modern diet

As I spoon 75g of cooked pasta into the triangle of my “portion control” plate, I can’t quite believe how modest it looks. Last week, I would have blithely served myself a plateful; then gone back for seconds. Now, my life is divided into a pie-chart of shame. I exercise a lot, but it turns out I am the queen of overserving. Only now do I realise the extent of my “portion distortion”. According to a chart published by the BDA (British Dietetic Association), my daily allowance of pasta should be a meagre 75g, and cheese should be matchbox-size –…

Saturday, 12 August 2023 03:50

The seven social-media commandments

Yair Rosenberg Like any other technology, whether nuclear power or the printing press, social media is only as good as the people who use it—and over the past decade, we haven’t exactly used it well. What began as a promising prospect for connecting communities and amplifying new voices has gradually evolved into an engine for sowing upset, distrust, and conspiracy. As the next generation of social-media sites emerges, one question is: Can we do better? I think so. Rather than holding out for unlikely top-down solutions from Washington or Silicon Valley, users can solve our problems from the bottom up.…

Sunday, 06 August 2023 04:11

The chaos that could come if ECOWAS sends troops to Niger

A West African bloc has given Niger’s military junta until Sunday to step down or face a possible military intervention. If such an operation were to happen, NatSec Daily has been told to expect one of two general outcomes. The first is the “shit show” scenario, as described by former NSC director for African affairs CAMERON HUDSON. He argues that military moves by the Economic Community of West African States would lead to a conflict between inexperienced and relatively weak forces. “ECOWAS has no recent experience undertaking this kind of operation. It’s not something they even train for,” Hudson added,…

Saturday, 05 August 2023 04:19

‘I would've died the next day’ - people share the shocking and real ways they almost lost their lives

When it comes to near-death encounters, some tales can be quite literally unbelievable — even if they really did happen. U/sintemp recently asked the people of Reddit, "In what unusual way have you almost died?" Wow, these are some pretty wild stories — chilling, even. See for yourself: 1. "By inhaling a cracker. I got pneumonia and was hospitalized. I don't eat those crackers anymore." —u/EchoLynx 2. "I was digging a hole because I could — kid stuff. I only remember waking up and it was dark. I had apparently hit an underground electric line. No one knew. I was…

Tuesday, 01 August 2023 04:22

5 smart things you can do to raise your emotional intelligence

How to master being aware of your emotions and the emotions of others. When it comes to leading yourself and others, emotional intelligence -- the ability to understand and manage our own emotions and understand and influence the emotions of others -- is just as important as IQ, if not more. Here's why: when you get good at being aware of your emotions and the emotions of others, you can connect on a human level with others much more cohesively to reach solutions faster. A person's IQ, while certainly required in the role of a leader, cannot travel the same…

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Sunday, 30 July 2023 04:23

The viral '7 Friends Theory' proves you don't need an army of acquaintances

In adulthood, good friends can be harder to come by than good dates — and that's saying something. As the city office has been replaced by work-from-home arrangements for many of us, the ability to make new friends seems to be diminishing by the minute. Compare your list of friends now to the probably much longer list you had in school or college, and you're bound to wonder if you should be expanding your social circle. But as it happens, we don't actually need long lists of friends to be content. While friendship is a powerful and non-negotiable piece of…

Saturday, 29 July 2023 03:59

Tired of forgetting names? Use the Grasshopper Trick to remember almost everyone

Do you ever have trouble remembering names? Here's a simple trick. To make it easier to remember, we'll introduce it with a little joke: A grasshopper walks into a bar. The bartender says, "This is a first. Did you know we serve a drink that's named after you?" "Wait," says the grasshopper. "You mean you have a drink called Steve?" I laughed when I first heard this one. But, I also told it to my daughter's friend's dad, after I met him for third time and I still couldn't remember his name. ("Steve," he reminded me.) Now, because I associate…

Sunday, 23 July 2023 04:09

Britain is no country for Christians, report says

At a time when society is increasingly turning against Christians for their beliefs, they will find little sanctuary in the Church of England. “Pride is not a virtue but a sin” tweeted King Lawal, a Tory councillor who has just been suspended from the Party and is under investigation by Conservative headquarters. King Lawal defended his position, explaining: “what I said was biblically sound and a protected expression of the Christian faith”. “Pride” to the traditional Christian mind, is one of the seven deadly sins; but to society’s ears, the word has become wrapped up, first with LGBT rights, and…

Saturday, 22 July 2023 04:37

'Phubbing' your partner could cost you your marriage, study warns

For some people, a moment without your phone in your hand can seem like a lifetime. Now, a study has warned how our obsession with our phones could be taking a toll on our relationships. Scientists from Nigde Omer Halisdemir University set out to investigate the effects of 'phubbing' - snubbing others for your phone - in married couples. Worryingly, they found that couples who regularly phub each other have lower marriage satisfaction. 'When individuals perceive that their romantic partners phubbing more frequently, they feel more conflict and less intimacy in the relationship,' the team explained in their study. What…

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