World

ABU DHABI, 10th June 2020 (WAM) — Abu Dhabi University, ADU, has been ranked among the top 750 universities in the world for the third year in a row, according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings. ADU recorded an increase of 15 percent in Academic Reputation, the world rankings indicator with the highest weightage. Reinforcing this performance, the university …

Sheena Cruickshank, University of Manchester and Daniel M Davis, University of Manchester Developing a vaccine is difficult at the best of times, but rarely have we been in a situation where basic knowledge about a virus has to be acquired so directly alongside the race to eradicate it. To understand how difficult this task is, we must appreciate the complexity …

Astronauts Bob and Dough made it to the International Space Station in a privately funded vehicle. NASA Adam Hawkey, Solent University Millions of people watched breathlessly as astronauts for the first time successfully travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) in a privately funded spacecraft, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, on May 30. The historic launch, which …

Daniel Jedzura/Shutterstock Davey Jones, Bangor University Fairly early in the COVID-19 outbreak, scientists discovered that the virus that causes the disease – SARS-CoV-2 – is shed in faeces. But unlike the virus found in mucus and spit, the bits of virus found in faecal matter are no longer infectious, having lost their protective outer layer. They are merely bits of …

Riccardo Mayer/Shutterstock.com David W Graham, Newcastle University and Peter Collignon, Australian National University If a two-year-old child living in poverty in India or Bangladesh gets sick with a common bacterial infection, there is more than a 50% chance an antibiotic treatment will fail. Somehow the child has acquired an antibiotic resistant infection – even to drugs to which they may …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the opening of the new Turkish embassy in Mogadishu in June 2016. MOHAMED Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images Prof Francois Vreÿ, Stellenbosch University The strategic presence of France, the US and the UK in Africa over more than a century is well documented. So is the growing presence of China and the resurgence of Russia’s …

A Chinese language teacher speaks with students at the Confucius Institute at the University of Lagos. PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images YAN Hairong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Over the past 20 years there’s been remarkable growth in China-Africa links because of increased trade and investment. As a result there’s also been a great deal of movement of people between …

Gerard A. Postiglione, University of Hong Kong Asian universities continue to stun the academic world. In just one year, four more have joined the ranks of the world’s top 200 universities. Now, almost one eighth of the world’s top 200 universities, ranked in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014-15, are Asian. At this pace, a quarter of the …

Je’nine May/UCT Kathryn Smith, Liverpool John Moores University and Caroline Wilkinson, Liverpool John Moores University Facial reconstruction is best known as a forensic tool that can help identify human remains and reconnect them with families for burial or memorialisation. The technique has a potent claim on our imaginations. These images are usually produced when other identification methods have failed. It’s …

Ethiopia’s economic growth hovered between 8%-11% for over 10 years but its sovereign credit rating has not been upgraded Shutterstock Misheck Mutize, University of Cape Town There is renewed concern about the sustainability of rising debt levels in many African countries. Much of this debt is being incurred through foreign currency denominated Eurobonds issued on international financial markets. The total …