With the flick of a few switches, the Chinese state has been able to gather data on practically every person in the country. The government knows exactly where everyone is, what their daily public routine is and even the temperature of their bodies. Punishments are handed out if people break the rules. This represents an unprecedented level of surveillance and exertion of power and control. Dionysios Stivas and Nicholas Ross Smith unpack what this means in the medium to long term.
Economic reforms are necessary to enable economies to deal with national challenges. But, as Danny Bradlow explains, change is pain, and often those who bear the biggest burden brought about by change don’t reap the benefits. That’s why governments should assess the human impact of proposed economic reforms.
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Wu Hong/EPA
Dionysios Stivas, Hong Kong Baptist University; Nicholas Ross Smith, University of Nottingham
The Chinese government has granted itself extraordinary new levels of control backed by advanced surveillance technology.
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Eskom and other state owned companies have become a huge burden on the government purse.
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Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria
Those who benefit from economic reforms are often not the same as those who bear the costs.
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Education
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David Mba, De Montfort University
Nigeria's education system must embrace artificial intelligence technologies to join the fourth industrial revolution.
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Martin Gustafsson, Stellenbosch University
New insights show that South Africa's education system is heading in the right direction.
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Science and Technology
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Ellen Welti, University of Oklahoma
Insect populations are falling as what they eat becomes more like iceberg lettuce and less like kale.
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Christian Schroeder, University of Stirling
The Earth and the Moon were long thought to be virtually identical in composition. Now we know they are not.
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Politics + Society
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John Holbein, University of Virginia
Americans under 30 are far less likely to vote than older citizens. Stepping up civics instruction might help change that, a scholar explains.
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Farida Jalalzai, Oklahoma State University
Since 2000, 89 new women have come to power in countries around the world – but the US still lags behind.
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En Français
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Aurélien Portelli, Mines ParisTech; Franck Guarnieri, Mines ParisTech
Que faire de l’eau contaminée qui s’accumule sur le site de Fukushima ? Entre stockage et rejets en mer, la polémique fait toujours rage au Japon.
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Faustin Etindele, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Il n'existe pas de données sur les troubles de santé mentale liés au jeu pour les pays africains, qui sont pourtant confrontés aux mêmes facteurs de risque que les pays occidentaux.
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