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To Reduce Inequality, Start With Families – NYTimes.com – NYTimes.com

April 21, 2014

Peter Singhatey Banking & Finance, Health, Research Education, Inequality, peter singhateh Leave a comment

To Reduce Inequality, Start With Families – NYTimes.com – NYTimes.com.

“…Inequality among families isn’t just about financial means, however. It’s also about the care parents can provide, the food they can prepare, and the amount and the nature of the time they can spend with their children. But today, the ability of parents to make the most basic time investments in their children — taking time for parent-teacher conferences or setting a schedule that permits a parent to sometimes be home in the after-school hours — is sharply divided by income level.

The lack of availability of parental time has serious detrimental effects on children’s behavior, ability to learn and emotional development — all of which affect performance in school and, eventually, the workplace…”

A good man in Rwanda

April 17, 2014

Peter Singhatey Articles on Africa Africa, Genocide, Peace & Security, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

A good man in Rwanda.

Capt Diagne, the subject of the BBC documentary A Good Man in Rwanda, was “the greatest hero the UN has ever had” and the medal must be named after him, Prince Zeid told the UN Security Council.

The BBC’s international development correspondent Mark Doyle says the story of Capt Diagne is still not very well known.

But after extensive research a BBC team was able to conclude that he had personally saved hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in 100 days.

Happiness and Its Discontents – NYTimes.com – NYTimes.com

April 16, 2014

Peter Singhatey Uncategorized Happiness, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

Happiness and Its Discontents – NYTimes.com – NYTimes.com.

What does it mean to be happy?

The answer to this question once seemed obvious to me. To be happy is to be satisfied with your life. If you want to find out how happy someone is, you ask him a question like, “Taking all things together, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole?”…

Tragic reality exposed: Rhinos ‘will be extinct by year 2020’ | Nature | News | Daily Express

April 15, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, Gambia, peter singhateh, Rhinos Leave a comment

Tragic reality exposed: Rhinos ‘will be extinct by year 2020’ | Nature | News | Daily Express.

[

The slaughter of both white and black rhinos has soared in six years. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached, but last year that number rose to 1,004.

Criminal gangs, and even terror groups like Al Qaeda, are making millions of pounds a year by hacking the animals to death for their horns.

Many of the horns are ground into powder and used as traditional medicine in the Far East to treat ailments such as hangovers.

Will Travers, chief executive of the Born Free Foundation, warned last night: “There are now just 20,000 white rhino and 5,000 black rhino left in the wild. If poaching carries on at the rate it is now for six more years it will devastate the numbers.

“There will probably be no free-living rhinos as the remaining numbers will be fenced off in military-style compounds which are alarmed and heavily guarded by armed patrols.”]

Importance of sleep for early learning highlighted

April 10, 2014

Peter Singhatey Health peter singhateh, Research Leave a comment

Importance of sleep for early learning highlighted.

“Sleep plays a vital role in the early learning and development of babies and young children, a study has found.

Infants who nap are better able to apply lessons learned to new skills, while sleeping appears to help toddlers retain learned knowledge.

The US researchers looked at the ability of young children to recognise something similar but not identical to what they have learned and apply it to a new situation. Known as “generalisation,” examples include recognising the letter ‘A’ in different fonts, or understanding a word regardless of who speaks it.

“Sleep is essential for extending learning to new examples,” said study leader Dr Rebecca Gomez, from the University of Arizona…”

How Nigeria Became Africa’s Largest Economy Overnight – Uri Friedman – The Atlantic

April 8, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, Economy, Nigeria, peter singhateh Leave a comment

How Nigeria Became Africa’s Largest Economy Overnight – Uri Friedman – The Atlantic.

“Something strange happened in Nigeria on Sunday: The economy nearly doubled, racking up hundreds of billions of dollars, ballooning to the size of the Polish and Belgian economies, and breezing by the South African economy to become Africa’s largest. As days go, it was a good one.

It was, in fact, a miracle borne of statistics: It had been 24 years since Nigerian authorities last updated their approach to calculating gross domestic product (GDP), a process known as “rebasing” that wealthy countries typically carry out every five years. When the Nigerian government finally did it this week, the country’s GDP—the market value of all finished goods and services produced in a country—soared to $510 billion.

To celebrate the occasion, Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics released a pretty entertaining PowerPoint presentation—an admixture of sober economic pronouncements and clip art. It includes this depiction of the long road to $510 billion:…”

It’s Time for Africa’s Stolen Artefacts to Come Home | Think Africa Press

April 7, 2014

Peter Singhatey Politics Africa, Africa's Stolen Artefacts, Gambia, peter singhateh, The Monuments Men Leave a comment

It’s Time for Africa’s Stolen Artefacts to Come Home | Think Africa Press.

“In a recently-released film, The Monuments Men, in which a group of Second World War soldiers embark upon a mission to save pieces of art before they are destroyed by the Nazis, Lieutenant Frank Stokes, played by George Clooney, notes: “You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they will still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, if you destroy their achievements, then it is as if they never existed.”

While in London to publicise the film, this basic premise was given contemporary significance as the all-star cast touched a sensitive nerve by suggesting it was time for Britain to return the so-called Elgin Marbles to Greece. Some British commentators hit out at the actors’ suggestions of repatriating the huge marble sculptures and pieces of architecture ‘acquired’ by Lord Elgin from Athens in the 19th century, while the Greek government expressed their “heartfelt thanks” for the show of solidarity…”

Illicit Financial Flows: The Elephant in the Room at the EU-Africa Summit | Think Africa Press

April 7, 2014

Peter Singhatey Politics Africa, Conflict, Gambia, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

Illicit Financial Flows: The Elephant in the Room at the EU-Africa Summit | Think Africa Press.

“A $35 million mansion in California, artwork totaling €18 million ($25 million), and a $33 million dollar private jet.

These sound like items purchased by the world’s wealthiest oligarchs, Hollywood actors or investment bank CEOs, right?

Well, they were actually acquired by Teodorin Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang. When Teodoro convenes with other leaders for this week’s EU-Africa summit, a wide range of topics will be covered, but there’s one issue in particular that should be given a loudspeaker during the talks in Brussels: illicit financial flows.

Africa and Europe have a unique financial relationship. It is one marked by illicit capital flowing out of African countries and into bank accounts in financial centres across the EU. While the younger Obiang’s official salary is less than $7,000 per month, he managed to spend more than $315 million between 2004 and 2011 on sports cars, beachfront mansions, lavish apartments, and even some Michael Jackson memorabilia. And Teodorin is just the tip of the iceberg….”