Meet the world’s most powerful doctor: Bill Gates

By Politico   Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates | Stephen Voss/REDUX Some billionaires are satisfied with buying themselves an island. Bill Gates got a United Nations health agency in Geneva. Over the past decade, the world’s richest man has become the World Health Organization’s second biggest donor, second only to the United States and just…

How long can Ethiopia state of emergency last?

Aljazeera A decade of development in Ethiopia, one of the world’s fastest growing economies, is at risk if the country continues to ban political opposition and muzzle the media, the UN has warned. Ethiopia is now in its eighth month of emergency rule, which was imposed in October last year to crush its biggest protests…

What is China’s belt and road initiative?

The many motivations behind Xi Jinping’s key foreign policy The Economist explains By J.P. | The Economist OVER the weekend Xi Jinping welcomed 28 heads of state and government to Beijing for a coming-out party, which continues today, to celebrate the “belt and road” initiative, his most ambitious foreign policy. Launched in 2013 as “one belt,…

Ge’ez and Early Islam

By NANCY JOSEPH PERSPECTIVES NEWSLETTER It’s an important language for the study of late ancient Christianity and early Islam. It’s the language of some of the earliest Judeo-Christian writings.  Its vocabulary can be found throughout the Quran.  Yet the classical language Ge’ez is little known beyond the Horn of Africa and taught at just two…

Ethiopia’s Star Singer Teddy Afro Makes Plea for Openness

NYT ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Teddy Afro, Ethiopia’s superstar singer, is topping the Billboard world albums chart with “Ethiopia,” which less than two weeks after its release has sold nearly 600,000 copies, a feat no other artist here has achieved. Known for the political statements he makes in his music, an infectious mix of reggae…

Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

The disciplining of a professor raises an old philosophical question The conundrum of whether Christians and Muslims revere the same God By Erasmus, Economist EVERY so often a question that seems purely abstract and philosophical passes into the realm of hard reality where people’s lives and destinies are determined. One such conundrum is whether or not Christians…