Why have 55 African countries joined together to stop selling donkeys to China? There's a complex and difficult-to-calculate reason behind it. www.163.com/dy/article/K...

The Tragedy of the Asses: Stock Liquidation and Inverted Lemon Markets mould Medicinal "Bottom Up" Deglobalisation papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Economist Elinor Ostrom was the first woman to be awarded the #Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2009) "for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons." She died #OTD in 2012. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/econo...#Nobel#OTD#WomeninSTEM #economics

Super to join this #CGTN panel: China expands access to public services for non-Hukou residents radio.cgtn.com/podcast/news...

This should be brilliant on Thursday in Brussels. Sandbu vs Pettis on a panel about global imbalances... with the excellent Maria Demertzis involved too. Sandbu today in the FT: Europe is running from a phantom China threat Pettis, I am sure, will have plenty to say on that

“A worker at the Liushenyu coal mine told Chinese outlet Lengshan Record that the company did not allow workers to enter the mine with tracking devices because they were illegally mining coal seams that had not been approved. ‘Wearing trackers would expose it,’ he said.” www.bbc.com/news/article...

Jagbir Jhutti-Johal speaks about the tragic murder of Henry Nowak & the arguments about the Sikh kirpan and religious exemptions. An important interview with Fraser Nelson to understand the law & the social context frasernelson.substack.com/p/the-kirpan...

Belarusian investigative journalist & essayist Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 #Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time." She is the first writer from #Belarus to receive the award. She was born #OTD in 1948. #litsky #booksky (1/4)👇

worth watching: How Ghost Shops Triggered China’s Biggest Food Scandal | www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGAQ...

As the EU-China trade deficit continued to grow in Q1 2026, a traditionally strong sector is now also affected by the general trend: EU agri-food exports. In the latest SOAPBOX newsletter, MERCIS Senior Associate Fellow Rafael Jimenez Buendia zooms in on the topic: open.substack.com/pub/soapboxt...

🐝 Bees may be tiny, but they play one of the biggest roles in keeping our planet alive. From pollinating flowers to growing our food—these incredible creatures are the silent heroes. Protect bees, protect nature, protect our future. 🌍

Some of our reporting from the #China mine disaster, Chinese version. CLICK ON LINK m.youtube.com/watch?v=w55a...

Switzerland 🇨🇭

Always nice to make NewZimbabwe.com, especially with the last word as here: www.newzimbabwe.com/will-zimbabw...

"I was terminated from my position several times in my career. Each time…I focused all of my energy to figure out what is next. This was the only thing I could control." Katalin Karikó, the powerhouse Nobel laureate who created the mRNA revolution, at @jhu.edu commencement yesterday.

They pollinate the flowers and keep nature alive—yet their world is slowly vanishing. This image serves as a reminder that climate change, pesticides, and habitat loss are driving pollinators toward extinction. If bees disappear, our future changes too. Protect nature before it is too late. 🌍

Given the justice dept attack on Black doctors, here's a seminal paper from Alsan et al in the AER @aeajournals.bsky.social:"Does Diversity Matter for Health? Experimental Evidence from Oakland". Finds: "black doctors could reduce the black-white male gap in cardiovascular mortality by 19 percent."

A spiral galaxy, observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in the COSMOS survey. It is at redshift 0.74 (lookback time 6.73 billion years) with coordinates (150.07258, 2.69141). 42 volunteers classified this galaxy in Galaxy Zoo: Hubble.

My colleagues in East Asian Studies at Sheffield produce world class research and so many of the UK’s leading experts in Asian Studies have gotten MAs or PhDs there. This is an incredibly shortsighted choice that will diminish this country’s knowledge exchange with a vital region of the globe.

East Asian Studies is being gutted at Sheffield - all staff at risk with 8.6 FTE proposed to go (a third of us). Biggest cuts in Chinese and Japanese Studies. We’ll be taking a few days to process. Solidarity to Materials and Chemistry colleagues who are also dealing with similarly bad news.

Nice to make South Africa's Business Day: GREG NOTT | Soft power is not dead, but its faces may be changing Human rights and global alliances strained amid a resurgence of authoritarian ‘hard power’ www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026...

Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann discovered the Earth's inner core, 1936. This fundamentally changed our understanding of the Earth's interior. Her discovery is attributed in large part to her incredible ability to interpret complex seismic records by hand. She was born #OTD in 1888. #WomenInSTEM

China's demographic decline is not the disaster many fear asia.nikkei.com/opinion/chin...

“.. Good morning from Beijing, where the US-China meeting is a sidebar on the front page of the China Daily.” - Annmarie Hordern, @bloomberg.com

Donkeys and me: economist and policy adviser, Dr Lauren Johnston In our expert interview series, we speak to Dr Lauren Johnston, economist and policy adviser who specialises in China, Africa and global development. www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/articles/don...

Donkeys and me: economist and policy adviser, Dr Lauren Johnston In our expert interview series, we speak to Dr Lauren Johnston, economist and policy adviser who specialises in China, Africa and global development. www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/articles/don...

strong headline for an important evolving dynamic: asiatimes.com/2026/04/iran...

China’s Africa strategy shifts as global tensions rise, Africa.com africa.com/chinas-afric...

amazing to see how this Conversation Africa piece has spread: LAUREN JOHNSTON | China’s Africa strategy is shifting and Iran conflict will speed it up www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/2026... #ChinaAfrica #AfricaChina #TradeWars

Trump has announced his nominee for CDC Director, Dr. Erica Schwartz, who seems like a person who is actually qualified for the job. RFK Jr.’s surrogate and BFF Aaron Siri, an anti-vax lawyer who profits from casting doubt on vaccines, absolutely hates the idea, so that’s an excellent sign.

Very nice to make The Nigerian Voice: China’s Africa strategy is shifting and Iran conflict will speed it up www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/366532/...

Gift 🎁 link to a bleak story. "American colleges and universities bear significant responsibility for plunging public trust in higher education, a Yale University committee suggested....High costs, murky admissions practices, uneven academic standards and... 1/2 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/u...

relatable

China’s Africa strategy is shifting and Iran conflict will speed it up "Shock after shock is upsetting the world economy. The Hunan Model is no longer just an experiment or a policy idea. It is driving China-Africa economic transformation." theconversation.com/chinas-afric...

From May 1: China Cancels All Trade Tariffs for Africa. Who Will Benefit? Some sectors could profit from the new tariff-free regime. But politically, this step is also part of a geopolitical strategy by Peking. www.welthungerhilfe.org/global-food-...

🚀 Closing Day 2 of @soasuni.bsky.social DLD #FLP13 🇧🇩⚖️ Case Study: Prosecuting Corruption in Bangladesh 🎤 With Mushtaq Khan 💬 Examining the political economy of anti-corruption enforcement and the institutional challenges of prosecuting corruption in practice.

Now available, The Land Where Nothing Works by A. G. Hopkins traces the origins of Britain’s current malaise to the abandonment of social democracy. Find it here: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

A Marriage of Development and Demography Why every country needs an economic demography transition strategy. September 6, 2019 www.theglobalist.com/population-a...

"the rise in births in 2024 was only 'surface-level,' boosted by the handouts and the fact that it was the Year of the Dragon" What if they made every year Year of the Dragon, it's a moonshot but Xi can make it happen

Gout Gout, 18, breaks Usain Bolt's under-18 200m record with 19.67 seconds - Australian sprinter from Brisbane is the new fastest teen on Earth

More on how the global wildlife trade (which includes both illegal wildlife trafficking & legal sales) endangers human health: 🔹️"41% of mammal species in wildlife trade carry pathogens that infect humans, compared to just 6.4% of non-traded species." 🧵1/3 www.latimes.com/science/stor...

From May 1: China Cancels All Trade Tariffs for Africa. Who Will Benefit? Some sectors could profit from the new tariff-free regime. But politically, this step is also part of a geopolitical strategy by Peking. www.welthungerhilfe.org/global-food-...

Scottish novelist Muriel Spark (d. #OTD in 2006) is widely regarded as one of the most original & influential voices in 20th-century English-language fiction. Her most enduring work, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 (1961), was adapted into a hit stage play & a 1969 #film by the same name. #litsky

The ‘Hunan Model’: A new approach in China focused on economic development hurdles in Africa (open access) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

"Rodrik’s latest book is provocative. And that is what policymakers need right now." Great to see Tej Parikh review Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World by @drodrik.bsky.social in @financialtimes.com! Read the full piece here:

Les avantages et risques du nouveau régime d'exonération tarifaire de la Chine pour l'Afrique Published: March 19, 2026 8.22pm AEDT theconversation.com/les-avantage...

a farmer with good karma: Chinese man discovers gold worth £1,300 in duck’s stomach www.aol.com/news/chinese...

Disappointing BBC report: mentions challenge of gender balance + lack of ethnic diversity yet takes shifty BoE change at face value BoE ditched 20 year policy to feature people who reflect diverse UK by new consultation on wildlife vs places vs people for a quiet life www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born #OTD in 1933. A champion of race & gender equality. A pioneering lawyer on women’s equality. A civil rights hero. A major pop icon. Notorious RBG. A key justice on the nation’s highest court. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...#OTD #WomensHistoryMonth #WHM #RBG

China’s new tariff‑free regime for Africa: the potential upside and downside theconversation.com/chinas-new-t...