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Artist rendering of H. bodoensis. (Ettore Mazza) Scientists have named a new species that may have been the direct ancestor of modern humans. The newly proposed species, Homo bodoensis – which lived more than half a million years ago in Africa – may help to untangle how human lineages moved and interacted across the globe. Although modern humans, Homo sapiens, are the only surviving human lineage, other human species once roamed Earth. For example, scientists recently discovered that the Indonesian island Flores was once home to the extinct species Homo floresiensis, often known as "the hobbit" for its miniature body....

An ancient human ancestor whose name honours Cecil Rhodes should be renamed in an effort to decolonise science, experts have argued. The species homo rhodesiensis, named after Rhodesia – which in turn took the name of the British imperialist – should be called homo bodoensis, scientists say. The reclassification is partly a bid to shed colonial associations – as well bring clarity to a confusing chapter of human evolution.... ...Rhodes was an imperialist, businessman and politician who played a dominant role in southern Africa in the late 19th century, driving the annexation of vast swathes of land. The long-running Rhodes...

Huge crowds of Black Lives Matter protesters have gathered outside Oriel College at the University of Oxford this evening to campaign for a statue of the imperialist Cecil Rhodes to be torn down. The demonstration has been organized by the Rhodes Must Fall Oxford campaign group and comes after activists identified 60 UK statues they want removed for “celebrating slavery and racism” as councils and museums rushed to bring down their controversial monuments after Edward Colston’s was toppled in Bristol. At tonight’s Oxford protest, organizers placed chalk crosses on the floors in either side of the street outside the entrance...

The ringleader of the Oxford University ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign has been accused of racism after admitting he wanted to ‘whip’ a fellow student because he was white. Ntokozo Qwabe, 25, was filmed using a stick to hit a student’s mobile phone out of his hands – and then ranted online that his victim was guilty of ‘white apartheid settler colonial entitlement’.

A white South African waitress who was refused a tip by an Oxford student involved in the Rhodes Must Fall campaign has received more than $6,000 in "sympathy" tips after an online campaign on her behalf. Cape Town restaurant employee Ashleigh Shultz was allegedly told by activist Ntokozo Qwabe that he would not give her any service charge on his bill until her "fellow white people" returned South Africa's land to its black population. In an encounter that he described on Facebook, Mr Qwabe gleefully recounted that Ms Shultz had "burst into typical white tears", adding that he was "unable...

Oxford University's statue of Cecil Rhodes is to stay in place after furious donors threatened to withdraw gifts and bequests worth more than £100 million if it was taken down, The Daily Telegraph has learned. The governing body of Oriel College, which owns the statue, has ruled out its removal after being warned that £1.5m worth of donations have already been canceled, and that it faces dire financial consequences if it bows to the Rhodes Must Fall student campaign. ...

LONDON — High above a main thoroughfare in the city of Oxford, in an alcove framed by twirly columns, a statue of Cecil John Rhodes, the archimperialist who shaped Britain’s empire and the destiny of its far-flung subjects in Africa, peers down inscrutably on the people below. If you weren’t looking for it, you might miss it. In recent weeks, though, the statue has provoked an acrimonious debate about whether it should be removed, as was another monument to him last year, in South Africa, where he built his fortune and power before his death in 1902. But, as the...

'Rhodesgate': Campaign To Remove Rhodes statue 'Is Like Isil's Destruction of Antiques', Says Oxford Don The campaign to remove a Cecil Rhodes statue from Oriel College is like Isil’s destruction of antiquities because it is showing no respect for history, a prominent Oxford emeritus fellow has said By Javier Espinoza, 22 Dec 2015 The campaign to remove a Cecil Rhodes statue from Oriel College is like Isil’s destruction of antiquities, a prominent Rhodes scholar has said. “I am comparing what the [Rhodes Must Fall] movement are doing with what Al Qaeda and Isis are doing in places like Mali when...

Politically Correct Universities 'Are Killing Free Speech' British universities have become too politically correct and are stifling free speech by banning anything that causes the least offence to anyone, academics argue Javier Espinoza, and Gordon Rayner 18 Dec British universities have become too politically correct and are stifling free speech by banning anything that causes the least offence to anyone, a group of leading academics warns on Saturday. A whole generation of students is being denied the “intellectual challenge of debating conflicting views” because self-censorship is turning campuses into over-sanitised “safe spaces”, they say. Their intervention comes as an Oxford...

Students at Oxford University have succeeded in persuading Oriel College to remove a plaque in honour of Cecil Rhodes, an imperialist the university has deemed racist. The College has also applied to the local council for permission to remove a statue of him from their grounds. Earlier this year, the University of Cape Town was forced to remove a statue of Rhodes from their campus, after students attacked the statue repeatedly with excrement and wrapped it in black bin bags.

A bronze bust of British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes has lost its nose to vandals who severed it with a power tool at a South African mountain slope overlooking Cape Town. South African officials have increased security in Table Mountain National Park after the vandalism at the temple-like Rhodes Memorial on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, Merle Collins, a national parks spokeswoman, said Monday. Parks staff have also been cleaning graffiti scrawled on the monument in the incident early Friday, Collins said. One slogan read: “Your dreams of empire will die.” …

South Africa's University of Cape Town (UCT) has removed a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes that had become the focus of protests. The monument, taken down in front of cheering protesters, will be stored for "safe keeping", UCT's council said. Students have been campaigning for the removal of the statue of the 19th Century figure, unveiled in 1934. Other monuments to colonial-era leaders have also been the target of protest in South Africa. The BBC's Mohammed Allie told Focus On Africa radio that there was a "festive atmosphere" as students, academics, members of political parties and ordinary Cape Town...

more than two weeks, public debate in South Africa has been dominated by a statue. Students at the University of Cape Town have been demonstrating to have the bronze figure of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes removed from its central position on campus. Rhodes bequeathed the land on which the university was built, but he also slaughtered Africans by the thousands in colonial conquest and helped lay the foundations of apartheid in South Africa.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice went beyond the talking points she was given on the terrorist attack in Libya when she appeared on Sunday talk shows shortly after the Sept. 11 attack. Ayotte, along with five other senators, met with Rice on the Hill this week to discuss her reaction to the attack, which left four Americans dead. Ayotte said she was “very troubled” by what she heard, noting specifically that Rice had read the classified intelligence briefings saying that al-Qaida was behind the attack and did not mention that in her television appearances. Ayotte also...

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he is pulling out of Friday's presidential run-off, handing victory to President Robert Mugabe. Mr. Tsvangrai said there was no point running when elections would not be free and fair and and "the outcome is determined by... Mugabe himself." He called on the global community to step in to protect Zimbabweans. The decision came after opposition supporters heading to a rally in the capital Harare came under attack. The MDC says at least 70 supporters have been killed in recent months. At a press conference Sunday, mr Tsvangirai said: "It is for the world...

<p>Kathy Boudin, carrying roses she was given after her mother died, walks out of a Westchester prison yesterday (above). She was jailed 22 years ago for her role in the infamous Brinks heist that left two cops and a guard dead.</p>