How and why a YouTube chat about chess got flagged for hate speech
Last June, Antonio Radić, the host of a YouTube chess channel with more than a million subscribers, was live-streaming an interview with the grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura when the broadcast suddenly cut out. Instead of a lively discussion about chess openings, famous games and iconic players, viewers were told Radić’s video...
Chinese scientists are caught between Western bias and pro-government messaging
Shortly after the World Health Organization visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology on February 3, a reporter from an international newspaper asked me whether China’s censorship would present an ‘insurmountable’ barrier to reaching an impartial conclusion on Covid-19’s origins. At the same time, my phone displayed headlines from a nationalist...
Four media workers arrested in Ethiopia’s conflict-wracked Tigray
Four media workers in Ethiopia’s conflict-wracked Tigray region have been arrested and detained, their families and employers said. Tigray has been at the centre of fighting since November last year when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced military operations against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), accusing them of attacking...
Gunmen release hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last week
Hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last week from a boarding school in the north-western Zamfara State have been released. The girls were freed unharmed and will be reunited with their families. Witnesses say the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp to prevent soldiers from responding. An armed gang abducted...
How Google tried to silence critics, ignited a movement against its own products
Timnit Gebru – a giant in the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and then co-lead of Google’s AI ethics team – was pushed out of her job three months ago. Gebru had been fighting with the company over a research paper that she had coauthored, which explored the risks of...
CDC director approves J&J’s single-shot Covid vaccine, distribution to begin soon
CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walesnky has signed off on Johnson&Johnson’s vaccine. Walensky’s approval allows the federal government to begin shipping the doses to sites across the country. Her approval comes after a CDC panel voted unanimously to recommend the shot for those 18 and older. A J&J executive told lawmakers...
African legal support facility receives $3.2m from Norway and United Kingdom
Norway and the United Kingdom have donated $3.2 million to the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) to support its activities over the next two years. The Norwegian government, through its Agency for Development Cooperation, provided $1.923 million to support ALSF 2021 and 2022 work programmes. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development...
Africa can and should, decide how it harnesses its natural resources
Pressure is building to phase out petroleum production in Africa to fight climate change. But harnessed strategically, Africa’s oil and gas industry can power a better future for Africa. Are calls to “keep it in the ground” really in Africa’s best interests? Do a Google search for “Help Africa,” and...
World’s oldest music tool: How early artistes modified conch shell into a ‘flute
Some 18,000 years ago, in a cave in what we now call France, a human being left behind something precious: a conch shell. It was not just any conch shell. Its tip had been lopped off – unlikely by accident, given that this is the strongest part of the shell...
Abortions can happen safely and entirely at home
Last year, over concerns of exposure to Covid-19, a federal judge ended the US Food and Drug Administration’s requirement that mifepristone, a medication necessary to terminate an early pregnancy, must be obtained directly from a hospital or provider’s office. On January 12, the Supreme Court reinstated that requirement, over the...
