A competitive oil and gas sector will drive growth in Angola’s economy
Angola’s oil wealth has by no means spared it from criticism about the unfair distribution of wealth, inequality in society and, in some cases, the misappropriation of state funds. These concerns are legitimate and should be looked into by the state. Where people are found to have profited unduly, it...
Sixty-five years of oil history has been good for Angola despite economic challenges
Angolan lawmakers last week approved the revision of current legislation, allowing for oil and gas pre-exploration studies to be carried out in some areas previously designated as natural reserves. The government, however, stressed that this law was by no means a relaxation of the stringent environmental provisions required for oil...
Unions condemn Facebook bullying, call for bolder steps to tackle ‘news deserts’
Journalists all over the world have, through their unions, told Facebook and Google to recognise the media as an essential service and stop exploiting them. In speaking out against Facebook and Google, journalists say they want to secure, support and sustain public-interest journalism on radio and television, in print and...
Covid control dilemma: Should we send the less-effective vaccine to Africa?
Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi knows that a vaccine that offers 70 per cent protection against Coovid-19 could be a valuable tool against the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria – especially if that vaccine is cheap and doesn’t have to be stored at extremely cold temperatures. But what if another vaccine — one...
Facebook ‘re-friends’ Australia after revenue sharing law standoff
Facebook announced it would reverse its decision to block Australian news from the platform after a breakthrough in negotiations with Australia’s government over its proposed News Media Bargaining Code, the International Federation of Journalists reports (IFJ). In response, the IFJ and its Australian affiliate the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance...
Backslash from publishers as Facebook shuts out Australia over revenue
Facebook has faced a backlash from publishers and politicians after blocking news feeds in Australia in a surprise escalation of a dispute with the government over a law to require it to share revenue from news. Facebook wiped out pages from Australian state governments and charities as well as from...
High school in US sued for firing football coach who queried racist curriculum
An American civil society, Judicial Watch, has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of David Flynn, the father of two Dedham Public School students, who was fired from his position as head football coach after exercising his right as a citizen to raise concerns about his daughter’s seventh-grade history class...
Tale of Kilkenny cats: How Kenya opposition was captured by the state
Often hurriedly assembled to the sole purpose of winning elections, political coalitions in Kenya have never had a façade of ideology, but regional or ethnic conglomerations that come off the hinges as rapidly as they were crafted once elections are over. As the row among former National Super Alliance (Nasa)...
World to wait longer to know if Pfizer vaccine is effective against Covid variants
An unpublished study by the Israel’s health ministry and Pfizer says the latter’s vaccine is around 93 per cent effective in preventing symptomatic covid-19. Pfizer and its partner, the German biotechnology firm BioNTech, had found 95 per cent effectiveness in their clinical trials carried out in 2020. Researchers are, in...
Leaked report shows Pfizer’s vaccine is conquering Covid in its largest real-world test
A leaked scientific report jointly prepared by Israel’s health ministry and Pfizer claims that the company’s covid-19 vaccine is stopping nine out of 10 infections and the country could approach herd immunity by next month. The study, based on the health records of hundreds of thousands of Israelis, finds that...
