UN says 21,000 child soldiers are fighting in Africa’s multiple civil wars with girls most vulnerable conscripts
The economic impact of using child soldiers significantly hampers national development. Missing out on schooling results in lost human capital and reduced productivity, contributing to long-term economic stagnation, decreased workforce participation, higher poverty rates and reduced foreign investment due to ongoing instability.
In new revelations, Meta chief Zuckerberg delves into how White House ‘scream’ and ‘curse’ at Facebook staff to purge Covid content
Mark Zuckerberg said demands from the Biden administration to censor posts grew after the Covid-19 vaccines were rolled out, after which government officials began pressuring Meta “super hard” to remove specific posts.
How social media connects political class and electorate in democratically restricted spaces like Uganda’s
In Uganda, so many micro-platforms have been formed on WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), etc, mainly by young people, to engage in political dialogue and debates, away from the tightly controlled physical political space. Even then, President Tibuhaburwa Museveni, more than any other Ugandan, has used social media to influence political discourse and public opinion towards perpetually dominating the political space.
UAE wants to reduce over-reliance on oil as it signs trade deals with Malaysia, Kenya, and New Zealand
Zeyoudi said Kenya will be a gateway to East Africa for the UAE and would provide a basis for further and bigger agreements with the whole bloc, which he said would start immediately.
Human rights groups say hundreds of miners still trapped, starving in abandoned South Africa mine
Police tried to force the miners out last year by cutting off their supplies and dismantling ropes they used to climb down into the mine and a pulley system used for supplies. A Cabinet minister said the aim was to “smoke them out” and the government would not send help because they were “criminals.”
Nigerian military bombs and kills own citizens instead of insurgents with aircraft donated by US on Christmas Day
The Nigerian military has a long history of killing civilians in its battle against militants and “bandits,” and has repeatedly denied responsibility for airstrikes that have killed innocent people. It has frequently been accused of covering up civilian deaths, as well, including running what a 2023 investigation by Nigeria’s Premium Times called “a systemic propaganda scheme to keep the atrocities of its troops under wraps.”
Turkey President Erdogan wants militant leader abducted from Kenya and jailed in 1999 to renounce his PKK party
After the first meeting with DEM officials, Ocalan was cited as indicating a willingness to call on the PKK to lay down arms. Two DEM sources said last week the party was now set to visit Ocalan again, as soon as January 15.
Zuckerberg in push to recover lost trust by embracing free speech but damage Facebook’s censorship caused persists
Mark Zuckerberg: As we’ve covered before, we didn’t just cross lines – we crossed sacred Rubicons created after humanity’s darkest chapters. The First Amendment, born from the revolution against tyranny and the Nuremberg Code, established after World War II’s horrors, were meant to be unbreakable guardians of human rights.
US justice department releases report on Trump attempt to overturn 2020 election
US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presided over the documents case, has ordered the Justice Department for now to halt plans to allow certain senior members of Congress to privately review the documents section of the report.
Why Ugandans can’t ‘Think Big’ and regard presidential tokenism as manna that ameliorates economic pain
The theory that money will trickle down from, say, 100 (out of 10,000 people in a parish) targeted with money bonanzas to enrich the rest of the impoverished community is defective in a century where artificial intelligence is competing with humans in many areas of thinking power.
