Trump’s vow to be dictator for just a day provokes fear in US, puts media on red alert over free speech
Trump’s extensive policy plans also rely on a dramatic expansion of executive power. He wants to strip tens of thousands of career federal workers of their civil service protections, has vowed new ideological tests for those entering the country and has talked about increasing the military’s role on domestic soil, including sending the National Guard to the border and to cities like Chicago to tackle crime.
Energy poverty is a humanitarian crisis and Africa will need pragmatism to achieve a just transition
For activists who refuse to believe this economic reality, I invite them to reread the financial pledges made by developed states at COP15. Wealthy nations acknowledged the transition challenges facing developing nations and pledged $100 billion by 2020 to help them fight climate change. Thirteen years later, the real spending value came in around $24.5 billion. Climate promises do not often survive first contact with a chequebook
Book review: Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s book ‘The Wuhan Cover-Up’ traces Covid origins in China
The US-initiated gain-of-function studies continued in partnership with the Chinese military and the Chinese Communist Party.
Journalists’ rights group counts 94 media workers killed worldwide, Africa records lowest number
Ukraine also “remains a dangerous country for journalists” almost two years since Russia’s invasion, the organisation said. It said three reporters and media workers had been killed in that war so far this year. The organisation also deplored media deaths in Afghanistan, the Philippines, India, China and Bangladesh.
Civilian death toll in Gaza approaches 18,000 as US criticises Israel for indiscriminate attacks
More than 17,170 Palestinians have been killed and 46,000 wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry, since October 7, when Israel began bombarding Gaza in response to a cross-border rampage by Hamas militants who control the enclave. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, with 240 people taken hostage, according to Israel’s tally.
President Mohamud promises to wipe out Al Shabaab insurgency in Somalia within a year
Speaking to a crowd at London’s Royal United Services Institute, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) forces are working to eliminate the remaining al-Shabaab fighters in the country, but their efforts are hamstrung by recent flooding.
Reprieve for Meta as Kenyan judge rules Facebook parent company did not breach court orders
A Kenyan judge on Thursday found Facebook’s parent company Meta was not in contempt of court for failing to pay dozens of content moderators that a contractor laid off. Labour judge Mathews Nduma Nderi said Meta did not “deliberately and contemptuously” breach a court order requiring it to pay the...
African currencies in a flux as Kenya’s shilling is forecast to recover marginally, Zambia’s kwacha weakens
Commercial banks quoted the Kenya shilling at 153.20/40 to the US dollar, compared with last Thursday’s closing rate of Kenya shilling 153.15/35.
Spirits giant and Kenya Breweries partner Diageo to offload beer portfolio on margin concerns
Beer sales of 3.36 billion pounds ($4.23 billion) accounted for just over 14 per cent of total sales at Diageo for the year ended June 30, whereas spirits sales contributed a mammoth 81 per cent.
As world worries over fossil fuel carbon emissions scientists now warn factory farming is Africa’s next big challenge
Billions of caged animals in factory farms are subjected to unimaginable cruelty. To stave off diseases which fester in the cramped conditions, they are dosed with antibiotics, fuelling the spike in antimicrobial resistance. Pigs, cattle and chickens are painfully mutilated and are bred to grow fast for profit, suffering debilitating injuries in the process.
