Scientists worry efforts to free up limited vaccine doses driven by desperation
Amid skyrocketing coronavirus infections, some countries are attempting to stretch limited supplies of Covid-19 vaccines by reducing doses or changing vaccination schedules from those shown to be effective in clinical trials. But data are scarce on the impact of such measures and scientists are split over whether they are worth...
Land pressure, instability in eastern DRC pose a threat to Virunga national park
Six rangers working at Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were killed in an ambush by a local militia group on Sunday, according to the park’s management and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation or ICCN by its French acronym. The attack is the deadliest since...
Signal’s meteoric rise has WhatsApp looking over the shoulders as rivalry peaks
The number of new users installing messaging app Signal every day is on track to cross 1 million, putting it closer to levels seen by larger rival WhatsApp, following an update to the Facebook Inc-owned app’s privacy policy. About 810,000 users globally installed Signal on Sunday, nearly 18-fold compared with...
Kuwait’s Al-Sumait Prize up for grabs by outstanding Africans in health sector
Al-Sumait Prize has called for nominations for this year’s award for outstanding service in the health sector in Africa. The prize is open to individuals and organisations that have pioneered in the delivery of high-impact solutions to health in Africa. Special focus is on the 2021 cycle on the utilisation...
Plan to build a global network of floating power stations on oceans
Early last year, just a few weeks before the pandemic brought life in the United States to a standstill, Yi Chao and a small team of researchers dropped a slender metal tube into the Pacific Ocean off the Hawaiian coast. After nearly two decades as an oceanographer at NASA’s Jet...
$6.5 billion lined up for Great Green Wall initiative in the Sahel region
Barely hours after 100 actors from Africa and Europe signed a charter in support of pastoralism and livestock development in the Sahel, the African Development Bank unveiled plans to raise $6.5 billion to fund the region’s Great Green Wall Initiative. The funds will mitigate losses wrought by the coronavirus in...
House Democrats introduce article of impeachment against Donald Trump
House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Monday for “incitement of insurrection,” in the wake of last week’s deadly riot at the US Capitol. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Democratic-Md) told Punchbowl News that he expects a vote on the article could come as early...
100 African, European actors sign a charter to promote pastoralism in the Sahel
More than 100 European and African actors have signed a charter committing to the development of the agro-pastoralism in Africa, particularly in the Sahel. The charter is inspired by the resilience of Africans against coronavirus compared with other races. Pastoralism is a key economic activity of the Sahel, a vast...
South, West Africa dominate ‘More Than a Mother Africa’ media awards
Winners of ‘More Than a Mother’ Africa media awards for 2020 have been announced. The awards, intended to recognise African journalists for excellence in reporting on health, culture and humanitarian issues were announced on in Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on Monday. The awards were announced by Merck Foundation chief executive Rasha...
Mystery of beetles depending on moon, sun light for orientation
Scientists know that bees, ants and many other insects can orient themselves using polarised sunlight, but dung beetles are the first known to orient themselves using the million-times-dimmer polarised light that emanates from the moon. Neurobiologist Marie Dacke of Lund University in Sweden, entomologist Marcus Byrne at the University of...
