Bali’s extortionist monkeys can spot high-value items, then ‘demand’ ransom
At the Uluwatu temple in Bali, monkeys mean business. The long-tailed macaques who roam the ancient site are infamous for brazenly robbing unsuspecting tourists and clinging on to their possessions until food is offered as ransom payment. Researchers have found they are also skilled at judging which items their victims...
Opinion: Facebook founder Zuckerberg can’t fix what he won’t own up to
In June 2017, Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s mission. Speaking at the company’s first Community Summit in Chicago, he explained that the best part of Facebook is its “meaningful groups,” those that address a user’s passions or needs and connect them with others who share those interests. At the time, there...
Election of a black president created violent backlash we’re witnessing in the US
Watching the storming of the Capitol last week, many progressive critics of American foreign policy concluded that the country’s chickens were finally coming home to roost. This was the blowback from America’s many military interventions, forever wars and coup attempts. Regime change had returned to Washington. For these critics, the...
Covid re-infections are rare, but can still spread the virus
Most people who catch and recover from Covid-19 are likely to be immune for several months afterwards, a study of more than 20,000 health-care workers in the United Kingdom has found. The study – called SARS-CoV-2 Immunity and Reinfection Evaluation (SIREN) – concluded that immune responses from past infection reduce...
Threats of violence force Biden to change travel plans to his inauguration
Almost every other detail of that day, however, is in flux, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the impeachment of his predecessor on Wednesday and the attempted insurrection on the very spot where President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in. After last week’s failed insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters...
Coronavirus vaccine: Africa has a mountain to climb
The announcement by the African Union on Wednesday that it plans to buy approximately 300 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for the continent comes as a big relief for a part of the world that has been hit harder by the economic setbacks unleashed by the pandemic than the virus...
How coronavirus vaccine rollout faces a two-shot problem in the US
More than nine million shots have been given, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and just shy of 400,000 people have received the second dose that confers 95 per cent protection against the virus. That seems like good news – but just about everyone watching the process...
House passes motion to invoke 25th Amendment and kick Trump out of office
The House of Representatives passed a nonbinding measure Tuesday night calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Donald Trump from office. One Republican, Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, joined all Democrats in voting 223-205 to pass the largely symbolic measure. The nonbinding measure...
Oil industry is ready to help end violence in Mozambique
I won’t sugar-coat it: The situation in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province is dire. Armed conflicts between security forces and the militant Islamic group, Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamo (ASWJ), known locally as “al-Shabab” even though it has no connections to the Somali group with that name, have left dozens of people...
Murder of French soldiers in Mali reinforces perception of strong Al Qaeda presence
Al-Qaeda’s branch in North Africa has claimed responsibility for killing two French soldiers who died when their armoured vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in eastern Mali. The soldiers were on a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering mission in the eastern region of Menaka when the blast occurred. The attack...
