Cybersecurity: Notorious Russian hacker outdone by a creepier malware
FireEye has built its reputation on defending high-stakes clients from hackers. Early this week, the cybersecurity firm acknowledged that it had itself been the victim of a breach – and that the attackers made off with some of its offensive tools. It is a startling admission but almost certainly not...
US fair trade agency sues Facebook for ‘illegal monopolisation’
United States fair competition agency, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) moved to a federal court on Wednesday to seek a permanent injunction that, if granted, will among other things require divestitures of assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp. The agency also wants Facebook prohibited from imposing anti-competitive conditions on software developers besides...
Cocoa farmers in West Africa earn a pittance as chocolate manufacturers bank billions
Recent statistics on world chocolate industry lay bare how exploitative the beverage’s market is, with cocoa farmers in West Africa forced to make do with a paltry six per cent of total revenues. Leading chocolate companies have since 2001 made pledges to end widespread abusive labour practices, but continue to...
New vaccine data is coming, watch out for these three claims
The last few weeks have seen dramatic headlines on the efficacy of several new coronavirus vaccines. But coverage to this point has been based on press releases – tiny snippets of results that were trickled out from clinical trials. This week, the real data deluge will begin. The Food and...
Fund launched to speed up access to clean energy in Kenya
The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) has launched a results-based financing programme aimed at unlocking new markets for clean energy companies in Kenya. The $4 million programme will support commercially viable companies to establish new markets and accelerate access to clean energy for 87,000 unserved and underserved households in Kenya....
Agents raid home of fired Florida data scientist for declining to manipulate Covid data
State police brandishing firearms early this week raided the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health employee who built the state’s much-praised Covid-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to “manipulate data.” “They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at...
How Google kicked out star ethics researcher Timnit Gebru
It is often argued that scholarship is always a conversation and always a work in progress. However, on the evening of Wednesday, December 2, Timnit Gebru, the co-lead of Google’s ethical AI team, announced via Twitter that the company had forced her out. Gebru, a widely respected leader in Artificial...
Road to energy transition might be bumpy, but banning fossil fuels is treacherous for Africa
What can be done to take natural gas off the banned fossil fuels list? The biggest concern about the continued use of natural gas comes down to one word: flaring. Flaring is the practice of routinely burning off associated natural gas that is produced from the reservoir during oil production....
African countries require balanced approach to the energy transition
Africa stands at a precarious juncture, where the transition from fossil fuels to renewables intersects with the economic benefits of a strategically managed oil and gas industry. Down one road, the continent expands exploration and production of its vast natural gas and oil reserves to bring electricity, fuel and financial...
Amref forms team to review universal health coverage progress in Africa
African countries that announced universal health coverage are set for review of the programmes following formation of an independent commission by the African Medical Research Foundation (Amref). African countries, with the weakest health infrastructure in the world, have committed to universal healthcare by 2030 in line with United Nation’s Sustainable...
