US recall of troops from Somalia may cut off intelligence flow for Kenya
The decision by outgoing US President Donald Trump to withdraw American troops from Somalia is expected to force Kenya and Ethiopia back to the drawing board as the move by Washington will cut off intelligence flow the two East African countries need badly to keep Islamist militants at bay. The...
Illicit foreign markets driving up theft of eastern Africa tortoises, turtles
For some communities on the Indian Ocean coast of Africa, tortoises and turtles are potent love potions. Their body parts are harvested and sold to men and women looking to tie down their lovers in a long-term bond of marriage. To foreigners from the United States and Europe, turtles and...
Confidence rises upon reports coronavirus vaccines may soon be available
With the news that Moderna has applied for emergency use authorisation for its coronavirus vaccine, and that Pfizer and BioNTech’s shot has been approved in the UK, the US is inching ever closer to having one, if not two, vaccines approved for use. Both are mRNA vaccines, which trigger cells...
Civil liberties union sues US government for snooping on ordinary people
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the US government claiming Homeland Security agents trampled over people’s constitutional rights – by buying phone location data from commercial brokers rather than getting necessary search warrants. “These practices raise serious concerns that federal immigration authorities are evading Fourth Amendment protections for...
Hackers target Covid-19 vaccine ‘cold chain’
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, hackers and scammers have focused extraordinary attention on it, whether for espionage or for grift. Now, as pharmaceutical companies prepare to ship long-awaited vaccines, a new round of sophisticated phishing attacks is focused on the complex supply chain that will get them to people in...
‘Old age may soon become treatable pathology rather than an inevitability’
In July 2017, I sat in a closed-door meeting coordinated by the State Department and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. In the room were research scientists, government officials and policy wonks with PhDs in the hard sciences. Our task that day was to talk about the future...
25 countries notorious for human rights violations invest in spyware
A surveillance technology that can identify the location of a phone anywhere in the world in just seconds with only a telephone number has been detected in 25 countries, some with chequered records on human rights, according to research findings released this week. Forbes magazine reports that the technology was...
Rugby Africa dishes out €276,000 to 11 unions on the continent
Rugby Africa has disbursed €276,490 to 11 affiliates on the continent to enable them to prepare for the 2021 after a difficult 2020 rugby season. The fund will enable 11 of the 39 Unions – Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Zambia, Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Ghana – start...
Not even Attorney General Barr buys Trump’s election nonsense
President Donald Trump is running out of wrenches to throw at the gears of democracy. Since prematurely and incorrectly declaring victory on the night of the election, Trump and his legal team have launched dozens of lawsuits seeking to overturn the results of the presidential race in pivotal states like...
One Free Press Coalition spotlights journalists in life threatening situations
In May 2019, Wired news organisation joined the One Free Press Coalition, a united group of preeminent editors and publishers using their global reach and social platforms to spotlight journalists under attack worldwide. Today, the coalition is issuing its 22nd monthly 10 Most Urgent list of press freedom abuses around...