Email leaks: How senior US, British scientists coerced virologists to write influential article to deny Covid was manufactured
Virologists who worked to squelch consideration of a lab origin of Covid-19 in early 2020 worked in tandem with leaders in scientific research funding, according to their private emails. Leaders of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US and the Wellcome Trust in the UK played an undisclosed...
UN Security Council votes to retain arms embargo imposed on Sudan over violence in Darfur region
The UN Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution to renew an arms embargo and other sanctions imposed over violence in Sudan’s western Darfur region that began in 2004. Thirteen of the 15 council members voted for the resolution. Russia and China abstained, arguing that the Darfur conflict is largely...
Tanzania President Hassan pitches political tolerance as she marks UN Women’s Day
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has said that as the East African country’s first female leader, she has brought a new level of political tolerance to the nation. Hassan spoke at a rally for International Women’s Day, which had been organised by an opposition party. More than 3,000 women were...
43 African defence chiefs meet US counterparts in Rome to discuss causes, indicators and vectors of instability
Forty-three African defence chiefs and senior military leaders attended the annual African Chiefs of Defence conference hosted by the United States-Africa Command in Rome to “enhance relationships and discuss shared visions for future multinational co-ordination” on the continent. US Marine Corps General Michael Langley, who hosted the four day event,...
Kenyan currency takes a beating as foreign reserves plunge to a year low, breaches EAC law
Kenya is facing an acute foreign exchange crunch, with US dollar reserves dropping to their lowest in eight years as its currency keeps plummeting against major global currencies. According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the plunge of the Kenyan shilling has been so substantial that it has even...
Somalia’s new strategy to cripple Al Shabaab: Weaken insurgents militarily, undermine its philosophy and operational efficiency
Three months after reclaiming the presidential office, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud resolved to root out al-Shabaab from Somalia. The new administration formed a unified front comprising local players, federal member states, religious leaders and external actors to confront al-Shabaab on military, religious and financial grounds. This coalition put al-Shabaab on the...
Nigeria elections commission promises to address grievances of presidential poll losers
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will “redress” the “grievances” of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) regarding the presidential election outcome. Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner for information, spoke while addressing members of the PDP who protested at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja. TheCable had reported how the...
Kenya: How tribal, political interests threaten future of 10,000 students, hundreds of university workers
Kenyans’ affinity to ethnicity and regional politics has put on the line the future of more than 10,000 students, hundreds of academic and subordinate staff which say they live in daily fear of the standoff that has been raging for more than two years now. Suppliers and creditors are also...
Hazy US, Nato policy on Ukraine war sets stage for disruption of world economies and security
One of the most striking aspects about the past year is how little debate we’ve seen over US and Nato policy on Russian-Ukraine war. This is not to say that there is only one right position on Ukraine. Nor does it mean that there are not some deranged people who...
Muting criticism of US stand on Ukraine war encourages nuclear conflict, which Moscow is spoiling for
There is a disturbing aspect to the discourse in Washington DC and European capitals surrounding the war in Ukraine that seeks to quash any dissent from the official narrative surrounding Nato’s military support for Ukraine. As the world was thrust into Cold War 2.0, the Western commentariat dusted off the...
