Climate change: East African 1,500-kilometre oil pipeline hits the headwinds as 17 financial companies pull out
Climate activists are urging more banks and insurers not to back the controversial $5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline that is primed to transport oil from the Hoima oilfields in Uganda to the Tanzanian coastal city of Tanga. Influential climate activists Vanessa Nakate and Hilda Nakabuye have lent their...
South Sudan President Kiir integrates rival’s officers into army as he looks to boost long-running peace process
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has ordered military officers loyal to Vice President Riek Machar to be officially integrated into a unified command of the army, state media has said. The move announced on Tuesday is a central pillar of the peace process in the Horn of Africa nation. Kiir...
Public confidence in police worldwide is on rapid decline with discrimination and racism cited as main causes
Public trust in the police as enforcers of law and order is on a rapid decline all over the world, with a new study showing that ordinary citizens and people of colour are more likely to suffer discrimination in the hands of security personnel. In the United Kingdom, for example,...
Ukraine averts power blackouts after Russia’s Sandworm hackers target, again, transmission station near capital Kyiv
More than half a decade has passed since the notorious Russian hackers known as Sandworm targeted an electrical transmission station north of Kyiv a week before Christmas in 2016, using a unique, automated piece of code to interact directly with the station’s circuit-breakers and turn off the lights to a...
Why I received a PhD at 61 years: If you have the opportunity to dive into a new academic or professional field, take it
I am not a typical graduate student. An engineer by training, I have designed electronic control systems for more than 30 years, and I had expected to do so until I retired. My wife, Krisztina Valter, is a clinician-turned-vision scientist at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. One year,...
Kansa University jury finds chemical engineer of Chinese heritage guilty of clandestine ties with Beijing
University of Kansas (KU) chemical engineer Feng ‘Franklin’ Tao, who was accused of hiding ties to a Chinese university, has been found guilty of wire fraud and making false statements to the US government. On April 7, a jury for the US district court of Kansas found that Tao, currently...
AU’s misses opportunity to discuss change in EU funding, opens doors for increased European militarism and interventionism
The African Union (AU) has missed a vital opportunity to discuss a change in European funding for peace and security. The European Union (EU) announced the move in 2021 as part of its new defence package. Under the new arrangement, the European Peace Facility (EPF) replaces the African Peace Facility...
Kenya’s president inaugurates Kenya Air Force Aviation Centre of Excellence that will also serve private firms
Kenya’s President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Uhuru Kenyatta has commissioned the Kenya Air Force’s new Aviation Centre of Excellence (ACE), which will be used by the Kenya Defence Forces, government agencies and civilian companies as well as other East African nations. The ceremony took place at Laikipia Air...
Study says Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni outsources violence to maintain grip on reins of power
How do authoritarian rulers survive in the context of democratic institutions? This is a long-standing puzzle that has become more pressing with the rise of authoritarianism in the 21st century. In theory, democratic institutions should allow citizens to vote out elected officials who don’t pursue the public interest, or hold...
Fallen Eric Boerlert was often candid: We created the mess we’re in today because the Press didn’t ask ‘Why?’
The media can be conspiratorial. Coverage of politics in America – and by extension the so-called democratic world – is often biased. Eric Boehlert had the rare gift of serving readers whole news. By the time Al Gore crushed Bradley in the January 2000 Iowa caucuses, the solons of the...
