Tecno preparing to reissue its Phantom smartphone as a flagship sub-brand
Tecno, the leading smartphone brand in global emerging market, is said to have re-issued Phantom as its flagship sub-brand, aiming to tackle the premium smartphone market amid an ambitious global expansion plan. The smartphone industry is never short of changes and competition. As Tecno is gaining more and more reputation...
Pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper closed down by Hong Kong strongmen
The Hong Kong edition of Apple Daily, published by the Hong Kong-based Next Digital media group, will print its last paper on June 24. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), expressed deep concern over the dark day for journalism and independent...
East Africa’s trade links with India expose it to the virulent Delta Covid variant
When the first cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant were detected in the United Kingdom in mid-April, the nation was getting ready to open up. Covid-19 case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths were plummeting, thanks to months of lockdown and one of the world’s fastest vaccination programmes. Two months later, the...
Africa in urgent need of cyber ‘perimetre fences’ to ward off phishing, rip-offs
Cyber criminals come in many different flavours, but the majority of them are in it for one thing: financial pay-off. They want the money that comes with offering their tools or services, selling stolen data, extortion like ransomware or plain fraud. And they all have one thing in common –...
Spell of relative peace allows South Sudan to launch first-ever oil and gas licensing round
South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum officially launched the country’s first-ever oil and gas licensing round in an inaugural event on Wednesday in Juba. Focused on accelerating exploration and production at new and existing blocks, and promoting the country as a competitive investment destination, the event signified an historic moment in...
South Sudan’s block 5A resumes crude oil drilling after seven years
Production in South Sudan’s block 5A – operated by Sudd Petroleum Operating Company (SPOC) – has resumed from the Tharjiath Central Processing Facility into the Tharjiath – WNPOC Heglic Control Centre pipeline after seven years of production shutdown due to civil war. SPOC will unpack its production resumption journey at...
We need to talk: Researchers should always set out terms of engagement from the outset
Research collaborations are the lifeblood of science. But it is often challenging to build an inclusive partnership that stays firm in the face of conflict. Once collaborators lose trust in or respect for one another, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to salvage the team, says sociologist Martin Gargiulo,...
Men invest in step-kids and even biological kids as an asset in their relationships
Anthropologists used to assume that fatherly behaviour could evolve only in monogamous animals, Stacy Rosenbaum, co-author of Annual Review of Anthropology, says. Species like the mountain gorillas undermine that assumption. They also show that, despite what scientists have long thought, male animals don’t have to choose between spending their energy...
World Bank’s unwillingness to release Covid funds squanders fruits of research
Someday, my grandchildren will read how teams of scientists around the world developed vaccines against Covid-19 within a year. They will also read a sadder history: how millions of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) died after those vaccines came to market. Part of the reason, they’ll learn, was...
Technology firm Emerson publishes its environmental, social, governance report
Global technology and engineering company, Emerson, has announced the publication of its 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, highlighting how the company develops and delivers technologies, software and services to enable greater sustainability, efficiency and safety for essential industries while supporting communities worldwide. As Emerson helps drive progress across...
