Despite justice being served for George Floyd, US police reforms are urgent
A Minnesota jury has properly convicted former officer Derek Chauvin of second-degree murder for the killing of George Floyd on May 26, 2020. Millions of people across the country watched the video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck until long after he lost consciousness and stopped begging for mercy. And...
New report accuses China of serious crimes against humanity in Xinjiang region
The Chinese government is committing crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the northwest region of Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Friday. The Chinese leadership is responsible for widespread and systematic policies of mass detention, torture, and cultural persecution, among other offenses....
Ensure genetically modified pork is safe for human consumption – experts
Companies that hope to bring genetically engineered pigs to the mass market may have to demonstrate similar levels of molecular characterisation to Revivicor’s, but the environmental impact assessments will undoubtedly be more onerous – and those stewardship requirements are “still being designed as we’re going.” According to Elena Rice, Community...
GM pork to be on your plate soon, but its makers have transplant organs in mind
The first genetically engineered pig products could soon be coming to a dinner plate – or pharmacy – near you. Late last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised a facility in northern Iowa to raise hogs that lack the gene needed to produce galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal), a sugar...
Kenya’s President Kenyatta commissions new Equity-BCDC bank in Kinshasa
President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday commissioned the new Equity-BCDC in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a subsidiary of Kenya’s Equity Group Holdings Plc. President Kenyatta also toured the bank’s headquarters at the towering 18-floor Equity Centre in Kinshasa, which will also serve as the head office for...
Staggering rebound of coronavirus infections in India puzzles scientists
The coronavirus pandemic is sweeping through India at a pace that has staggered scientists. Daily case numbers have exploded since early March. The government reported 273,810 new infections nationally on April 18. High numbers in India have also helped drive global cases to a daily high of 854,855 in the...
Forest fires burn down historic South African library and plant collection
Forest fires raging in South Africa’s Table Mountain National Park have reached the University of Cape Town (UCT) and gutted the reading room of its main library, which houses irreplaceable documents and records from the country’s past. Amid apocalyptic scenes on April 18, fire tore through part of the 200-year-old...
Inaugural IUCN Africa protected areas congress relaunched in Rwanda
Rwanda will in March 2022 host the inaugural IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) to discuss conservation of the continent’s protected areas, the global conservation body, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has announced. The announcement follows the relaunch of APAC in Kigali, Rwanda on April 20, 2021. The...
Mars lift off: First flight on another planet as Ingenuity drone takes off
NASA has pulled off the first powered flight on another world. Ingenuity, the robot rotorcraft that is part of the agency’s Perseverance mission, lifted off from the surface of Mars on April 19, in a 39.1-second flight that is a landmark in interplanetary aviation. “We can now say that human...
Oil pipeline: Uganda, Tanzania have new policies to protect national interests
Facts and truth can be stubborn for those who believe foreign aid, begging and immigration to Europe should be the only way out for African youth. Of course, these jobs won’t all last forever. Many of them will involve construction or related activities, and these will naturally come to an...
