Despair: Some African countries can’t afford shots outside the Covax system
Most African countries are almost entirely reliant on Covax – the initiative backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the vaccine alliance Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations that offers vaccines cheaply to developing countries. Covax began distributing vaccines to countries such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast...
Africa holds key to keeping the world free from a pandemic that’s on the rise
As the rest of the world prepares for a vaccine-driven return to normal over the next few months, at her community health centre in a poor, working class neighbourhood of Cape Town, Andrea Mendelsohn is dreading the arrival of April and May – that’s when the weather will get cooler...
Scientists celebrate Perseverance Rover’s daring touchdown into Mars’ Jezero Crater
Humanity has just been given a front-row seat to a Mars landing, thanks to a high-resolution, full-colour video that NASA released of its Perseverance Rover descending into Jezero Crater on 18 February. The video shows the drama of the spacecraft’s final descent, from the 21.5-metre-wide parachute billowing overhead to slow...
Big Tech: A trade union is a strong counterweight for workers who want to speak up
Seeta Gangadharan, the cofounder of Our Data Bodies and a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has proposed that tech workers need to be taught how to be whistle-blowers. Ms Gangadharan envisions summer schools for computer science graduates that would arm them with the resources for...
US health agency will invest $1 billion in ‘long Covid’ research
The United States has announced that it will spend big on research into ‘long Covid’ – the long-lasting health effects of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The funding comes as the scientific community is just starting to recognise the impact of the condition and unravel why it occurs. On 23 February, the...
Nollywood goes one better, premiers first-ever military movie ‘Eagle Wings’ in Lagos
The premiere of ‘Eagle Wings’, Nigeria’s first military-themed movie was held at the Blue Pictures Cinema, Lagos City Mall in the second Sunday of March this year. The film, which is a collaboration between the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) and the Nigerian Airforce, tells the story of how the military...
Kenya and US agree to ‘broaden and strengthen’ security partnership
Kenya and the United States have agreed on a deal to broaden and strengthen the security partnership, US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa commander Major General Andrew M. Rohling, announced on Wednesday upon completion of a four-day tour to the East African nation between March 2 and March 5....
AI: Balancing criminal legal system with rising uptake of new technology
Training more people on the basics of using data is part of Yeshimabeit Milner’smission to ensure tech is built equitably – and to bring into the conversation more people who have experienced algorithmic harms. Milner is cofounder and executive director of the non-profit Data 4 Black Lives, which examines how...
Holy weed: Colorado cannabis farms puff out more gases than coal mines
Legal cannabis production in Colorado emits more greenhouse gases than the state’s coal mining industry, researchers analysing the sector’s energy use have found. The production and use of cannabis for medical or recreational reasons is now legal in several US states, which has led to a booming industry. Hailey Summers...
Zimbabwe repatriates 20 poached DRC primates in transit to South Africa
After months of coordinated international effort the Jeunes Animaux Confisqués au Katanga (JACK) sanctuary welcomed 20 monkeys to their new home. The monkeys, natives of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were confiscated in September 2020 following a surgical strike on an international wildlife crime syndicate that operates between the...
