Police fire teargas, water cannons at tax protesters in Nairobi as demos sweep Kenya
Protesters say the tax rises will hurt the economy and raise the cost of living for Kenyans who are already struggling to make ends meet. A parliamentary panel urged the government on Tuesday to scrap some new taxes proposed in its finance bill, including new ones on car ownership, bread, cooking oil and financial transactions. The panel also recommended that a fuel tax towards road maintenance be increased.
India lays out plans for increased trade and medical technology cooperation with Kenya
Rohit Vadhwana revealed that very soon of some of the biggest hospitals in India would set base in Kenya triggering more investments of the Asian country. He said there was need for a roundtable between Kenya and India to explore more areas business cooperation particularly in the healthcare sector noting that India was the largest investor in Kenya and a systemic approach would enhance trade between the two countries.
Palpable public anger drives a finance committee into rushed removal of tax items in Kenyan budget
This year’s finance bill aims to raise an extra 346.7 billion Kenyan shillings ($2.71 billion) in additional revenue, finance minister Njuguna Ndung’u said last week.
JPMorgan analysts warn smaller African development banks Preferred Credit Status under threat
Afrexim’s exposure to Ghana and Malawi’s governments is also at risk, although this is less certain with Ghana’s big official sector creditors reportedly wanting Afrexim to take losses but the government also approaching the IMF in support of the bank.
Obesity epidemic rocks US as weight-loss options for young people are hard to come by
Fewer than 1 per cent of the nearly 15 million US children with obesity get this type of structured care, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says. Efforts by the CDC and others to expand insurance coverage have stalled, doctors involved in the process told Reuters.
New studies show Covid vaccines cause heavy flows during menstruation, prolong the cycles
Evidence also suggests that during the menstrual cycle phase a woman is in at the time of vaccination may play a role in how vaccination affects menstruation, the researchers said. Assessing the effects of Covid-19 vaccination on menstrual cycles is important because the menstrual cycle is a significant indicator of women’s health, and research suggests there is a major gap in understanding, they said.
Kenya budget reins in deficit at 3.3 per cent, aims to cushion fragile economic growth and recovery
The East African country sold a $1.5 billion international bond in February at a premium to fund the buyback of a large portion of a $2 billion bond maturing in June. Before that, investors had feared Kenya might not be able to repay the bond due to its strained public finances.
Food slaves: Since AGRA’s launch, African biodiversity has been severely lost, farmers tricked into dumping nutrient-dense, drought-resistant crops
In 1999, Monsanto’s CEO Robert Shapiro bragged that the company planned to control “three of the largest industries in the world – agriculture, food and health – that now operate as separate businesses. But there are a set of changes that will lead to their integration.” Today these chemical manufacturers control a huge percentage of the world’s food supply.
Congress probe unearths how US former director of health hatched plans to engineer monkeypox virus capable of killing millions
A new interim report describes the obstruction and secrecy around the mpox proposal as a case study of how the institute “oversees and accounts for the monitoring of potentially dangerous gain-of-function research of concern.”
Kenya’s cabinet approves sale of its shares in six listed companies
The move complements government plans to offload shares in other state-owned companies. In November, Ruto said the government planned to privatise 35 state companies after enacting a law in October to guide the process.
