Soda sweetener aspartame now listed as possible cancer cause, although some still consider it safe
Aspartame was approved in 1974 by the US Food and Drug Administration with an acceptable daily intake of 50 milligrams per kilogramme of body weight. According to the FDA, a person weighing 132 pounds (60 kilograms) would need to consume about 75 aspartame packets to reach that level.
New El Dorado? With Guyana joining Africa as ‘hottest frontier oil play’ there’s more to learn
With less than one per cent of known global gas reserves, Trinidad and Tobago became the world’s leading exporter of two gas-based products, ammonia and methanol, and went on to become one of the world’s top five liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters. Today, Trinidad and Tobago has one of the highest gross national incomes (GNI) per capita in Latin America and the Caribbean ($17,640 in 2015). Guyana is well on its way to following Trinidad and Tobago’s example, and I hope African nations like Namibia will do the same.
US Senate petitions FDA to probe youth craze over Logan Paul’s energy drink with caffeine of six Coke cans
Advertising itself as zero sugar and vegan, the neon-coloured cans are among a growing number of energy drinks with elevated levels of caffeine; in PRIME’s case, 200 milligrams per 12 ounces, equivalent to about half a dozen Coke cans or nearly two Red Bulls.
Dogfight: Facebook parent company launches Threads app that might just cannibalise Twitter
The platform also arrives at a particularly weak moment for Twitter. Musk’s recent announcement that free Twitter accounts would, temporarily, only be able to view 600 tweets per day was met with derision. Such moves will likely further hurt advertising on the platform – worsening a crisis that’s been ongoing throughout Musk’s tenure.
Chinese mining company opens a giant lithium – used in electric car batteries – plant in Zimbabwe
Lithium is a key component for electric vehicle batteries. To cash in on demand, Zimbabwe last year banned the export of raw lithium ore. In doing so, it joined countries like Indonesia and Chile that are trying to maximise their return on deposits of lithium, cobalt and nickel by requiring miners to invest locally in refining and processing before they can export.
Donors in plan to build Libya’s food resilience against a backdrop of scarcity, political upheavals
The African Development Bank has rolled out a $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility to boost food security and nutrition. Launched in May last year, the facility is helping Africa mitigate rising food prices and inflation, worsened by climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The bank also co-organised a food summit in January in Dakar, Senegal, which produced food compacts for African countries.
Germany partners with ADB in nearly $11m Nepad infrastructure development plan in Africa
N’Sele says: As economies in Africa navigate new challenges in the face of overlapping global crises, the support of partners such as Germany will enable the African Development Bank to deliver on its important development mission.
How poor Uganda transited from cheap slave labour to illicit hawking of body organs
The organ trade is already scaring many Ugandans, especially the poor, away from government and even private hospitals, fearing that their organs or those of their people, will be stolen from them to renew the health of the rich in Uganda and abroad. They have heard that some big people are involved in the bloody trade, and may be in league with some health personnel to steal their organs.
When he seized power in Uganda, Museveni dabbled in barter trade then commodified goods, services and relationships
Today Uganda is firmly in the armpit of the IFIs, although China has also extended its ecological footprint through loans and projects, and the country’s debt which was in billions of shillings by the time Idi Amin was toppled from power by combined Obote and Museveni forces, is now over 80 trillion shillings after 37 years of President Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s rule, accompanied by untold impoverishment of once prosperous indigenous communities.
After short-lived insurrection in Russia oil prices are firming up as stocks market remains wobbly
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said one concern was the possibility of martial law in Russia and its effect on the workforce at ports and production facilities. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the turmoil in Russia could take months to play out, while Italy’s foreign minister said it had shattered the “myth” of Russian unity.
