Biden vs Facebook: Conservative media sigh with relief as Big Tech accused of ‘killing people’
US resident Biden’s criticism of Facebook is a double win for Fox News. Not only does it draw attention away from the network’s own culpability for the vaccination gap, but it feeds a potent right-wing narrative about government and Big Tech colluding to silence conservatives. ‘ Biden and Facebook have...
South Africa’s unrest hits neighbours as Namibia tells of coffin shortage for burial of Covid victims
South Africa’s neighbours felt the shockwaves of days of unrest and looting, prompting some to rethink their economic reliance on the regional power. In Namibia, the effect was immediate. In commenting on the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula said the unrest in South Africa threatened...
US President Biden and Facebook feud over Covid vaccine hesitancy as virus ravages Americans
The White House and Facebook got into a feud over the past few days after President Biden and aides repeatedly accused the company of doing too little to combat Covid vaccine misinformation. On Thursday, US surgeon general Vivek Murthy released an advisory about health misinformation that included some fairly banal...
Astronomers call for talks on humanity’s right to ‘dark and quiet skies’ at next month UN meeting
Aerospace companies have launched about 2,000 Internet satellites into orbit around Earth over the past two years, nearly doubling the number of active satellites. This has sparked concerns among astronomers and other skygazers, who worry about interference with observations of the night sky. Now, in what would be the biggest...
New studies pour cold water on existence of potentially livable lakes under Mars
Maybe hold off on that Martian ice fishing trip. Two new studies splash cold water on the idea that potentially habitable lakes of liquid water exist deep under the Red Planet’s southern polar ice cap. The possibility of a lake roughly 20 kilometres across was first raised in 2018, when...
Pro-democracy violence deepens economic crisis in Africa’s absolute monarchy
The pro-democracy demonstrations and deadly violence that erupted in Eswatini last month and continued into July have deepened the southern African nation’s economic and humanitarian crisis, but without forcing any reform of the royal establishment. The people of Eswatini have never lived under a democratic system of government. King Mswati...
