Illegal timber and charcoal demand from Africa accounts for up to $150 billion – new report
African countries are estimated to lose $17 billion to illegal logging each year. This is part of a global market with an economic value of between $30 and $150 billion. The net profit from the illegal charcoal trade alone in Africa is estimated to be as much as $9 billion,...
New study finds daily intake of at least two cups of black tea reduces death by 12 per cent
A prospective cohort study of tea-drinking habits in almost half a million people from the UK Biobank has supported the view that black tea lowers mortality rate. The new study has found that drinking two or more cups of black tea daily, with or without milk, may reduce mortality from...
New study finds daily intake of at least two cups of black tea reduces death by 12 per cent
A prospective cohort study of tea-drinking habits in almost half a million people from the UK Biobank has supported the view that black tea lowers mortality rate. The new study has found that drinking two or more cups of black tea daily, with or without milk, may reduce mortality from...
Long thought ‘dead’ resurgence of poliovirus in developed world stirs US, UK and Israel
The discovery of poliovirus in New York state, London and Jerusalem this year has taken many by surprise, but public-health researchers fighting to eradicate the disease say it was only a matter of time. “No country in the world is immune to the effects of polio,” says Zulfiqar Bhutta, a...
From Beijing with love: Ugandan government raises red flag over Chinese men scramble for local women
Chinese investments in Africa have gone extended beyond infrastructure and mining, and now there is hue and cry from African men and their governments. In Uganda, the government and Parliament have raised the alarm over the scramble by Chinese men to marry Ugandan women as a way of intrenching the...
Indiscriminate arrest and detention of non-Ukrainian refugees in Greece alarms human rights defenders
According to Kleio Nikolopoulou, an advocacy officer and lawyer for the Greek Council for Refugees, many refugees without papers are arrested and end up detained for months. Several Afghans and Syrians that the Greek Council for Refugees represented spent up to nine months in detention without a trial. “It seems...
Greece’s special treatment of Ukrainians and discrimination of African and Asian refugees questioned
Refugees from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, and Syria have long faced dismal living conditions while struggling to access asylum procedures and essential services in Greece. According to NGOs and human rights groups, Greece’s reception of Ukrainians escaping Russia’s invasion shows another way is possible – if only...
Ban: Health experts in US predict abortions will continue, but will be harder to obtain legally
In June, the US Supreme Court ruled that the constitution does not confer the right to an abortion. Now, 13 states have greatly restricted access to the procedure, and about a dozen more are expected to follow suit. For a high-income country to take such a giant leap towards prohibiting...
Funding of Kenya’s standard gauge railway still shrouded in mystery as president Kenyatta exits power
When Kenya decided to build the standard gauge railway (SGR), it turned to China, which was then prompting its state-owned firms to find investment opportunities in Africa and other parts of the world. Even though it was financed by taxpayers, there was no competitive bidding for the project, a move...
Conflict and criminality: Illegal artisanal gold mining, worth $8m, becomes security threat to South Africa
Illegal and unregulated artisanal gold mining on the Witwatersrand Basin in Gauteng is an increasing threat to community, industrial and state security. Reports on turf wars between rival gangs, or shootouts between illegal miners and security officers are commonplace. But recent incidents point to a spike in the scale of...
