With the advent and increasing use of the internet – especially social media – as a means for expressing views and opinions, traditional media is losing out on being the sole avenue of being heard. But increasingly, social media has also led to controversial publications – from rumours, half-truths, fake news even inciting content. And…
A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aid worker was released after being held hostage for 18 days in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where armed groups are operating, the NGO and official sources said Friday. “MSF is extremely relieved that our colleague who disappeared in Lulimba in South Kivu on June 28 is now safely back with MSF,” a spokeswoman…
Almost all of the pieces of the jigsaw are now in place to enable some companies to make big savings on their Carbon Tax bills, Cova Advisory says. However, detailed scrutiny and careful analysis is needed to apply for allowances, some of which were only laid out in detail last month. This was the message…
New satellite measurements are offering valuable tools to study the tectonic rift in one of the most geologically unique spots on the planet. In one of the hottest places on Earth, along an arid stretch of East Africa’s Afar region, it’s possible to stand on the exact spot where, deep underground, the continent is splitting…
Europe’s anti-migrant stance resulted in the deaths of thousands trying to flee persecution and conflict, analysts say. Violence, human-rights abuses, disappearances and deaths – that is how the situation on the Mediterranean is being described as with migrants and refugees, who flee Libya hoping to reach Europe, losing their lives at sea. Since 2014, more than 20,000…
Governments across the continent must put more work into digital rights legislation which falls into the wider area of fundamental human rights and freedom of speech laws enshrined in almost all constitutions. According to Adeboro Odunlami, a Legal Officer with social enterprise outfit, Paradigm Initiative, PIN; governments must treat work on such legislation as urgent. “The…
Gabon president Ali Bongo Ondimba on Thursday named a new Prime Minister in the person of Madame Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda. She becomes the country’s first female Prime Minister. She will replace Julien Nkoghe Bekale, who had been in the position since January 2019. Her appointment was announced by the presidential spokesperson. He said the…
The extraordinary hacking spree that hit Twitter on Wednesday, leading it to briefly muzzle some of its most widely followed accounts, is drawing questions about the platform’s security and resilience in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Twitter said late Wednesday hackers obtained control of employee credentials to hijack accounts including those of Democratic…
CAPE TOWN – Employment fell by 3 million people between February and April, mostly among low-income earners, according to a National Income Dynamic Study Coronavirus Rapid Mobile (Nids-Cram) Survey released yesterday. Nids-Cram is the only ongoing panel study of labour-market dynamics over time in South Africa. “We believe the high-level trends evident… are indicative of underlying…
After 30 years under Omar al-Bashir, the country has abolished several discriminatory policies and banned FGM – in what activists have called ‘great first steps’ towards liberalisation. Sudan’s transitional government has been praised for its latest reforms, which decriminalise apostasy, ban female genital mutilation (FGM) and end the requirement for women to get travel permits. The…