NEWS ANALYSIS

Tampa, United States | AFP | Should healthy people take aspirin to ward off heart disease? The notion has been controversial, and the medical advice mixed. But a review of scientific data on the topic Tuesday showed that any benefits are slight, and are counterbalanced by a matching rise in …

Paris, France | AFP | Leaf-cutter ants build super highways to transfer food and building materials hundreds of metres without communicating with each other, scientists claimed Wednesday, in findings that could prompt a rethink about how some insect communities organise themselves. Each leaf-cutter colony can carve out nearly three kilometres of …

New York, United States | AFP | Ten years after Wall Street recklessness helped lead to the Great Recession, compensation for top bank CEOs is soaring even as pay flattens at junior levels. Compensation figures released so far by large banks this year suggest a rich season for CEOs, despite …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | From “Fortnite” to “Pokemon Go,” play in the US drove video-game industry revenue to a record-setting $43.4 billion last year, according to data released Tuesday. Spending on games in the US in 2018 climbed 18 percent from the previous year, according to figures from …

Davos, Switzerland | AFP | Here is a serving of quotes from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Tuesday, where a year after US President Donald Trump stole the show, Brazil’s new far-right leader grabbed the limelight. “I’d like to say it’s a personal treat for me to be …

Paris, France | AFP | France will require telecommunications companies to allow more government oversight and control of the equipment required for next-generation 5G wireless networks due to security concerns, a government official said Tuesday. The move comes as several Western nations have barred China’s Huawei from participating in contracts for …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | After Zimbabwe’s authoritarian leader Robert Mugabe was forced from power, his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the country had turned the page on repression. Today, such claims sound deeply hollow as Zimbabwe reels from its second crackdown on protest in less than six months, analysts …

Gemalto awarded contract for Uganda’s new e-Immigration solution Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Gemalto, in cooperation with local partner SCINTL, has been awarded the contract for the supply of a Border Management System (BMS); including airport self-service eKiosks at Entebbe International Airport. The appetite for automated, self-service travel experiences …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | Enemies during both world wars, France and Germany have since forged a close friendship, acting together as the powerhouse driving the European Union. Below are highlights of their relations since the end of World War II: – Beginnings of EU – – May 9, 1950: French …

Paris, France | AFP | Eye-watering, throat-scratching air pollution is a major driver of big city blues in China, according to a study published Monday that matched social network chatter with fine-particle pollution levels. “The take-away is simple,” lead author Siqi Zheng, an associate professor at MIT and director of the …