Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia has pledged $33.7 million to help the World Health Organization eradicate cholera in war-wracked Yemen, where the disease has killed nearly 2,000 people, the WHO said on Sunday. Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the organisation, confirmed that Saudi Arabia, which leads an …
Read More »2,000 Philippine mums show breast is best for babies
Manila, Philippines | AFP | Some 2,000 mothers in the Philippines breastfed their babies in public on Saturday in a gathering aimed at cutting infant deaths and dispelling taboos over the practice. To the upbeat sounds of local pop songs, hundreds of mothers suckled their babies inside a cavernous Manila stadium, …
Read More »Millions of Dutch eggs destroyed in growing insecticide scandal
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Supermarkets in the Netherlands and Germany were Thursday removing millions of eggs from their shelves believed to have been contaminated by a toxic insecticide in a widening food scandal. Amid fears the Dutch poultry industry could be facing huge financial losses, German officials said late …
Read More »Candidate AIDS vaccine passes early test
Successful trials held in South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda |JULIA BELLUZ| Developing a vaccine to stop HIV is thought to be among the most daunting challenges in medicine for one big reason: The virus is extraordinarily genetically diverse, even more so than the flu. So it’s difficult to think about how …
Read More »London doctor charged with over 100 sexual offences
London, United Kingdom | AFP | A London doctor was on Wednesday charged with over 100 sexual offences, with a pre-teen child among the alleged victims, police announced. Manish Shah, 47, is accused of 118 crimes including one charge of sexual assault on a child under 13 years old. The doctor …
Read More »COMMENT: Fighting antimicrobial resistance
Over ten million people will die from drug-resistant microbes every year by 2050 COMMENT |Jörg Reinhardt| In the first week of July, G20 leaders committed to working together to address one of the world’s most pressing and perplexing security threats: antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – a fierce and evolving adversary against …
Read More »Method for editing embryo DNA at centre of legal war
Washington, United States | AFP | As scientists announced Wednesday they had corrected a disease-causing gene mutation in human embryos for the first time, a legal dispute over who discovered the CRISPR-Cas9 “editing” tool they used, continues to rage. With the potential to revolutionise medicine and agriculture, the fight over patent …
Read More »Book Review: Militarism and the Dilemma of Postcolonial Statehood
Book Review: Can military deliver democracy? Title: Militarism and the Dilemma of Postcolonial Statehood: The Case of Museveni’s Uganda Authors: Busingye Kabumba, Dan Ngabirano, Timothy Kyepa Publisher: Development Law Publishing Availability: All major bookstores Reviewer: GAAKI KIGAMBO In his 30th State of the Nation Address on June 6, President Yoweri …
Read More »ARTS: Unfamiliarity at surfaces exhibition
Some of the drawings are larger than life hanging on the white-washed walls of the large gallery space. At the entrance, a glass bottles installation hangs like a chandelier from the ceiling. KAMPALA, UGANDA |DOMINIC MUWANGUZI| Inside the bottles are drawings of different facial expressions staring at you. Right beneath it, …
Read More »COFFEE: ‘Coffee naps’ put to rest
How a cup before a nap helps you power through the day |CHIN MOI CHOW| Caffeine and napping have something in common. Both make you feel alert and can enhance your performance, whether that’s driving, working or studying. But some people are convinced that drinking a coffee before a nap …
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