Detroit, United States | AFP | A persistent question shadowed all of the shiny new vehicles and highly-produced, glitzy debuts at the Detroit auto show this week: Where are the sedans? Volkswagen was among the few to trumpet a new sedan — those compact and mid-sized cars that shuttled generations …
Read More »Fixing the environment: when solutions become problems
Paris, France | AFP | In a world where climate change, air and water pollution, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, ozone depletion, and other environmental problems overlap, a fix in one arena can cause trouble in another. Here are a few examples of what might be called Earth’s “zero-sum” dilemma in …
Read More »Trump and Russia: what drives the suspicions?
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump faced new heat Monday after news reports that he has hid from aides the details of discussions with Vladimir Putin and that the FBI investigated him as a potential national security risk who might be acting on behalf of Russia. Trump …
Read More »Antarctica ice loss increases six fold since 1979
Tampa, United States | AFP | Global warming is melting ice in Antarctica faster than ever before — about six times more per year now than 40 years ago — leading to increasingly high sea levels worldwide, scientists warned on Monday. Already, Antarctic melting has raised global sea levels …
Read More »Black boxes: crucial to air crash probes
Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | One of the first priorities for air crash investigators is to locate a plane’s two black boxes, which hold vital clues on what caused it to go down. On Monday, Indonesian authorities found the cockpit voice recorder from a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX that …
Read More »Makerere’s demigods
How Prof. Nawangwe is creating a class of untouchables at Uganda’s top varsity Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the 63- year old vice chancellor of Makerere University Kampala has a tough job. The university is rarely without a fire he must put out. Squeezed by a …
Read More »FDC, Kadaga face-off exposes Among, Katuntu
Legal fight over COSASE looms Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Jan. 14 could see sparks in parliament in a dispute between Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and leaders of the opposition over the tenure of the committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE). Led by Bugweri County MP Abdul Katuntu …
Read More »DR Congo presidential runner-up asks court to cancel result
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The runner-up in DR Congo’s presidential election, Martin Fayulu, has appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul the provisional result which awarded victory to his opposition rival Felix Tshisekedi, his lawyer said Saturday. The request was filed on Friday ahead of a 48-hour deadline …
Read More »US vet cancels project to raise money for border wall
Washington, United States | AFP | An Iraq war veteran canceled his plan to crowdsource $1 billion to help President Donald Trump build a wall on the Mexico border Friday after raising only $20 million and drawing questions about his online activities. Triple-amputee veteran Brian Kolfage launched a GoFundMe account …
Read More »US govt shutdown to enter record 22nd day in border row
Washington, United States | AFP | The US government shutdown that has left 800,000 federal employees without salaries as a result of President Donald Trump’s row with Democrats over building a Mexico border wall was set to enter a record 22nd day Saturday. The Democrats’ refusal to approve $5.7 billion …
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