Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who celebrated his 93rd birthday last week, flew to Singapore on Wednesday for a “scheduled medical review”, his spokesman said. Mugabe appeared frail at his birthday party on Saturday, when he stood for more than an hour to deliver his speech, …
Read More »Elephants are insomniacs, sleeping just 2 hours a night
Miami, United States | AFP | Elephants hardly ever sleep in the wild, getting around two hours of shut-eye per night and only in the wee hours of the morning, researchers said Wednesday. The findings in the journal PLOS ONE are based on two female wild African elephants — living …
Read More »Colon cancer rates rise among Gen X, millennials
Miami, United States | AFP | Colon and rectal cancer rates are rising sharply among young and middle-aged adults in the United States but doctors have yet to pinpoint why, researchers said Tuesday. Generation X and millennials face anywhere from two to four times the risk of colon and rectal …
Read More »Life-saving Togo striker wins over Czech fans
Prague, Czech Republic | AFP | Racially abused by their fans, Togolese striker Francis Kone has taken on hero status after saving a rival goalkeeper’s life in a Czech top-flight game last weekend. Half an hour into Saturday’s tie pitting Bohemians 1905 Prague against Kone’s FC Slovacko, Bohemians keeper Martin …
Read More »VIDEO: Hugh Masekela ready for Rotary performance
VIDEO: South African jazz maestro, Hugh Masekela has arrived in Uganda to perform in Kampala this weekend, as part of festivities to mark 60 years of Rotary in Uganda. Proceeds from the show – which will also feature Uganda’s Isaiah Katumwa, will go towards completing the construction of the blood …
Read More »First drug-resistant malaria parasite detected in Africa
Miami, United States | AFP | For the first time in Africa, researchers said Wednesday they have detected a malaria parasite that is partially resistant to the top anti-malaria drug, artemisinin, raising concern about efforts to fight a disease that sickens hundreds of millions of people each year. The discovery …
Read More »VIDEO: Uganda losing HIV fight – UNAIDS
VIDEO: Uganda is on the verge of losing the fight against HIV/AIDS – according to the UNAIDS. The global body indicates that the country has backtracked on most of gains registered in the 1990s – necessitating new and radical approaches to fight the killer disease. This was highlighted at the …
Read More »Women’s life expectancy on track to hit 90 in some nations
Paris, France | AFP | By 2030 life expectancy for South Korean women could top nine decades, an average lifespan long thought to be out of reach, researchers said Wednesday. South Korea is not only the first country in the world where women may live past 90 on average, it …
Read More »Swedish town councillor proposes sex breaks on work time
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Swedes should take a one-hour paid break from work to go home and have sex with their partners, a local councillor suggested in a proposal Tuesday aimed at improving people’s personal relationships. “There are studies that show sex is healthy,” Per-Erik Muskos, a 42-year-old city …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari to stay in London for ‘further rest’
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari needs “further rest” so will extend his month-long medical stay in London, but there is “no cause” for worry over his health, his office said Tuesday. “During his normal annual checkup, tests showed he needed a longer period of rest, necessitating …
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