Hong Kong, China | AFP | A scientist in China claims to have created the world’s first genetically-edited babies, a move that would be a ground-breaking medical first but which has generated a barrage of criticism. Chinese university professor He Jiankui posted a video on YouTube saying that the twin …
Read More »Facebook access hit by unspecified problems
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook said Tuesday users were having trouble accessing the social network and its other applications such as Instagram, but did not explain the cause of the outages. It was the second instance in the past two weeks in which technical issues appeared to affect …
Read More »Raxio Centre at Namanve to boost Uganda’s data storage
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Internet users in East Africa that stood at 92 million in January 2018, are slated to cross the 100 million users mark by end of 2018 and keep growing at an average 20% annually over the next 5 years. With more and more fibre …
Read More »New app to boost market women
Busy customers will no longer have to drive to markets for foodstuffs Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | A new app to be launched next month will boost the fortunes of market women who operate in areas like Nakawa, Kalerwe, Ntinda and Nakasero. The app is meant to eliminate the role …
Read More »Facebook denies hiding Russian sabotage, but fires lobbying firm
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook on Thursday denied allegations in the New York Times that it tried to mislead the public about its knowledge of Russian misinformation ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, but severed links with a Republican consultancy. The Times detailed obfuscation by Facebook’s top …
Read More »Liquid Telecom partners with Kymeta
New partnership announced at AfricaCom 2018 brings together Liquid Telecom’s award-winning VSAT service with Kymeta’s high throughput satellite communication system Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom is extending its award-winning VSAT service through a new partnership with Kymeta, enabling it to deliver enhanced satellite mobile …
Read More »Japan cyber security minister admits he has never used a computer
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | A Japanese minister in charge of cyber security has provoked astonishment by admitting he has never used a computer in his professional life, and appearing confused by the concept of a USB drive. Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, is the deputy chief of the government’s cyber security …
Read More »Uber loss tops $1 bn as it seeks to diversify
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Ride-share company Uber on Wednesday said that its net loss topped a billion dollars in the recently ended quarter as it pumped money into bikes, scooters, freight and food delivery. While a private company, Uber has taken to sharing quarterly earnings figures as …
Read More »Waste not: South Africa makes world’s first human urine brick
Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | One day, when nature calls, your urine could be put to better use than to be flushed down the loo. Instead it could be a key ingredient in the construction of a greener office or new home. In one of the latest innovations …
Read More »Over 90% of Ugandans are cyber insecure – Experts
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Cybersecurity experts say over 90 percent of Ugandans, firms, organisations and government agencies are operating below the cybersecurity poverty level. Cybersecurity poverty is a term used to describe an organization’s ability to protect itself from cyber-attacks or crimes at the most basic level. It looks …
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