February 17, 2020

Amazon Boss Bezos Launches $10bn To Combat Climate Change

February 17, 2020 5:17 pm

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon and the world’s richest man, said Monday he was committing $10 billion to a new fund to tackle climate change.

In a post to his 1.4 million followers on Instagram, the e-commerce tycoon said the Bezos Earth Fund would “fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.”

“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” said Bezos, whose net worth is estimated to be around $130 billion.

“I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and …

Battling Clijsters Loses First Match In Tennis Comeback

February 17, 2020 5:16 pm

Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters lost her first match in her second tennis comeback on Monday following a 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) defeat to Garbine Muguruza in the opening round of the WTA event in Dubai.

Former world number one Clijsters, 36, had been out for seven years before the clash with world ranked 16 Muguruza, who reached the final of the Australian Open last month.

Spain’s two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza will play one of Veronika Kudermetova and Dayana Yastremska in the next round after having to fight off a determined Clijsters in a tight second set following a …

Porto’s Marega Suffers Racist Abuse

February 17, 2020 5:16 pm

Portugese football and the country’s politicians were divided on Monday after Porto forward Moussa Marega was targeted with racist chants during his side’s weekend win at Vitoria Guimaraes.

Mali international Marega, 28, walked off the pitch in disgust after being subjected to a torrent of monkey chants after scoring the winner in the 2-1 victory against his former club on Sunday.

In the 71st minute, Marega signalled to his bench he was leaving the field in protest, as his coach Sergio Conceicao, teammates and some Vitoria players tried to make him stay on the pitch.

“We should all express our …

Facebook Meeting: EU Okays Tougher Rules On Hate Speech

February 17, 2020 5:15 pm

A top EU official for digital policy warned Monday that big tech companies could face tougher rules and penalties in Europe if they failed to adequately curb hate speech and disinformation.

European Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton remarks followed talks with Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, who was in Brussels urging officials to not go too far in punishing platforms for carrying hate speech.

“If all the platforms operating on the European continent do not respect the conditions that I have just outlined, yes, we will be forced to intervene in a stricter way,” Breton told reporters.

Read Also: Trump Threatens Intelligence

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Sprint Queen Fraser-Pryce Eyes Track Farewell At 2021

February 17, 2020 5:15 pm

Jamaican sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, currently preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, says the defence of her women’s 100m sprint gold at the 2021 world championships could be her farewell from athletics.

The 33-year-old surged to an unprecedented fourth women’s 100m gold at the worlds in Doha in September on her return to major competition after the birth of her son Zyon in 2017.

“After Tokyo, I am the defending champion at the world championships in Eugene and that is so close to home,” Fraser-Pryce, who has won two Olympic and nine worlds gold medals over the last 12 years, …

Rukutana Warns ‘Idle Ugandans’ Over Social Media Misuse

February 17, 2020 1:18 pm

 

Minister of State for Labour, Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana has warned ‘idle youths’ against what he described as increased tendencies of misuse of Social media platforms by posting hate and sectarian information aimed at frustrating government projects.

According to the minister who is also the MP Rushenyi County, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were designed to help people keep up with friends, unite those with distinct ideas and help government where there are some loopholes.

However, social media users in Uganda have a tendency of spreading propaganda and sensational information, according to Mr Rukutana.

He said this

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S’Africa: Confusion Over Tax Status As Amendments Loom

February 17, 2020 1:18 pm

 

Taxpayers who will be most affected by the legislation are those in the Middle East or in countries where there is no double taxation agreement.

As South Africans working outside the country prepare themselves for the new amendments to the Income Tax Act, set to come into effect from March 2020, many don’t know their tax status or what the changes will mean for them.

Dubbed the “Expat Tax”, the amendments mean that South African tax residents working abroad will be exempt from paying tax only on the first R1-million they earn abroad. Thereafter, they will be required to

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HIV

Africa: The Search For An Effective HIV Vaccine Continues

February 17, 2020 1:17 pm

 

An HIV vaccine trial that started in 2016 in South Africa was halted in February 2020. The study sponsors made the call after interim results showed that the vaccine, known as HVTN 702, did not prevent HIV. This result was disappointing, but the search for an effective HIV vaccine continues. Anatoli Kamali speaks to The Conversation Africa’s Ina Skosana about other developments in the field.

Why do we need an HIV vaccine?

HIV remains a dangerous pandemic. The number of new infections remains high – about 1.7 million new cases every year. Young people, particularly young women, account for

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Government

Zimbabwe: Government Reduces Farm Sizes

February 17, 2020 1:15 pm

Government has streamlined the sizes of all individual farms in the country’s five ecological regions, in a move that will see more people having access to land.

The reduction in farm sizes will also boost capacity utilisation of land following concerns that some farms were unnecessarily big and underutilised.

Government compulsorily acquired over 12 million hectares of arable land previously occupied by white farmers, resulting in some black beneficiaries getting vast swathes of land they cannot put to effective use.

The downsizing of farms, which has been ongoing, starts with recommendations from the respective provincial lands committees.

The Ministry of

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South Sudan

South Sudan Govt Agrees To Reduce States To 10

February 17, 2020 1:13 pm

 

South Sudan’s warring parties have reached a tentative agreement to revert to ten states, paving the way for the creation of a transitional government of national unity.

In an overnight about-turn, President Salva Kiir stood down from his stance on 32 states, saying he was compromising for the sake of the country’s peace.

A document released by the Presidency in Juba on Saturday indicated Kiir, his First Vice President Taban Deng Gai and Vice President James Wani Igga, who represented the incumbent government, agreed to go back to the original ten states South Sudan had at independence. They also

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The Cameroon government has been battling armed separatists in English-speaking regions since October 2017

Cameroon Army Blames Accident For Village ‘Massacre’

February 17, 2020 1:12 pm

Cameroon’s army on Monday denied opposition charges that it had massacred villagers in a restive anglophone region, blaming instead an “unfortunate accident” caused by an explosion of fuel during a firefight.

Up to 22 civilians, 14 of them children, died in the incident on Friday, according to the United Nations — deaths which opposition parties blamed on members of the armed forces.

But army spokesman Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo described the allegations as “duplicitous”.

An army investigation found that the deaths happened when fuel exploded in an exchange of gunfire with anglophone separatists and caused a fire, he said.

Five …

Elton John is currently on his 'Farewell Yellow Brick Road' world tour, which is scheduled to end in 2020

Pneumonia Forces Elton John To Cut Short Auckland Gig

February 17, 2020 1:11 pm

Elton John has tearfully apologised to fans after cutting short a concert in New Zealand due to illness, with the British superstar saying he was suffering from “walking pneumonia”.

The 72-year-old, who is in the midst of a gruelling world tour, struggled to sing while seated at a grand piano during a performance at Mount Smart Stadium on Sunday night.

After being checked by a medic with a stethoscope, he battled on through two more songs before calling a halt to proceedings barely halfway through his setlist.

“I can’t sing, I’ve just completely lost my voice,” he told concert-goers in …

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