Good morning, it’s Caleb in Kampala, Uganda where American star, Akon has vowed to and received land from the government to build a cryptocurrency-based city in 2036. How much this cost? Akon did not answer.

This morning, I am telling you about the EU drug regulator finding a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots, how Seychelle islanders are rallying to save the world’s largest seed, and the study that thinks you’re toxic.

photo journaliste

Caleb Okereke à Kampala
08.04.2021

Reminder of the information that matters.

Turkey sentences former presidential soldiers to life in prison for 2016 coup. At least 32 former Turkish soldiers have been sentenced to life in prison for their involvement in the failed 2016 coup. The soldiers are among dozens of others who have been sentenced to life for being part of the coup that attempted to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. A total of 497 defendants have gone on trial since 2017.

Euro News (EN)

‘Sofagate’: Brussels angry as Turkey leaves EU chief von der Leyen standing. Video from Tuesday’s encounter in Ankara showed von der Leyen flummoxed as Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European Council president Charles Michel took two chairs in front of the EU and Turkish flags. «Ehm,» muttered the former German defence minister, holding out her arms in apparent exasperation.

Le Temps (FR)

EU drug regulator finds link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots. Shifting its earlier stance of backing the vaccine, the drug regulator said there was a possible link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and rare blood clotting issues in adults who had received the shot, adding that it had taken into consideration all available evidence.

Reuters (EN)

Tanzania rescinds on decision to lift media ban. Although Tanzania’s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Tuesday that all media banned under her late predecessor John Magufuli should be allowed to operate, a move which was praised, a government spokesperson has now announced that this will not be happening. The spokesperson said the ban reversal would only apply to online television and not other media like newspapers.

Reuters (EN)

Body found in Epping Forest identified as Richard Okorogheye. Discovery by Essex police on Monday is confirmed to be 19-year-old student missing since 22 March. A business and IT undergraduate at Oxford Brookes university, he had been shielding during the pandemic because of his sickle cell disease. He had left home only to visit hospital for regular blood transfusions.

The Guardian (EN)

Il est temps de raconter le monde

Photo article

📵 Razzia sur nos data. Nos données personnelles sont recueillies chaque jour par Facebook ou Google, mais aussi par des entreprises qui sont beaucoup plus proches de nous, comme Coop, Migros, la Poste ou les CFF. Que font ces sociétés de cette montagne d’informations? Où ces données sont-elles stockées? Jusqu’où peut aller cette curiosité pour nos comportements? Heidi.news a mené l’enquête.

Commander la revue

On the radar today

India’s Supreme Court to pronounce order on plea seeking release of detained Rohingya refugees. The Supreme Court is expected to give an order on a plea moved by a Rohingya refugee, Mohd Salimullah that seeks the immediate release of detained Rohingya refugees in Jammu and prevents The Center from deporting them to Myanmar. Attacks from Myanmar’s military have led many Rohingyas to take shelter in India.

Times of India (EN)

Southern African leaders to hold emergency talks on crisis in Mozambique. Six presidents from across Southern Africa including Botswana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and South Africa are expected to have talks on the Mozambique crisis in Maputo today. The summit which is being convened by the president of Botswana is expected to assess the situation in Mozambique and decide on possible interventions.

Cape Talk (EN)

French Parliament to debate bill on legalizing euthanasia. Should the law pass, France would become the fifth European Union country to decriminalize assisted suicide, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Spain. Right-winging MP’s opposed to euthanasia have filed 3,000 amendments ahead of the debate which will slow down Thursday’s proceedings, making it almost impossible for parliament to reach a vote.

20Minutes (FR)
Photo article

An oiled coco de mer shell is sold as a souvenir. The seeds are prized by tourists to the Seychelles for their suggestive shape. Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty

A reason to hope

Nuts for coco de mer: islanders rally to save world’s biggest seed. In Seychelles, a public-private scheme between the Seychelles Islands Foundation and a government agency is allowing residents to plant seeds of the coco de mer, or sea coconut, as a way to save the endangered tree species and protect them from poachers. The rare palm that bears this botanical icon grows wild on just two islands in Seychelles and has been threatened by a thriving black market.

The Guardian (EN)

In the African lab

Photo article

Tugende riders in Kampala. Photo: Tech Cabal

Uganda’s Tugende raises additional $3.6m to close Series A Round. The additional round was led by Partech, the French venture capital firm, with participation from Enza Capital and regionally based angel investors, bringing Tugende’s Series A to a total of $9.9m. The company started in 2012 in Kampala, Uganda with a mission to use technology to help micro, small, and medium enterprises own assets that can generate income for them.

Tech Cabal (EN)

Scientists map Africa’s groundwater recharge for the first time. How can policymakers in Africa decide how much water can be drawn from aquifers without causing substantial depletion and impact on the environment? A new study that has determined the continent’s groundwater recharge rates for the first time is the answer. The study by the British Geological Survey makes clear the rate at which groundwater is replenished and bolsters the possibility of water security in Africa.

EOS (EN)

Apple Pay launches in South Africa, first in Africa. Apple Pay users in South Africa are now able to make payments using Apple Pay after the service launched recently, making it the first country for Apple to roll out its digital payment platform on the continent. This is despite the only 15.84% IOS has of the market share in South Africa, which pales in comparison to Androids, 83.71%.

Tech Cabal (EN)

On Heidi.news

Photo article

Covid-19: faut-il limiter la liberté d’expression? Lorsqu’un médecin coronasceptique se voit retirer son autorisation d’exercer pour «violation grave de ses obligations professionnelles», il crie à l’attaque de sa liberté d’expression. Lorsque YouTube bloque une chaîne complotiste, là aussi, ses fans y voient une attaque à cette sacro-sainte liberté. Régulièrement, les coronasceptiques comparent les gouvernements actuels en Suisse et en Allemagne avec le régime nazi des années 1930.

Heidi.news (FR)

Sexisme aux HUG: «La stagiaire, tu pourrais lui tenir le gland?» «A chaque fois que tu fais une erreur, tu enlèves un vêtement.» Ces mots sont ceux d’un chef de clinique d’un hôpital romand. Ils sont extraits de 36 témoignages d’étudiants en médecine de l’Unige, victimes ou témoins de comportements sexistes en milieu médical, souvent durant leurs stages.

Heidi.news (FR)

Le dilemme des médecins de famille face à la pénurie de vaccins. Nous avons interrogé une demi-douzaine de médecins en Suisse romande, qui se trouvent entre le marteau (les patients) et l’enclume (la santé publique). Entre ceux attachés à un respect strict des règles, ceux qui revendiquent une marge de manœuvre et ceux qui ouvrent grand les vannes, l’accès à la vaccination pour les patients vulnérables s’est avéré très variable.

Heidi.news (FR)

It may surprise you

Say cheese! Cyprus’s halloumi gets EU protected status. Cyprus is getting protected status for its prized halloumi, which would arm its producers with the sole right to sell the cheese in the European Union. The EU is set to later this month, formally give halloumi, the protected designation of origin (PDO) status, which will come into effect from October.

Reuters (EN)

What can twerking on TikTok cost you in New Guinea? Your crown if you’re a beauty queen. Twenty-five-year-old, Lucy Maino who was Miss Papua New Guinea has been stripped of her crown for releasing a video of herself twerking on Tik Tok, a move that critics say points to the culture of misogyny in the country. Maino who also served as the co-captain of Papua New Guinea’s women’s football team, faced intense online harassment after she shared the video.

The Guardian (EN)

Are you toxic? Well this study thinks so. A new study conducted by researchers with Japan’s Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology has found that humans and other animals have the same genetic basis for the development of venom as those present in some snakes and other poisonous creatures. Simply put, this means that human saliva can be toxic and that hat certain mammals, or even humans, could over a very long time eventually evolve to have similar venomous capabilities.

The Debrief (EN)

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