Author: Reputation Poll

Mosquitoes that carry viruses like dengue and chikungunya have moved into new parts of Europe, increasing the risk of illness, top experts warn.    European scientists say more frequent heatwaves and flooding, and longer, warmer summers, have created more favourable conditions for the bugs. They are calling for better measures to control and protect against mosquitoes. Without these, more illness and deaths from mosquito-borne diseases are likely, they say. The report, by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), tracks the spread of different species of mosquitoes that can carry and transmit a number different of viruses to…

The United Nations voiced deep concern Friday that the crackdown on freedoms in Tunisia was now targeting journalists, as it urged the Tunisian authorities to change course. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said vague legislation was being used to criminalise independent journalism and stifle criticism of the authorities. “It is troubling to see Tunisia, a country that once held so much hope, regressing and losing the human rights gains of the last decade,” he said in a statement. “The crackdown earlier this year against judges, politicians, labour leaders, businesspeople and civil society actors has now spread to target independent…

Algeria has forced more than 9,000 African migrants over the border into Niger creating a “critical humanitarian situation”, two United Nations bodies said in a report released Thursday. “Since the start of the year, more than 9,000 distressed migrants who were driven across the border by Algeria, found themselves blocked at Assamaka,” a remote town in the Agadez desert region, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Niger regional authorities registered 8,828 men, 161 women, 152 boys and 51 girls arriving since January. In April, the number of migrants…

Kenya’s President William Ruto hailed his country’s “remarkable partnership” with the European Union (EU) as the two sides inked a 25-year trade deal, but it has raised questions about East African unity. Has the region’s economic powerhouse undermined that unity or did it have little choice but to go it alone? That’s been a major point of debate all week – and it’s likely to intensify once we get official reaction from the six other states in the East African Community (EAC) – the regional trading bloc that, some believe, should have been at the heart of the agreement with…

   The United States Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has warned of potential delays starting July 1 for airplanes yet to have radio altimeters updated which is critical to address potential 5G C-Band interference.    While more than 80% of the domestic fleet serving U.S. airports has been updated, Buttigieg wrote in a letter to Airlines for America (A4A) “we continue to see a significant number of aircraft still awaiting retrofit, including many operated by foreign air carriers. This means on bad-weather, low-visibility days in particular, there could be increased delays and cancellations.”    The Transportation Secretary said that only planes…

The Elections Observation Missions (EOM) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) have expressed concerns over what it observed as incidents of violence and intimidation in some parts of the Sierra Leone. The Missions noted that such occuring incidents, ahead of the June 24, 2023 General Elections, have the potential to mar the peaceful conduct of the polls. The ECOWAS and the AU Missions, in a joint statement released on the night of June 22, 2023, urged for the preservation of the peace and stability in the country before, during and after the…

Britain is like a sailing boat in the middle of the Channel, struggling for direction. It needs a bold new captain and a new crew As we approach the seventh anniversary of Britain’s fateful vote, on 23 June 2016, to leave the EU, the state of UK-EU relations is superficially encouraging and structurally depressing. Britain is like a sailing boat faffing around in the middle of the Channel. Most of its passengers want it to steer closer to the continental coast and even the captain seems willing to make some modest adjustments to his course. But strong winds and currents…

The Economic Community of West African States has initiated efforts to address the thorny issue of marketing authorisation for veterinary medicines in region. Given that the liberalization of the veterinary medicine sector in the West Africa has sometimes had negative consequences and therefore revealed the need for regional intervention to regulate their marketing and guarantee their quality, a workshop has been organized on the operationalization of the regional marketing authorization system for veterinary medicines. The workshop, which opened in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on June 20, 2023 was organised by the Regional Animal Health Center (RAHC), through the “Improvement of animal…

   A 14-member delegation of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, led by its President, Honorable Edward Amoako Asante is in Arusha on a five day working visit to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights that will culminate in the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both courts towards strengthening their collaboration in deepening respect for human rights in Africa.    The new MOU to be signed by the delegation, which includes the five judges of the Court, Directors, Registrars and Heads of Department of the Court, will replace the inaugural MOU signed between both courts…