Chicago, United States | AFP | The families of three Orlando nightclub shooting victims have filed suit against Facebook, Twitter and Google accusing them of providing “material support” to the Islamic State group by allowing the spread of extremist propaganda that inspired the attack. The assault by gunman Omar Mateen, …
Read More »Volkswagen moves into Kenya, Rwanda in Africa expansion
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Volkswagen on Wednesday opened a new assembly plant in Kenya and launched plans for a ride-sharing service in Rwanda as it seeks to take advantage of surging car demand in Africa. The German car manufacturer’s move into East Africa comes just weeks after it signed …
Read More »East Africa’s biggest solar plant beams hope to rural Uganda
Soroti, Uganda | AFP | When power goes out in the rural town of Soroti in eastern Uganda, store manager Hussein Samsudin can only hope it won’t go on so long it spoils his fresh goods. Another shop owner, Richard Otekat, 37, has to pay a neighbour hourly to use …
Read More »You will pay more taxes in Portugal if your house faces the Sun
Here comes the Sun — and it will cost you, says Portugal Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | Property? It’s location, location, location, as any real estate vendor — and the Portuguese taxman — will tell you. Under fiercely-contested fiscal changes which became law on Monday, people buying a home in …
Read More »Driving tips for holiday season
The Christmas season is the deadliest on Ugandan roads according to Annual Crime and Traffic/ Road Safety Reports. In 2013, for example, 283 fatal accidents happened during December; compared to say 198 in January. The report noted that the month of December ranked highest for total number of collisions and …
Read More »Facebook faces fines for ‘misleading’ information in WhatsApp buyout
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The EU charged Facebook on Tuesday with providing “misleading” information when it sought approval for its blockbuster $22-billon buyout of the WhatsApp mobile messaging service. The commission said the EU’s greenlight of the buyout, announced in October 2014, was not put back into question but …
Read More »INTERVIEW: Low infrastructure hampering internet usage
What key areas does your work portfolio focus on? When the Telecom duopoly was de-regularised in 2006, we were the first company to get a licence. We started the business as wholesalers of voice and data under the capacity re-sell licence. We spent the first three years doing only that. …
Read More »Tanzania charges editor of whistle-blowing website
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Tanzanian authorities on Friday charged the editor of a whistle-blowing website for failing to reveal the identity of contributors to the site, court documents revealed. Maxence Melo, who co-founded the website Jamii Forums, was charged with operating a website without a local domain, …
Read More »Yahoo hack shows data as tool of information warfare
Washington, United States | AFP | The massive hack affecting a billion Yahoo users shows how seemingly innocuous bits of data gleaned from cyber attacks can be exploited for profit — and potentially for espionage and information warfare. The latest breach disclosed Wednesday is the largest on record and comes …
Read More »Facebook lets users click to report fake news
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook announced Thursday it was offering a tool allowing users to report fake news, a move aimed at stemming a wave of misinformation which some claim influenced the 2016 US election. “We believe in giving people a voice and that we cannot become arbiters …
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