WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court blocked the implementation of the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan, which would have lowered monthly payments for millions of borrowers. In a ruling Thursday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion for an administrative stay filed by a group of Republican-led states …
your ad hereRecent outages highlight need for stronger African internet
Nairobi, Kenya — Experts say Africa needs to invest in robust infrastructure if the continent is to have reliable internet after recent outages due to underwater cable failures highlighted the continent’s reliance on single-path connectivity. Disruptions in March and May caused online banking problems and communication delays. Businesses experienced interruptions in …
your ad hereWhy are Bangladesh students protesting government job quotas?
China singles out Danish, Dutch, Spanish firms in anti-dumping probe into EU pork
Nigeria to resume crude oil refining in August, industry authorities say
Abuja, Nigeria — Nigeria plans to resume local refining of crude oil in early August, national petroleum authorities announced Monday. The resumption would end years of idleness at Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, and analysts say that if successfully implemented, it would lower fuel prices. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company made the announcement …
your ad hereIMF should work with Kenya to account for public funds, says rights group
Nairobi, Kenya — Advocacy group Human Rights Watch called Tuesday for greater accountability of public funds in Kenya, framing it partially as a human rights issue. Kenyans have taken to the streets for four consecutive weeks to protest the high cost of living, corruption and misuse of the country’s finances. What …
your ad hereCosta Rica announces win against Canadian gold miner over cancelled concession
Chinese e-commerce companies popular in South Africa
Johannesburg — Rotondwa Mbadaliga is a self-professed “shopping addict.” The 25-year-old South African fashion influencer says she is a huge fan of Chinese-linked e-commerce companies Shein and Temu because she can get the latest trends at the cheapest prices delivered straight to her door. Mbadaliga has more than 200,000 …
your ad hereFrom basement to battlefield: Ukrainian startups create low-cost robots to fight Russia
Northern Ukraine — Struggling with manpower shortages, overwhelming odds and uneven international assistance, Ukraine hopes to find a strategic edge against Russia in an abandoned warehouse or a factory basement. An ecosystem of laboratories in hundreds of secret workshops is leveraging innovation to create a robot army that Ukraine hopes will …
your ad hereCash-starved Pakistan acquires $7 billion IMF loan
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Saturday that a newly secured multibillion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund would help improve the cash-starved country’s macroeconomic stability. The official reaction came hours after the Washington-based global lender announced its preliminary agreement with Islamabad for a “37-month” loan of about $7 billion under the IMF’s …
your ad hereDemand for rare elements used in clean energy could help clean up abandoned coal mines in US
MOUNT STORM, West Virginia — Down a long gravel road, tucked into the hills in West Virginia, is a low-slung building where researchers are extracting essential elements from an old coal mine that they hope will strengthen the nation’s energy future. They aren’t mining the coal that powered the steel mills …
your ad hereEU: X’s blue checks are deceptive ‘dark patterns’ that breach social media laws
EU says online platform falls short on transparency and accountability requirements …
your ad hereUS consumer inflation eases to 3.0% in June
Washington — U.S. inflation edged down in June as analysts expected, government data showed Thursday, a reassuring development for President Joe Biden as he fights to win confidence on his economic record in his reelection bid. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.0 percent last month from a year ago, said …
your ad hereEU accepts Apple plan to open iPhone tap-to-pay to rivals
Brussels — The EU on Thursday approved Apple’s offer to allow rivals access to the iPhone’s ability to tap-to-pay within the bloc, ending a lengthy probe and sparing it a heavy fine. The case dates back to 2022 when Brussels first accused Apple of blocking rivals from its popular iPhone tap …
your ad hereUS Federal Reserve’s Powell reminds lawmakers of Fed’s dual mandate
Namibia struggles with growing seal population that threatens fishing industry
Windhoek, Namibia — Namibia will attempt to reduce the local seal population by 80,000 this year, officials recently announced, despite opposition from animal rights groups. The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources said the reduction is necessary to maintain balance in the ecosystem and keep the seals from hurting the nation’s …
your ad hereKenyan president warns of huge consequences over debt plan failure
NAIROBI, Kenya — The ballooning debt in East Africa’s economic hub of Kenya is expected to grow even more after deadly protests forced the rejection of a finance bill that President William Ruto said was needed to raise revenue. He now warns “it will have huge consequences.” Facing public calls to …
your ad hereRussian election meddlers hurting Biden, helping Trump, US intelligence warns
WASHINGTON — Russia is turning to a familiar playbook in its attempt to sway the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, looking for ways to boost the candidacy of former President Donald Trump by disparaging the campaign of incumbent President Joe Biden, according to American intelligence officials. A new assessment …
your ad hereBurkina Faso’s internally displaced scramble to make a living
Burkina Faso is home to many people internally displaced by years of insecurity and conflict. Most of them live in various towns across the country, and some are now trying to find jobs in the capital, Ouagadougou, or starting businesses. VOA’s Gildas Da has this report, narrated by Anthony LaBruto. …
your ad hereFederal Reserve’s Powell says US making ‘modest’ progress on inflation
Washington — The U.S. Federal Reserve is making “modest” progress in its inflation fight, the head of the U.S. central bank told lawmakers Tuesday, on the first of two days of testimony in Congress. When prices surged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed responded by hiking interest rates …
your ad hereLogOn: Unfired earth blocks surpass modern building codes
A new homebuilding method with ancient roots in adobe offers protection from wildfires, earthquakes, high winds and floods, while being climate friendly and sustainable. The secret ingredient: compressed earth blocks made from mud. Shelley Schlender has the story in this week’s episode of LogOn from Superior, Colorado. …
your ad hereScammers swipe billions from Americans every year, many getting away with it
TikTok has launched tons of trends. Will its influence last?
new york — TikTok and its bite-sized videos arrived in the United States as a global version of the Chinese app Douyin in 2018. Less than six years later, the social media platform is deeply woven into the fabric of American consumerism, having shortened the shelf life of trends and revamped …
your ad hereRussian-linked cybercampaigns focus on Olympics, French elections
paris — Photos of blood-red hands on a Holocaust memorial. Caskets at the Eiffel Tower. A fake French military recruitment drive calling for soldiers in Ukraine, and major French news sites improbably registered in an obscure Pacific territory, population 15,000. All are part of disinformation campaigns orchestrated out of Russia and …
your ad hereKenyan president bows to pressure, makes major concessions
Nairobi, Kenya — Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday ordered significant cuts in the federal budget along with other government reforms to pay off a crushing debt burden in a move seen as a concession to popular disapproval of a tax bill that sparked violent protests. Following weeks of protests during …
your ad here
