Author: News Editor

The East African Community (EAC) has maintained silence on a recent trade deal by Kenya and the European Union. Officials of the Secretariat could not comment on the agreement inked this week in Nairobi and witnessed by President William Ruto. The deal means Kenya has bypassed the fellow EAC member states in implementing the stalled Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the two sides. An agreement on the same reached by the EAC and the EU in 2014 after years of negotiations was subject to approval by all countries. It later stalled as other EAC member states declined to endorse…

FAO will co-lead the Clean and Healthy Oceans initiative together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), in a strategic partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN educational, science and cultural agency UNESCO. “Together, we can turn the tide on pollution for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life,” said FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu. The source-to-sea initiative will direct up to $115 million in grants to clean up coastal areas and was signed off at the 64th Council Meeting…

A new progress report launched on Thursday by UN agencies highlights the need to step up investment in nurturing care – especially in the poorest and most fragile countries. The report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Children’s Fund UNICEF find that the first years of a child’s life provide “irreplicable opportunities to improve lifelong health, nutrition and well-being” according to a press release. It tracks progress against the global Nurturing care framework, which provides guidance on supporting the healthy physical, intellectual, and emotional development of young children. Protecting development This framework promotes an integrated approach to early childhood…

    Iran has filed a complaint against Canada at the United Nations’s top court, accusing the North American country of violating its “international obligations” by allowing people to seek civil damages against Tehran.     The International Court of Justice — known as the World Court — announced the case on Wednesday, saying that Iran is asserting a violation of its sovereign immunity, which generally shields states from civil lawsuits in foreign jurisdictions.     Iran “requests the Court to adjudge and declare that ‘by failing to respect the immunities of Iran and its property, Canada has violated its…

The AU and the EAC signed a grant agreement of $2 million in facilitating the operation of the EAC-RF at the inaugural Quadripartite Summit held in Luanda, Angola, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The first Quadripartite Summit organised over the security crisis in eastern DR Congo took note “with concern the lack of predictable, adequate and sustainable funding” for regional efforts aimed at resolving the crisis. In this regard, a communique released at the end notes, the Summit directed the AU Commission in coordination with members of the Quadripartite to undertake resource mobilization for the efficient and effective implementation of the…

The mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus yesterday, according to Belarusian state media, ending days of speculation over his whereabouts after he called off a weekend uprising that marked a dramatic challenge to the rule of President Vladimir Putin of Russia. New details emerged about the negotiations that ended the daylong rebellion, as Aleksandr Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, described his phone conversations with Putin and Prigozhin on Saturday. After Putin raised the possibility of killing Prigozhin, Lukashenko said he had urged against a rushed response, saying that “a bad peace is better than any war.” In public appearances,…

Sierra Leone on Monday counted the presidential election votes following violence and the death of an opposition party volunteer. However, international observers voiced concern about the lack of transparency in tallying ballots. Provisional results are expected within 48 hours of Saturday’s vote, in which incumbent President Julius Maada Bio ran for a second term against a backdrop of public frustration over growing economic hardship in the West African nation. Samuel Kamara, the head of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, is seen as Mr Bio’s main rival. Police fired tear gas at supporters who gathered at APC headquarters…

Not long ago, my favorite propagandist Dima Vorobiev expressed the view that Putin’s best exit strategy from the war in Ukraine would be for some enemy of the state to depose him. This would give Putin cover to “save the country” and exit Ukraine without also exiting this mortal coil, as any kind of outright defeat would unquestionably sign his own death warrant. Hard to be a meme when you’re dead Right now, it’s hard to say anything concrete about Prigozhin and Wagner’s actions. Many of his previous statements can be regarded as theatrical, and his actions have yet to…