By THE CONVERSATION In 2011, pirates carried out 212 attacks in a vast area spanning Somalia waters, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, actions that the World Bank said cost the world economy $18 billion a year. Armed pirates hijacked ships as far away as 1,000 nautical miles from the Somalia coast. They held the ships and crews for ransom. The World Bank estimates that Somalia pirates received more than $400 million in ransom payments between 2005 and 2012. The piracy problem appeared unsolvable.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-piracy-almost-completely-stopped-here-s-why-4384132

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By GILBERT MWIJUKE Freed Mushaga is an artist with unique talent and unusually challenging circumstances. He is from Bukavu in eastern DR Congo, where has made a mark on the music scene with high-profile performances at the Institut Francais of Bukavu, Izulu 2021 Festival and at the Halle de la Gombe. Mushaga is the winner of the Music in Africa Live 2022 Programme and was a finalist of the Nigerian Challenge #SixtyPercentofUs 2022. However, Mushaga's ascent to fame has been troubled by the political turmoil and economic poverty that have plagued his region for decades.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/magazine/voice-of-hope-amid-political-chaos-4347898

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By KITSEPILE NYATHI US President Joe Biden has extended sanctions against Zimbabwe, saying on-going repression by the country's government 'presents a continuing threat to peace and security in the region'. President Biden's move to renew the two-decade-old sanctions came a few days after the European Union (EU) decided to extend by another year its own arms embargo against the Southern African country. In a message to the US Congress dated March 1, 2023, Biden said Zimbabwe had not made any reforms to warrant the lifting of the sanctions that were first imposed in 2003 for alleged human rights violations and electoral fraud.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/rest-of-africa/biden-extends-zimbabwe-sanctions-4144840

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By BERNA NAMATA The US is facing a difficult balancing act as it moves to mend relations with Rwanda following the release of Hotel Rwanda hero Paul Rusesabagina, who had been sentenced to a 25-year jail term on terrorism charges in a trial that his family and supporters dismissed as a sham. Rusesabagina, a Rwandan who was portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda as a hero who saved lives during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is a permanent resident of the US and also a Belgian citizen. Despite Washington mounting pressure, including threatening to impose sanctions, Rwanda had been defiant and maintained it would not bow to international pressure to release Rusesabagina, who had been sentenced to 25 years in prison over his ties to a group opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/us-gets-kigali-to-toe-the-line-again-4181000

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By GILBERT MWIJUKE African countries are lamenting the outcome of the recent conference on the protection of endangered species, suggesting the drawn pact was bent to suit certain developed countries.And the finger of blame pointed at the president of the conference in particular for what African delegations claimed was a twisted procedure to suit Beijing.The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Conference, in its 15th edition (COP15), saw delegations from across the world gather in Montreal, Canada to discuss the protection of species as a way of conservation.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/science-health/biodiversity-meeting-bears-little-fruit-for-drc-uganda-4064860

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By KITSEPILE NYATHI Zimbabwe on Tuesday summoned United States ambassador to Harare to protest against Washington's alleged interference in the southern African country's forthcoming elections. Ms Elaine French, who is the US acting ambassador to Zimbabwe, was summoned by the foreign affairs ministry after her embassy made several Twitter posts encouraging Zimbabweans to 'register to vote and make sure your voice is heard'. Zimbabwe's Foreign Affairs Ministry said its acting permanent secretary Ambassador Rofina Chikava protested over the tweets and urged Americans not to meddle in the country's political processes.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/rest-of-africa/zimbabwe-summo-ns-us-envoy-over-election-tweets-4252940

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By MOHAMMED MOMOH Nigeria's new carrier, the Nigeria Air, will commence operations after years of attempts to float a national brand after the collapse of the Nigeria Airways 20 years ago. 'The new carrier which [will] commence local and international flights before May 2023, is a product of partnership with the Ethiopia Airways,' Nigeria's Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said on Thursday at the ongoing National Aviation Stakeholders Forum 2023 in Abuja. Sirika has been working to revive the country's carrier for almost eight years.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/new-carrier-of-nigeria-to-begin-operations-4170878

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By ANTHONY KITIMO More by this Author Bolloré Africa Logistics on Thursday announced it will now operate under the name Africa Global Logistics (AGL). With this new brand, AGL affirms its ambition within the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Group to contribute to the sustainable transformation of Africa and emerging markets. In December 2022, MSC Group confirmed it had completed the acquisition of Bolloré Africa Logistics business unit for $6.4 billion after the transaction was approved by all applicable regulatory authorities.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/bollor%C3%A9-africa-logistics-to-agl-4180108

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By AFP Water pistols, hose pipes and smiles on Thursday were in abundance on the streets of Bangkok as the city celebrated the Thai new year festival Songkran, after a three-year pandemic-related hiatus. While the three-day celebrations include paying respect to elders and sprinkling water over Buddha statues, the festival is also a chance for younger Thais and foreigners to indulge in a little booze-fuelled revelry. The ever-chaotic megalopolis saw a huge water fight take place at close to 200 official sites with smaller bouts of liquid-based clashes breaking out in neighbourhoods across the city, as residents welcomed a return to normality after years of tough Covid measures.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/magazine/bangkok-revels-in-first-post-pandemic-songkran-festival-4198032

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By The EastAfrican Kenya's internal political intrigues are increasingly becoming a new non-tariff barrier to trade in the East African Community, potentially harming the success of the Common Market, with Ugandan milk producers being the latest victims. The Uganda Dairy Development Authority (DDA) this week after complaints from some exporters and producers said that authorities in Kenya were limiting the number of export permits for powdered milk and issuing others at a slow pace. Brookside Uganda – a firm linked to Kenya's ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta's family and now one of Uganda's leading milk producers and exporters – alongside Pearl Dairies, Jesa Farm Dairy and others complained that their stock was going bad for lack of market.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/how-kenyan-political-games-are-hurting-eac-common-market-4241056

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By VOICE OF AMERICA Somalia's government says 43 Al Shabaab militants, including two senior commanders, were killed by Somali National Army forces during a weekend airstrike about 14 kilometres from the Jamame District in the Lower Juba region. 'The airstrike successfully eliminated key Al Shabaab leaders Aden Abdirahman Aden and Idris Abdirahim Nur, who was of Kenyan national origin, and a total of 43 Al Shabaab fighters,' the Somali National Agency (Sonna) reported on Monday. Sonna said the attack, carried out by 'Somalia's international partners', happened on Friday as the militants and their commanders gathered to plan attacks against government soldiers at the Barsanguni military base, which is home to the Somali National Army and local forces.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/43-al-shabaab-fighters-killed-in-airstrike-in-somalia-4276666

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By AFP Google is working with news publishers to design a new AI-backed tool to help journalists report and write their stories, the company said on Thursday. The project was first reported by The New York Times , which is working with The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal in testing the new product. Citing anonymous sources, the report said the tool -- known internally as Genesis -- was in an early testing stage, but impressive enough to be found "unsettling" by some of the news executives that saw its capabilities.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/science-health/-google-testing-ai-news-writing-tool-4310694

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By BERNA NAMATA Rwandan economic managers are walking a tightrope to contain a drastic rise in the cost of living that is reducing incomes and hitting the country's vulnerable households hard.While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended further tightening of monetary policy, there is a real risk that this could undermine economic growth still reeling from the pandemic.Figures released by the National Institute of Statistics (NISR) this week show that the economy expanded by 10 per cent in the third quarter, following 7.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/rwandans-feel-pinch-as-cost-of-living-and-unemployment-soar-4065586

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By AGGREY MUTAMBO Africa may be rich and poor at the same time, but this kind of oxymoron is raising debate on just how to calculate the value of countries on the continent, which essentially could determine how much credit they can access. This week, at the Annual Meetings of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) in Sharm El-Sheikh, the bank's president Akinwumi Adesina argued African countries are undervalued in spite of the burden they are holding for the world when it comes to climate change.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/science-health/africa-s-share-in-heavy-burden-of-climate-change-4248714

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By REUTERS Ethiopia's overall spending is expected to rise slightly and economic growth to accelerate in the next fiscal year starting in July, finance minister Ahmed Shide said on Thursday. Mr Ahmed said in a budget speech to be presented to parliament that overall spending would rise to 801.65 billion birr ($14.7 billion) in the 2023/24, from 786.61 billion birr in 2022/23. Ethiopia's fiscal year runs from July 8 to July 7. The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, a two-year war in the northern Tigray region and droughts, floods and locust invasions in parts of the country are still being felt by the economy, which also experienced foreign-currency shortages.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/ethiopians-banking-on-spending-and-growth-4265246

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By PAULINE KAIRU Antibiotic resistance when treating sepsis in newborns is emerging as a concern that is resulting in more deaths of babies, warns a new study by clinicians in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Greece, India, Italy, Thailand and Vietnam. The study investigating newborn babies suffering from sepsis and conducted from 2018 to 2020 found that nearly one in five infants died as a result of culture-positive sepsis. Sepsis, a life-threatening bloodstream infection, affects up to three million babies a year globally and every year, 214,000 newborn babies, mostly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), die of sepsis that has become resistant to antibiotics.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/science-health/alarm-as-more-babies-in-poor-countries-die-from-neonatal-sepsis-4273354

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By The EastAfrican Schools in East Africa are going into the new terms this year with a continual headache of finding resources to ensure affordable schooling. From Tanzania to Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda, the thread of insufficient learning materials, teachers, overcrowding and confusion over the fees charged is going to dominate the early weeks of the new term.In Kenya, President William Ruto is facing the first test of his credentials as the first full academic year under his tenure begins on January 24, with a focus on implementation of his ambitious school reforms that experts estimate will cost at least Ksh635 billion ($5.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/tough-test-for-education-managers-as-schools-open-4093628

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