The United States is cutting almost all its spending on aid. The biggest loser will be Africa. For years, sub-Saharan Africa has received more U.S. aid money than any other region — except for 2022 and 2023, when the United States came to Ukraine’s aid after the Russian invasion. In 2024, $12.7 billion of $41…
Dangerous pathogens left unsecured at labs across Africa. Halted inspections for mpox, Ebola and other infections at airports and other checkpoints. Millions of unscreened animals shipped across borders. The Trump administration’s pause on foreign aid has hobbled programs that prevent and snuff out outbreaks around the world, scientists say, leaving people everywhere more vulnerable to…
This live blog has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. New users who download our updated app get a seven-day free trial. Foreign Minister Wang Yi faced the press on Friday morning to lay out Beijing’s foreign policy direction. This came as China…
Sudan’s government filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice this week accusing the United Arab Emirates of being complicit in genocide by arming and funding a rebel militia in the country’s brutal civil war. The United Arab Emirates quickly called the complaint a “cynical publicity stunt” aimed at diverting attention from the “widespread…
South Africa is preparing a new trade offer to present to President Trump, hoping to appeal to his transactional approach to foreign policy and ease boiling tensions with Washington, a spokesman for South Africa’s president said this week. The spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said in an interview that South African officials are anticipating Mr. Trump will…
The U.S. Embassy in Somalia issued a warning to Americans on Tuesday saying there is “credible information related to potential imminent attacks” around the East African nation. Authorities didn’t provide details about the potential attacks, but the embassy in Mogadishu said it is tracking threats against multiple locations, including the capital’s Aden Adde International Airport….
Its soldiers are underpaid and underarmed. Its ranks are riddled with factions pursuing their own interests. And successive presidents are said to have kept it weak for fear of a coup. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has appeared too weak and dysfunctional to stop a militia that has swept through the eastern part of…
Check out the article below, entitled “Earth’s Population Statistics in Perspective.” My friend sent it to me, and I researched it and found it consistent with what I found on the internet from various sources. “The Earth’s population is around 7.8 billion. For most people, it is a stunning figure. However, the resulting analysis…
China’s rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping the dynamics of global technology and one of the most consequential shifts is taking place beyond the traditional AI power centres of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. China’s AI influence is expanding across the Global South, from Africa to Latin America and Southeast Asia. With affordable AI-powered…
With Chinese start-up DeepSeek poised to help accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) across Africa, China has cemented its presence in the continent’s digital transformation, experts have said. But, they added, as Africa’s digital landscape speed along, it had also pushed policymakers to build governance frameworks around the new technology. Through the Digital Silk…