A new assessment by the Policy Center for The New South put the material damage of Sept 8 earthquake at 3 billion dirhams ($300 million), accounting for nearly 0.2% of Morocco’s GDP. Al Haouz province, where the epicenter is located, lost 10.2% of its GDP to the quake, that is 53% of the overall economic damage. The government has allocated 12 billion dollars to a five-year program to help quake-stricken population, upgrade destroyed infrastructure and spur the local economy. Up to March, Morocco offered 1 billion dirhams in reconstruction aid to 51,300 families whose houses were totally or partially destroyed in the quake. Morocco has promised to offer 140,000 for totally demolished homes and 80,000 for partly destroyed ones following the quake that killed nearly 3000 people.

The company, which in November announced a strategic partnership with the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) to initiate the Cancer Genome Nigeria project. The implementation of the new genomic profiling and liquid biopsy technology will further existing work from SOPHiA GENETICS, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and Syndicate Bio to advance health equity on a global scale. “Partnering with SOPHiA Genetics to bring MSK-ACCESS® powered with SOPHiA DDM™ to our lab is a monumental step in accelerating the cancer treatment and research landscape across Africa, beginning in Nigeria. Next-generation sequencing technologies in oncology and liquid biopsy, which this collaboration enables, hold the potential for creating a leapfrogging opportunity in the oncology treatment and research landscape in Africa,” said Ene-Obong. “Through this collaboration, we aim to enable the widespread application of precision medicine in oncology across Africa, and thus contributing to the improvement of patient outcomes across the African continent.

In recent months, a new party has entered the German left. Steeped in accounts of biological hierarchy and genocide, “race” could play no function in building German democracy. In this context, many on the right and the left redrew German belonging along the lines of race and religion. Policymakers and mainstream media outlets were less willing to face the embedded bigotry in German society. Together, they reveal that the politics of racism is both durable and highly adaptable, functioning not as curious exceptions, but as a core part of the German political calculus.

Countries are racing to capitalise on the benefits of clean technology manufacturing such as economic security, employment and the resilience of a clean energy transition. Investment into clean technology manufacturing is becoming significant enough to register in broader macroeconomic data. Virtually no clean technology manufacturing takes place in Africa today. Outsized effect of solar PV on clean technology manufacturingThis first of its kind analysis shows that investment in clean technology manufacturing was around $200 billion in 2023. “India, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia made up most of the remaining share, with virtually no manufacturing investment taking place in either Africa or Central and South America.”Clean technology manufacturing is growing to meet net-zero needsNear-term momentum for clean technology manufacturing is looking strong.

The transition from the African Humid Period (AHP) to dry conditions in North Africa is the clearest example of climate tipping points in recent geological history. Tipping points occur when small perturbations trigger a large, non-linear response in the system and shift the climate to a different future state, usually with dramatic consequences for the biosphere. Climate researchers have identified two main types of tipping points. Researching and better understanding them is important if we want to be able to predict possible future climate tipping points caused by humans. Later in the transitional phase, starting in 6,000 BC, seven wet events occurred in addition to the dry events, which were of a similar duration and frequency.

PRESS RELEASEGowling WLG's Energy Transition, Infrastructure and Projects team was awarded the 'Alternative Infrastructure Award' at the IJGLobal MENA Awards 2023 for the NEOM Residential Communities project. The residential communities are the first phase of NEOM's residential communities' expansion and form part of projects totalling SAR 21 billion (USD $5.5 billion) in value, representing one of the largest international public-private partnerships for accommodation. This is the third award the team has been recognised for in relation to the project, having also been awarded'Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year' for the NEOM Residential Communities project by the PFI Awards Middle East & Africa 2023. 'Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year' at the 2023 GFC Media Group presents Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East Awards. Our team has also been shortlisted for the 'Infrastructure & Energy Team of the Year' in the Oath Middle East Legal Awards 2023 and for 'Infrastructure and Energy Projects Team of the Year' in the Middle East Legal Awards 2024 for our role in the transaction.

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced a new federal initiative to set up guardrails for digital technology and establish international norms around security, privacy, and new technology. To maintain cybersecurity for the United States and its allies, the secretary of state emphasized the importance of establishing and upholding "cyber norms" on a global level. The United States will partner with "any country — or company — that's committed to that same vision," Blinken told attendees. But he warned, "Some of our strategic rivals are working toward a very different goal: They're using digital technologies and genomic data collection to surveil their people, to repress human rights." Plea for Digital SolidarityThe stakes for digital solidarity, according to Blinken, can be literally life and death, at least in the case of Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion.

Disrupt Africa is set to release the second edition of “Diversity Dividend”, its groundbreaking research publication focusing on gender equality in the African tech startup ecosystem. The inaugural 2023 edition of “Diversity Dividend: Exploring Gender Equality in the African Tech Ecosystem” marked the first ever deep-dive into gender equality, or the lack of it, within the African tech startup space. Aggregated data from the answers collected will be featured in the report; but individual answers remain anonymous. Most are multiple choice answers, but please feel free to leave your additional comments in the blank section(s) provided. Investor survey 👇https://forms.gle/P5ZXvQiFCE5P1V2a7Founder survey 👇https://forms.gle/frhB6g3WifTeGcUm7

Regulatory News:This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240507027968/en/SLB OneSubsea and Subsea7 are providing North Sea compliant equipment for the sustainable field development of OKEA’s Bestla Project (Photo: Business Wire)SLB (NYSE: SLB) has announced the award of a sizeable integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract by OKEA to its OneSubsea™ joint venture and Subsea7. Early engagement and collaborative field development planning combined with North Sea compliant configurable equipment will be critical for enabling profitable and sustainable marginal field development. SLB OneSubsea will deliver the subsea production system which will include two subsea trees, a two-slot template, an umbilical, and a control system. In case you have any questions about this press release, please refer to the contact person/entity mentioned in the text of the press release.

Many of the students from Rutshuru and Kibumba had fled their towns after an upsurge in fighting in recent weeks between M23 rebels and Congo army forces. But some of these young people, traumatized by the conflict, are now preparing to take a crucial exam far from home. Having fled the war the previous year, he yearns to find the strength to pass his exam and obtain his baccalaureate. “I'm obliged to take the exam here because the situation in Kibumba is disastrous. Thousands of students are expected in Nyiragongo for this state exam.

Siya celebrates RassieOn Thursday 2 May, Rassie Erasmus received an honorary doctorate from the North-West University (NWU) where he was joined by his national captain, Siya Kolisi.

In late 2014, we collected the longest cores CHB14-2A and 2B, reaching down to 278.58 and 266.38 m depth, respectively18. For this reason, the analysis is limited to the 9–3 kyr BP time interval, which does not show major fluctuations in the spacing of the data points, including gaps9,29. We compare the Chew Bahir data with simulated precipitation from a transient climate model simulation of Holocene covering 10–0 kyr BP15. We use the window size w = 50 and the step size ws = 5 data points of the moving window to calculate the RQA measures. Second, we fitted a sigmoid function with four parameters a, b, c, and d$${x}_{{{{{{\rm{fit}}}}}}}(t)=a+\frac{{{{{{\rm{b}}}}}}}{1+{{{{{{\rm{e}}}}}}}^{-{{{{{\rm{d}}}}}}({{{{{\rm{t}}}}}}-{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}})}},\, {{{{{\rm{for}}}}}}-\infty \, < \, t \, < +\infty$$ (1)to the records \({x}_{i}\) with \(1 \, < \, i \, < \, n\) and n data points using nonlinear least-squares fitting.

However, exhibitions at Beijing's Palace Museum are teaching cogent lessons about contemporary, real-world developments. These exhibitions, involving joint loans from Iran and Saudi Arabia, could only take place because of the triumph of Chinese diplomacy. But why would the Palace Museum — the repository of the greatest artistic achievements of Chinese civilization — showcase products of ancient Islamic civilization? The Palace Museum is proving the President's point with exhibitions of goods traded centuries ago and of artifacts illustrative of cultural influences between peoples. But it is the much humbler, camel-borne objects in the Palace Museum that provided the clearest lessons for us.

A recent opinion poll found that China is now more popular in Africa than the United States. According to a recent Gallup polling, 58% of respondents in Africa approve of China versus 56% for the US. While China generally continues to remain popular amongst Africans, for years, however, many have speculated about China’s real intentions on the African continent. A video claiming to show a Chinese man whipping African workers has gained massive traction on social media, though this is not the first time that such incidents have been reported. In April last year, a similar report highlighted the ill-treatment of African workers by Chinese project managers.

In Euromonitor International’s Q2 2024 baseline forecast, global real GDP growth is expected to reach 2.9% in 2024 (0.2 percentage points higher than in the Q1 2024 estimation) and 3.1% in 2025. In the Q2 2024 baseline forecast, real GDP growth projections for advanced economies were revised upwards to 1.4% in 2024 and 1.7% in 2025Source: Euromonitor International’s Q2 2024 baseline forecastThe upwards revision is mainly due to the considerably improved outlook for the US economy in 2024, as it entered the year on a strong footing. Excluding Argentina (where hyperinflation is expected to accelerate remarkably in 2024), global inflation would be at 4.5% in 2024 and 3.0% in 2025. Geopolitical tensions remain the primary upside risk to global inflation and thus downside risk to economic growth in Q2 2024 and beyond. Learn more about the global economic outlook in Q2 2024 and the impacts of different macroeconomic scenarios in our full report “Global Economic Forecasts: Q2 2024”.