Hackers cracked into the website of South Africa's police and downloaded information that could leave whistleblowers vulnerable, police and a government data agency said Wednesday. State Information Technology Agency (Sita), which hosts all of the government's websites, said that last week the hackers accessed information relating to crimes posted by some 15,000 whistleblowers and complainants. "Most of the ...

The government of Japan has awarded the Second Hideyo Noguchi Prize for Africa to Dr. Alex Godwin Coutinho of Uganda for his outstanding contributions in the medical services. Dr. Coutinho, a renowned Ugandan physician won the Prize for Medical Services for his pioneering efforts to expand access to life-sparing medicine for people infected with HIV. The Hideyo Noguchi Prize is awarded by the Japanese ...

A fly factory that transforms blood, guts, manure and discarded food into animal feed has walked away with a $100,000 UN-backed innovation prize. The Stellenbosch, South Africa-based initiative uses the prolific egg layers to recycle industry's cast-offs into reusable protein by mimicking nature and harnessing the winged insects, usually regarded as pests. "We've created the first industrial farming ...

The unique healthy pregnancy text messaging (SMS) service reached 100,000 active registrants in March 2013. More than 4 million text messages have been sent to those who signed up for the free healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood information, since the launch late November 2012. The text messaging service sends out timely free healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood information "Now people can have access to ...

Tunisia's highest court failed on Thursday to review, as expected, the jail terms given to two men for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, their lawyer said, creating confusion in a controversial case. "I was surprised to discover that the court has not acted because the demand for an appeal was mysteriously withdrawn," Ahmed Mselmi told AFP. He said he intended to "investigate what could have ...

Both private and state-owned Chinese companies are investing heavily in Africa. Part of this media push into Africa is about winning new friends and influencing the right people. The other part is straightforwardly looking to create new markets for both its technology and content. Sylvain Beletre, Balancing Act’s Broadcast Analyst looks at how the impact of the new Chinese media presence will affect Africa. ...

IT'S UP TO YOU! features texts and photos by the community and for the community. This article by Claude Ayitey was first published on TechyAfrica and is published here with permission. StarAfrica is YOUR website. [divide] It’s been barely 10 days since the first election with biometric verification came to an end. So far, we have enjoyed peace though there have been a few issues relating to the acceptance ...

South Africa's national roll-out of the fixed-dose combination (FDC) of antiretrovirals (ARVs) starting on Monday (1 April) is a lifesaver which will lead to less people dying of Aids related illnesses, according to patients here Sunday. The fixed-dose combination -- containing emtricitabine, efavirenz and tenofovir -- is a multiple antiretroviral drug combined into a single pill, which helps reduce the ...

The Egyptian military has arrested three scuba divers accused of cutting an undersea Internet cable off the coast of the northern city of Alexandria, it said on Thursday. The three had been spotted on board a small boat and attempted to flee ashore, but the navy gave chase and eventually caught up and arrested them, the military said on its Facebook page. Pictures of three men with their hands bound were ...

Scientists Tuesday made a rare live addition to the order of primates, unveiling two new species of mouse lemur -- tiny, big-eyed animals that inhabit the forests of Madagascar. The find brings to 20 the known tally of mouse lemurs, nocturnal tree-dwellers that weigh less than a large apple. Yet even as the two minute animals were recorded in the book of life, the scientists warned that one of them was ...