AI Slop Map of Africa at AIDS Conference

A US State Department map of Africa mislabeled every country they depicted during a presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference (July 26-31, 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

The slide was so egregiously wrong that multiple attendees whipped out their phones to get a shot of it; Emily Bass, a writer and AIDS expert, wrote about it at length. 

"The US government's failure to catch this error before displaying the slide at the top international AIDS conference in the world, in a session that featured the Director General of Nigeria as an invited guest, is not only disrespectful to African collaborators, it's also a significant tell", wrote Bass.

Senior officials from several African governments were reportedly among those present. 

The map shows six countries receiving US health funding and none of them are correctly named or placed. Nigeria has migrated north to become landlocked in the Sahara. Mozambique has roughly replaced Ethiopia. The Ivory Coast was placed in southern Africa, far from any coast, its name an ignored clue. Uganda and Malawi are not so far off, but drawn with wrong borders. Cameroon was named but assigned no territory at all. While one country on the Gulf of Guinea – a hypothetical union of Ghana, Benin and Togo? – went unnamed. Perhaps that is Cameroon now. 

The speaker was Jeff Graham, the US health envoy who oversees PEPFAR (⁠President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a United States government initiative.

Whoever ⁠created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work. And Reuters reviewed video of the presentation and concluded that the map was AI slop. 

A Reuters analysis found the image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools. 

The company said they were investigating the report. The State Department said they took "full responsibility" and blamed a staffer who changed the slide deck shortly before the event. 

This sort of thing is normal in the Trump administration. Last year, the White House's "Make America Healthy Again" report cited studies that did not exist, with fabricated references and other hallmarks of AI slop.

Containment Efforts Race the Clock in the DRC

Health authorities across Africa are struggling to contain an Ebola outbreak, centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). 

There are now more than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases in the DR Congo, and at least 246 deaths. Neighbouring Uganda has reported nine confirmed cases and one death. 

The current outbreak, a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, has no proven vaccine and kills about a third of those infected.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said response efforts are being hampered by delays in identifying cases, warning that health authorities are effectively being forced to “play catch-up” as the outbreak expands. Suspected deaths linked to the virus have already surpassed 220. 

Although the WHO continue to assess the international threat level as low, they have raised the risk assessment inside the DR Congo from “high” to “very high”. The latest outbreak has primarily affected eastern regions of the DR Congo, where healthcare systems already face pressure from armed violence, mass displacement, and limited infrastructure. 

The WHO have classified the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, reviving memories of past Ebola epidemics that overwhelmed fragile healthcare systems and triggered international alarm. 

The current epidemic, officially declared on May 15, is the DR Congo’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976. 

Governments across Africa and beyond have introduced measures aimed at preventing the virus from spreading across borders. Rwanda has temporarily closed its border with the DR Congo, while Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Burkina Faso tightened health screening and sanitary monitoring procedures. Uganda also suspended flights to neighboring DR Congo following the outbreak. 

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have also expanded their Ebola response operations in eastern DR Congo and neighboring countries, deploying 200 volunteers. They are going door-to-door in communities to explain how the virus spreads, counter misinformation, and encourage early treatment. 

The UN allocated $60 million from their emergency response fund to help contain the outbreak. The WHO have reported the delivery of eleven tonnes of emergency medical supplies to support Ebola response operations in the DR Congo and have already allocated $3.9 million from their Contingency Fund for Emergencies.

Chimps Drink a Lager a Day in Ripe Fruit

Many animals have been known to consume fermented fruit, sometimes intentionally, and experience the psychoactive effects of alcohol. It turns out that chimpanzees (Scientific name: Pan troglodytes), our closest living relative, consume the equivalent of almost one and a half alcoholic beverages a day via their regular diet. 

A paper "Ethanol ingestion via frugivory in wild chimpanzees" published in Science Advances, September 17, 2025, Vol. 11, Issue 38, studied the pulp from fruit enjoyed by chimpanzees in Côte d'Ivoire and Uganda. The amount of fruit consumed daily produced 14 grams of ethanol, the human equivalent of 1.4 drinks. As this amount would be consumed over the course of a full day, this would only result in mild intoxication, if any. 

The findings in the paper support the hypothesis that ethanol is regularly present in tropical fruit, and its consumption by our ancestors may have resulted in modern humans' fondness for alcohol. 

As lead author Aleksey Maro (right) said, "Naturally occurring dietary alcohol is inseparable from food, which may help explain why our species is so fond of the stuff. During periods of food scarcity, a physiological tolerance for dietary ethanol could have been crucial for survival, leading towards a fondness for ethanol that persists to this day". 🍺🍺🍺

Vietnam Joins BRICS As 10th Partner Country

Vietnam has joined BRICS as their tenth partner country, marking a significant step in the bloc’s expansion, Brazil’s foreign ministry announced on Saturday. 

“With a population of almost 100 million and a dynamic economy deeply integrated into global value chains, Vietnam stands out as a relevant actor in Asia”, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. 

The economic collective’s other nine partner countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. Hanoi’s inclusion as a partner country grants it access to key economic initiatives without formal voting rights.

BRICS just got bigger!

Yesterday, I attended the Kajang Toastmasters Club meeting at Prima Saujana, Kajang in Selangor. It was very unusually well-attended; and therefore, the meeting unsurprisingly became a lot livelier. 

And we sold eight books, 4 TDIYS and 4 TPOYS.

Coffee Heist

Your next cup of coffee could be hotter than you think. 

Organized criminals in the US, Brazil, and Vietnam are stealing coffee beans by the truckload, reports Reuters. The price of green coffee beans has shot up to an all-time high due to floods and droughts in major coffee-growing areas like Brazil, Indonesia and Uganda. 

"Each truck load has about 44,000 pounds (19,958 kg) of green beans, which at current market value is worth around $180,000", reports Reuters.

Criminals in the United States even set up fake transportation companies. They approach importers with too-good-to-resist freight charges. Then they load up their trucks and drive off with the beans, never to be heard from again. Some market participants believe the gangs then try to sell the beans to smaller roasters, which are feeling the pain from sky-high prices. Some importers have started attaching tracking devices to the coffee bags, in an effort to protect their shipments.

And eggs too are dearly prized. [If you don't know why this is so, kindly read my March 04, 2025 post "Rent A Chicken"].

Since October 2024, US customs officials at the Canadian and Mexican borders have intercepted 3,768 shipments of poultry products, including eggs. That's compared to 352 seizures of fentanyl. 

Compared to last year, that comes out to 36% more poultry product seizures. It's illegal to bring fresh eggs and unprocessed bird bits into the US due to the risk of spreading disease–like avian flu. Of course, the avian flu outbreak has driven up egg prices which is exactly why people are smuggling them into the US.

World No. 5 Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan were forced into a three-game tussle before clinching a hard-fought 19-21, 21-15, 21-13 victory over the world No. 55 on Wednesday. 

The hard-fought win over unheralded Taiwanese duo Teng Chun Hsun-Yang Chu Yun lasted 65 minutes before the Malaysians secured their spot in the second round of the All England Open Badminton Championships (March 11–16, 2025). 

Waiting for Pearly-Thinaah in the round of 16 will be Indonesian pair Rahayu Apriyani-Ramadhanti Siti Fadia Silva.

Official BRICS Partner Status for Malaysia

Malaysia has been recognized as one of thirteen nations officially added to BRICS as a partner country, a bloc that collectively accounts for one-fifth of global trade.

 

According to an update from @BRICSInfo on X on October 24, the bloc officially added 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries, though not yet as full members. Apart from Malaysia, the other twelve nations were Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand, Türkiye, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. 

 

Venezuela and Pakistan were supposed to be in but Brazil and India respectively vetoed their applications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Germany, Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 1-0 to continue their perfect start in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The only goal of the competition was scored in the twenty-seventh minute by Darwin Nunez, who poked Mohamed Salah’s header into the net.

 

Overall, Liverpool were good value for their win, having the majority of chances both in total and in quality.  

 

Also on the same day, a terrific defensive display in Italy ensured Celtic earn a valuable point in their encounter against Atalanta. Even as the Serie A side dominated possession and attacking statistics, the Scottish champions stood firm and held them to a goalless draw.

Durians To Blame For Making Coffee More Expensive

How much is too much for a caffeine fix?

 

Prices like £5 in London or $7 in New York for a cup of coffee may be unthinkable for some – but could soon become a reality thanks to a "perfect storm" of economic and environmental factors in the world's top coffee-producing regions.

 

The cost of unroasted beans traded in global markets is now at a "historically high level", says analyst Judy Ganes. And experts blame a mix of troubled crops, market forces, depleted stockpiles – and the world’s smelliest fruit.

 

So how did we get here, and just how much will it impact your morning latte?

 

In 2021, a freak frost wiped out coffee crops in Brazil, the world's largest producer of Arabica beans – those commonly used in barista-made coffee. This bean shortfall meant buyers turned to countries like Vietnam, the primary producer of Robusta beans, that are typically used in instant blends. But farmers there faced the region’s worst drought in nearly a decade. 

 

Climate change has been affecting the development of coffee plants (Genus: Coffea; family: Rubiaceae), according to Will Frith, a coffee consultant based in Ho Chi Minh City, in turn impacting bean yields. And then Vietnamese farmers pivoted to the durian (Genus: Durio).

 

The fruit is proving popular in China and is in high demand. And so, Vietnamese farmers are replacing their coffee crops with durian to cash in on this emerging market. In fact, Vietnam's durian market share in China almost doubled between 2023 and 2024, and some estimate the crop is five times more lucrative than coffee.

 

"There’s a history of growers in Vietnam being fickle in response to market price fluctuations, over-committing, and then flooding the market with quantities of their new crop", Frith says. As they flooded China with durians, Robusta coffee exports were down 50% in June compared to the previous June, and stocks were now "near depleted", according to the International Coffee Organisation.

 

Exporters in Colombia, Ethiopia, Peru and Uganda have stepped up, but have not produced enough to ease a tight market.

 

"Right at [the] time when things started to rev up for demand of Robusta, is right when the world was scrambling for more supply", explains Ganes. This means Robusta and Arabica beans are now trading at near-record highs on commodity markets.

 

But industry figures caution that a high market price for coffee may not necessarily translate into higher retail prices.

 

Felipe Barretto Croce, CEO of FAFCoffees in Brazil, agrees that consumers are "feeling the pinch" as consumer prices have risen. But he argues that is "mostly due to inflationary costs in general", such as rent and labor, rather than the cost of beans. 

 

Consultancy Allegra Strategies estimate beans contribute less than 10% of the price of a cup of coffee. "Coffee is still very cheap, as a luxury good, if you make it at home".

 

Besides, the cost of lower-quality beans rising means high-quality coffee may now be seen as better value. "If you go into a specialty coffee shop in London and get a coffee, versus a coffee in Costa Coffee, the difference [in price] between that cup and the specialty coffee is much smaller than it used to be".

 

From what I've read, don't expect price relief anytime soon. It is already said that in the long term, climate change already poses serious challenges for the global coffee industry.

 

A 2022 study "Expected global suitability of coffee, cashew and avocado due to climate change" by Roman Grüter et al, affiliated with the Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Wädenswil, Switzerland and published in Plos One had concluded that even if we drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the area most highly suited for growing coffee could decline by 50% by 2050.

 

One measure to future-proof the industry that has the support of Croce is a "green premium" – a small tax levied on coffee given to farmers to invest in regenerative agricultural practices, which help protect and sustain the viability of farmlands.

 

So while the durian is partly responsible for price rises now – a changing climate may ultimately strain the affordability of coffee in the years to come.

 

World Bank Punish Uganda for Anti-Gay Law

On March 21, 2023, Uganda's parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, a law that would criminalise identifying as LGBTQ. 

 

And on May 29, the country's president, Yoweri Museveni (right) signed what has been described as one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ legislations into law, drawing Western condemnation and risking sanctions from aid donors. 

 

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further. It stipulates capital punishment for "serial offenders" against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. 

 

As expected, the World Bank announced a halt to new funding for Uganda, citing the said law as the reason for the decision. 

 

“We believe our vision to eradicate poverty on a liveable planet can only succeed if it includes everyone irrespective of race, gender, or sexuality. This law undermines those efforts. Inclusion and non-discrimination sit at the heart of our work around the world”, the global financing body stated on Tuesday. 

 

Uganda's state minister for foreign affairs, Okello Oryem, accused the bank of hypocrisy, claiming that they had been "put under pressure by the usual imperialists". 

 

"There are many Middle East countries who do not tolerate homosexuals, they actually hang and execute homosexuals, in the United States of America many states have passed laws that are either against or restrict activities of homosexuality... So why pick on Uganda?" Reuters quoted Oryem as saying.

Uganda School Attack

Nearly 40 pupils have been killed at a school in western Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, by rebels linked to the Islamic State. 

 

Five militants attacked the Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe at around 23:30 (20:30 GMT) on Friday. They entered dormitories, setting fire and using machetes to kill and maim the pupils, officials said. 

 

The Allied Democratic Forces – based in the Democratic Republic of Congo – have been blamed and a manhunt is under way. 

 

Uganda's information minister said 37 students were confirmed to have been killed, but did not give their ages. Twenty of them were attacked with machetes and 17 of them burned to death, Chris Baryomunsi told the BBC. 

 

Survivors said the rebels threw a bomb into the dormitory after the machete attack. It is not clear if this resulted in a fire in the building which was reported earlier. 

 

Major General Dick Olum, the army commander for western Uganda and in charge of a military deployment in DR Congo, said the attackers had stayed in the town two days before the attack, marking their target. He said an unidentified youth had gone to the school to check its layout before the attack. 

 

“That is how the attackers came and locked the boys’ door. The boys really tried to fight back, but they were overpowered. The attackers had lit mattresses”, Olum told reporters from Mpondwe, according to a video posted on Twitter by the Daily Monitor newspaper. “In the girls dorm, they found their door open, hence killing them and cutting them”. 

 

Privately-owned NTV Uganda television said on Twitter that the death toll stood at 41, while state-run New Vision newspaper said it was 42. New Vision said 39 of the dead were students, and that some of those killed died when the attackers set off a bomb as they fled. 

 

Police reported eight other people were in hospital with critical injuries. Additionally, six students were abducted to carry food that the rebels stole from the school's stores. The militants then fled towards Virunga National Park in DR Congo. 

 

The attack on the school, which is co-educational and privately owned, and located in the Ugandan district of Kasese, about 1.2 miles from the DR Congo border, is the first such attack on a Ugandan school in 25 years. 

 

In June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF attack on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the border of DRC. More than 100 students were kidnapped.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi Forgives

Barisan Nasional chairperson and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has reportedly forgiven the 10 traitorous BN MPs – but adds that he will be keeping a close eye on them. 

 

(Kindly check out my post “The 10 BN Backers of Muhyiddin Yassin” published earlier today). 

 

For his own sake, let’s hope they don’t bite him again. The second bite may be fatal.

 

Uganda has declared the end of a nearly four-month Ebola outbreak it struggled briefly to contain but was then able to swiftly bring under control despite the absence of a proven vaccine against the viral strain in question. 

 

The World Health Organization says a country needs to pass 42 days – twice the maximum incubation period – after the last confirmed case for it to be declared Ebola-free. Wednesday’s declaration followed Uganda’s completion of that timeline. 

 

The outbreak killed 55 of the 143 people infected since September, according to health ministry figures. And six of the people who died were health workers.

The Atlas Lions Finish Fourth Best

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In yesterday’s World Cup match between Morocco and Croatia, the latter bested the former 2-1. 

 

And so, the Atlas Lions emerged fourth best. 

 

Both teams have exceeded expectation and both can leave this tournament very proud of what they achieved. 

 

Uganda yesterday lifted a two-month lockdown on two districts at the epicentre of the country’s Ebola epidemic, amid cautious hope that the outbreak could end soon. 

 

Since authorities declared an Ebola outbreak on September 20, the East African nation has registered 142 confirmed cases and 56 deaths, with the disease spreading to the capital Kampala. The two central districts at the heart of the outbreak, Mubende and Kassanda, were placed under lockdown by President Yoweri Museveni on October 15. 

 

But yesterday, Vice President Jessica Alupo (right) announced that the government was “lifting all movement restrictions and curfew in Mubende and Kassanda districts with immediate effect”. The two hotspots were under a dusk-to-dawn curfew, with markets, bars and churches closed as well as personal travel banned. 

 

“The lifting of the restrictions is based on the fact that currently there is currently no transmission, no contact under follow-up, no patients in the isolation facilities, and we are progressing well”, Alupo said in a televised address delivered on behalf of Museveni. 

 

Ugandan authorities said last month that new cases were falling, and the last confirmed patient with the disease was discharged from hospital on November 30. 

 

Alupa warned however that the government remained on “high alert” for any resurgence in cases.

Mass Layoffs at Meta and Elsewhere

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Rumored for weeks and coinciding with Twitter's own downsizing, Meta today announced they will let go of 13 percent of their workforce, or more than 11,000 employees, in one of the biggest layoffs this year as the Facebook parent battles soaring costs and a weak advertising market. 

 

The mass layoffs, first in Meta’s 18-year history, follow massive job cuts at other tech companies – not just Elon Musk-owned Twitter – but also at Microsoft, Chime, Intel, Lyft, Seagate, Snap Inc, Stripe and many others. In fact, as of late October, more than 52,000 workers in the US tech sector have been laid off in mass job cuts so far in 2022, according to a Crunchbase News tally. 

 

The pandemic-led boom that boosted tech companies and their valuations has turned into a bust this year. 

 

An Ebola update. Schools across Uganda will close two weeks before the scheduled end of term after 23 Ebola cases were confirmed among pupils, including eight children who died. 

 

Education Minister Janet Kataha Museveni (right) said on Tuesday that the cabinet had taken the decision to close preschools, primary schools and secondary schools on November 25 because densely packed classrooms were making students highly vulnerable to infection. [Note: Students in Uganda are currently in their third and final term of the calendar year]. 

 

On Saturday, the government extended a three-week lockdown on the neighboring districts of Mubende and Kassanda, which have been the center of the Ebola outbreak. The measures include a dusk-to-dawn curfew, a ban on personal travel, and the closure of markets, bars and churches. 

 

Since the outbreak was declared in Mubende on September 20, the disease has spread across the country, including to the capital, Kampala – but the president has said nationwide restrictions are not needed. 

 

According to government figures from Sunday, 135 people have been infected with Ebola and 53 have died.

Ebola Arrives in Uganda's Capital

The World Health Organization warned on Wednesday that Ebola's arrival in the Ugandan capital highlighted the high risk of further spread of the deadly virus, calling on neighboring countries to boost their preparedness. 

 

Since Uganda's Health Ministry first declared the outbreak on September 20, the country has registered over 150 confirmed and probable cases, including 64 deaths, WHO said. 

 

And since the deadly disease spread to Kampala last week, 17 cases have been confirmed there. 

 

WHO are especially concerned because outbreaks are difficult to contain, more so in urban environments.

 

Most certainly, the Ebola situation is going to get worse before it gets better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, Celtic secured a 4-2 victory over Dundee United in a Scottish Premiership match at Parkhead. 

 

The former flew out the blocks on their return to domestic action. Jota slid an enticing ball across the face of the opposite goal, with Sead Haksabanovic lurking at the back post for his first Celtic strike in the sixth minute. 

 

The visitors got a penalty six minutes later to level the score. But the Scottish champions regained the upper hand when Haksabanovic sliced an effort by the fingertips of the helpless goalie in the thirty-fourth minute. 

 

Again, Dundee United appeared to have rescued a point with an 87th-minute strike – but Celtic showed they had unfinished business. Three minutes later, Kyogo Furuhashi skimmed a glancing header to spark bedlam in the stands, before Liel Abada audaciously chipped over the goalkeeper to squash the juice out of the Tangerines. 

 

Well done, Celtic!

Ebola Stays Put in Uganda

My September 28 post “Crashing Ringgit And Rising Inflation” had mentioned about an Ebola outbreak in Uganda. Regrettably, it has become a really serious problem. 

And to make matters worse, the current epidemic in Uganda is of the Sudan strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain. 

[Note: Merck’s Ervebo vaccine (rVSV-ZEBOV), which WHO said had limited infections and saved lives, was developed rapidly during the 2014-16 epidemic but came too late to have a significant impact at the time. Still, it was used during an outbreak in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There’s also a second vaccine by Johnson & Johnson and which has been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency. But neither of these vaccines has been tested against the Sudan strain]. 

The CDC’s outbreak update as at October 12, 2022: 

• Total cases: 74 (54 confirmed, 20 probable) 
• Total deaths: 39 (19 confirmed, 20 probable) 
• Case-Fatality Proportion: 52.7% 
• Total recoveries: 14 
• Districts affected: 5 (Bunyangabu, Kagadi, Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Mubende) 

Already, a three-week lockdown is in place in two districts of Uganda, i.e. Mubende and neighboring Kassanda as the country battles the Ebola outbreak. 

The country's president Yoweri Museveni has already ordered police to arrest anyone suspected of having the virus who refused to isolate. 

And he has forbidden traditional healers from trying to handle cases. In previous outbreaks, healers have been associated with hotspots for spread of the virus. 

Liverpool picked up a mouth-watering and much-needed 1-0 victory over Manchester City in a pulsating Premier League clash at Anfield on Sunday. 

A magnificent win! I readily admit I didn’t see this result coming! That's why I'm a fan. Despite being critical, we gotta love our boys! YNWA! 

All because of a sensational goal from Mohamed Salah in the seventy-sixth minute! Alisson sent a long ball forward, a Citizens’ defender tried to kill the ball and failed and which allowed Salah to race through on goal and lifting an ice-cool finish over the goalkeeper. Cue bedlam.

👇 Every angle of Salah's strike from Alisson's pinpoint pass – what a gem!

Anfield predictably erupted as if it was a title-deciding goal – but for Liverpool's season, it might just be as massive. The Egyptian king has breathed new life into Liverpool's season. 

And I must add that everybody who started this match played really well. 

The win over the reigning champions moves Liverpool up to eighth place in the Premier League table. They’re still 10 points behind Man City and 14 adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal – but now, Liverpool’s challenge is sputtering to life!

Realistically, I don't think it changes much for them in the title race. But there’s nothing wrong to dream, right?

Crashing Ringgit And Rising Inflation

Whether Malaysians are fully aware or not, but we too are experiencing our own worrisome issues that call for priority attention. Minister of Finance Tengku Zafrul Aziz appears nonchalant – no surprise here – but Opposition leader PH's Anwar Ibrahim is sounding the alarm on the crashing ringgit and rising inflation. 

At 6 PM on Monday, the ringgit depreciated to 4.6030/6045 against the greenback from 4.5775/5800 from last Friday’s closing. That’s a new 24-year low! 

And Malaysia’s inflation rate for the year rose to 4.7 percent year-on-year as of August, driven up by food and beverage prices that have gone up by 7.2 per cent on average in the year to date. 

If we're not careful, life is about to get harder for Malaysians.

It would appear that Ebola is as persistent as Covid!

If I’m not mistaken, the last time I blogged about Ebola ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo was in February 2021. 

Anyway, the country has declared an end to its latest Ebola virus outbreak – the 15th recorded in the country – when one case was confirmed in the eastern city of Beni, in North Kivu province, on August 22, according to its National Institute for Biomedical Research. 

Thankfully, the outbreak was the virus’s “least catastrophic” since no other case was recorded, the World Health Organization said in a statement on Tuesday. Testing showed the case was genetically linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which killed nearly 2,300 people. 

But neighboring Uganda races to tackle a new virus outbreak of its own. 

Its health ministry said Ebola’s latest flare-up in the country has already claimed five lives so far and is the probable but still unconfirmed cause of another 18 deaths. 

I fear this may turn out to be a much more serious problem for Uganda!