The Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases were launched during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group lost its funding under Trump in part due to conspiracy theories. As the world struggles to contain the rapidly growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province, a vital network of research centers has been unable to help on the ground. The reason: The Trump administration slashed its funding last year, in part due to conspiracy theories about the origins of Covid-19. Established in 2020 by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) Network was conducting research into viruses that emerge from wildlife and spill over to people, including the family of viruses that Ebola belongs to.

Ghana welcomes Pope's apology over Catholic Church's role in slavery Ghana has welcomed Pope Leo XIV's apology for the Catholic Church's historic role in slavery, describing it as an act of moral courage that was important in the global pursuit of truth, human dignity and justice. The Pope issued the clearest apology yet for the Church's involvement in legitimising slavery and its delay in condemning it for centuries. The apology was published on Monday in the Pope's first major teaching document of his papacy, which also focused on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) . Ghana was a major hub for the transatlantic slave trade when millions of people were captured and loaded on to ships, never to return home. Between the 16th and 19th Centuries, 12-15 million Africans were shipped to the Caribbean, with about two million dying during the journey.

ISIS shadow commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was killed in a precision strike in Nigeria after human intelligence penetrated defenses that had shielded him for years, analyst says.

Plus: social media firms have agreed to be assessed on how effectively they protect teens' mental health A "QuitGPT" campaign is urging people to cancel their ChatGPT subscriptions In September, Alfred Stephen, a freelance software developer in Singapore, purchased a ChatGPT Plus subscription, which costs $20 a month and offers more access to advanced models, to speed up his work. But he grew frustrated with the chatbot's coding abilities and its gushing, meandering replies. Then he came across a post on Reddit about a campaign called QuitGPT. QuitGPT is one of the latest salvos in a growing movement by activists and disaffected users to cancel their subscriptions. In just the past few weeks, users have flooded Reddit with stories about quitting the chatbot. And while it's unclear how many users have joined the boycott, there's no denying QuitGPT is getting attention.

It was hard to miss 33-year-old model and writer Abena Christine Jon'el's appearance at a recent major fashion show in Ghana. Walking the runway with her prosthetic leg wrapped in a colourful African print her appearance made a big impact. The Ghanaian-American was hoping to make a statement about the visibility of people with disabilities, building on years of work in the US and here in Ghana of speaking out on the issue. At two years old, Abena's life became defined by a challenge most adults would struggle to face. A large tumour had appeared on her right calf, the first sign of a rare, aggressive soft-tissue cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma.

The popularity of commercial nuclear reactors has surged in recent years as worries about climate change and energy independence drowned out concerns about meltdowns and radioactive waste. The problem is, building nuclear power plants is expensive and slow. A new generation of nuclear power technology could reinvent what a reactor looks like--and how it works. Advocates hope that new tech can refresh the industry and help replace fossil fuels without emitting greenhouse gases. Here's what that might look like . Next-gen nuclear is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies this year.

Arabic is one of the world's most widely spoken languages with at least 400 million speakers, including 200 million native speakers and 200 million to 250 million non-native speakers. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) serves as the formal language for government, legal matters and education, and it is widely used in international and religious contexts. Additionally, more than 25 dialects are spoken primarily across the Middle East and North Africa. The date was chosen to mark the day in 1973 on which the UN General Assembly adopted Arabic as one of its six official languages. In the following visual explainer, Al Jazeera lists some of the most common words in today's English language that originated from Arabic or passed through Arabic before reaching English.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming education and the workforce, but access to AI learning opportunities in Africa remains uneven. With rapid demographic shifts and growing labour market pressures, AI has become a strategic development priority, making the demand for relevant skills more urgent. This study investigates how universities and industries engage in shaping AI education and workforce preparation, drawing on survey responses from five African countries (Ghana, Namibia, Rwanda, Kenya and Zambia). The findings show broad recognition of AI importance but limited evidence of consistent engagement, practical training, or equitable access to resources. Most respondents who rated the AI component of their curriculum as very relevant reported being well prepared for jobs, but financial barriers, poor infrastructure, and weak communication limit participation, especially among students and underrepresented groups. Respondents highlighted internships, industry partnerships, and targeted support mechanisms as critical enablers, alongside the need for inclusive governance frameworks. The results showed both the growing awareness of AI's potential and the structural gaps that hinder its translation into workforce capacity. Strengthening university-industry collaboration and addressing barriers of access, funding, and policy are central to ensuring that AI contributes to equitable and sustainable development across the continent.

The logos of organisations were also included in images generated by Google's Nano Banana Pro AI tool. The logos of organisations were also included in images generated by Google's Nano Banana Pro AI tool. Google's AI Nano Banana Pro accused of generating racialised'white saviour' visuals Nano Banana Pro, Google's new AI-powered image generator, has been accused of creating racialised and "white saviour" visuals in response to prompts about humanitarian aid in Africa - and sometimes appends the logos of large charities. Asking the tool tens of times to generate an image for the prompt "volunteer helps children in Africa" yielded, with two exceptions, a picture of a white woman surrounded by Black children, often with grass-roofed huts in the background. In several of these images, the woman wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "Worldwide Vision", and with the UK charity World Vision's logo.