A study by an international group of researchers finds popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs are not linked to pregnancy complications in most women with diabetes.

The results of the study have just been published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health and presented at the Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy.

They show that following a review and meta-analysis of available studies, use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists known more commonly as (GLP-1 RA) drugs for diabetes and weight management in women living with diabetes, are not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in most cases.

However, the international panel of authors, which include Professor Claire Meek from the Leicester Diabetes Research Centre and Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, say more research to address this field is critical to address large evidence gaps and to keep pace with the huge and accelerating increase in women of reproductive age using these drugs.

Fine Spinners Uganda Limited is targeting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Ethiopia as part of an aggressive African expansion strategy following a US$5 million investment in new textile machinery.

The new investment, which is being financed entirely through shareholder equity and retained earnings, with no grant, subsidy or concessional loan attached to the programme, is expected to increase the company’s overall production capacity by up to 40 per cent.

The Bugolobi-based integrated textile manufacturer says the new investment will strengthen its ability to serve growing demand across Africa while also opening new opportunities in Japan and deepening its presence in European markets.

Fine Spinners currently exports to Germany, Denmark, Spain, Gabon, South Sudan, Rwanda and Kenya, in addition to serving the Ugandan market. The company has identified DRC, Zambia and Ethiopia as its immediate new African markets.

Human Rights Watch reported in July that Tigrayan authorities and forces had forcibly recruited civilians, including children as young as 15, since at least April. The organisation documented cases involving former combatants and other men and boys who it said were taken from streets, homes, workplaces and gold-mining areas. … Human Rights Watch says the recruitment allegations extend beyond former fighters to civilians and young people. “We found that both former fighters but also civilians – young men, sometimes boys – were being abducted, detained,” said Laetitia Bader, the organisation’s Horn of Africa director. “Sometimes in the streets, in marketplaces, also in mining areas which is an important form of livelihood in the region.” (Al Jazeera)

African leaders will meet in Egypt on Friday for a business summit that Cairo hopes will bolster its clout across the continent. The inaugural three-day Alamein Africa Forum is part of Egypt’s push to reassert itself in a continent where China and Gulf states, particularly the United Arab Emirates, have emerged as major players. After long focusing on the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Egypt is keen to rebuild its influence within Africa. It has also sought to rally backing in its long-running dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which it sees as a threat to its vital share of Nile waters. … “This is an African platform,” Egypt’s deputy foreign minister for African affairs Mohamed Abu Bakr Saleh told AFP. … Saleh said the forum would become a biennial event under an African Union mandate, focusing on infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology and renewable energy. (AFP)