*The United States is facing a growing shortage of rare earth minerals essential to its military operations, and Africa may offer a potential solution. Sources cited by the South China Morning Post suggest that American defense reserves of these materials could be critically low, with only about two months of supply remaining. This has raised concerns about the country’s ability to sustain military readiness, according to Business Insider Africa . The situation is being worse

What Is the Continental Internet Exchange? *The buzz about “ Africa creating its own internet ” refers to the launch of the Continental Internet Exchange (CIX) , a landmark African Union project activated in early September 2025. The CIX is not a separate internet protocol, but rather a continent-spanning digital highway that connects African countries directly to one another. It includes fiber backbones, data centers, and exchange points (IXPs), designed to keep traffic loca

*Last month, in February, we celebrated Black History Month, and to honor the occasion, researchers at TruckInfo.net analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to better understand the positive impact of Black entrepreneurs. Despite gains in recent years, Black entrepreneurs are still underrepresented Although Black and African Americans represent 13.7% of the population, only 3.2% of employer firms (those with at least one employee) are Black-owned. This discrepancy highlight

A meeting of the California Civic Media Program Advisory Board was briefly disrupted last month when an unknown participant hijacked the Zoom chat and repeatedly posted the racial slur “I HATE N**GERS!” before moderators removed the messages. The incident underscored a troubling reality highlighted in a new statewide report: anti-Black hate remains persistent in California, and Black residents continue to experience the highest rates of hate incidents. Days later, the Califor

Jermaine Jackson is pushing back against criticism from his sister Janet Jackson over the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, “Michael,” telling her bluntly: “You are so jealous—just get on the wave.” According to sources familiar with the family gathering, Jermaine made the remark after Janet reportedly dissected the film with what observers described as “brutal precision” during a discussion in front of roughly 60 Jackson family members last week. The Jackson family gathered q

The media landscape has a new heavyweight. YouTube closed out 2025 having accomplished something no streaming or digital platform had managed before — unseating The Walt Disney Co. as the largest media operation on the planet. According to THR, the numbers tell a clear story. Disney’s media division pulled in $60.9 billion last year, a figure that does not account for its theme park and experiences business. YouTube eclipsed that total, landing at an estimated $62 billion for

Last chance! 🚨 Lock 3 Akron, Ohio is looking for feedback and suggestions for what you want to see for our 2026 season and beyond! You can fill out a short survey here: https://bit.ly/4cYhtVz. The survey closes TOMORROW, March 13.

FirstEnergy has made a lot of progress in our area restoring power. There are still approximately 2,627 outages throughout the city. They have all available crews out working to continue restoring power to those without it. You can monitor outages using the outage map here: https://outages-oh.firstenergycorp.com/ City of Akron crews as well as Barberton Tree are taking care of downed trees blocking roadways. We anticipate all roads will be open later this afternoon. Thank you

There is a difference between lying in state and lying in repose. Only the following are allowed to lay in state: Current or former government officials (e.g., Member of Congress, President, Vice President); military leaders; unknown servicemembers from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era. All other eligible honorees would be considered for lying in repose. At press time it appears that Jackson will be doing neither.It had been presumed that Congre

*How you start your day may have more impact on your heart health than you realize. Building a few intentional habits into your morning can support healthier blood pressure without requiring a dramatic lifestyle overhaul. As Health.com reports, calming practices like meditation and deep breathing are a good place to start. A 2024 review covering 15 clinical trials connected these types of exercises to lower systolic blood pressure numbers, with participants noticing changes a