. (Isaiah Esipisu, ALJazeera) The world had an opportunity to save thousands of lives that are being lost in parts of Somalia due to the famine, if only the donor community had paid attention to the early warning systems that predicted it eight months ago.
Complete Story...
Today is Sunday, February 05, 2012 12:56AM
AJZ: Somalia Famine Predictions Ignored
July 26, 2011 by BBN Editors,
(Video) Black Africans in Libya Live in Fear
March 23, 2011 by Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera
While many have hailed the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi's rule in Libya as symptomatic of a nationalistic desire for freedom and equality, there is a dark side to this revolution. Many African migrant workers report that they have been attacked by anti-government protesters, after having been mistaken for mercenaries hired by Gaddafi.
Complete Story...
Nigeria: Half a World from Gulf, a Spill Five Decades Old. US, Beware
June 17, 2010 by Adam Nossiter, New York Times
Big oil spills are no longer news in this vast, tropical land. The Niger Delta, where the wealth underground is out of all proportion with the poverty on the surface, has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years by some estimates.
Complete Story...
(Video) Miriam Makeba Dies at 76. Mama Afrika Fought to Free SA.
November 15, 2008 by bbn editors,
(News24 So. Africa) - South African singer Miriam Makeba, who has died aged 76, was for over three decades the musical voice of the fight against whites-only apartheid rule.
Complete Story...
South Africa Reggae Star, Lucky Dube, Leaves Enduring Legacy
October 26, 2007 by BBN Editors,
By AllAfrica. com
Lucky Dube was a different kind of rastaman.
Complete Story...
Contraceptive Used in Africa May Double Risk of H.I.V.
October 03, 2011 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) The most popular contraceptive for women in eastern and southern Africa, a hormone shot given every three months, appears to double the risk the women will become infected with H. I. V. , according to a large study published Monday. And when it is used by H. More...
Clinton Chastises China on Internet, African ‘New Colonialism’
June 12, 2011 by editor (View Source)
(bloomberg) U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sharpening her criticism of China, said the world’s second-biggest economy was doing everything to “stifle the Internet” and displaying traits of “new colonialism” in Africa.
Asked today during the recording of a television program in Lusaka, Zambia about whether China was a role model for governance, Clinton answered: “In the long-run, medium-run, even short-run, no I don’t. ”
Acknowledging that China, the world’s biggest energy user, has extended its influence across Africa, the top U. More...
George Clooney Launches Satellite Surveillance to Monitor Violence in Sudan
January 09, 2011 by editor (View Source)
(care2makeadifference) We all know that Sudan is not an ideal tourist locale right now. It's not even a local's locale. But its desperate need for change is one that attracts help from those with fame and money. Now George Clooney is taking that aid to another level with a ground-breaking tech project that may just make "anti-genocide paparazzi" the new buzz phrase of the year.
Not On Our Watch, a humanitarian aid group founded by film stars George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, human rights lawyer David Pressman, and film executive Jerry Weintraub, is currently funding the Satellite Sentinel Project, a surveillance initiative launched within this past week. More...
Death by Gadget. “Blood diamonds” have faded away, but we may now be carrying “blood phones.”
July 02, 2010 by editor2 (View Source)
(NYT)
An ugly paradox of the 21st century is that some of our elegant symbols of modernity — smartphones, laptops and digital cameras — are built from minerals that seem to be fueling mass slaughter and rape in Congo. With throngs waiting in lines in the last few days to buy the latest iPhone, I’m thinking: What if we could harness that desperation for new technologies to the desperate need to curb the killing in central Africa?
I’ve never reported on a war more barbaric than Congo’s, and it haunts me. In Congo, I’ve seen women who have been mutilated, children who have been forced to eat their parents’ flesh, girls who have been subjected to rapes that destroyed their insides. Warlords finance their predations in part through the sale of mineral ore containing tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold. For example, tantalum from Congo is used to make electrical capacitors that go into phones, computers and gaming devices. More...
Malawi gay couple get maximum sentence of 14 years. The pair were arrested after holding an engagement ceremony last December.
May 20, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(bbc) A judge in Malawi has imposed a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison with hard labour on a gay couple convicted of gross indecency and unnatural acts.
The judge said he wanted to protect the public from "people like you".
Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, have been in jail since they were arrested in December after holding an engagement ceremony.
The case has sparked international condemnation and a debate about homosexuality in the country.
The British government, Malawi's largest donor, expressed its "dismay" at the sentences, but has not withdrawn aid. More...
Rape Culture in Kenya.
April 06, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(wwg/Madeline Wheeler) Following the controversial results of the 2007 presidential election of Mwai Kibaki, violence erupted in Kenya, particularly targeting women — one hospital reported that incidents of rape doubled. This may seem like old news, but the rapes have not stopped. This week, I received an email from CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, reporting on the Nairobi Women’s Hospital’s statement that someone is raped every half hour in Kenya. CARE focuses on aiding poor women, aiming to equip them with proper resources and to empower them to help whole families and entire communities.
Because of rape, HIV is also on the rise in the young school-girl population in Kenya. More...
At Least 84 Children in Nigeria Killed By Toxic Chemical Mixed Into A Teething Medicine for Babies.
February 09, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) A toxic chemical mixed into a teething medicine for babies has killed at least 84 children in Nigeria, health officials there said Friday, more than tripling the toll in a wave of infant deaths that began in late November.
The children died after taking a medicine called My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture, a syrup for teething pain, according to Nigeria’s Health Ministry. Health officials said that a batch of the medicine that went on sale in November contained diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent and an ingredient in antifreeze and brake fluid.
The chemical looks, smells and tastes like glycerin, a sweet syrup commonly used in a wide range of medicines, foods and toothpaste, and counterfeiters enhance their profit by substituting diethylene glycol, which is relatively cheap, for the more expensive but harmless glycerin.
The chemical causes kidney and liver damage, as well as attacking the central nervous system, causing paralysis that hampers breathing. More...
The Congo: Africa’s Other Holocaust. More than 5 million have died in that conflict since 1996, and there's no sign of a letup.
November 23, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(Newsweek) Barack Obama spoke often and passionately about Darfur while campaigning. But the African holocaust that will confront him first is the ongoing slaughter in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. More than 5 million have died in that conflict since 1996, and there's no sign of a letup. As rebels commanded by Laurent Nkunda, a renegade Congolese Army general, closed in on the city of Goma in recent weeks, the United Nations' 17,000 troops— its largest peacekeeping force in the world—proved too weak to stop the push or to prevent a rampage of rape and looting by government forces who were there to defend the city. The U. More...
13-Year-Old Girl Is Stoned to Death in Somalia After Reporting Rape
November 02, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(wapo) A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery, a human rights group said.
Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Monday in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismaayo, Amnesty International and Somali news media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamist militia in charge of Kismaayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.
Initial local news reports said that Duhulow was 23, but her father told Amnesty International that she was 13. Some of the Somali journalists who first reported the killing later told the human rights group that they had reported she was 23 based on her physical appearance. More...
EU envoys seek end to DR Congo war. Thousands of people have been displaced in eastern DR Congo.
November 02, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) The foreign ministers of Britain and France have called for a determined political strategy to end fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday that Kinshasha and the rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) should take advantage of a ceasefire to find a diplomatic solution.
"The ceasefire last Wednesday needs to be bolstered. The crisis, even if averted in the short term, will return without a new, vigorous and united political effort," Miliband and Kouchner said in a joint statement on Sunday while visiting Tanzania.
Thousands of people have been displaced in eastern DR Congo amid fighting between government forces and fighters from the CNDP. More...
Eleven South African ministers, half the cabinet, have said they are stepping down, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki as the country's president.
September 23, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) Eleven South African ministers, half the cabinet, have said they are stepping down, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki as the country's president.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the deputy president, too has agreed to quit, her spokesman said on Tuesday.
Trevor Manuel, the finance minister, a man perceived as being instrumental in South Africa's recent economic stability, is also among the officials reported to have resigned.
All the resignations will take effect after an official ceremony on Thursday, when the country's chief justice will swear in an interim president in the run-up to next year's general elections.
The ANC, which ousted Mbeki over the weekend, has recommended its deputy president, Kgalema Motlanthe, to take over as that post. More...
Profile: Rise and Fall of South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki
September 23, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) stands accused of influencing the trial of his political rival Jacob Zuma and leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC) over corruption, is a veteran of his country's politics.
Mbeki, South Africa's second black president after Nelson Mandela, joined politics in 1956, aged 14, becoming a member of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) while studying at Lovedale Institute in South Africa.
He was involved in underground activities in the Pretoria-Witwatersrand area after the ANC was banned in 1960 and mobilised students and youth in support of the ANC's call for a stay at home in protest against the creation of a Republic (1961).
Elected secretary of the African Students Association in December 1961, he left South Africa for Zimbabwe, then southern Rhodesia, together with other students on instructions of the ANC. There he continued with political activism before he joined the University of Essex in the UK to read economics. More...
Zimbabwe: White farmers beaten, land taken by President Robert Mugabe.
July 16, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(cnn) It was a frigid June night at Pickstone Mine in Zimbabwe when 67-year-old Angela Campbell -- soaking wet, her arm broken and a gun to her head -- signed a document vowing to give up the fight for her family's farm.
The kidnappers demanding her signature at gunpoint were "war veterans" from President Robert Mugabe's heyday as a liberation hero, and they made it clear that her refusal would mean more beatings.
Though Campbell signed the document, her son-in-law said she has no intention of giving up her battle; Campbell's family will be in Windhoek, Namibia, on Wednesday to present arguments to a Southern African Development Community tribunal.
In pursuing the case, the Campbells and 77 fellow Zimbabwean farmers are risking theft, torture and death for what may be their only remaining chance to save the homes and farms so coveted by Mugabe and his loyalists.
Mugabe blames the West for his nation's soaring inflation and poverty. More...
How to Rob an African Nation. Companies, foreign powers and corrupt politicians are scrambling for drilling licenses in hopes of striking it rich.
April 20, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(spiegel) The residents of a tiny African island nation have been dreaming of great wealth since oil was discovered in their territorial waters. Companies, foreign powers and corrupt politicians are scrambling for drilling licenses in hopes of striking it rich.
The lobby of the Hotel Miramar in São Tomé would be the perfect set for a tropical spy thriller. It is the best hotel in town, which doesn't mean much, but its air-conditioned lobby, complete with colorful sofas and green potted plants, has become an important meeting place for everyone who has some sort of business on this curious island: profiteers and their assistants, representatives of foreign governments and international organizations and a host of shady characters. Good and bad people congregate in the lobby of the Hotel Miramar, but telling them apart isn't easy. More...
Unicef to return Chad 'Orphans' After French Kidnapping.
March 09, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) The UN children's agency has said it will hand over 103 African children to their relatives after they were caught up in an abduction case in Chad.
In a statement on Friday, Unicef said it had met with Chad's ministry of social affairs to discuss the youngsters' fate.
It said a team would travel to the eastern Chadian towns of Abeche, Adre and Tine to facilitate the reunification process.
The 103 children - almost all of whom are from Chad - have been staying at a Unicef orphanage in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, in the wake of the scandal involving the Zoe's Ark charity, which claimed that they were Darfur refugees.
The 21 girls and 82 boys aged between one and 10 years will be handed over to relatives in Chad "in the coming days", Veronique Taveau, Unicef spokeswoman, said. More...
Kenya ethnic clashes intensify. Death toll from a month's violence now stands at nearly 800; 260,000 have been displaced since December.
January 28, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) Kenyan troops have moved into the town of Naivasha in the western Rift Valley province in an attempt to quell tribal fighting.
But hundreds of people from rival tribes, wielding machetes, clubs and rocks, confronted each other on Monday on a main Naivasha road.
Katee Mwanza, the district commissioner, said at least 22 people were killed in the Naivasha area in ethnic clashes over the past two days. Police said a least five of those were burned to death in their homes.
Naivasha, a major commercial centre, is known as Kenya's flower capital. More...
Support Education - Buy Black Coffee
January 26, 2008 by Brownskin (View Source)
Many friends criticize me for my addiction to Starbucks' overpriced liquid nirvana and recently we debated the hand that Starbucks may have in prison industries. Therefore, I was pleased to no end to learn about Sweet Unity Coffee and pledged to support them in an effort to build solidarity. Sweet Unity Coffee and Balm in Gilead are working to support African farmers and provide HIV education across the diaspora. David Robinson, son of Jackie Robinson, is the founder of Sweet Unity Coffee in Tanzania which gives a portion of the sales back to the African farmers. I suggest we all try to take a small step toward helping our people secure a foothold in our global society. More...
Rival Kenyan leaders hold talks.
January 24, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) Mwai Kibaki, the Kenyan president, and Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, have met for the first time since a dispute erupted over last month's presidential poll, the UN says.
Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), had accused Kibaki of rigging his way to re-election in the December 27 polls. After Thursday's meeting, Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general who is mediating in the crisis, said Kibaki and Odinga have taken "fair steps" towards dialogue. The closed-door session was held inside Kibaki's office in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. ajz
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New post-poll violence hits Kenya. Many families have been displaced by ethnic violence since the poll.
January 21, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(bbc) Five people have been shot dead in Kenya as opposition leader Raila Odinga made a renewed call for international mediation to end post-poll bloodshed.
The deaths of two men and three women in a Rift Valley village was linked by police to the ongoing political crisis.
On a visit to a prayer service in Kisumu, Mr Odinga said he was willing to meet President Mwai Kibaki but only if Kofi Annan joined them.
The former UN secretary general is expected in Kenya on Tuesday.
He will attempt to find a way to end the crisis that has claimed more than 650 lives and left a quarter of a million people homeless. More...
In Kenya, People Are Suffering Physically and Emotionally. Kenyan Woman: "My pain is really deep, I am feeling bad in my heart."
January 07, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(lat) In Nairobi's slum district of Kibera, people prayed for peace Sunday under the charred cross and blackened walls of the burned Lutheran church. But in the narrow alleys just 100 yards away, the thugs with machetes still rule.
When the service ended, the parishioners in their Sunday best walked home through neighborhoods still teetering on a knife's edge.
Just after the service, around the corner from the church, the intimidation went on: An angry, wild-eyed young man with a machete shouted at a woman standing by her gate.
She cringed, terrified, as he whacked her with the flat of the blade. More...
In Kenya, a key role for foreign observers.International observers criticized for doing too little-too much in wake of Kenya's Dec. 27 vote.
January 06, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(csm) If ever there were a vote where foreign election observers made an immediate and significant difference, it was Kenya's Dec. 27 presidential election.
But in a vote as tightly contested as Kenya's, any allegations by the hundreds of unpaid international volunteers who fanned out across the country to watch for fraud, vote tampering, or intimidation can make a huge difference in the outcome – and have explosive consequences.
Given the ethnic violence that engulfed much of Kenya in the wake of the disputed vote, some experts are suggesting that foreign election observers overstepped their role by proclaiming doubts about the process before the final tally was announced by Kenya's electoral authorities. Others say the observers didn't go far enough in their condemnation of alleged irregularities. More...
UPDATE: Kenya Attorney General Calls for Probe Into Poll Result
January 03, 2008 by editor (View Source)
Kenya's chief legal adviser has urged for an independent investigation into the disputed presidential election result that has thrown the country into days of chaos and death.
Attorney General Amos Wako said serious doubt had been established over the presidential election result as announced by the Electoral Commission.
Mr Wako, breaking days of silence, said: "A proper tally of the valid certificates returned and confirmed should be undertaken immediately and on a priority basis by an agreed and independent person or body. "
The AG said his position took into consideration the allegations by the rival parties that their votes had been rigged and the fact that some electoral commissioners, including the polls chief Samuel Kivuitu, have questioned the veracity of the result.
View source for full statement from Attorney General. More...
Thirty Kenyans including many children have been burned to death in a church, after seeking refuge from the mounting violence over last week's elections.
January 02, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(bbc) Thirty Kenyans including many children have been burned to death in a church, after seeking refuge from the mounting violence over last week's elections.
A mob set fire to the church in Eldoret where many people from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe were sheltering.
The Kenyan government has accused supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" against the Kikuyu.
Both President Kibaki and Mr Odinga have called for the killing to stop.
An estimated 250 people have died in the violence that erupted following the controversial re-election of President Kibaki, according to police and journalists across the country
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KENYA - Mwai Kibaki Victory Triggers Riots. At least 18 people have died.
December 30, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) At least 18 people have died in riots in Kenya that erupted after Mwai Kibaki was declared re-elected as the country's president in a disputed election.
Opposition supporters, angered by the announcement of President Kibaki's re-election, also went on the rampage on Sunday across the capital Nairobi by burning shacks and shops.
Within an hour of the results being announced by the electoral commission, Kibaki, 76, was sworn in for a second five-year term.
Raila Odinga, the defeated opposition leader, accused Kibaki of stealing the vote.
As riots spread, the Kenyan government suspended all live radio and television news reports. More...
Kenyan First Lady Slaps Official. But Why? Video of Incident is Seized.
December 19, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(bbc) A Kenyan broadcaster has lodged an official complaint after video images of the president's wife slapping an official were seized and erased.
Nation TV filmed Lucy Kibaki slapping the official during an independence day celebration at State House in Nairobi.
He had mistakenly introduced Kenya's first lady by the name of the woman widely alleged to be her love rival.
In 2005, Mrs Kibaki was accused of slapping a cameraman in a protest over coverage of her row with a neighbour.
This gaffe comes at a sensitive time as Kenya prepares to elect a new president. More...
South Africa Elects New Leader, Jacob Zuma. But Victory Leaves ANC Party Divided.
December 19, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(bbc) When Jacob Zuma, the victor in the bruising African National Congress (ANC) battle for the party's presidency, hugged the outgoing incumbent in front of the entire conference of some 5,000, the message was clear and unequivocal - the time for division is over.
It is hard to overstate just how deeply divided the party became in this election.
They were voting not just for the presidency, but for the six most senior positions within the ANC.
Every one of Jacob Zuma's preferred candidates won over their rivals from Thabo Mbeki's camp, and with almost identical margins of victory - roughly 60%-40%.
This suggests that while the charismatic Jacob Zuma had plenty of support in the conference, his greatest asset was Thabo Mbeki himself. More...
UK teacher in Sudan jailed for insulting Islam by letting her class name a teddy bear Muhammad is pardoned from sentence.
December 03, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, has pardoned a British teacher jailed for 15 days for insulting religion, according to a presidential adviser.
Mahjoub Fadl Badri said Gillian Gibbons, who was convicted for allowing her students to name a toy bear Mohammed, was set to be freed later on Monday.
The pardon came after al-Bashir met two leading British Muslim politicians, Lord Nazir Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, in Khartoum earlier on Monday.
The arrest and jail sentence of the 54-year-old sparked outrage in Britain and a diplomatic crisis between London and Khartoum.
It further strained relations already frayed over the conflict in Darfur. More...
Is it a fair sentence? British teacher Gets 15 days in jail for insulting Islam in Sudan?
November 29, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(ajz) A British teacher, accused of insulting Islam after her school pupils named a teddy bear Muhammad, has been sentenced to jail for 15 days in Sudan.
Gillian Gibbons, 54, was arrested on Sunday after complaints to the education ministry that she had insulted Prophet Muhammad - the most revered figure in Islam - by applying his name to a toy animal at the Unity High School in capital Khartoum.
Ali Mohammed Hajab, a member of her defence team, said: "The judge found Gillian Gibbons guilty and sentenced her to 15 days jail and deportation. "
The maximum penalty for the charge, which has attracted worldwide attention was 40 lashes, a fine and six months in prison.
Teachers at the school say that calling the teddy bear Muhammad was not Gibbons' idea in the first place and that no parents objected when the school sent parents circulars about a reading project which included the teddy bear as a fictional participant. More...
Anger in Chad after 'kidnapping' by French charity workers to take a group of children to Europe.
October 31, 2007 by editor (View Source)
BBC reports on a tense atmosphere in Chad after an attempt by French charity workers to take a group of children to Europe.
After Chad's President Idriss Deby arrived in the town of Abeche and met a group of more than 100 African children who were destined to be taken to Europe by a French charity, he let rip.
"They treat us like animals," the president said.
"Listen to the children. They are crying for their parents. More...
Oprah Apologizes. Regretful Towards S. African School Abuses.
October 29, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(enews20) Oprah Winfrey responds to alleged abuses in the South African school she founded in January with much hype by apologizing profusely.
At an emergency meeting with the parents of the girls that she personally interviewed for the school admission, Oprah expressed her disappointment of what happened and the fact that she felt responsible for the terrible incidents.
“I've disappointed you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry,” Oprah said with tears in her eyes. More...
"China's appetite for African oil grows." Funding Darfur Crisis Has to Come from Somewhere.
October 09, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(BBN. . . This is not new news, but it's worth a reminder). . More...
Sudan criticised over Darfur rapes. Term "Genocide" challenged. (BBN: if the ethnic killing in Darfur is not genocide, then what is it?)
October 09, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(aje) An international group of activists, including Desmond Tutu, the South African nobel peace prize winner and Jimmy Carter, the former US president, has called on Sudan to do more to combat widespread cases of rape in Darfur.
The group, called The Elders, said Sudan should hand over war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Court.
Graca Machel, a women's rights campaigner and wife of Nelson Mandela, said in Khartoum on Thursday: "Every woman told us, we are raped, we are beaten and we are harassed".
The group also includes Lakhdar Brahimi, a UN envoy, and Richard Branson, the British businessman who owns the Virgin group.
Machel said the Sudanese government had to accept the fact that there was rape and then help form a plan to combat it. More...
