Often the hardest thing is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn – David Russel
Posted in Africa on Nov 17th, 2009
Gold continues to be smuggled out of the Democratic Republic of Congo despite sanctions, the United Nations claims. The coordinator of UN arms embargo experts, Dino Mahtani, told the BBC around 40 tonnes of gold continues to be taken out of the country each year. He said most of the profits from the illegal gold [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2009
The new international head of environmental activists Greenpeace said today he would make protecting human life more of a priority for the group from now on. South African Kumi Naidoo, who fought against apartheid as a teenager, took over the position today. Mr Naidoo told the BBC he vowed to connect Greenpeace’s current focus on [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 13th, 2009
South Africa’s deputy police minister Fikile Mabula yesterday defended his force’s shoot-to-kill policy, just days after a police officer shot dead a three-year-old boy. Mr Mabula argued it is inevitable that innocent people will be caught in the crossfire against what he called “incorrigible criminals” and urged police to “shoot the bastards”. Three-year-old Atlegang Phalane [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 12th, 2009
Africa does not have enough information about the impact of climate change on its water supplies, according to experts. Scientists from around the continent are gathered this week in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the second Africa Water Week organised by the African Ministerial Council. They argue that it is essential for the continent to collect [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 11th, 2009
Pervasive high food prices are putting millions of people in dozens of poor countries at risk of critical food insecurity, according to the United Nations. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization made the claim in its latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, released yesterday ahead of next week’s World Summit on Food Security in [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 11th, 2009
The Ugandan government will put to death all gay citizens caught gaving sex and throw into jail those who touch others in a “gay” way if a new proposed bill becomes law.
A new Bill, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, seeks to legislate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people in Uganda. And it wants to pave the [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 10th, 2009
The Democratic Republic of Congo army is using vaccination clinics to attract and attack thousands of ethnic Hutu civilians, according to aid agency Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The head of MSF programmes in Central Africa, Luis Encinas, said soldiers raided seven clinics in North Kivu as a massive vaccination campaign to combat measles epidemics had [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 6th, 2009
The International Criminal Court (ICC)’s chief prosecutor announced yesterday that he would conduct a formal investigation into the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said that crimes against humanity had been committed in the post-election period that needed to be investigated. Kenyan Human Rights activists welcomed Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s move. Few, if any, culprits have [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 6th, 2009
South Africa has been forced to delay its deadline for farmland redistribution because of the global economic crisis. Land reform official, Thozi Gwanya, said a target to redistribute a third of the country’s farmland from white farmers to the black majority has been pushed back from 2014 to 2025. Mr Gwanya blamed the delay on [...]
Posted in Africa on Nov 4th, 2009
Sierra Leone has launched a satellite link-up to connect doctors around the country to their colleagues in India. The system enables doctors in Sierra Leone to consult doctors in India and benefit from data analysis in better-equipped Indian hospitals. For now the telemedicine link-up has been launched in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. But national hospital [...]
