Often the hardest thing is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn – David Russel
Posted in Africa on May 22nd, 2009
The human rights group Amnesty International says it fears hundreds of people, including many civilians, have been killed by rebels and government forces in the oil-rich Niger Delta over the past week. In a new report, the group claims whole villages have been caught in the clashes. It said air strikes had hit villages close […]
Posted in Africa on May 21st, 2009
An official of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime admitted yesterday it could not trace 450 million US dollars of the three billion dollars allegedly stolen by former Nigerian leader General Sani Abacha. Tim Daniel, a legal expert from the UK, added that 1.9 billion dollars had been recovered from the Abacha family but […]
Posted in Africa on May 20th, 2009
A report by the US-based group Human Rights Watch has accused Congo’s army of war crimes against civilians in eastern Congo. Congolese soldiers are backed by UN peacekeepers in operations against Hutu rebels belonging to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda including leaders of the 1994 Rwanda genocide. According to Human Rights Watch, […]
Posted in Africa on May 18th, 2009
A Darfur rebel leader will appear before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, is accused of commanding rebels in an attack that killed 12 members of the African Union Mission in Haskanita, North Darfur, in September last year. Abu Garda is set to […]
Posted in Africa on May 15th, 2009
Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says resistance to reform by members of President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party is slowing down economic development. International donors have refused to release funds until Zimbabwe carries out economic and political reforms and opens up the media. Launching a new economic plan on Wednesday, Tsvangirai blamed the delay on repeated violations […]
Posted in Africa on May 14th, 2009
An expert has urged organisations to increase their funding for research into the disease-transmitting tsetse fly. Joseph Ndung’u, from the NGO, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), told IRIN news that scientists are moving away from researching diseases caused by the tsetse fly, and are focusing on diseases considered more appealing. He said the World […]
Posted in Africa on May 13th, 2009
Thousands of protesters in Nigeria have taken to the streets of Lagos to demonstrate against rising fuel prices. Trade union the Nigeria Labour Congress is demanding the government drops plans to deregulate the oil sector. It also wants it to increase the minimum wage and speed up the process of electoral reform. The government has urged […]
Posted in Africa on Mar 13th, 2009
The governor of Sudan’s North Darfur region is reported to be negotiating with kidnappers who abducted three aid workers from medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The workers were abducted at gunpoint in Saraf Umra, North Darfur on Wednesday. Their abduction follows the expulsion of 13 charities from the region last week. President Omar al-Bashir […]
Posted in Africa on Mar 13th, 2009
Angola is renewing efforts to return refugees still displaced in neighbouring African countries seven years after its civil war ended. More than 200,000 Angolan refugees are scattered around camps in Zambia, Namibia and Congo DRC and Brazzaville. A representative for the UN refugee agency Bohdan Nahajlo, told AFP news agency they will hold meetings with […]
Posted in Africa on Mar 11th, 2009
The number of women in Namibia dying in childbirth has been steadily rising. A representative for the United Nations Development Programme, Simon Nhongo, said while other countries had been making gradual progress, the situation in Namibia was worsening. Nhongo said maternal mortality rates had risen from 225 per 100 000 live births in 1992 to […]
