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Started by D Lim; Last updated Feb 28, 08 3:54 PM CST by D Lim | View history

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Africa

"When elephants fight, it is the grass who suffers." -African proverb

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 268

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July 2008
- African Sun Could Power EU
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | 6 hours, 59 minutes ago
  
  All of the European continent’s electrical needs could be generated by massive solar farms in Africa, scientists posited today, unveiling a plan to do just that, the Guardian reports. The proposal, which would require an area the size of Wales—insignificant in the vast expanse of the Sahara Desert, they note—is highly speculative; the biggest hurdle would likely be upgrading the European and trans-Mediterranean power grid to carry, and share, the power. More »
- Scrabble Seduces Senegal
  
  newser | BBC | Jul 21, 08 4:06 PM CDT
  
  Despite the country’s 40% literacy rate, Senegal considers Scrabble as important as the national soccer team, and this week hosts the Francophone Scrabble World Championships. Senegalese dominated last year’s event, the BBC reports, and hope to repeat on home turf. “Nowhere else in the world can you find such excitement and dedication to the game,” an admiring French champion says. More »
- Zimbabwe Rivals Agree to Start Negotiations
  
  newser | BBC | Jul 21, 08 12:40 PM CDT
  
  Robert Mugabe has signed a deal with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai establishing negotiations on the future of Zimbabwe, the BBC reports. The rivals met for the first time in 10 years to sign the agreement, which South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki witnessed. The deal does not create the power-sharing structure Mbeki proposed; it creates a framework for further negotiations. More »
- Zimbabwe Launches $100B Bill
  
  newser | BBC | Jul 20, 08 3:29 PM CDT
  
  Zimbabwe will introduce a new $100 billion bank note tomorrow to offset rampant inflation—a seemingly exorbitant sum that may not even buy a loaf of bread. The official annual inflation rate in the country tops 2,200,200%, but independent estimates peg the actual rate at many times higher. Denominations have grown exponentially since the central bank introduced a $10 million bill in January. More »
- Aid Worker Murders Cripple Somali Relief
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 20, 08 11:21 AM CDT
  
  Aid workers are fleeing Somalia, even as global food prices soar and a full-blown famine is feared, in response to what officials say is an organized campaign of violence. Messages posted in the capital and sent to aid organizations threaten: “We know all the so-called aid workers. We promise to kill them, wherever they are.” At least 20 workers have been killed and 17 abducted since January. More »
- African Women Take Brunt of Food Crisis
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 20, 08 5:06 AM CDT
  
  As food and fuel prices continue to climb, impoverished families across Africa are hurting worse than ever—and women are suffering the most. The Washington Post follows one Burkina Faso mother in her daily struggle to feed her family and survive in a culture that puts her last at mealtime. "When there is less food, women are the first to eat less," said one human rights advocate. More »
- Mandela's Birthday Wish: Help the Poor
  
  newser | BBC | Jul 18, 08 12:06 PM CDT
  
  Nelson Mandela turned 90 today, and he used the occasion to talk to reporters about the plight of South Africa’s poor, the BBC reports. “If you are poor, you are not likely to live long,” he said. “There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate.” More »
- Gene Raises AIDS Risk in Africa
  
  newser | Times (UK) | Jul 16, 08 10:14 PM CDT
  
  A gene extremely common among Africans but almost unknown other ethnic groups may be rendering people of sub-Saharan Africa more susceptible to HIV and AIDS, the Times of London reports. The gene variant—common because it provides malaria protection—makes carriers 40% more likely to contract HIV and could be responsible for 11%, or 2.5 million, of the AIDS cases in Africa, the continent hardest hit by the disease. More »
- Putting Helms' Name on AIDS Bill the Ultimate Insult
  
  newser | Pandagon | Jul 16, 08 7:35 PM CDT
  
  A move by Sen. Elizabeth Dole to honor former Republican colleague Jesse Helms by adding his name to a bill that would combat AIDS has Pandagon blogger Pam Spaulding seeing red. "Dole spits in the face" of gay activists, Spaulding writes, by attaching the stridently anti-homosexual Helms to a measure that could save thousands of lives. More »
- Senate Targets Ban on HIV- Positive Visitors
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jul 16, 08 4:31 PM CDT
  
  The Senate moved today to repeal a ban on allowing immigrants and vistors who are HIV-positive to enter the country, the AP reports. The measure was part of a $50 billion bill to combat AIDS worldwide. The US is one of only a dozen countries—including Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Libya—that forbids the entry of visitors with AIDS. More »
- Sudan Swats Away Genocide Charge
  
  newser | BBC | Jul 15, 08 3:27 PM CDT
  
  Sudan aims to obstruct an international tribunal's efforts to hold its leader responsible for genocide, the BBC reports. The International Criminal Court's charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against president Omar al-Bashir are designed to engender tension between tribal groups in Darfur, a senior official said today, denying that the ICC has jurisdiction within Sudan. More »
- Sudan President Accused of War Crimes
  
  newser | BBC | Jul 14, 08 7:21 AM CDT
  
  Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was officially accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity today in International Criminal Court, the BBC reports. The court must now decide whether to issue a warrant for Bashir’s arrest. If it does, Sudan’s government says it will disrupt the peace process in Darfur, and cause mayhem throughout the country. More »
- Russia, China Nix UN Embargo on Zimbabwe
  
  newser | Reuters | Jul 11, 08 6:41 PM CDT
  
  Russia and China today threw out a UN resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe for its violent presidential election, Reuters reports. Nine countries supported the US-backed sanctions, which would levied an arms embargo and restricted the travel and finances of officials, including President Mugabe. But five nations voted against it, calling the resolution unworthy of the UN Security Council. More »
- Sudan's President to Face Genocide Charge
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 11, 08 8:50 AM CDT
  
  The International Criminals Court will charge Sudan leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide Monday in the wake of a five-year campaign of violence that has left hundreds of thousands dead, the Washington Post reports. It will be the first time the court has charged a sitting head of state. But some at the UN worry the move will disrupt peacekeeping and relief efforts in Darfur, perhaps sparking a military backlash against UN and African Union forces. More »
- South Africa Offers Zimbabwe Truce Proposal
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Jul 7, 08 10:33 AM CDT
  
  South African president Thabo Mbeki has proposed a compromise in Zimbabwe’s political crisis: Let Robert Mugabe remain president in name, but hand power to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as temporary prime minister, the Guardian reports. Members of opposition party Movement for Democratic Change were said to be largely satisfied with the plan, on the condition that the African Union would help enforce it. More »
- Teen Rapes Reported at Mugabe Torture Camps
  
  newser | Times (UK) | Jul 6, 08 8:30 AM CDT
  
  Teenage pregnancy rates have spiked after youth militia members began raping Zimbabwean girls in President Robert Mugabe's torture camps, human rights workers tell the Times of London . The stigma against rape victims has kept the victims mostly silent, but a single hospital saw a spike of 16 expectant teenagers, and the trend is thought to be fairly widespread. More »
- Mugabe's Bloody Path to Victory in Zimbabwe
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 5, 08 12:25 PM CDT
  
  When Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, first learned he’d lost his March bid for re-election, he told supporters he’d concede–but they wouldn’t listen. Instead, Mugabe agreed to let the army swing the vote in his favor. Thus began a campaign of violent intimidation that ultimately forced his opponent to drop out. Using meeting notes and witness reports, the Washington Post describes the brutality. More »
- Zimbabwe Film Shows Mugabe Election Rigging
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Jul 5, 08 7:38 AM CDT
  
  Film shot secretly by a Zimbabwean prison guard shows how President Robert Mugabe’s party used intimidation to earn votes in last week's run-off election, the Guardian reports. In the footage, ruling party members watch as prison officials fill out their ballots and inspect the results. At a rally, party members are shown telling people to feign illiteracy so Mugabe supporters could fill out their ballots for them. More »
- Zambia Denies Reports That Prez Is Dead
  
  newser | AFP | Jul 3, 08 9:35 AM CDT
  
  Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa is resting comfortably in a Paris hospital, said a government spokesman today, denying "malicious" widespread reports that the leader had died after suffering his second stroke in 2 years ahead of an African Union summit. Mwanawasa "is responding well to treatment. He has made steady progress," said the spokesman. More »
- Stubborn Mbeki Denies the Blood on Hands
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 3, 08 6:45 AM CDT
  
  Five years ago Roger Cohen interviewed Thabo Mbeki in the New York Times , and even then the South African president insisted that Zimbabwe will "get over" its conflicts. So as supposed mediator in Zimbabwe's deepening economic and humanitarian disaster, why has Mbeki still done nothing? An earlier act of stubbornness might provide a clue: his AIDS denialism, which cost hundreds of thousands of lives in his own country. More »

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Zimbabwe: Mugabe's Misery • Kenya • Kenya Unrest • Genocide in Darfur • China • The War on HIV • Public Health • Crime • The Prize: Oil • Bush 43

Background

Africa
A Dictionary of World History

Africa The second largest continent, extending south from the Mediterranean Sea and bounded by the Atlantic and Indian oceans and the Red Sea.

Physical The Equator passes through the middle of Africa, so that all but the very north and south are tropical, although regional differences in ...

» Read more about Africa at Encyclopedia.com

More Recommend Reading

African Union

Official Site of the African Union
African Union Official Site

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