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Reuters
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Jul 29, 08 10:22 AM CDT
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The former dorm matron at Oprah Winfrey’s $40 million Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa pleaded not guilty to abuse charges today, Reuters reports. Virginia Mokgoba, 27, was charged in November with assault, harassment, soliciting a minor to perform indecent acts, and verbal abuse. Testimony from six teenage victims is expected Friday via closed video.
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Wall Street Journal
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Jul 28, 08 11:51 AM CDT
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Cindy McCain’s recent voyage to Rwanda stirred up memories of her last visit, in 1994. The campaign of genocide then ravaging the country has ended, and Rwanda's recovery is a model for the rest of the world, the would-be first lady writes in the Wall Street Journal . Women own 41% of the country’s businesses and hold nearly half the seats in parliament.
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New York Times
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Jul 28, 08 8:35 AM CDT
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Omar al-Bashir is reviled across the world for presiding over the mass murder of his own people in Darfur, and now the Sudanese president has been accused of genocide by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. But within Sudan his rule has become more secure than ever, as opponent after opponent has rallied behind him. The New York Times reports on a political transformation in Khartoum.
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New York Times
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Jul 25, 08 2:00 PM CDT
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President Bush is expanding US sanctions against Zimbabwe, the New York Times reports, two weeks after Russia and China vetoed his call for UN action. “No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences,” Bush said today.
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Guardian (UK)
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Jul 24, 08 2:58 PM CDT
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International sanctions and hyperinflation have left Zimbabwe nearly unable to print money, the Guardian reports. Stocks are nearly depleted since shipments ceased early this month from the German firm that supplied paper for banknotes; worse, the license will soon expire on the software used to design and print the bills. And with inflation around 40 million percent, demand for new, larger-denomination bills is insatiable.
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New York Times
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Jul 24, 08 8:19 AM CDT
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Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president allegedly behind one of the world's worst campaigns of genocide and rape, traveled to Darfur yesterday to begin an uncharacteristic charm offensive. "We are with you, Darfur!", the president said, as he danced at a rally packed with thousands who appeared to have been forced to attend. The spectacle is part of Bashir's effort to head off an arrest warrant sought by prosecutors in The Hague, reports the New York Times .
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Guardian (UK)
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Jul 23, 08 1:50 PM CDT
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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.
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BBC
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Jul 21, 08 4:06 PM CDT
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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.
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BBC
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Jul 21, 08 12:40 PM CDT
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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.
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BBC
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Jul 20, 08 3:29 PM CDT
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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.
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New York Times
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Jul 20, 08 11:21 AM CDT
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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.
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Washington Post
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Jul 20, 08 5:06 AM CDT
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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.
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BBC
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Jul 18, 08 12:06 PM CDT
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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.”
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Times (UK)
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Jul 16, 08 10:14 PM CDT
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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.
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Pandagon
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Jul 16, 08 7:35 PM CDT