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By David Hirst
By Vasily Grossman; Robert Chandler (Introduction by)
$24
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By Eugene Robinson — I can’t summon any schadenfreude for Winfrey, just sympathy—both for her good intentions and her determination to live up to them. And I pity anyone foolish enough to stand in her way.
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The Onion targets religious hypocrisy with this satirical interview with the head of a mock Christian charity that provides relief to heterosexual Africans: “As long as you’re not gay, we welcome you with open arms.”
Posted on Nov 1, 2007
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cbs.com
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The Doctors Without Borders relief organization has whipped up an ingenious (and, apparently, tasty) lifesaving food product called Plumpynut, a nutritionally enriched mixture of peanut butter, powdered milk and sugar, along with other simple ingredients—and it’s already working wonders on malnourished children around the world.
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AP photo / Markus Schreiber
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Nobel-winning scientist James Watson, half of the DNA-pioneering team Watson and Crick, is undergoing a firestorm of criticism for recent comments he made in London’s Sunday Times about how he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours—whereas all the testing says not really.”
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has braved pro-government protests to visit a refugee camp in Darfur, where he said he was “shocked and humbled” by the “hardship all these tens of thousands of people were undergoing.” Residents at the camp gave the world’s top diplomat a warm greeting, chanting “Welcome, welcome Ban Ki-moon.”
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You don’t have to be a pop star to raise awareness, but it sure helps. Good Magazine looks back at the life and activism of U2’s Bono, who’s done quite a bit with his hobby.
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The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved the world’s largest peacekeeping force, with as many as 26,000 troops and police officers, to take over operations in Darfur. The joint effort between the U.N. and the African Union will have the necessary mandate to defend civilians and aid workers, but it remains unclear how quickly the force can be deployed.
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Even though the sense of urgency about HIV/AIDS appears to have dropped off in mainstream media and culture in recent years, the latest news about infection rates is far from favorable. President Bush’s adviser on HIV/AIDS, Dr. Anthony Fauci, for one, reports that we’re “losing ... the numbers game” with respect to new infections around the globe.
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With the Red Star rising over Africa, locals and leaders across that vast continent are starting to wonder if Beijing’s forays represent a positive collaboration among developing nations—or just the latest incarnation of exploitative colonialism.
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Female genital mutilation, known euphemistically as “female circumcision,” has been banned completely in Egypt following the death of a girl. Although a soft ban has been in place for 10 years, some studies estimate that 90 percent of Egyptian women have had the procedure. Government and religious leaders have joined in condemning the practice.
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AP Photo/Abde Raouf
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By Sarah Stillman — Truthdig foreign correspondent Sarah Stillman went on assignment in Africa to investigate the Darfur crisis and the beleaguered African Union troops who struggle—without the necessary funds or mandate—to keep a lid on genocide. Her exploration of efforts to resolve the conflict reveals a global community tragically dependent on celebrities and mercenaries.
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Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, a Democrat, flatly denied bribery charges accusing him of attempting, through various means, to illegally drum up over $500,000 from African business deals. Jefferson declared Friday that he will fight to save his reputation, already besmirched by the mysterious $90,000 in cash found stuffed in a freezer during a 2005 raid on his Washington, D.C. home.
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AP Photo / George Osodi
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By Gbemisola Olujobi — In some ways, the ascension of Nigeria’s new President Umaru Yar’Adua to his country’s top post can be seen in a hopeful light, however his ties to his predecessor may make him more of a representative for the old guard than a fresh new face in Nigerian politics.
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AP Photo / Jerome Delay
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Stephanie Nolen, the last Western journalist covering the AIDS beat in Africa, tells Truthdig it is unfortunate but true that the more people die, the less people care, which is why she has decided to get personal with a new book that approaches the crisis from a different perspective.
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AP Photo / Jerome Delay
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Stephanie Nolen, the last Western journalist covering the AIDS beat in Africa, tells Truthdig it is unfortunate but true that the more people die, the less people care, which is why she has decided to get personal with a new book that approaches the crisis from a different perspective.
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By Amy Goodman — All 114 on board were killed in the crash of Kenyan Airlines Flight 507, including Anthony Mitchell, a brave journalist who risked his life to shine a light on often ignored Africa. Shortly before his death, Mitchell had revealed America’s use of secret Ethiopian prisons.
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AP Photo/Pewee Flomuku
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World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz’s job may hang in the balance after a panel made up of almost a third of the bank’s board members found him guilty of inappropriately pulling professional strings and lining up a hefty pay raise for his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, two years ago.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — There’s something obnoxious about a hugely popular TV show suddenly developing a social conscience, but it could be worse—they could just go on not giving a damn.
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Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has told the Sudanese government it must either cooperate with a U.N. peacekeeping plan or face sanctions. However, the U.S. has agreed to give U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon time to work with Khartoum before pressing the issue.
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Despite U.S. efforts to quash al-Qaida, the terrorist organization is rebuilding its base in rural Pakistan—and doing some serious networking to connect with other militant groups in Africa and the Middle East, steering them to focus on Western targets on a local and international scale.
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AP Photo/George Osodi
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By Gbemisola Olujobi — On April 21, Nigerians held elections to replace outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo, who staged a battle (outwardly, at least) against corruption in Africa’s most populated country during his tenure in office. Nigerian journalist Gbemisola Olujobi explains how outsiders’ ideas about the issue of corruption in Africa can be limited by their differing cultural perspectives.
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The Sudanese government has indicated to the United Nations Security Council that it will allow a second phase of U.N. peacekeepers to deploy, retreating from the long-held position that such a force would compromise its sovereignty. However, Khartoum has a history of reneging on promises to the U.N.
Posted on Apr 16, 2007
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news.bbc.co.uk
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The Sudanese camps where some 2 million refugees live are nearing capacity. According to a new U.N. report on the Darfur crisis, 80,000 people already have fled their homes this year, and some camps have been forced to turn them away.
Posted on Mar 20, 2007
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By Jabari Asim — Recent anthropological research suggests that our African and Eurasian ancestors were more genetically similar than we had thought.
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socom.mil
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The United States launched its second air assault in Somalia in as many days, according to a representative from the Somali government, who told Reuters: “As we speak now, the area is being bombarded by the American air force.”
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hq.nato.int
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The United Nations has begun a renewed effort to address the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has promised to give the crisis his full attention, though many world leaders have made similar commitments to no avail.
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nytimes.com
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The Islamists have fled, the transitional government and its Ethiopian allies have reclaimed Mogadishu as Somalia’s capital and the prime minister has banned guns and called for peacekeepers. Will the stability last, or will guerrilla warfare and clan violence tear the country apart for another 15 years?
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theepochtimes.com
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Despite a vow to fight to the death, Islamist leaders and their troops have mysteriously vanished from the streets of Mogadishu, according to residents there. The Ethiopian army, in support of the powerless transitional government, had driven the Somali fighters back to their stronghold and the nation’s traditional capital after a wave of devastating attacks.
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According to officials from the National Institutes of Health, circumcision reduces the risk in men of contracting HIV through heterosexual sex by roughly 50%. The announcement was based on several recent studies conducted in Africa.
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AP Photo / Ambrose Peters, Sunday Times
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Two game rangers in South Africa have become the continent’s first legally married same-sex couple. South Africa’s constitution was the first in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
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AP Photo / Denis Farrell
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By Gbemisola Olujobi — The Western media love to portray Africa as a backward, famine-plagued caricature, but the world’s second most populous continent has more to offer than tragedy.
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South Africa’s National Assembly approved new legislation recognizing gay marriages. So now America is lagging behind the former apartheid state in civil rights.
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From The N.Y. Times
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America has pledged to give condoms to Africa, but Asian factories produce them cheaper than we do. So why have GOP congressmen been so successful in securing federal condom-producing contracts for American factories, instead of the more efficient Asian ones?
Hint: It’s not because conservatives are lightening up about their historical antipathy toward non-procreational sex….
Posted on Oct 30, 2006
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From the BBC
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An African telcom billionaire is offering a $5-million prize to the African leader who best delivers security, health, education and economic development to his or her constituents. Harvard University will act as judge.
You couldn’t make this up.
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The South African government has traditionally taken a head-in-the-sand approach to AIDS, even though the nation is suffering one of the worst epidemics in the world. However, recent shifts in policy indicate a newfound interest in aggressively addressing the crisis.
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AP / George Osodi
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By Gbemisola Olujobi — As more women show up in Africa’s corrupt corridors of power, the beleaguered continent may end up benefiting from their particular brand of tough love.
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By Jabari Asim — What does it say about our culture that African-American men living in the nation’s inner cities have a life expectancy roughly equal to that of people of similar age living in West Africa?
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With an estimated 5.7 million infections, India has surpassed previous global leader South Africa’s 5.5 million. Per capita, however, the rates are still worst in sub-Saharan Africa. (In Swaziland, a third of adults are infected. In India, only 0.9%.)
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From chinadigitaltimes.net
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A charity group warns that over 100 million people in sub-Saharan Africa could die by the end of the century if global warming continues its march unabated.
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Thomas Mukoya / AP
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The poorest parts of the country can’t even buy food surpluses from Kenya’s own farmers. | story
Posted on Jan 18, 2006
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Greenland’s Great Melt Is Pinned On Climate Change
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