Africa News Update
Africa News Update offers news, background and feature articles from African sources twice weekly. The newsletter is free of charge and is edited by the Norwegian Council for Africa. Some of the articles may be shortened.
Gambia: The mad rush of Gambia's executioner-in-chief (analysis)
Johannesburg (South africa) — In the little West African state of Gambia, prisoners on death row have run out of time. Gambia's president wants them all killed, and quickly, to show other would-be criminals that he is serious about crime despite carrying out no official executions for 25 years. The opposition and the international community suspect the president's motives might not be so noble. Yahya Jammeh, however, won't heed anyone else's counsel. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
The Daily Maverick (South Africa), by Simon Allison
Guinea: Deadlock over parliamentary elections
Conakry (Guinea) - Political battles have intensified in Guinea after the government thwarted an opposition rally to demand free parliamentary elections, raising fears that a return to stability and development after years of dictatorship and misrule could be in jeopardy. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Mali: Understanding Northern Mali - local context is everything (opinion)
Dakar (Senegal) — When dealing with northern Mali, it is crucial policymakers examine and understand all the complex local factors. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Think Africa Press, by Peter Tinti
South Africa: Faced with moral indefensibility, Desmond Tutu un-friends Tony Blair (analysis)
Johannesburg (South Africa) - On Tuesday, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu pulled out of the Discovery Leadership Summit, citing his refusal to share a platform with former British prime minister, Tony Blair. Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate, said Blair's support of the Iraq war was "morally indefensible". Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
The Daily Maverick (South Africa), by Khadija Patel
Congo (DRC): Intervention in Eastern Congo a rising priority for activists
Washington DC (USA) - As the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to deteriorate in the wake of an armed rebellion that began in April, some activists have strengthened calls for foreign military intervention. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Inter Press Service (IPS)
Africa: UCT scientists and the holy grail of a malaria cure (analysis)
Johannesburg (South Africa) - While it's too soon to foresee an end to malaria as a killer disease, UCT's announcement on Tuesday of the discovery of a compound with the potential power to cure all strains of malaria has set the scientific world abuzz. Though clinical trials on humans have yet to take place, the development is being hailed as 'a proud day for African science'. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
The Daily Maverick (South Africa), by Rebecca Davis
Malawi: Need for food aid outpaces response
Blantyre (Malawi) - Prolonged dry spells followed by poor harvests in Malawi’s maize-growing central and southern regions have created widespread food shortages, yet it has taken months to fully determine the extent of the crisis, and it may take several more to fund and implement a comprehensive response. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Rwanda: Kagame victim of own success (opinion)
Kampala(Uganda) - Over the last one month, a rebellion has been ragging in eastern DRC against the government of President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa. As I write this article, over 40 armed groups, some of them former members of the Congolese army, have taken up arms against his government. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
The Independent (Uganda), by Andrew M. Mwenda
Kenya: Politics, pastureland and conflict
Isiolo (Kenya) - Thousands of people have fled their homes amid renewed clashes between rival communities in Kenya’s North Eastern Province, in which some 17 people were killed, according to officials. Read >
Thursday, 30 August 2012
UN Integrated Reginal Information Networks (IRIN)