WASHINGTON- Activists asked cell phone users
to stop texting for one hour on Wednesday -- not to save energy or focus on
the road, but to call attention to one of the deadliest and most
underreported conflicts in the world.
What's the Story?
"The last time I had a good harvest was 2003 - there has been nothing at all
for the last three years," said Mutindi Maithya, 36, a widow who lives with
her six children on a four- acre plot of sun-baked land.
Sitting beneath a thorny acacia tree, she picks up ochre lumps of dried mud
from the ground and crushes them to dust between her fingers. "It is hard to
cope," she said.
When does planting a tree become a revolutionary
act - and unleash an army of gunmen who want to shoot you dead? The
answer to this question lies in the unlikely story of Wangari Maathai.
The British
oil trader Trafigura has offered to pay out in a historic damages claim from 31,000 Africans injured by the dumping of toxic waste in one of the worst
pollution disasters in recent history, the Guardian can reveal.
The compensation deal for the victims of toxic oil waste dumping in west Africa – likely to be confirmed imminently – means the full extent of attempts to cover up what really happened can be detailed for the first time.
WASHINGTON - On Aug. 6, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Somali President
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed in Kenya and pledged to provide more military aid and
training to the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
At a joint press conference after the meeting, Clinton said that the U.S. will
"continue to provide equipment and training to the TFG."
Yesterday Secretary Clinton was in Kenya with a delegation that included Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, as well as Representatives Donald M. Payne (D-NJ) and Nita M. Lowey (D-NY). While the group was there on a broad platform to discuss economic development in Africa, including food security issues, the delegation took the opportunity yesterday afternoon to visit the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) lab, which is best known for unsuccessfully trying to produce a genetically modified, virus-resistant sweet potato under a US-led program.
Today, the Group of 8 meeting in L'Aquila, Italy pledged 20 billion dollars in agricultural aid,
responding to a request made yesterday by President Obama. For the
first time, instead of being given directly as food aid, these funds
are set to be allotted for building an agricultural economy in nations
in need, specifically in Africa.
It's
time for some straight talk on U.S. foreign policy as it relates to
Africa. While Obama administration officials and African Military
Command (AFRICOM) representatives insist that U.S. foreign policy
towards Africa isn't being militarized, the evidence seems to suggest
otherwise. While Africans condemned U.S. military policy in Africa
under the Bush administration, the Obama administration has not only
mirrored Bush's approach, but has in fact enhanced it. President George
W.
"We
cannot assure our development on our own," stated France's pet dictator
and Africa's longest-serving ruler, Omar Bongo. The Gabonese leader was
talking about national economic development, but he might just as well
have been talking about his own personal economic development.
Transparency International's French chapter singled out
Bongo, who died this month at 73 after ruling his country for 41 years,
for a spectacular misappropriation of state funds.
The head of the World Food Program announced
on Friday that an additional 105 million more people have become hungry
in 2009, adding to the one billion plus who were already food insecure.
The day before, Secretary Clinton gave a speech
about hunger in the world, speaking in broad strokes: "[H]unger belies
our planet's bounty. It challenges our common humanity and resolve.
