Africa

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Interim Prez Takes Reins in South Africa

Motlanthe viewed as able to ease tensions within ruling party

(Newser) - Kgalema Motlanthe was sworn in as South Africa’s caretaker president today after winning three-quarters of a parliamentary ballot, the BBC reports. The left-leaning intellectual is seen as someone who can ease rifts between supporters of Jacob Zuma, head of the African National Congress party head, and former President Thabo...

Mukasey Steps Into Genital Mutilation Case

Citing further danger, AG gives woman second shot at asylum

(Newser) - In an extremely rare move, the US attorney general has stepped into a low-level immigration case and ordered that a victim of female genital mutilation be given another chance at asylum, CNN reports. AG Michael Mukasey slammed a previous decision that said the African woman had no reason to fear...

Mbeki Will Resign in S. Africa
 Mbeki Will Resign in S. Africa 
Sep 20, 2008 9:03 AM CDT

Mbeki Will Resign in S. Africa

President agrees to resign in wake of struggle with Jacob Zuma

(Newser) - South African President Thabo Mbeki has agreed to resign following orders from the ruling party. A statement from the presidency says that Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela in 1999, will "step down after all constitutional requirements have been met." Parliament is due to meet in the coming days...

In World First, Women Form Majority in Rwanda Assembly

Boosted by quota system, females take 44 of 80 of parliamentary seats

(Newser) - The second parliamentary election in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide has ushered in the only majority female parliament in the world, the BBC reports. Of 80 seats, 44 went to women—and that 55% could go higher after additional voting. Under the constitution drafted after the genocide, 30% of MPs...

Swazi King's Birthday Bash Infuriates Suffering Public

Ruler spends fortune to celebrate turning 40

(Newser) - Swaziland's king is throwing a lavish 40th birthday party for himself and the kingdom this weekend—and Swazis are seething over the extravagance, the New York Times reports. The day marking the double birthday has been dubbed the "40-40 Celebration." But critics of the monarchy point out there's...

Biofuel Firms' African Land Grab Has Colonial Echoes

Western companies shower nations with promises met with some suspicion

(Newser) - Africa is being seeded for a coming boom in biofuels, as Western companies buy thousands of acres to cultivate vegetable-oil-rich plants like the Jatropha curcas, Der Spiegel reports. In countries like Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia, firms are often securing century-long farming rights for nothing but a promise to invest in...

HIV Adoptions From Abroad on Rise

Ethiopia leads nations on finding US homes

(Newser) - More US families are adopting HIV-infected children from overseas, primarily in Ethiopia, the AP reports. Stats from one international agency show 38 adoptions of infected Ethiopian children this year, up from 13 in 2007 and four in 2006. HIV adoptions have also increased in China, Ghana, Haiti, and Russia, say...

Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Algeria

Attack occurs at police training academy near capital of Algiers

(Newser) - A suicide car bomber struck a police academy in Algeria today, killing at least 43 people and injuring 38, says the country’s Interior Ministry.  The toll was a "preliminary estimate" for the attack in Boumerdes, some 35 miles east of Algiers. The attack occurred as young applicants...

Foreign Adoption Getting Harder
Foreign Adoption
Getting Harder
Aug 14, 2008 3:44 PM CDT

Foreign Adoption Getting Harder

Could be boon for thousands in US foster care

(Newser) - Heightened awareness of child trafficking and improving economies abroad are making it harder for Americans to adopt foreign kids. US officials are taking a closer look at visa applications and discouraging adoptions from countries that don’t comply with a new international adoption agreement, USA Today reports. At the same...

Army Seizes Power in Mauritania
Army Seizes Power in Mauritania
Aug 6, 2008 9:38 AM CDT

Army Seizes Power in Mauritania

African nation's first democratically elected president captive

(Newser) - Soldiers in the West African nation of Mauritania mounted a coup d'etat today, arresting the president and prime minister and shutting down state radio and television, the Guardian reports. Troops entered the capital and apprehended Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the country’s first democratically elected president, after he began taking...

Post-Primaries, Bill Hits Road to Recovery

In Africa for his charity, ex-Prez says he 'couldn't be happier'

(Newser) - After a brutal primary race peppered with “YouTube moments” that tarnished his image, Bill Clinton is back to work, traveling through Africa in support of his charity. “This is my life now, and I was eager to get back to it,” the former president told the Washington ...

Cindy McCain: 'Look to the Women'
Cindy McCain: 'Look to the Women'
Opinion
Jul 28, 2008 11:51 AM CDT

Cindy McCain: 'Look to the Women'

In healing, Rwanda can set an example for the rest of the world

(Newser) - 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...

Sudan Rallies Behind Leader, Despite Darfur

Indicted president seen as only hope of preventing anarchy

(Newser) - 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...

African Sun Could Power EU
  African Sun Could Power EU 
Jul 23, 2008 1:50 PM CDT

African Sun Could Power EU

Scientists propose African solar farms for Europe's power

(Newser) - 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,...

African Women Take Brunt of Food Crisis

As prices soar, mothers feed the men and eat what remains

(Newser) - 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....

Mandela's Birthday Wish: Help the Poor

South African legend celebrates 90th, calls on rich to do more

(Newser) - 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...

Gene Raises AIDS Risk in Africa
 Gene Raises AIDS Risk in Africa 
Jul 16, 2008 10:14 PM CDT

Gene Raises AIDS Risk in Africa

Africans 40% more likely to contract HIV

(Newser) - 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...

Senate Targets Ban on HIV- Positive Visitors

$50B AIDS bill, nearing vote, could dismantle 20-year prohibition

(Newser) - 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...

UN Approves China to Buy Ivory
 UN Approves China to Buy Ivory 
Jul 16, 2008 5:29 AM CDT

UN Approves China to Buy Ivory

Critics say allowing imports plays 'Russian roulette' with elephants' lives

(Newser) - China has been given a green light to begin importing African ivory by a UN body that banned the sale 10 years ago, a decision that has infuriated conservation groups, the Daily Telegraph reports. African states say they need to sell stockpiles of ivory from elephants that are culled or...

Zambia Denies Reports That Prez Is Dead

'Responding well;' Mugabe critic collapsed ahead of AU summit

(Newser) - 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...

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