Africa

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Africa Crushes Comoros Coup
 Africa Crushes Comoros Coup 
Mar 26, 2008 3:15 AM CDT

Africa Crushes Comoros Coup

20th time unlucky for Indian Ocean rebels

(Newser) - The latest renegades to seize power in the Comoros Islands have been defeated, reports the Independent. Government and African Union troops regained control in an amphibious assault at sunrise yesterday. The island nation in the Indian Ocean has been rocked by more than 20 coups or coup attempts, many involving...

Mugabe Packs Voter Rolls With Zombies

Opposition charges government draws supporters from fake names

(Newser) - Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe are liable to have a tough time taking votes away from Robert Mugabe's party in next week's elections, the Times of London reports. They say voting lists have been packed with the names of dead and nonexistent people to allow Mugabe supporters to vote repeatedly and...

Slowly Changing Painful Customs

Kenya group develops alternatives to female circumcision

(Newser) - The practice of female circumcision has been twice banned in Kenya, but nearly 40% of young women still undergo the painful and dangerous rite of passage into married life. The Christian Science Monitor profiles activists at the Tasaru Girls Rescue Center who work with villagers—using role models, lessons about...

Tough Work Awaits Kenya Lawmakers
Tough Work Awaits Kenya Lawmakers
Mar 6, 2008 4:53 PM CST

Tough Work Awaits Kenya Lawmakers

Parliament, back in session, must figure out how to make peace deal work

(Newser) - Kenya's parliament reconvened today, the New York Times reports, and was immediately given the task of putting into law the power-sharing deal that ended the startling wave of violence that followed December's disputed election. "You must now become the ambassadors of peace and reconciliation,” President Mwai Kibaki told...

Poisoned Arrows Riddle Kenya
Poisoned Arrows Riddle Kenya
Mar 1, 2008 7:58 PM CST

Poisoned Arrows Riddle Kenya

Peace has come, but edgy populace stocks deadly new weapon

(Newser) - Kenya has struck a peace agreement, but its people are still stockpiling a new weapon of choice: poisoned arrows. A primitive arms industry is supplying ethnic warriors with the projectiles to replace their time-tested machetes, Time reports. “This is obviously something very wrong and very new,” said one...

Gene Discovery Holds Hope for Drought-Safe Crops

Scientists make botanical breakthrough

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a gene that controls how plants absorb carbon dioxide and release moisture in a breakthrough discovery that could help develop drought-resistant crops, reports the BBC. The gene that regulates the work of stomata, or pores on plant leaves, has been sought by biologists for decades. The gene...

Kenya Stalemate Frustrates Negotiators

Stonewalling by Kenya rivals paralyzing talks

(Newser) - Kenya's peace talks have ground to a standstill and the task of coaxing the country's two rival parties into an agreement is beginning to try even the patience of former UN secretary-general and lead negotiator Kofi Annan, reports the BBC. The two sides cannot agree on a power-sharing deal and...

Clintonites Deny Pushing Photo
Clintonites Deny Pushing Photo
Feb 25, 2008 2:30 PM CST

Clintonites Deny Pushing Photo

Obama camp says 'fear-mongering' comes from rival

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton's campaign denies circulating a 2006 photo of Barack Obama wearing traditional African clothing and a turban, even as the Obama campaign blames its rival, calling the incident “shameful, offensive fear-mongering,” the Chicago Tribune reports. The Drudge Report ran the image this morning, saying it had been...

Paging Indiana Jones: Scholar Finds Ark

Biblical treasure reportedly surfaces in Zimbabwe, not Hollywood

(Newser) - A real-life Indiana Jones says he has found the Ark of the Covenant—not on the set of the latest Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, but on a shelf in a museum storeroom in Zimbabwe. The alleged ark is an old drum with an uncharacteristic charred hole on its...

Africans Have Most Diverse DNA
Africans Have Most Diverse DNA
Feb 21, 2008 1:47 PM CST

Africans Have Most Diverse DNA

Testing confirms man evolved on continent before migrating

(Newser) - A pair of wide-ranging genetic studies, published yesterday in the journal Nature, back up the idea that humanity first evolved in Africa before migrating elsewhere, Reuters reports. DNA testing of African Americans and European Americans found that people with African roots had much more genetic diversity. Other tests discovered that...

Zimbabwe's Inflation Rate Hits 100,000%

And that's just the official figure: in reality it's even worse

(Newser) - Zimbabwe's inflation rate is running at 100,000%, according to the government's statistics office—but that's not the worst news. Insane as that number may sound, it's probably an underestimation, writes the Telegraph. In Harare, where shelves are bare and money is being printed at breakneck speed, a single cigarette...

Kenya Airways Halts Flights from Paris

Nation's cash cow, tourism, is reeling in wake of violence

(Newser) - Plummeting tourism in the wake of January's post-election violence and France's sweeping advisory against travel to Kenya have emptied airline seats, triggering the cancellation of all Kenya Airways flights from Paris to Nairobi. The cancellation, which begins Feb. 26, will disrupt travel to other African destinations, including Congo and Rwanda.

Malaria: Africa's Success Story
Malaria: Africa's Success Story
Feb 19, 2008 9:45 AM CST

Malaria: Africa's Success Story

Well-funded prevention effort brings down infection rates

(Newser) - A new anti-malaria effort will provide a mosquito net to every Tanzanian child under age 5, reports the Washington Post. President Bush visited northern Tanzania yesterday to announce the program, spotlighting Africa's hugely successful fight against malaria, with committed African and Western governments collaborating on the well-funded strategy. In Zanzibar,...

Ivory Coast Crazy for Big Butts
Ivory Coast Crazy for Big Butts
Feb 18, 2008 2:20 PM CST

Ivory Coast Crazy for Big Butts

Dance trend sweeps nation, raising interest in illicit booty treatments

(Newser) - Bobaraba! It means “big bottom,” and it's a hit song and butt-shaking dance phenom sweeping the Ivory Coast, the BBC reports. In fact, some women in the west African nation are so caught up in bobaraba-mania that a black market of “bottom enhancers” has emerged, targeting those...

Bush Signs $700M Grant for Tanzania
Bush Signs $700M Grant
for Tanzania
Feb 17, 2008 6:35 AM CST

Bush Signs $700M Grant for Tanzania

Rice, meanwhile, prepares to join negotiations in Kenya

(Newser) - During the second stop on his whirlwind African tour, President Bush heaped praise on Tanzania's president and signed over a $698 million grant for infrastructure development. "We like dealing with honest people and compassionate people," Bush said of his trip, which is avoiding current hot spots like Kenya...

Bush Praises African Success
Bush Praises African Success
Feb 16, 2008 7:31 AM CST

Bush Praises African Success

He begins trip, backs power-sharing deal for Kenya

(Newser) - President Bush is keeping things positive on his five-country African tour, focusing attention on “success stories.” But at the same time, he says, his efforts are addressing conflicts ravaging the continent.  “When you herald success, it helps others realize what is possible,” he said during...

Kenyan Rivals Make Deal for Election Review

No progress seen on power-sharing or new government structure

(Newser) - Kenya’s president and opposition leader today unveiled an agreement to examine the hotly contested Dec. 27 election, but the sides have made no progress on a deal to share power, the AP reports. "There is real momentum," said mediator and ex-UN chief Kofi Annan. The deal also...

Bush Defends Decision Not to Send Troops to Darfur

Reluctant to intervene in another Muslim nation

(Newser) - President Bush has defended his decision not to send US troops to Darfur to stop the genocide taking place in the troubled African region. The choice was partly due to a desire not to intervene in another Muslim country, he told the BBC. Bush is scheduled to leave today for...

African Quakes Kill at Least 40
African Quakes Kill at Least 40
Feb 3, 2008 6:35 PM CST

African Quakes Kill at Least 40

Hundreds injured; residents avoid returning home after houses topple

(Newser) - A pair of earthquakes killed at least 40 people and injured nearly 400 in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo today, AFP and the AP report. The first quake measured 6.0 on the Richter scale and the second, less than 4 hours later, 5.0. Public buses carted...

'Sickening Brutality' Spreads in Kenya

Annan meets with opposition leader

(Newser) - Ethnic violence and revenge killing continued unchecked in western Kenya today, with at least 17 more people beaten, hacked, or burned to death by mobs engaged in what the BBC correspondent calls  "sickening brutality" since last month’s contested presidential election. The death toll is nearing 750, the BBC...

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