Africa

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UN Fights to Release Child Soldiers in Chad

Boys as young as 13 held captive by African nation's army

(Newser) - The UN has obtained access to 80 child soldiers, some as young as 13, who have been taken prisoner in Chad near the Sudanese region of Darfur. UNICEF says that the children were captured and paraded before television cameras after a battle in early May between the Chadian army and...

Meet Prince Zimboo, Borat's Hip-Hop Brother

African musician is a mystery, gaining in popularity

(Newser) - An up-and-coming player in the genre of “hipster world music,” Prince Zimboo Abakunamabooba is an African hip-hopper with 999 wives—or is he? Zimboo, who has been performing “deliriously funny music” since at least 2007, “is something like the African Borat,” writes Jonah Weiner for...

Recession Pushes African Immigrants to Head Home

Many opt for slower, cheaper lifestyle

(Newser) - The US recession is driving many middle-class African immigrants home, where life is slower and growth has lately pointed to a bright economic future, the Washington Post reports. Diaspora societies of immigrants say many members are planning to return to Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.“The people I know here...

African Lawmaker Calls for 'Branding' HIV Sufferers

Swaziland MP slammed for suggesting compulsory testing, warning logos

(Newser) - A member of Swaziland's parliament has come under fire for suggesting making HIV tests compulsory and branding warning logos on the buttocks of those with the disease, the Telegraph reports. "Before having sex with anyone, people will have to check their partners' buttocks before proceeding," he explained. Health...

Obama to Visit Ghana in July

(Newser) - Barack Obama will visit Ghana in July to hold bilateral talks with President John Atta Mills, Ghana Business News reports. The talks will focus on “strengthening the fraternal relationships” between the US and Ghana, according to a Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will be Obama’s first...

Sudan Prez: No Crimes in Darfur

Says media claims are part of propaganda campaign

(Newser) - Sudan’s president says his military hasn’t attacked civilians in Darfur and challenges “anybody” to show evidence to the contrary. “What has been reported to have happened in Darfur did not actually happen at all,” Omar al Bashir told the BBC in his first interview since...

Forget Swine Flu— 5 Pandemics to Fear

(Newser) - While the world panics over swine flu, many far more serious outbreaks lie in wait, reports Foreign Policy. Here are some you won’t see on TV—yet:  
  • Cholera: The deadly diarrheal infection is rampant in Africa, with infections shooting up 96% in 2006. The current outbreak in Zimbabwe
...

Sudan Invites Aid Groups Back to Darfur

After getting the boot in March, NGOs to return to troubled region

(Newser) - The Sudanese government says it will invite new aid groups to work in Darfur and let the UN and other agencies expand their operations in the region. The announcement comes two months after Sudan expelled 13 NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders, in the aftermath of the International Criminal Court's indictment...

Africans Have World's Greatest Genetic Diversity

Landmark study tracks modern humanity's origins to area in South Africa

(Newser) - The people of Africa have by far the world's most diverse genes, says a new study that sheds light on humanity's origins. Researchers—who traveled deep into remote areas of Africa to study more than a hundred populations—have pinpointed the origin of modern humans to an area near the...

Mercy's Dad Rips 'Scandalous' Madge

Dad who walked out on toddler's mom blasts Madonna for lacking 'good morals'

(Newser) - Madonna's battle to adopt a second Malawi child suffered a major blow yesterday when the toddler's father blasted the singer's loose morals and launched a battle for custody, reports the Daily Mail. James Kambewa is seeking to block the adoption because he wants to spare 3-year-old Mercy a life of...

Kenyan Women Use Sex Strike to Sway Politics

They want political rivals to stop infighting

(Newser) - Kenyan women are withholding sex in hopes of forcing an end to the squabbling that threatens to break the government's fragile coalition and plunge the nation into chaos, the AP reports. Thousands of members of 11 women's groups are participating in the week-long strike, and they have asked the wives...

Freed Gay Activists Flee Senegal Lynch Mob

(Newser) - Gay AIDS activists in Senegal are fleeing a mob that vows to turn them into "fish food," GlobalPost reports. Arrested late last year, the nine activists were sentenced to 8-year terms for “indecent acts against nature," but an appeals court freed them early this...

Zimbabwe Central Bank Stole Cash to Stay Solvent

Governor admits pilfering private accounts to keep ministries running

(Newser) - Zimbabwe's central bank governor admits he took money from bank accounts of private businesses and foreign aid groups without permission to keep the country's cash-strapped ministries running. Gideon Gono said today he loaned money from the private hard-currency accounts to the government. He says the accounts will be reimbursed when...

Python Attack Survivor: 'I Had to Bite It'

Python dragged Kenyan man up a tree

(Newser) - A Kenyan farm worker beat the odds last weekend, surviving an attack by a 13-foot python that dragged him up a tree, the BBC reports. "I stepped on a spongy thing on the ground and suddenly my leg was entangled with the body of a huge python," Ben...

Piracy Jacks Up Insurance, Fuel Costs

Entering high-risk areas or navigating around South Africa both add millions

(Newser) - Piracy in the Gulf of Aden is driving up shipping costs as companies are forced to choose between paying higher insurance or taking longer routes, the AP reports. Premiums have reportedly risen at least tenfold for travel near the Somali coast, and avoiding the Gulf of Aden by navigating around...

Liberian Prez's Plea: Don't Let Global Crisis Kill African Gains

This mess is not of Africa's making

(Newser) - Africa is in the midst of a great turnaround, with economies growing and democracy and human rights improving, Liberia’s president writes in the Washington Post. But progress is threatened by a global economic crisis it had no hand in creating. Some $50 billion in income could be lost as...

Heart of a Lion: YouTube Fave Lives On in Memoir

One-time owners of Christian the lion recall the wild years

(Newser) - A lion who went wild after being raised by his hippy "parents" in their London shop, and later became a YouTube fave, has been immortalized again in a new memoir, Time reports. The emotional reunion in Africa between Christian the lion and his former owners has been viewed over...

Pope May Be Right About Condoms in Africa

Study shows that monogamy is the best weapon against AIDS in Africa

(Newser) - Pope Benedict's controversial statements that condoms aren't helping in Africa may be unpopular, but evidence shows that he might be right, a public heath researcher argues in the Washington Post. It's a divisive topic in part because the condom has become such a potent symbol of sexual freedom and female...

Facebook Users to Deluge Pope With Condoms

Thousands protest pontiff's claim that contraceptives don't halt HIV

(Newser) - The pope’s recent remark that condoms not only don’t prevent the spread of HIV but make it worse hasn’t earned him many friends on Facebook, CNN reports. Almost a dozen groups have sprung up in protest of the pontiff’s scientifically inaccurate statement, with thousands of Facebookers—...

Top Medical Journal Blasts Pope's Condom Remark

(Newser) - The UK's most prestigious medical journal has joined the condemnation of Pope Benedict’s comments on contraception, the Financial Times reports. “By saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/AIDS, the Pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue," says an editorial...

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