Africa

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African Union Suspends Madagascar

Pressure mounts against coup government

(Newser) - International pressure is mounting against the new government of Madagascar, installed this week via coup, the BBC reports. The African Union has suspended the island nation’s membership, calling the takeover “unconstitutional,” and South Africa said it might impose sanctions. France likewise condemned the takeover, and the US...

Latest Bin Laden Tape Targets Somali President

Oust leader for compromising with US, it says

(Newser) - An audio message allegedly from Osama bin Laden posted on the Internet today and entitled “Fight On, Champions of Somalia,” calls for Somalia's new president to be “dethroned, fought, and removed with armed force,” reports CNN. The elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed—who backtracked from a...

Pope Draws 60K in Cameroon
 Pope Draws 60K in Cameroon 
Mar 19, 2009 12:12 PM CDT

Pope Draws 60K in Cameroon

(Newser) - Roughly 60,000 people packed a soccer stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, today to hear Pope Benedict XVI’s first giant African mass, the BBC reports. The pontiff used his sermon to warn the throngs of the dangers of urbanization and materialism. Earlier, Benedict met with Cameroon’s Muslim leaders, and...

Let's Impeach the Pope
 Let's Impeach the Pope 
opinion
Mar 18, 2009 5:09 PM CDT

Let's Impeach the Pope

(Newser) - In his short reign, Pope Benedict has managed to insult Muslims, women, and Holocaust survivors, writes Robert S. McElvaine, a professor at Millsaps College in Mississippi. But his latest controversy, telling Africans that condoms increase the spread of AIDS, is the last straw. "I am a Catholic and the...

French Blast Pope's Anti-Condom Remarks

Condoms make Africa AIDS crisis worse, he had said

(Newser) - Irked by Pope Benedict’s anti-condom remarks in Africa, the French foreign ministry today called them “a threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life” and voiced “extremely sharp concern over the consequences,” the BBC reports. The pontiff said on the first day...

Church Must Protect Africa's Poor: Pope

Pontiff praises growing church but worries about 'superstition'

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI set down strategy for his church in Africa today, telling bishops to protect the traditional values of the African family and to spare the poor from the impact of globalization. The pontiff, beginning his first African pilgrimage in Cameroon, also said that the exuberant local African rites...

Guinness' Booming Market: Nigeria

(Newser) - Guinness may be synonymous with Ireland, but Nigerians down more of the stuff than the Emerald Isle, GlobalPost reports. Nigerians also out-Guinness the US—their country is second only to the UK in its consumption of the beer and is home to the first Guinness brewery outside the British Isles....

Pope: Condoms Make AIDS Crisis Worse

On visit to Africa, pope makes first statement on their use

(Newser) - Condoms are not the answer to Africa's fight against AIDS, and in fact exacerbate the epidemic, Pope Benedict said at the start of a 7-day visit to the continent today. It's the first explicit statement about condoms from the pontiff, who has said that the Roman Catholic Church is at...

Tsvangirai Heads Home for Wife's Funeral

Supporters feared Mugabe power grab in his absence

(Newser) - Grieving Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected back in Zimbabwe today to attend his wife's funeral, days after the couple's car was hit by a US aid truck. Tsvangirai had left for Botswana—home of his closest regional ally—shortly after the accident that some believe may have been an...

International Court Charges Sudan Prez on Darfur Crimes

(Newser) - The International Criminal Court today issued a warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, charging him with murder, extermination, and rape, among other war crimes and crimes against humanity, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors say orders to kill or displace tribal people in Sudan’s Darfur region, which resulted in...

Leaders Fly to Guinea-Bissau to Prevent Coup

Assassination leaves power vacuum in African 'narco-state'

(Newser) - West African leaders are holding an emergency meeting in Guinea-Bissau today following the assassination of the country's president, reports the BBC. João Bernardo Vieira was killed a day after the chief of staff of the army, reputed to be a rival of Vieira's, died in a bomb blast. The...

President of Guinea-Bissau Assassinated

West African leader reportedly killed by army in a hail of bullets

(Newser) - The president of the West African republic of Guinea-Bissau was shot dead today, reportedly by soldiers. The Times of London reports that João Bernardo Vieira was assassinated only hours after the head of the army died in a bomb attack. While it's unclear whether a coup is taking place,...

Mauritanian Girls Force-Fed for Marriage

'Torture' returns as ideal of large women makes a comeback

(Newser) - A military coup in Mauritania has erased years of advances in women's rights, bringing a resurgence of the practice of force-fattening young girls to prepare them for marriage, the Guardian reports. "A woman's size indicates the amount of space she occupies in her husband's heart," explains an activist,...

Mugabe Hosts $250K Party in Starving Zimbabwe

Cholera, hyperinflation, land grabs... Let's dance!

(Newser) - More than half of his country is starving, just 10% have jobs, and nearly 4,000 have died of cholera since August, but none of that has stopped Robert Mugabe from partying. Zimbabwe’s president spent $250,000 on his 85th birthday bash today, which included a 187-pound cake, the...

De Beers to Halt Work at Diamond Mines

Firm last suspended production during the Great Depression

(Newser) - De Beers has temporarily shut down its diamond mines in Botswana due to low demand for the precious stones, the Telegraph reports. The firm’s Botswana mines account for half of De Beers’ output, and about a fifth of diamond production worldwide. De Beers was not able to sell a...

Donations Dry Up for Mugabe's 85th Birthday Bash

Unity government reduces Zanu-PF's ability to intimidate

(Newser) - Celebrations are underway in Zimbabwe this week to honor President Robert Mugabe’s 85th birthday, but the country's economic crisis, cholera epidemic, and shifting balance of power have dried up donations for the usually over-the-top festivities, the Times of London reports. Officials of his Zanu-PF party aimed to raise $300,...

'Western Aid, Celebs Are Hurting Africa'
'Western Aid, Celebs Are
Hurting Africa'
Interview
Feb 22, 2009 5:39 AM CST

'Western Aid, Celebs Are Hurting Africa'

'Anti-Bono' author rips help for sapping continent's strength

(Newser) - Dependence on celebrities as spokesmen and Western aid are bad for Africa, argues Deborah Solomon's latest interview subject, Dambisa Moyo. The Ivy-educated former investment banker argues in her new book that the culture of aid for Africa discourages entrepreneurship. "You also disenfranchise African citizens, because the government is beholden...

Americans Use DNA Tests to Trace African Roots

Obama's rise could accelerate trend

(Newser) - As a kid, Isaiah Washington only knew Africans as the “natives running around with bones in their noses” on TV, “trying to put Tarzan in a pot.” Now, the former Grey’s Anatomy actor is chieftain of a village in Sierra Leone, thanks to a DNA test...

Mugabe's Police to Hold Opposition Pol for 2nd Day

Prosecutors fail to show up to present charges against ministerial nominee

(Newser) - In another blow to Zimbabwe's fledgling unity government, police moved to hold a prominent opposition politician in jail for second day, the BBC reports. Roy Bennett will most likely spend the night in jail after prosecutors failed to come to court today to present insurgency and terrorism charges against the...

Mugabe Thugs Collect for Presidential Pig-Out

Starving country's ruling party gets tough to tackle champagne, caviar shortage

(Newser) - Aggressive supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling party have been pressing the country's farmers and businesses for "donations" to fund Robert Mugabe's ultra-luxe 85th birthday bash, the Times of London reports. A wish list supplied to the Times includes 8,000 bottles of champagne, 8,000 lobsters, and 4,000 portions...

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