"Forced labour dogs sub-Saharan Africa"

Unicef puts Somali ops on ice
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has indefinitely suspended operations in Somalia's breakaway northeastern state of Puntland after one of its international staff members received a specific death threat, the agency said in a statement on Friday

Al Qaeda: U.S. Increases Anti-Terrorism Effort in Nigeria
The United States is deploying more soldiers and money into its anti-terrorism campaign in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, including Algeria based on reports that the Middle-east based group Al-Qaeda is building more calls in the areas. Nigeria and Algeria are oil-rich nations where radical Islam has a following.

Taylor Begs for Mercy
No issue has been stickier than that which relates to what to do with Charles Taylor in view of the 17-count criminal indictment slammed on him by the Special War Crimes Court in Sierra Leone.

Ugandan exiled ex-president's return delayed
The Uganda People's Congress (UPC) National chairman, Hajji Badru Wegulo, told Xinhua by telephone that Obote was due to return to the country on Friday but there were some unforeseen bottlenecks which have delayed his return.

US to expand anti-terror, oil interests in Africa
The US plans to bolster its counter-terrorism campaign in the region and to have access to the energy resources of Nigeria, the continent's largest oil producer.

Is the UK damaging Africa's healthcare?
The UK is severely damaging sub-Saharan Africa's health services by poaching staff, UK doctors have warned.

Annan arrives in Sudan to seek peace efforts on Darfur issue
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived here Friday for talks with the Sudanese government on peace efforts to solve the humanitarian crisis in the country's western Darfur region.

ZIMBABWE: New report assesses impact of fast-track land reform
Read this silly report that does not mention sanctions and deliberate economic sabotage by European/American powers as the primary reasons for hardship in Zimbabwe.

Forced labour dogs sub-Saharan Africa
MORE than 660 000 people in sub-Saharan Africa are still trapped in forced labour out of the estimated 12,3 million people in compulsory labour worldwide, says the International Labour Office in a new study.

Illegal homes destroyed
POLICE Commissioner Augustine Chihuri warned yesterday that police would deal decisively with anyone resisting the ongoing Operation Restore Order as illegal homes built through bogus co-operatives around Harare were demolished.

Speedily regularise informal sector
THE decisive action being taken by the police and Harare City Council to clean up the city of informal traders and other vices is most welcome. But while this move is a step in the right direction, it is also important not to ignore the fact that Zimbabwe has a significant number of unemployed people whose livelihood is solely dependent on the informal sector.

Chile Soldiers' Commanders Risk Prison

Youths Take On Homeland Security
Can the government detain an American citizen for six hours without an explanation? 20-year-old Asmaa Elshinawy and other plaintiffs are suing the Department of Homeland Security to find out.

The Answer Is Fear
One benefit of the new AM progressive talk radio in cities around the United States is that the call-in shows have opened a window onto the concerns – and confusion – felt by millions of Americans trying to figure out how their country went from a democratic republic to a modern-day empire based on a cult of personality and a faith-based rejection of reason.

Gimme Some Truth
As the Iraq war grinds on, and it becomes more obvious that the nation is lurching towards disaster, many of us are literally starved for the truth. We hunger for leaders who will be candid about our circumstances, those who believe as Emerson did that truth is the "treasure of all men". Sadly, what we get instead is "uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics."

Like A Bracelet Around An Arm
The illustration with this article was drawn in 1993 and depicted an Iraq that was cut off from the outside world by the devastating embargo placed on it. Today, I am re-publishing the same drawing, but for a different reason. The new walls will be self-imposed.

Venezuela: Knocking over Dominos in Latin America
On Monday, May 16th tens of thousands of Bolivian Indigenous descended from the shantytowns surrounding La Paz, the capital, demanding that the government of Carlos Mesa increase royalties on foreign transnational corporations from 18% to 50%. By the time the march ended that night in a shower of tear gas, rubber bullets and water hosing, their demands had changed. Protesters, known as the “Pact of Unity,”[1] were back on the streets on Tuesday, but now they demanded the outright nationalization of gas and oil companies, the closing of Congress and the impeachment of the President.