"Poisoning the African mind"

Haiti vote won't usher in peace and stability: South Africa
Haiti's first elections since the ouster of Jean Bertrand Aristide will not usher in peace and stability in the Caribbean nation, South Africa's foreign minister said Wednesday.

African groups slam Sarkozy reaction to lethal Paris fires
African organizations Wednesday denounced French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's handling of the plight of immigrants in France following the housing fires in Paris last month that killed 24 people of African origin.

Zimbabwe doubles fuel prices
Zimbabwe, which is facing a crippling fuel shortage, on Wednesday upped petrol and diesel prices by more than 100 percent, the state news agency reported. "Fuel prices in Zimbabwe have gone up by over 100 percent with immediate effect due to the recent increases in international oil prices," the New Ziana news agency said.

Zimbabwe Holds Breath As IMF Meets
ZIMBABWE is praying that a series of rushed attempts at economic reform in recent months will convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to spare it the axe when the fund's executive board meets tomorrow to decide the country's fate.

Poisoning the African mind
Ghanaian author Ayi Kwei Armah's latest novel, KMT: In the House of Life, published in 2002, attributes this situation to Africa’s subservience to structures put in place by the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organisation. The relationship between the colonial masters and their African subjects is what Armah believes led to the depreciation of the African image. The loss of cultural confidence by Africans ultimately led to the 19th century structures that put the African way of life at the bottom and Western culture at the top. Armah sees Western education as a colonising tool that turned Africans into puppets dancing to the tune of their White masters.

Ayi Kwei Armah: His Passions And Disappointments
Ayi Kwei Armah remains an enigmatic writer long after he bust into literary limelight in 1968 after publishing The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. The Ghanaian writer, well known for his visionary symbolism, has chosen, for his permanent abode, a small village called Popenguine in Senegal as his permanent abode.

The UN in Haiti: Part of the problem, not the solution
As reports continue to surface about the human rights hell that Haiti has become, any independent observer must ask how many massacres the Haitian police will commit under the tutelage of U.N. forces before the U.N. is held accountable? Are U.N. forces in charge of the PNH, as their mandate states, or do we simply accept their excuse of being unable to stem police violence against Aristide's supporters.

SUDAN: Ongoing insecurity jeopardises Darfur peace talks - AU
Continuous attacks by rebel groups on humanitarian workers, Arab nomads and villages in the strife-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur could jeopardise the success of the Abuja peace talks, warned Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, head of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).

Britain Sends Pobe Team to Zimbabwe
THE British government, whose diplomatic relations with the Zimbabwean government have broken down over the past five years, has sent a team to assess the political situation in the troubled southern African country.

Amnesty International Says U.S. Consortium's African Oil Pipeline Threatens Human Rights
Amnesty International accused U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil of putting profits over human rights with its involvement in a multibillion dollar oil pipeline that runs from Chad to a seaport in the West African nation of Cameroon.

Protest shuts down Jamaica
Commerce was largely brought to a standstill across Jamaica yesterday and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Bruce Golding afterwards declared his call for a day of protest against rising prices, and what the JLP sees as failing governance, a resounding success.

Mugabe to visit Cuba
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe is to visit Cuba over the weekend in an official three-day visit with President Fidel Castro, Cuba's government announced overnight.

Northern Nigeria holding out for oil boom
A firm set up by the 19 states of Nigeria's under-developed north has signed a $134-million deal with a South African firm to prospect for oil in the arid lands around the Lake Chad basin, officials said.

Ghana to end dependency on IMF
President John Agyekum Kufuor, on Thursday, announced the decision by the Government to wean Ghana off its dependency on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial support.

Chinese army to participate in Sudan peacekeeping force
China has established a force to carry out peace-keeping mission in Sudan, at the request of the United Nations, according to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Jinan Area Command.

Caribbean leaders sign oil pact
Caribbean leaders have signed up to Petrocaribe, an oil initiative put forward by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez aimed at offering cheap crude.

Israeli army accused of killing unarmed Palestinians
An Israeli rights group accused the Israeli army of killing five unarmed Palestinian civilians in a recent military operation, and said that the killings of West Bank Arabs had become routine.

Former Gaza security chief shot dead

Gaza crossing shut for six months

Road to link S America's oceans

Haiti's exiled president Aristide will remain in S.Africa