Sunday, October 31st
Arafat possibly poisoned: doctors
Medical tests on the ailing Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, have ruled out leukaemia or any other life-threatening condition. "The latest tests have found that President Arafat does not suffer from any life-threatening illness and what he has is curable," an aide, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said yesterday. Mr Arafat, 75, underwent tests and scans on Saturday at a French military hospital the day after being flown from his shell-battered compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Doctors are looking at a possible viral infection or poisoning, but the final test results will not be available until Wednesday. Full Article :smh.com.au -- Reprinted here
USA on 10.31.04 @ 07:12 PM CST [ link]
Osama bin Laden supports Bush Reelection
The timely release of the Osama tape four days before Americans go to the voting booths should come as no surprise. Osama has been a central theme of the election campaign. The Bush administration has been preparing public opinion for the eventuality of a terrorist threat prior to the November 2 elections. Osama tapes have emerged periodically since 9/11 at critical "political moments". Moreover, since 9/11, there have been six code orange "high risk" terror alerts. Often associated with these and other terror alerts, a mysterious Al Qaeda, Osama or Al Zarqawi tape emerges. The Bush administration has in fact intimated on several occasions that a terror attack on America could take place prior to the elections. It had even set in motion formal procedures for canceling the elections in the case of a terror alert. Full Article : globalresearch.ca
USA on 10.31.04 @ 07:04 PM CST [ link]
Police terror sweeps across Haiti
UN looks on as slum-dwelling Aristide supporters are killed or thrown into jail without charge Reed Lindsay in Port-au-Prince
Sunday October 31, 2004
The Observer The bodies had been whisked away but the dried pool of blood covering the dirt-floor dead end of a twisting alley was a chilling sign of what happened here last week. Residents in the National Fort district, which like most of Port-au-Prince's slums is a bastion of support for former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, gathered around the darkening blood the following day. Some, who were afraid to give their names, said policemen wearing black masks had shot and killed 12 people, then dragged their bodies away. At least three families have identified the bodies of relatives at the mortuary; others who have loved ones missing fear the worst. Full Article : guardian.co.uk
Caribbean on 10.31.04 @ 10:25 AM CST [ link]
Botswana's cut-throat incentives to attract investment
Minnow Botswana surprised by tax attack from Goliath South Africa By Lynda Loxton and Peter Fabricius Cape Town and Johannesburg - The Botswana government has expressed surprise that its giant neighbour, South Africa, should criticise its efforts to attract international investment from financial services companies with low corporate taxes. It was reacting to finance minister Trevor Manuel's criticism that Botswana and Namibia had embarked on a "race to the bottom" by offering cut-throat incentives to attract investment. This week Manuel referred specifically to Botswana's establishment of a financial services centre offering international financial services companies a tax rate of 15 percent to invest in the country - compared with South Africa's average 25 percent rate. He said the centre violated a Southern African Development Community (SADC) agreement to converge tax rates and other economic policies. It could become a "haven for laundered money". Alan Boshwaen, director of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), which Manuel criticised, said he was surprised that so senior an official would criticise Botswana's efforts to boost development and create jobs. Full Article : busrep.co.za
Africa on 10.31.04 @ 10:22 AM CST [ link]
Saturday, October 30th
Eight Marines Die Saturday in Iraq as Falluja Assault Looms
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eight U.S. marines were killed Saturday in the bloodiest attack on American forces in Iraq in almost seven months as troops prepared for a major assault to capture the rebel towns of Ramadi and Falluja. Violence flared across Iraq ahead of the offensive, expected any day, and U.S. planes and artillery pounded Falluja in the country's central Sunni Muslim heartland. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.30.04 @ 07:50 PM CST [ link]
Aristide wants free elections back home
Brasilia - South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Thursday said former Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide, in exile in South Africa, wants his country to hold "free and fair election" allowing Haitians to pick whomever they want. "President Aristide's wish is whatever happen in Haiti, issued in a free and fair election, for the Haitians to choose whoever they would like as their leadership," Dlamini-Zuma told reporters during an official visit in Brasilia. "That is the main wish of President Aristide," she said. Aristide fled a popular revolt in Haiti in late February, flying to the Central African Republic and later Jamaica before arriving in South Africa on May 31. Full Article : iol.co.zaArisrtide was flown out of Haiti by the U.S. forces during a US orchestrated coup.
Caribbean on 10.30.04 @ 03:28 PM CST [ link]
Zimbabwe rules out foreign-funded radio stations
Loughty Dube INFORMATION minister Jonathan Moyo has warned regional media organisations with chapters in Zimbabwe and those funded by foreign organisations that they will not be allowed to operate community radio stations in the country under the Broadcasting Services Act. Moyo gave the warning when he addressed journalists at the Bulawayo Press Club on Saturday. He announced that the country would have more broadcasters to compete with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) by the end of the year. After lashing out at regional institutions, Moyo said organisations funded by outsiders would not be registered. Full Article : theindependent.co.zw
Africa on 10.30.04 @ 01:41 PM CST [ link]
Archaeologists discover real home of the human hobbit
A miniature cousin of modern Man discovered on a remote island could explain myths of dwarves and elvesTHE remains of a diminutive cousin of modern Man, nicknamed “the hobbit”, that lived only 12,000 years ago have been unearthed by scientists, in a spectacular find that rewrites the story of human evolution. The discovery on a remote Indonesian island shows that Homo sapiens shared the Earth with more primitive relatives not long before the dawn of recorded history, and suggests a tantalising explanation for the myths of elves, dwarves and "wild men of the woods" that are popular all over the world. Full Article : timesonline.co.uk
Africa on 10.30.04 @ 10:51 AM CST [ link]
China's top legislator arrives in Nairobi for African visit
Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC),arrived here Friday to kick off an official good-will visit to Kenya, with an aim to promote bilateral ties. It is the first visit to Africa by China's top legislator since the country's new leadership took office. Wu was accorded a warm welcome by Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya Francis Ole Kaparo when he arrived at the airport in Nairobi, Kenya's capital. Full Article : news.xinhuanet.com
Africa on 10.30.04 @ 10:48 AM CST [ link]
Sudan ultimatum over US embassy
Khartoum has threatened to close the US embassy in Sudan unless a bank is found for its mission in Washington. The Sudanese embassy in Washington has been unable to find a new bank after its previous lender was fined $25m for suspected money laundering violations. Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said the US had until the end of the month to resolve the problem. Full Article : news.bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.30.04 @ 10:45 AM CST [ link]
Mogae set to win the election in Botswana
Botswana President Festus Mogae's ruling party is expected to cruise to victory in elections on Saturday as voters in one of Africa's richest and most stable democracies go to the polls hoping for more of the same. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has won every vote since independence in 1966 - and although those left out of Botswana's economic miracle may vote against it, opposition divisions are seen as making the result a foregone conclusion. "I think the BDP will win," said student Pako Peter in the capital Gaborone. "Most people will vote for them because they're used to it. It's more by habit than anything else." Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.30.04 @ 10:40 AM CST [ link]
Take The Deal: Take On Osama's Offer
by Richard OxmanThe important thing for us all respecting the recently released video by OBL is not whether or not it'll make voters lean toward Bush or Kerry. And neither the analysis with regard to what it might say about 9/11 speculations to date, nor what visual cues might be found in the foreground or background should garner our attention either. Ditto for the state of OBL's health, confirmation or the lack of it concerning his modus operandi, and who was right or wrong stateside about his whereabouts. The only thing that's important is that we take his advice to not place much importance on whether or not Bush or Kerry becomes his Official Nemesis, and get down to the business of ensuring the safety of his people. No more Beirut buildings going down, no more Twin Tower tricks. No more Baghdad babies on a skewer, no more New York cops down the sewer. Cease and desist with twisting their wrist, and we'll find...they won't resist. In other words, "stop bothering them," as Howard Zinn has put in from the podium many times. Full Article : altpr.org
USA on 10.30.04 @ 09:18 AM CST [ link]
Friday, October 29th
Osama bin Con-Job
by Victor Thorn How stupid do the power elite think we are; and more importantly, how much more of their nonsense are we expected to believe? It’s reaching the point of such absurdity that soon they’ll want us to believe that 19 cave-dwellers from Afghanistan pulled-off the entire 9-11 scenario … oops, I guess they already do! A perfect case-in-point can be found in the recent revelations of 9-11 Whitewash Committee member John Lehman, who told the San Bernardino Sun (October 22, 2004) that, “the Pentagon knows exactly where Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan.” But, Lehman expounded, “It just can’t get to him.” This statement couldn’t be true, could it? Supposedly it is, for Secretary of State Colin Powell reiterated this sentiment on Tuesday, October 19 when he said that the al-Qaeda bogeyman was lurking around in Western Pakistan. Department of Defense mouthpiece Captain Ronnie Merritt also confirmed that the U.S. military is confident that bin Laden is in Pakistan. Full Article : thornarticles
USA on 10.29.04 @ 10:01 PM CST [ link]
ANC backing Zanu-PF, claims DA
Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance on Friday said the African National Congress wanted to maintain close ties with Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu-PF, not with the Congress of SA Trade Unions, the ANC's alliance partner. DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said the ANC had "a well-documented history of close fraternal ties with Zanu-PF". "It is abundantly clear from the government's weak reaction to the shocking treatment of Cosatu by the Zimbabwean government that it is intent on maintaining these close relations with Zanu-PF at any cost," he said. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.29.04 @ 05:11 PM CST [ link]
'Frail' Arafat in Paris hospital
Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is undergoing urgent medical treatment in France for a mystery illness. Mr Arafat, 75, travelled from his Ramallah compound to an air base near Paris, from where he was flown by helicopter to a military hospital. A Palestinian spokeswoman said he had gastric flu, but there was more to his illness and diagnosis would take days. Full Article : news.bbc.co.uk
Middle East on 10.29.04 @ 01:15 PM CST [ link]
It Will Be Worse Than in 2000
Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has devoted his life to civil rights and voting rights issues. After a group of black college students refused to leave a whites-only lunch counter at a Woolworth's store in Greensboro, N.C., in 1960, Bond -- then a student at Atlanta's Morehouse College -- helped form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Famous for its "Freedom Rides" challenging segregation, SNCC also worked to register black voters in rural areas of the deep South in the early 1960s, with Bond serving as the organization's communications director. Elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1965, the 25-year-old Bond was denied his seat by legislators angry about his opposition to the Vietnam War; he was seated after three elections and a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court. Chairman of the NAACP since 1998, Bond is now a distinguished professor at American University in Washington and a professor of history at the University of Virginia. He narrated the prize-winning documentaries "A Time for Justice" and "Eyes on the Prize." Salon spoke to Bond on Wednesday by telephone about Republican attempts to suppress the black vote in next Tuesday's election, including the placing of 3,600 election "challengers" at the polls in Ohio. The Republican secretary of state in Ohio, a crucial swing state with 20 electoral votes, asserts the challengers are needed to prevent voting fraud. But Bond countered that if fraud is really the issue, why are the GOP challengers focusing on cities like Cleveland, which have large Democratic-leaning African-American and Hispanic populations? Full Article : truthout.org
USA on 10.29.04 @ 12:55 PM CST [ link]
Eminem song puts Bush in the dock
Eminem has become the latest music star to weigh in on this year's presidential election. In a video for his new single, Mosh, the singer takes George Bush to task for raising taxes and waging the war in Iraq. "Strap him with AK-47, let him go/Fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way," a cartoon version of the rapper sings of the president, as he mobilises a mob of young voters. The video is Eminem's most directly political work. It comes as other stars, from Bruce Springsteen to Leonardo DiCaprio, take to the stump - almost exclusively for Mr Kerry. Full Article : guardian.co.uk
USA on 10.29.04 @ 11:26 AM CST [ link]
Mugabe: ANC relations excellent
Harare - President Robert Mugabe on Thursday said his government's relations with the South Africa's ruling party were "excellent" and condemned the recent attempt by Cosatu factfinders to enter his country, state television reported. Mugabe's comments come a day after 13 members of the Cosatu were deported from Harare after they defied a Zimbabwe government ban. "We have excellent relations with the ANC. We discuss our problems on a basis of mutual understanding," Mugabe said in comments broadcast on the main news bulletin. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.29.04 @ 11:18 AM CST [ link]
Thursday, October 28th
Scientists Find Ancient Hobbit-Sized People
Oct. 27, 2004 — Once upon a time, on an isolated island of Indonesia, there lived a colony of little people — very little people. Not only did anthropologists find the skeletal remains of a hobbit-sized, 30-year-old adult female, in this fairy-tale-like discovery they also uncovered in the same limestone cave the remains of a Komodo dragon, stone tools and a dwarf elephant. Subsequent finds of other similarly sized, 3-foot-tall humans with brains the size of grapefruits in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores suggest these 18,000-year-old specimens weren't a quirk of an ancient hominin, but part of an entire species of miniature people whose existence overlapped with that of modern Homo sapiens. "We now have the remains of at least seven hobbit-sized individuals at the cave site, so the 18,000-year-old skeleton cannot be some kind of 'freak' that we just happened to stumble across first," said Bert Roberts, an anthropologist at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia, and co-author of the study about the find in this week's issue of the journal "Nature." Full Article : abcnews.go.com
Science on 10.28.04 @ 10:33 PM CST [ link]
179 countries vote against the blockade at the UN
For the 13th consecutive time, the UN General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for an end to the US blockade of Cuba. The voting on the resolution was 179 countries in favor and four against (The United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau), while Micronesia abstained . During the debate at the 59th session of the UN General Assembly, several heads of state and government condemned Washington’s policy of aggression against the small island. Over 75% of the Cuban population were born after the triumph of the Revolution on January 1959, and have had to grow and develop under the brutal effects of a ruthless economic, commercial, and financial US blockade, which knows no limits. The unilateral enforcement of this U.S. policy turned into a sick obsession and a veritable economic war, which has provoked losses to the country amounting to close to $80 billion. source : granma.cu
Caribbean on 10.28.04 @ 09:47 PM CST [ link]
Matt Drudge, Dan Rather, and a Bag of Rovian Dirty Tricks
Poor Matt Drudge. He has not broken a story worth consideration since he ripped off the Monica Lewinsky story from Newsweek in 1998, thus providing himself with a career boost as a right-wing muckraker. Now Drudge posts half-ass stories with page dominating headlines. His latest is really pathetic—60 Minutes had planned to run the Iraq missing explosives story October 31, as if that would somehow impact the election (at this point, the only way Bush will lose the election would be if Karl Rove had been abducted by aliens about six months ago). Full Article : kurtnimmo.com
USA on 10.28.04 @ 06:47 PM CST [ link]
One in four Iraqis on hand-outs
One in four Iraqis is dependent on food rations to survive, and many sell what little they have to buy basic necessities such as medicine and clothes. In a grim report underscoring troubles in Iraq, the Rome-based UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that support from the state-run Public Distribution System was grossly insufficient to prevent chronic malnourishment. Full Article : aljazeera.net
Iraq on 10.28.04 @ 01:52 PM CST [ link]
US war claims 'over 100,000 Iraqi lives'
Deaths of Iraqis have soared to 100,000 above normal since the Iraq invasion, mainly due to violence while many of the victims have been women and children, public health experts from the United States have said. "Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq," researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland said in a report published online by The Lancet medical journal on Thursday. Full Article : aljazeera.net
Iraq on 10.28.04 @ 01:06 PM CST [ link]
Israel: Arafat's re-entry not assured
Israeli officials have been unable to pledge the safe return of Palestinian President Yasir Arafat if he is flown abroad for medical treatment, according to Aljazeera. Israeli officials said they would let Arafat seek treatment "wherever he wanted" at home or abroad, but the question of his return was "a separate issue after he recuperates". Full Article : aljazeera.net
Middle East on 10.28.04 @ 01:03 PM CST [ link]
The Hatian Coup Connection
By Joshua Kurlantzick How an organization financed by the U.S. government has been promoting the overthrow of elected leaders abroad Several leaders of the demonstrations -- some of whom also had links to the armed rebels -- had been getting organizational help and training from a U.S. government-financed organization. The group, the International Republican Institute (IRI), is supposed to focus on nonpartisan, grassroots democratization efforts overseas. But in Haiti and other countries, such as Venezuela and Cambodia, the institute -- which, though not formally affiliated with the GOP, is run by prominent Republicans and staffed by party insiders -- has increasingly sided with groups seeking the overthrow of elected but flawed leaders who are disliked in Washington. In 2002 and 2003, IRI used funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to organize numerous political training sessions in the Dominican Republic and Miami for some 600 Haitian leaders. Though IRI's work is supposed to be nonpartisan -- it is official U.S. policy not to interfere in foreign elections -- a former U.S. diplomat says organizers of the workshops selected only opponents of Aristide and attempted to mold them into a political force. The trainings were run by IRI's Haiti program officer, Stanley Lucas, the scion of a powerful Haitian family with long-standing animosity toward Aristide -- Amnesty International says some family members participated in a 1987 peasant massacre. "To have Lucas as your program officer sends a message to archconservatives that you're on their side," says Robert Maguire, a Haiti expert at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. IRI's anti-Aristide focus appeared to have support from the Bush administration. The former U.S. diplomat in Haiti says Lucas was in constant contact with Roger Noriega, the administration's top Latin America official, who had previously worked for Senator Jesse Helms and had long sought to oust Aristide. Noriega and conservative Republican congressional staffers kept in close touch with IRI-trained opposition leaders and pushed for additional funding for IRI's Haiti activities. "The USAID director in Haiti was under enormous pressure [from Congress] to fund IRI," says the former diplomat. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Caribbean on 10.28.04 @ 12:57 PM CST [ link]
S. Africa channel to air 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - An independent television channel in South Africa will air Michael Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" on the eve of the U.S. presidential elections. Following the Nov. 1 showing, M-Net will feature a panel discussion broadcast from its Johannesburg studio. The Nov. 2 election pits President Bush against Democratic challenger John Kerry. Full Article : mercurynews.com
Africa on 10.28.04 @ 12:09 PM CST [ link]
Africa power firms join to light up dark continent
JOHANNESBURG – The latest scheme to spread electric light in Africa may sound familiar, but this time African leaders say they have the will, and financial backing, to succeed. If so, the campaign to link Africa's disparate and often unreliable power grids could be the first big achievement for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which some critics dismiss as empty rhetoric. What everyone agrees on is that a much-talked-of economic renaissance will not happen unless African countries can repair and expand transport and power networks shattered in many parts by decades of war or neglect. Full Article : signonsandiego.com
Africa on 10.28.04 @ 11:43 AM CST [ link]
Wednesday, October 27th
Cuba move triggers war of words
The US and Cuba have launched into another bitter war of words following Cuba's decision to ban transactions in dollars on the island. Fidel Castro announced the ban, which takes effect in two weeks, in response to a tightened US embargo. The US said the move demonstrated Cuba's "economic desperation"; later the Cuban central bank said the move had struck a "forceful blow" at the US. Full Article : news.bbc.co.ukCheck the silly picture dishonest BBC placed on their site. They are trying to sell an image of children starving in Cuba.
Caribbean on 10.27.04 @ 08:34 PM CST [ link]
Ancient, Tiny Humans Shed New Light on Evolution
In a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores, scientists have unearthed the bones of a species of human never seen before. About three-feet-tall when fully grown, Homo floresiensis resembles some of our most primitive ancestors -- but lived as recently as 13,000 years ago. They made tools and hunted dwarf elephants, but were physically unlike modern pygmies. Scientists say it's possible h. florensiensis mingled with modern humans; they were both in the region around Indonesia around the same time. The discovery suggests we shared the planet with other species of humanity until quite recently in evolutionary terms. The findings, published in this week's issue of the British scientific journal Nature, also suggest that humans may be subject to the same evolutionary pressures as other mammals, shrinking to dwarf size when isolated in a resource-poor area. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports. Full Article : npr.org
Africa on 10.27.04 @ 08:24 PM CST [ link]
Cosatu delegates back in South Africa
Delegates from the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) mission to Zimbabwe were left at the Beitbridge border post by Zimbabwean police early this morning. After being taken to the border by bus overnight, without being told where they were going, they were escorted into South Africa and left, said Violet Shibone, the Cosatu deputy president and head of the delegation. "We are arranging transport to Johannesburg for ourselves. We don't know when we will get there." Full Article : sabcnews.com
Africa on 10.27.04 @ 08:13 PM CST [ link]
Bush website blocked outside US
Surfers outside the US have been unable to visit the official re-election site of President George W Bush. The blocking of browsers sited outside the US began in the early hours of Monday morning. Since then people outside the US trying to browse the site get a message saying they are not authorised to view it. The blocking does not appear to be due to an attack by vandals or malicious hackers, but as a result of a policy decision by the Bush camp. Full Article : bbc.co.uk
USA on 10.27.04 @ 06:32 PM CST [ link]
Prosecutor Links Thatcher to 'Chequebook Colonialists'
Equatorial Guinea wants to question a number of prominent Britons, including the son of former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, about allegations they financed a plot earlier this year to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Africa’s third-largest oil producer for the past 25 years. State prosecutor Michael Donen told the Cape Town court that the need to stop rich men and mercenaries from undermining the rule of law in Africa superseded Thatcher’s right to silence, which his lawyers say is vital to prevent him from incriminating himself. "There is therefore a trend apparently in Equatorial Guinea ... in central Africa where chequebook colonialists hire small groups of former South African Defence Force people and they buy themselves a small African country which has oil," Donen said. "We have a constitutional obligation to prevent this," he said. Nineteen people are on trial in Equatorial Guinea, including Nick Du Toit, a South African arms dealer alleged to have led an advance team for the plot. Full Article : scotsman.com
Africa on 10.27.04 @ 05:25 PM CST [ link]
Africans not falling for Bush's charity
Nairobi - United States President George Bush's administration boasts that no other American presidency has done more for Africa than his, and many on the world's poorest continent agree. But despite Bush's championing of a $15-billion (about R95-billion) anti-Aids programme and efforts to drop trade barriers, sub-Saharan Africa appears to want to see his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, in the White House for the next four years. Though many Africans are preoccupied with crushing poverty, disease or conflict, the continent - like the world - is keenly interested in the outcome of the November 2 contest. "If Africa was to vote, Kerry would get a landslide," said Robert Kabushenga, a political analyst and journalist in Uganda. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.27.04 @ 12:17 PM CST [ link]
'Intrusive' persons not welcome
Harare - A delegation of South African labour leaders was expelled from Zimbabwe on Wednesday after the government described members as "intrusive individuals" who were not welcome in the country. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, hosting the visit, said the 13 delegates of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), South Africa's most powerful labour body, were forced to leave by road after flying to Harare on Monday. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.27.04 @ 12:15 PM CST [ link]
Union threatens Zimbabwe blockade after deportation
South Africa's main labour federation is threatening to blockade a border crossing with Zimbabwe after President Robert Mugabe's Government deported a union fact-finding team accused of aiding his enemies. Officials with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) say they would launch an international campaign of protest over Tuesday's expulsion. Full Article : abc.net.au
Africa on 10.27.04 @ 12:12 PM CST [ link]
Tuesday, October 26th
Powell's China Comments Anger Taiwanese
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Secretary of State Colin Powell has angered Taiwanese officials and lawmakers by making unusually strong comments denying that the island is an independent nation and suggesting Taiwan should unify with China. Washington usually avoids weighing in on the touchy split, which arose when Mao Zedong's communist army won control of the Chinese mainland in 1949 and anti-communist forces took refuge on Taiwan. Full Article : news.yahoo.com
USA on 10.26.04 @ 05:48 PM CST [ link]
African kings root for traditional modes of governance
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 10/13 - A Ghanaian monarch Tuesday requested the African Union (AU) to consider giving African traditional leaders a seat in its regular meetings to discuss development issues of the continent. Addressing the fourth African Development Forum (ADF IV), convening here, His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene of Ghana, also appealed to African nations to critically look for convergencies in the traditional and modern systems of governance. "Remember that as traditional rulers, our contract with our people is forever and not for the next election," said the Asantehene, who was given a standing ovation after highlighting aspects of traditional leadership performance in various parts of the continent. He said the old stereotype of a chief as an ignorant native leader, susceptible to manipulation by unscrupulous foreign traders or self-seeking politicians was no longer valid. Full Article : angolapress-angop.ao
Africa on 10.26.04 @ 04:07 PM CST [ link]
Shun Western aid, Mugabe tells Catholic bishops
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has urged the country's Catholic Church to free itself from Western donations that are likely to "suppress its voice". "In my view, the church must remain a guiding light unto our path and should thus extricate itself from offers of assistance that suppress its voice," Mugabe was quoted as saying on Friday by the state media, while addressing a meeting of regional Catholic bishops. "Quite often, when its voice is silenced, hate-filled, divisive and clearly foreign voices take over," Mugabe told an assembly of the Inter-regional Meeting of (Catholic) Bishops of Southern Africa. Full Article : mg.co.za
Africa on 10.26.04 @ 03:56 PM CST [ link]
Battling terrorism in Chad
United States troops are in Chad training some of the country's elite forces in how to fight al-Qaeda or any of its allies in the region. This is the latest battleground in what United States President George W Bush calls the global war on terrorism. Twenty-five US marines have been stationed at a base 50km south of the capital Ndjamena at a military base, Camp Loumia, working with 170 Chadian soldiers. Full Article : news.bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.26.04 @ 03:52 PM CST [ link]
Wemba in court on people smuggling charges
Paris - Papa Wemba, "the King of Rhumba Rock" and star of world music, appeared in court near Paris on Tuesday accused of taking money to smuggle scores of his fellow Congolese into France. Wemba, 55, denied the charges of "people trafficking" but admitted he had, "for humanitarian reasons", helped seven people to enter the country posing as backing musicians and road engineers. The Congolese star, known for his high-pitched voice and extravagant taste in designer fashions, faces similar accusations in Belgium where he now lives. If convicted in France, he faces up to 10 years in jail and a €750 000 fine. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.26.04 @ 10:32 AM CST [ link]
MTV music to African audience's ears
Johannesburg - MTV Networks Europe said yesterday it aimed to broadcast an English language music television channel to access about 1.3 million households in sub-Saharan Africa in the next four months, using MultiChoice's pay television platform. MTV is already distributed in sub-Saharan Africa with a European pop-rock focus but there is no MTV channel that directly targets the African audience. Full Article : busrep.co.za
Africa on 10.26.04 @ 09:48 AM CST [ link]
Thatcher at 'coup' case challenge
Sir Mark Thatcher has appeared in court in Cape Town as his lawyers argue against an order forcing him to answer questions about a suspected coup plot. His lawyers are challenging the South African justice ministry's agreement to a request from Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea prosecutors want to question the 51-year-old about claims he helped fund a coup plot there. His lawyers argue that could prejudice his trial in South Africa for alleged mercenary activity, charges he denies. Full Article : news.bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.26.04 @ 09:44 AM CST [ link]
Monday, October 25th
China Dumps Dollars For Oil & Gold
Todd Stein & Steven McIntyre Safeguarding one's access to vital natural resources such as oil and gas is crucial to nation's long-term prosperity. But telling soldiers and their families that they are fighting in part to protect against the threat of $10.00/gallon gasoline is not exactly good for morale or public relations. Protestors chanting "No blood for oil" would have a field day if the White House press secretary made an announcement such as, "Good news, the Baghdad Museum has been looted, 1,000 American troops have been killed, but we have secured 90% of Basra's oil fields." China, which President Bush has called a "strategic competitor", will see its demand for industrial energy more than double over the next 15 years. China's electricity demand has doubled within the last decade and is likely to quadruple by 2019. Could China's recent shenanigans in the region be a small baby step for an energy-hungry power getting restless? China has already invested billions of dollars into pipeline projects in Central Asia and the Middle East and has strengthened its relationships with governments from energy-rich states. For example, China is Sudan's largest trading partner and the most important foreign investor in Sudan's oil industry. China National Petroleum Corporation has a 40% stake in the international consortium extracting oil in Sudan, and it is constructing refineries and pipelines, enabling Sudan to benefit from oil export revenue over the last five years. Recently, China deployed thousands of troops to Southern Sudan to protect its pipeline interests while Western oil companies have been withdrawing from the war-torn African nation. Sudan has been accused of using its oil revenue to purchase arms for its wars against its black African population in its Darfur region. In a classic example of realpolitik, China has threatened to veto a resolution that would consider U.N. sanctions against Sudan's oil industry if Khartoum does not stop the genocide. Could Chinese PLA troops in Sudan be a first step in China's growing expansionism throughout Eurasia? Full Article : kitco.com
USA on 10.25.04 @ 08:38 PM CST [ link]
Dollar claws back losses on profit-taking
By Steve Johnson in LondonThe US dollar sank to new lows on Monday as worries over twin deficits, oil prices and a cliffhanger of an election were augmented by the breaching of key technical levels. However, in a veritable game of two halves, a bout of profit-taking allowed the greenback to erase most of the day's losses. While few observers believed that the bounceback meant the dollar had bottomed, some were cautious about the likely pace of the greenback's decline. According to ABN Amro's in-house data, long euro/dollar positions had risen to 90 per cent of their year highs, with Canadian/US longs at a 12-month high, limiting the potential for further short-term dollar losses. Full Article : news.ft.com
USA on 10.25.04 @ 08:33 PM CST [ link]
Cuba to End Circulation of U.S. Dollar Nov. 8
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba said on Monday that it was ending circulation of the U.S. dollar in its territory as of Nov. 8 in response to tightened U.S. economic sanctions. Cubans, foreign residents and tourists will have to use locally printed convertible pesos, equal in value to the dollar, a Central Bank decree read on television said. Full Article : reuters.com
Caribbean on 10.25.04 @ 08:13 PM CST [ link]
Chinua Achebe In Nigeria's Crosshairs
by David Asonye Ihenacho It would be recalled that the world-renowned novelist from Nigeria, Chinua Achebe, rejected the award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), the Obasanjo administration had offered him in the Nigerian honors list for 2004. Achebe, the legendary author of many universally acclaimed novels, especially the inimitable Things Fall Apart that has sold more than 11 million copies in more than 50 countries till date, had been listed by the administration to receive one of its highest awards in 2004. He was to receive his nation's second highest award in Abuja, Nigeria, on December 16, 2004, among 190 other honorees. But in an emotionally charged letter dated October 15, 2004, and sent to the Nigerian president, the literary legend declared: "I write this letter with very heavy heart. For some time now, I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the presidency…. Nigeria's condition today under your watch is, however, too dangerous for silence. I must register my disappointment and protest by declining to accept the high honor awarded me in the 2004 Honors list." Full Article : nigeriaworld.com
Africa on 10.25.04 @ 02:24 PM CST [ link]
Thatcher's Coup Hearing to Be Televised
The Cape High Court ruled that the South African Broadcasting Corporation could televise a delayed broadcast of the hearings tomorrow and Wednesday on the legality of a government subpoena targeting Thatcher. The 51-year-old businessman son of former prime minister Baroness Thatcher was arrested in Cape Town in August for allegedly helping to bankroll a botched coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. Full Article : scotsman.com
Africa on 10.25.04 @ 02:16 PM CST [ link]
Scientists Against Bush
In 1964, Barry Goldwater frightened American scientists; today, George Bush is doing the sameIn 1964, nuclear scientists came together in unprecedented fashion to oppose the candidacy of Barry Goldwater for president. Like George Bush, Barry Goldwater was a "super hawk" who believed first and foremost in America's military might and dominance in the world. Goldwater was on record as supporting the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons both in Europe, as part of NATO forces, and in Vietnam. In his 1960 book The Conscience of a Conservative, Goldwater urged the United States to "perfect a variety of small, clean nuclear weapons," and he introduced the term "conventional nuclear weapons." Goldwater also expressed contempt for those who questioned American unilateralism. Full Article : interventionmag.com
USA on 10.25.04 @ 02:03 PM CST [ link]
Powell declares North Korea a 'terrorist state'
BEIJING - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, on a mission to restart talks on North Korea's nuclear program, on Sunday branded North Korea a "terrorist state" that shows "no respect whatsoever for human rights." Full Article : azcentral.comThe U.S. is also a "terrorist state" that shows "no respect whatsoever for human rights." Ask Africans to give the history of U.S. terrorism. Ask the Iraqis; remember Abu Ghraib?
USA on 10.25.04 @ 01:59 PM CST [ link]
Tons of explosives missing in Iraq
VIENNA, Austria -- Several hundred tons of conventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that once played a key role in Saddam Hussein's efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the U.N. nuclear agency confirmed Monday. Full Article : seattlepi.nwsource.com
Iraq on 10.25.04 @ 01:53 PM CST [ link]
Sunday, October 24th
This Isn't a Zoo But the Promised Land
The Post (Lusaka)
October 22, 2004 WE should take this opportunity, the 40th anniversary of our country's independence, to once again promote reflection on the national liberation of our people and that of our continent, chained by backwardness and balkanisation. We Zambians have had to fight hard not only against British colonialism but we also had to confront Portuguese colonialism and Southern Rhodesian and South African apartheid. Therefore our concepts of nationalism and patriotism and our opposition to colonialism, neo-colonialism and hegemony are very strong.
Africa on 10.24.04 @ 06:45 PM CST [ more..]
Africa faces worst famine in 20 years
The world is rallying to head off a famine of a scale not seen in Africa in 20 years. This week the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a stark warning that villages throughout the conflict-affected Darfur region of western Sudan are facing an "unprecedented food crisis, worse even than the famines they faced in the 1980s and 1990s". The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) fed more than 1,3 million people in Darfur last month, exceeding its own target of 1,2 million and recording its largest food distribution since the humanitarian crisis began. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.24.04 @ 11:38 AM CST [ link]
Why Iran Wants Four More Years
by David Jagernauth The president got an unusual endorsement Tuesday; Hasan Rowhani, the head of Iran's security council, told local media that Tehran's best interest is served by the re-election of George W. Bush. Does it seem strange that a member of the "axis of evil" would support our current administration? Not if you understand the circumstances surrounding our attack on Iraq. When future historians write about this war, I suspect they will sum it up like this: In the year 2003, neoconservatives within the Bush Administration were duped by an Iranian double agent into attacking Iraq and removing Saddam Hussein in order to pave the way for a pro-Iran, Shia-controlled Iraq. It was one of the greatest acts of espionage ever perpetrated against the superpower. Who is this Iranian double agent? His name is Ahmed Chalabi, the founder of the anti-Saddam Iraqi National Congress (INC). The CIA now knows that the INC was either a front for, or had deep links to, Iranian intelligence and that Chalabi was passing U.S. secrets to Tehran. How was Chalabi getting ahold of our secrets? The neocons in the Bush Administration were giving our secrets to him! Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.24.04 @ 11:14 AM CST [ link]
Bushmen who rule the world
By Raffique ShahTHERE was a time when, in criticising successive US governments' foreign policies, I made a clear distinction between the American people and their government and its various agencies. Now I am not so sure there is a clear demarcation between the two. Oh, I know there are millions in America who see George W Bush and his associates for what they are-hypocrites who use God's name to wreak the kind of misery on people less-equal to them in a manner only Satan would. But when all the polls suggest that in the upcoming elections Bush is likely to beat John Kerry, it tells me that many, if not most, Americans, have fallen into the Orwellian mode in which they can be easily manipulated any which way by their misleaders.
Caribbean on 10.24.04 @ 10:09 AM CST [ more..]
Saturday, October 23rd
Now 'mercenaries' face SA law
Free after seven months in Zimbabwe's Chikurubi prison, two suspected mercenaries returned to home to find themselves homeless and facing possible prosecution under South African law. Zimbabwean authorities on Saturday released Pius Kanjowa and Lenatu Eselumu on humanitarian grounds due to ill health. Their lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, said that the Scorpions had indicated that both men would be charged with violating South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.23.04 @ 07:35 PM CST [ link]
Globalisation Not New: Look at the Slave Trade
The following is a keynote speech delivered by famed computer scientist Philip Emeagwali on September 18, 2004, at the Pan-African Conference on Globalization, Washington DC. Globalization – or the ability of many people, ideas and technology to move from country to country – is not new. In Africa, it was initiated by the slave trade and given impetus by colonialism and Christian missionaries. The early missionaries saw African culture and religion as a deadly adversary and as an evil that had to be eliminated. In 1876, a 27-year-old missionary named Mary Slessor emigrated from Scotland to spend the rest of her life in Nigeria. For her efforts in trying to convert the people of Nigeria, Mary Slessor’s photograph appears on Scotland’s ten pound note, and her name can be found on schools, hospitals and roads in Nigeria. Full Article : blackcommentator.com
Tyehimba on 10.23.04 @ 11:59 AM CST [ link]
Presidents express concern about Ivory Coast
The presidents of Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa yesterday expressed their concern over reports reaching them on the persistent deadlock in the peace process in Ivory Coast. The four leaders met in Johannesburg in their capacity as the New Plan for Africa's Development (Nepad) Heads of States and Government Implementation Committee. Full Article : sabcnews.com
Africa on 10.23.04 @ 09:24 AM CST [ link]
Friday, October 22nd
The Promise of Restitution of Indigenous Rights in Venezuela
The arrival of Christopher Columbus was commemorated last week in countries across the Americas except in Venezuela. This past October 12, President Hugo Chavez did not commemorate the arrival of Columbus to this continent in 1492. Instead, Chavez paid homage to 16th Century indigenous chief, Guaicaipuro, at the National Pantheon in Caracas. Chief Guaicaipuro, leader of the Caracas and Teques people, fought against the first Spanish settlements in Venezuela for a period of 10 years during the 1560s. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuela on 10.22.04 @ 10:37 PM CST [ link]
Wealth of a White Nation: Blacks Sink Deeper in Hole
by Black Commentator, blackcommentator.comForget the hoopla and ballyhoo celebrating Black faces in high places. The median net worth of an African American household is about $6,000, while white households wield 14 times as much wealth: more than $88,000. The disastrous details are contained in a report on wealth disparities by the Pew Hispanic Center, "The Wealth of Hispanic Households: 1996 to 2002," but the worst news is for Blacks, one-third of whom have no assets or a negative net worth. The bottom fell out of Black wealth accumulation in the deep recession of 2000 - 2001, a downturn that hurt all ethnic groups, but from which whites and Hispanics rapidly rebounded. Whites recouped their losses from the recession and fattened their holdings by 17 percent between 1996 and 2002. Hispanics boosted their meager household wealth to about $7,900 during that period - still only one eleventh of white households, but almost fully recovering the 27 percent loss they suffered at the turn of the 21st century. Blacks also lost 27 percent of their net worth in 2000 - 2001, but got back only 5 percent in 2002. These African American losses appear near-permanent, the result of the deindustrialization of the United States - the destruction of the Black blue-collar workforce. Full Article : trinicenter.com
USA on 10.22.04 @ 07:55 PM CST [ link]
Zimbabwe: Two mercenaries freed
TWO of the 67 mercenaries jailed at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison were released yesterday on medical grounds, and are expected to be taken to South Africa, their country of residence. Full Article : herald.co.zw
Africa on 10.22.04 @ 05:55 PM CST [ link]
Plans to discredit Zim polls exposed
SOME Western countries and organisations have produced reports to discredit next year’s parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe, Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Stan Mudenge said yesterday. The minister told journalists that the Government was prepared to reject those reports and defend the country against attempts being made by the Western countries and organisations to prejudge and malign the forthcoming polls before they are held. The Government — Cde Mudenge said — had also learnt of manoeuvres by the same organisations and countries to influence the composition of the African Union and Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) observer teams for the elections so that the teams' reports could reflect their preconceived opinions and not the actual facts. Full Article : zimbabweherald.com
Africa on 10.22.04 @ 05:49 PM CST [ link]
Hostage Hassan pleads for her life
A video showing Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped director of aid agency Care International, pleading for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq was today broadcast on Arabic television. The al-Jazeera channel screened footage showing the Dublin-born Ms Hassan, who has lived in Iraq for more than 30 years, weeping as she appealed for help. "Please help me," she begged. "This might be my last hour. Please help me. The British people, tell Mr Blair to take the troops out of Iraq and not bring them here to Baghdad. That's why people like myself and Mr [Kenneth] Bigley have been caught. Please, please, I beg of you." Full Article : guardian.co.uk
UK on 10.22.04 @ 04:39 PM CST [ link]
Strong evidence as Mau Mau file suit against UK
Plans by Mau Mau veterans to sue the British government for reparations have gathered momentum following the completion of the first stage of collecting evidence from former freedom fighters. Nearly 100 former freedom fighters have recorded statements detailing a shocking catalogue of injuries, deaths and injustices meted by colonial forces in the 1950s, The Standard has established. And excitement is building up among members of a team preparing the case, following the impending publication of the first book ever detailing the brutal torture of Mau Mau fighters by the colonial government. Full Article : eastandard.net
Africa on 10.22.04 @ 04:36 PM CST [ link]
South African president to examine white poverty
CAPE TOWN - South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki agreed on Thursday to study data indicating a sharp rise in white poverty, seen by some critics as a consequence of his government's post-apartheid affirmative action policy. A decade after the end of white rule, most of South Africa's wealth remains in the hands of the white minority and the government is driving efforts to empower millions of poor black people. But critics of black economic empowerment say it benefits only a few elite black businesspeople and is not filtering through to the masses, while such policies shut some whites out of jobs and contracts. Mbeki was asked on Thursday to respond to statistics from the University of South Africa's Bureau for Market Research that showed unemployment among white South Africans has increased by 200 per cent since 1994. "If indeed there are consequences of government's actions which are resulting in greater impoverishment, clearly that is something we will have to look at," Mbeki said. Full Article : nzherald.co.nz
Africa on 10.22.04 @ 04:19 PM CST [ link]
Mbeki, Israeli trade head meet
President Thabo Mbeki met Israeli deputy prime minister Ehud Olmert briefly on Friday for talks aimed at helping South Africa find a way to contribute to peace efforts in the Middle East. Olmert's visit has prompted protest from pro-Palestinian groups that accuse the government, which signed trade deals with Israel on Friday, of betraying oppressed Palestinians. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.22.04 @ 03:53 PM CST [ link]
Fears of Zimbabwe-Style Backlash in SA
The land crisis in Zimbabwe had its roots in exactly the same policy that was bedevilling SA's land-reform process, namely an unsustainable market driven approach, a parliamentary committee was told yesterday. On the third and final day of the agriculture and land affairs committee's hearings on the pace of land reform, the belief that it was simply a land grab was contradicted by Nhamo Samasuwo of the Institute for Global Dialogue. He said the same bureaucratic tendencies that bogged down Zimbabwe's land reform in the 1980s were happening in SA. Full Article : rastafarispeaks.com
Africa on 10.22.04 @ 03:47 PM CST [ link]
Thursday, October 21st
South Africa will send military observers to Sudan
South Africa will send 10 military observers to help maintain peace in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region, a government spokesman said Wednesday. The deployment, requested by the African Union and approved Wednesday by South Africa's Cabinet, will last until March 2006, spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said. Full Article : sudantribune.com
Africa on 10.21.04 @ 03:59 PM CST [ link]
The Art of Stealing Elections
by Robert Kuttner The Republicans are out to steal the 2004 election -- before, during, and after Election Day. Before Election Day, they are employing such dirty tricks as improper purges of voter rolls, use of dummy registration groups that tear up Democratic registrations, and the suppression of Democratic efforts to sign up voters, especially blacks and students. On Election Day, Republicans will attempt to intimidate minority voters by having poll watchers threaten criminal prosecution if something is technically amiss with their ID, and they will again use technical mishaps to partisan advantage. But the most serious assault on democracy itself is likely to come after Election Day. Here is a flat prediction: If neither candidate wins decisively, the Bush campaign will contrive enough court challenges in enough states so that we won't know the winner election night. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.21.04 @ 02:01 PM CST [ link]
African leaders deepen dialogue with the EU
The Hague - The European Union offered on Wednesday to help any new election process in Zimbabwe, matching its involvement in Burundi which is organising critical elections early next year. Dutch Development Minister Agnes van Ardenne said she remained concerned about the democratic process in Zimbabwe, even as she welcomed the acquittal on treason charges last Friday of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. "We are very happy that Tsvangirai finally could find justice," Van Ardenne told reporters after meeting a delegation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma also lauded the court ruling in Harare, saying, "there is a justice system in Zimbabwe". Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.21.04 @ 01:52 PM CST [ link]
SA Government will meet MDC this week: Mbeki
President Thabo Mbeki says his government is scheduled to hold talks with the official Zimbabwean opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), this week. Although he did not specify who would be in the delegations or where the talks would be held, he said during question time in the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon that there was "ongoing interaction" and his government had been "regularly in contact with the government (President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF) and the opposition party (Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC)". Full Article : bday.co.za
Africa on 10.21.04 @ 01:50 PM CST [ link]
South Africa hopes for reconciliation in Zimbabwe
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's foreign minister, said today she hoped the acquittal of Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, on treason charges last week would contribute to reconciliation efforts. Zimbabwe's High Court acquitted Tsvangirai last Friday on charges of plotting to assassinate president Robert Mugabe and seize power ahead of a presidential election in 2002. Dlamini-Zuma said: "First of all I think it must indicate to everybody that there is a rule of law in Zimbabwe. There is a justice system that operates freely and so it is indeed a positive thing that he was acquitted. Full Article : sabcnews.com
Africa on 10.21.04 @ 01:48 PM CST [ link]
CARICOM-Haiti-U.S. Relations: Afrocentric View
Haiti emerged on the world's geo-political center-stage in the 19th century. And the three major events that have fashioned and/or molded the island's national identity are the liberation of Haitians from under the yoke of French bondage in 1791, the attainment of independence through revolution on 1 January 1804 led by former slaves Toussaint L'Ouverture, Henri Christophe and Jean Jacques Dessalines and the pro-longed American occupation from 1915-1934. In the 19th century, Haiti "had twenty-six presidents, twenty-five of whom were generals." Governance was implemented to the extent that "power was won with the aid of troops, mobilized for the most part in the (peasant) country areas, which mounted largely bloodless campaigns before defeating their rivals." (Hector and Casimir 2004,20). The unique significance of the Haitian revolution is that it was the first Black Republic in the Western Hemisphere. Full Article : trinicenter.com
Africa on 10.21.04 @ 01:46 PM CST [ link]
Original Glory not out of Greece
In a 1994 interview on Gill Noble's ABC TV programme "Like It Is", New York, deceased African-American renowned historian, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, stated that the most potent phenomenon in the armory of Euro-centric scholarship or Eurocentrism is: "European colonialisation of history;(Europeans) not only colonialised history but (most importantly) they colonialised information about history." As a result, the world has been under the sway of His-Story or the Euro-centric interpretation of world history. Guyanese historian and anthropologist, Dr. Ivan van Sertima, labels sway the European "five hundred year curtain." According to The State of Black South Carolina: An Action Agenda for the Future (1991), this Euro-centric thought-process reached its zenith in the 18th century when a German scholar, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, "helped to create Eurocentrism based on racism, while he was on the faculty of the University of Gottingen in Germany." Winckelmann, "who loved Greece and hated Africa, was helped in his creation of Eurocentrism --- at the expense of African contributions to the world--- by other 18th century racist scholars." Full Article : trinicenter.com
Africa on 10.21.04 @ 01:44 PM CST [ link]
Wednesday, October 20th
Israel more corrupt, third year running
Israel more corrupt, third year running, says corruption index Israel is becoming more and more corrupt for the third year running, according to the recently-released Corruption Perception Index. The international measure of corruption is published by Transparency International and is represented in Israel by the Shvil organization, whose offices are adjacent to the Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv university. Full Article : haaretz.com
USA on 10.20.04 @ 09:28 PM CST [ link]
SA, Israel sign trade accord amid protests
Israeli Deputy PM Ehud Olmert signed an investment treaty at the start of a visit to South Africa slammed by pro-Palestinian groups as a retreat from the struggle for equality embraced by President Thabo Mbeki's government. Full Article : english.aljazeera.netWrong move - poor timing - wrong signals being sent.
Africa on 10.20.04 @ 08:03 PM CST [ link]
U.S. Lifts Arms Embargo on Haiti as Tensions Mount
The U.S. moves to arm its puppet regime in Haiti after supporting the overthrow of Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Of course, the arms are not for the puppet government to protect the country from foreign invaders, like the U.S.. The arms are for the U.S. installed leaders to suppress the majority of poor Black people who oppose the U.S. inspired coup and puppet government. It is to suppress calls for the return of their own democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. -- Ayinde------------------------- WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (IPS) - Amid growing reports of violence in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, the United States announced Tuesday it will consider requests to sell weapons to the country's interim government on a case-by-case basis, signalling the end to a 13-year arms embargo. The decision, confirmed by the State Department, appears designed to begin supplying weapons to the 2,500-man police force that has carried out gun battles with militants loyal to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was flown into exile aboard a U.S.-chartered jet earlier this year. The police, however, have also been accused of firing on peaceful pro-Aristide demonstrators and rounding up well-known leaders of Aristide's political movement, Lavalas. Human rights group Amnesty International (AI) on Tuesday denounced last week's arrest of the Reverend Gerard Jean-Juste while the priest was distributing food to hundreds of children and poor people at a church in a Port-au-Prince suburb. According to testimony gathered by the London-based group, Jean-Juste was punched while being dragged out of the presbytery by police officers, some of who were wearing masks. Full Article : ipsnews.net
Caribbean on 10.20.04 @ 07:53 PM CST [ link]
The ugly American
www.newsday.co.ttTHE BLINKERED arrogance of George Bush and the support he still enjoys among a large section of the United States press and population provide us with telling insights into what we may call the American mentality. Essentially, the message they send is this: We are the world's only superpower, Bush is our President and Commander in Chief. We can do what the hell we want and those who don't like it can stuff it! Instead of holding the President and his team of warmongers accountable for the horror and chaos they have created by their unjustified and illegal invasion of Iraq, Bush is still being hailed as a strong leader who is needed by the US to prosecute the war against terrorism.
Caribbean on 10.20.04 @ 09:42 AM CST [ more..]
Africa must steer clear of GM crops
President Yoweri Museveni says he is now sufficiently mobilised to accept the growing of genetically modified crops in Uganda. By implication, Monsanto which has been operating in Uganda for some years can now formalise its presence here. Officially we are on the commercial agro-biotech band wagon. In March last year, the Washington Post reported that Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta and Dow Agrosciences had agreed to share their technology with African scientists "in a broad attempt to increase food production on that continent where mass starvation is a recurrent threat". Simply put, the 'big four', known more for the harsh measures they are willing to take to maintain a stranglehold on the world's food chain than for their philanthropy, are suddenly willing to donate patent rights, seed varieties and laboratory technology to help Africa. Why am I not excited? Full Article : newvision.co.ug
Africa on 10.20.04 @ 09:26 AM CST [ link]
Acquittal proves Zim critics wrong
THE acquittal of the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai of high treason charges by the High Court last week has shown the impartiality of the country’s judiciary and left the opposition party with no political trump card. The judiciary system has for a long time comeunder attack from fierce Government critics who have in the past held the view that it was not independent and influenced by the Executive in the discharge of its duties. Tsvangirai, who himself said he was surprised by his acquittal, and the MDC had hoped for a conviction to appear as if he was being persecuted and seek sympathy from their Western masters as well as gain political mileage. Tsvangirai is still facing another charge of treason for allegedly inciting his party supporters to march to State House to overthrow the President during the so-called "Final Push" in June last year. Full Article : zimbabweherald.com
Africa on 10.20.04 @ 08:50 AM CST [ link]
An Engineered Excuse for Killing Iraqis
Kurt Nimmo
October 17, 2004It's now obvious: the United States will continue to use Abu Musab al-Zarqawi—dead, alive, or fictional—as a pretext to bomb Fallujah and punish its citizens for the crime of resisting Allawi's puppet government (called the "interim" government by the corporate press) and the U.S. occupation, even though a U.S. military intelligence report issued last week revealed that al-Zarqawi is not nor has he ever been in Fallujah.
USA on 10.20.04 @ 01:54 AM CST [ more..]
It took Jon Stewart to gun down Crossfire
Last Friday afternoon, when comedian Jon Stewart called CNN Crossfire co-host Tucker Carlson a body part exclusive to men, maybe half a million viewers finally saw an honest moment on this program. Too bad. While it was not the first time ever on TV that the American media punditocracy was ripped for its failures, it was probably the most satisfying. That's because it was live, and Stewart confronted the enemy head-on, instead of mocking it from his Daily Show perch where he anchors his celebrated "fake news" program. No wonder more than a million people have downloaded video of the exchange. (Try onegoodmove.org or mediamatters.org.) In fact, due to traffic, some websites crashed. Full Article : thestar.com
USA on 10.20.04 @ 12:22 AM CST [ link]
Bush Receives Endorsement From Iran
TEHRAN, Iran - The head of Iran's security council said Tuesday that the re-election of President Bush was in Tehran's best interests, despite the administration's axis of evil label, accusations that Iran harbors al-Qaida terrorists and threats of sanctions over the country's nuclear ambitions. Historically, Democrats have harmed Iran more than Republicans, said Hasan Rowhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security decision-making body. Full Article : news.yahoo.comOsama and al-Qaeda also endorse Bush.
Bush is now the world's biggest terrorist. He leads the best terrorist recruitment drive. Osama can now relax and leave Bush to continue making more people hate America. Typical Americans, they just got to do it bigger, even if it is terrorism.
USA on 10.20.04 @ 12:14 AM CST [ link]
Tuesday, October 19th
Land restitution to cost state R13-billion
An estimated R13 billion will have to be spent by the government to complete land restitution in South Africa, Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza said on Tuesday. She told reporters after attending the commercial agriculture working group meeting at the Union Buildings in Pretoria that this figure only considered restitution and did not include money required for land redistribution projects. She said despite an agreement from agricultural unions that land restitution needed to be completed as quickly as possible in order not to prolong the pain and uncertainty caused by the process, there was doubt whether the December 2005 deadline set by the government would be met. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.19.04 @ 10:14 PM CST [ link]
Public Hearings On Land Reform Underway
BuaNews (Pretoria)
by Nombini MatomelaCape Town Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza says people need to appreciate the progress made in land reform, especially in the first five years of this country's democracy. Minister Didiza presented a brief overview on the developments regarding land reform in the country at public hearings underway at Parliament yesterday. During the next two days, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs will hear public submissions on the pace of land reform in the country ten years into democracy.
Africa on 10.19.04 @ 10:05 PM CST [ more..]
African American Voters Face Sadly Familiar Obstacles to Voting
African American Voters Face Sadly Familiar Obstacles to Voting, Says Swarthmore College Voting ExpertSWARTHMORE, Oct. 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- The voting rights of some African Americans are still partially abridged, contrary to the 15th Amendment, now more than 130 years old. The problem will affect the 2004 presidential election and raises the possibility yet again of a presidential election outcome being connected to some rate of minority vote suppression, says a Swarthmore College voting expert. "African Americans are very loyal to the Democratic party," says Professor of Political Science Richard Valelly '75, the author of a new book on the struggle for black enfranchisement. "Due to the residential hypersegregation that still exists in the U.S., pro-Republican operatives seeking to keep some number of black voters away from the polls know where to run their so-called 'ballot security' programs -- such things as leaflets with false warnings about ID requirements and the penalties for failing to meet them, or fake phone calls purporting to be from the NAACP telling elderly people to stay home. These programs have been around for decades, and unfortunately they have been connected to the Republican party." Full Article : ascribe.org
USA on 10.19.04 @ 01:04 PM CST [ link]
Developed countries taking money back from Africa: UN
UN FES24 United Nations, Oct 19 (PTI) United Nations has said that developed countries were taking the money back in the form of debt and other repayments while subsidising their own agricultural exports to the detriment of Africa's farmers, even though they have increased their aid to the continent's agricultural sector. Talking to reporters, Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari said in the cotton trade alone, three countries - Burkina Faso, Benin and Mali -were losing some 11 billion dollars because of European and North American subsidies for their own agricultural exports. He called for greater policy coherence among Africa's development partners, as well as better alignment of the UN's work with New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Later this week, in the margins of the General Assembly, Annan's high-level advisory panel on support for NEPAD would meet, Gambari said. He pointed out that reports on the tragic events in Sudan, Liberia and Ctte d'Ivoire have not allowed space for positive coverage of the continent, including the efforts of the countries themselves to move forward. He said while 11 countries had been embroiled in civil conflict in 1998, when the UN's first report on the matter had come out, by now "only a few states were involved in armed conflict" - Ctte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Liberia and perhaps Burundi. The peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone is being drawn down in recognition that developments in that West African country were going fairly well, Gambari said. PTI source : ptinews.com
Africa on 10.19.04 @ 12:35 PM CST [ link]
500 years on, Spanish region tries to evict the Moors again
Authorities in the Spanish region of Aragon, whose kings helped evict the Moors from Spain 500 years ago, has stirred controversy by suggesting that the severed heads of four Moors should be removed from its heraldic shield. The heads have upset the semi-autonomous region's growing population of Muslim immigrants, provoking its socialist administration to propose that the heads be erased from its bottom left-hand quarter. Full Article : guardian.co.uk
Spain on 10.19.04 @ 11:06 AM CST [ link]
Monday, October 18th
You've got to dig capitalism up and replace it
There's few enough people doing things for the right reasons. Bringing people together to fight capitalism—I’m into that. But I'm into learning as well. I need to know more of what it's about, and shape my own beliefs. A lot of the issues surrounding Third World debt and loans to countries involves keeping things as they are, rather than completely dismantling a system a majority of people find horrific. We need radical change. That's what I'm into and I think that's the only solution. Full Article : socialistworker.co.uk
USA on 10.18.04 @ 09:37 PM CST [ link]
Marcus Garvey the theologian
Everytime Heroes Day is celebrated we seem to be afraid to express the view that our first National Hero Marcus Garvey, was the paramount Liberation theologian who demonstrated that you did not have to use Marxist analysis to analyse social phenomena, because, the praxis of racial consciousness was very evident in the sermon he preached on Easter Sunday, entitled, "The resurrection of the negro". Theologically, Marcus Garvey applied contextual reflections to show that the black person has to see the person of God in his or her own eyes. He realised that the conscious reality of the oppressive economic system will create, inevitably, a mental consciousness. This is classic Anglican theology with regard to the doctrine of the Incarnation, where God became enfleshed in a true human person, Jesus Christ. His advanced contextual theology became very real when he appointed an Anglican priest as the first bishop of the African Orthodox Church, because he felt that McGuire would understand that psychologically you had to create a religious structure that could comprehend race consciousness and identity. Full Article : jamaicaobserver.com
Caribbean on 10.18.04 @ 07:45 PM CST [ link]
Friendly Dictators
Written in 1995U.S. State Department Policy Planning Study #23, 1948: Our real task... is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity [U.S. military- economic supremacy]... To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming... We should cease to talk about vague and...unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization... we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better. --George Kennan, Director of Policy Planning. U.S. State Department. 1948Many of the world's most repressive dictators have been friends of America. Tyrants, torturers, killers, and sundry dictators and corrupt puppet-presidents have been aided, supported, and rewarded handsomely for their loyalty to US interests. Traditional dictators seize control through force, while constitutional dictators hold office through voting fraud or severely restricted elections, and are frequently puppets and apologists for the military juntas which control the ballot boxes. In any case, none have been democratically elected by the majority of their people in fair and open elections. Full Article : informationclearinghouse.info
USA on 10.18.04 @ 07:11 PM CST [ link]
The battle for the Holocaust legacy
And now it turns out that I am not the only one who has been quietly irritated by the museum's existence. Norman Finkelstein, a professor at Columbia University in New York, has just published a book whose title reflects something a bit more robust than quiet irritation: The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Full Article : focal.org
USA on 10.18.04 @ 05:42 PM CST [ link]
The connections between racism and revolution
It's hard to imagine that the US left was once “colour blind”. Race is such a central political question in the US that even President George Bush — who gives campaign speeches in Spanish — dare not ignore the question. But US radicals in the early part of the 20th century abstained completely on the race question. Organised in the Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World, activists believed that the struggle of Black workers was just another battle between bosses and workers, refusing to acknowledge any special features. US capitalism was founded - and continues to depend - on pervasive, vicious racism. This is why, despite making important gains through struggle, African Americans have been unable to achieve racial justice. Full Article : greenleft.org.au
USA on 10.18.04 @ 12:39 PM CST [ link]
SA export values and volumes grow despite strong rand
Speaking on her return from Europe, Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), said the export performance for the first nine months of the year would seem to suggest that volumes for 2004 would grow by at least 14% on last year's 237 million litres, instead of the 11% initially projected. Last year, volumes grew 10% on 2002. Expressing cautious optimism she said: "After ten years of international trading, South African wines have come into their own among consumers in Europe. No longer do we have to sell the country as a wine producer before focusing on the wines themselves. Our reputation comes ahead of us. However, the challenge will be to build volumes and simultaneously protect margins." Full Article : wine.co.za
Africa on 10.18.04 @ 11:30 AM CST [ link]
South Africa rejects Haitian claim - Pahad
The government says it "takes strong exception" to an accusation that President Thabo Mbeki has failed to respect international law by allegedly allowing deposed Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to incite violence in his homeland from South Africa. "The South African government rejects with contempt the attack on the integrity of President Mbeki, and dismisses the insinuation that its territory is being used as a springboard by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to destabilise Haiti through violent means," Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said. No evidence existed to back up the claim that Aristide was involved in any activities aimed at the destabilisation of Haiti. According to media reports earlier on Monday, the accusation was made by Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who was quoted as saying "no respectable president would allow a person in his territory to organise violence in another. Mr Mbeki is not respecting international law". Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.18.04 @ 11:25 AM CST [ link]
Any means necessary
In the 60s, police dogs and billy clubs kept black Americans from the polls. Today's methods are more refined "Freedom is on the retreat. And the man who assumed office four years ago thanks to thousands of disenfranchised black voters is again leading the charge." Full Article : guardian.co.uk
USA on 10.18.04 @ 06:24 AM CST [ link]
Sunday, October 17th
Yankees are blind to blundering Bush
Why do so many Americans still support George W. Bush after all those damning revelations about Iraq? That's the question I'm invariably asked when abroad. Former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, in his superb, must-read new book, Where the Right Went Wrong, provides some answers. "In 2003," he writes, "the U.S. invaded a country that did not threaten us, had not attacked us and did not want war with us, to disarm it of weapons we have since discovered it did not have." White House assurances that U.S. troops would be greeted in Iraq with flowers were as laughable as its pledges Mideast peace and democracy would ensue. Full Article : canoe.ca
USA on 10.17.04 @ 08:12 PM CST [ link]
Two Americas
So the debates are over, and by the polls John Kerry decisively won all three - not a startling achievement, admittedly, for an educated man pitted against this particular incumbent. Bush himself (in what was not a confession but a roughneck's boast) once declared that he didn't read the papers. But the defining moment of his presidency, to this columnist, was those seven minutes on 9-11 during which, having been told that America was under attack, the president remained sitting there in that Florida classroom pretending to listen to children reading. 'Pretending to listen' doesn't mean Mr Bush was thinking. No - what Mr Bush was doing, that fateful morning, was trying to think. (The reader wishing to verify this should get hold of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911, now out on DVD.) For, faced with the enormity of what he'd just been told, you could see the gears in that long-disused brain grinding and seizing, the electrical impulses balking at the synapses. In default, they left on the president's face an expression of the saddest vacuity - for vacuity in homo sapiens is always sad. In that mortal crisis, in Mr Bush's head, many things were trying to happen - and couldn't. Watch the film of those seven minutes if you don't believe me. Full Article : jamaicaobserver.com
USA on 10.17.04 @ 08:11 PM CST [ link]
Not my responsibility - farmer
By Kenneth ChikangaBenoni farmer Braam Duvenhage does not believe that his Modderklip farm in the Ekurhuleni unicity should be a test case for land reform and restitution in South Africa. After all, recent media reports say that since the turn of democracy in 1994, South Africa is dealing with at least 27 000 land claims, of which 9 000 are complex rural claims. Most of them are complicated by history, apartheid-era legislation, ancestry and land ownership, modern agricultural and environment needs, sustainability and future (re)settlement patterns. Yet at 72, Duvenhage wants to see justice done, even though he has retired in Bela Bela. Full Article : busrep.co.za
Africa on 10.17.04 @ 05:56 PM CST [ link]
Blacks are urged to preserve their legacy
Blacks are urged to preserve their legacy, identity Ideas sought for local repositoryThe former director of the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center in Cincinnati yesterday called Toledo's efforts to establish a repository for African-American history critical in properly telling the story of how blacks arrived and lived in northwest Ohio. The African-American Legacy Project was started two years ago with little money and only a handful of educators and community supporters, said founder Robert Smith. Yesterday, organizers held their first event at the Owens-Illinois auditorium to garner public support. Full Article : toledoblade.com
USA on 10.17.04 @ 05:54 PM CST [ link]
Out of Africa, but then back for the good life
Hundreds of thousands of educated Africans have left the continent to escape poverty and high unemployment, and millions more yearn to leave. But some are also moving in the opposite direction - attracted by lower costs of living, the desire to be close to family and the chance to take on more senior positions than they'd likely get abroad. Full Article : thestar.com
Africa on 10.17.04 @ 05:48 PM CST [ link]
How Africa is courting its exiles
On the fringes of the European Social Forum in London, people of African descent are holding their own conference - and discussing how Africa could benefit from their achievements. Suddenly Africa is wooing its exiles. Some of the continent's best brains, and deepest pockets are in London, Paris or New York, not in Lagos or Nairobi. Add in all the people of African descent, black Americans, the population of the Caribbean and large parts of Brazil, and Africa has millions of prosperous and influential people potentially on its side. Full Article : news.bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.17.04 @ 05:45 PM CST [ link]
Threatment of women slammed
Addis Ababa - Violent treatment of women in Ethiopia and denial of development opportunities for them "is a national disgrace", World Bank chief James Wolfensohn said on Sunday. Ethiopian women often are victims of female genital mutilation and bear the brunt of poverty, poor health care and lack of education. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.17.04 @ 05:37 PM CST [ link]
Africa leaders seek Darfur peace
A summit of African leaders has opened in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, aimed at finding a solution to the crisis in the Sudanese region of Darfur. The leaders of Libya, Chad, Egypt, Nigeria and Sudan are discussing how to end fighting involving government forces, militias and rebel groups. Full Article : news.bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.17.04 @ 05:34 PM CST [ link]
Trinidad Raises First Offshore Gas Rig
LA BREA, Trinidad -- A stone's throw from the spot where British explorer Sir Walter Raleigh happened upon a vast lake of tar in 1595, workers now build the first offshore natural gas drilling platform designed and constructed in a Caribbean country. Full Article : seattlepi.nwsource.com
Caribbean on 10.17.04 @ 04:30 PM CST [ link]
James gets unique honour
09 October, 2004 Tribute has been paid in London to Caribbean intellectual and political activist, the late CLR James. James was honoured with a blue plaque, which was placed on the house in Brixton where he spent the last years of his life. Full Article : bbc.co.uk
UK on 10.17.04 @ 09:51 AM CST [ link]
Saturday, October 16th
China, India fight for African oil
SINGAPORE: China is scouring the world to secure more crude oil after record imports this year to fuel its projected strong but moderating economic growth in 2005, oil officials and analysts say. Chinese state oil traders forecast a rise of up to 20 percent, or more than 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), on top of the 2.5 million bpd it is buying now. "We are hard pressed to fill that up from different sources," said a trader with Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner. The Beijing-controlled state oil company is touting a new crude procurement strategy under the slogan: "Stabilising supply from the Middle East, develop Africa and explore the Caspian and neighbouring regions." "China is getting into a global grasp, working up the whole world," said Al Troner, president of Seattle-based Asia Pacific Energy Consulting Inc. Full Article : taipeitimes.com
Haiti on 10.16.04 @ 10:24 PM CST [ link]
China scrambles to secure oil to meet demand
SINGAPORE: China is scouring the world to secure more crude oil after record imports this year to fuel its projected strong but moderating economic growth in 2005, oil officials and analysts say. Chinese state oil traders forecast a rise of up to 20 percent, or more than 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), on top of the 2.5 million bpd it is buying now. "We are hard pressed to fill that up from different sources," said a trader with Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner. The Beijing-controlled state oil company is touting a new crude procurement strategy under the slogan: "Stabilising supply from the Middle East, develop Africa and explore the Caspian and neighbouring regions." "China is getting into a global grasp, working up the whole world," said Al Troner, president of Seattle-based Asia Pacific Energy Consulting Inc. Full Article : dailytimes.com.pk
Haiti on 10.16.04 @ 10:21 PM CST [ link]
Haiti's escalating violence
UN officials, aid workers and journalists all agree that the security situation in Haiti - the key to the country's political stability - is getting worse. The capital, Port-au-Prince, has been scene to frequent gun battles and even beheadings over the last few days, and at least 45 people have been killed. In the northern town of Gonaives, ravaged by floods last month, violent attacks are disrupting the relief efforts. Full Article : news.bbc.co.uk
Haiti on 10.16.04 @ 10:13 PM CST [ link]
Africa needs Europe's help with peacekeeping
Efforts by industrialized countries to train troops from Africa in peacekeeping are welcome but cannot substitute for those nations deploying their own forces to the continent, the senior United Nations peacekeeping official said today. Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guéhenno pointed out that in the last decade more than 6 million Africans have died directly or indirectly as a result of conflict. "What is happening now in Darfur is, in some ways, just the latest episode of a story of poverty and conflict that stretches back across much of the continent for almost half a century." Full Article : keralanext.comWhat Africa needs is funds via Reparations to do its own peacekeeping.
Africa on 10.16.04 @ 12:05 PM CST [ link]
Platoon defies orders in Iraq
Miss. soldier calls home, cites safety concernsA 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson, Miss., and around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a "suicide mission" to deliver fuel, the troops’ relatives said Thursday. The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq - north of Baghdad - because their vehicles were considered "deadlined" or extremely unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook. Full Article : navytimes.com
kristine on 10.16.04 @ 09:57 AM CST [ link]
Israeli tail wags American dog
In a U.S. election campaign that is more about foreign policy than any presidential race in decades, one issue is completely off-limits: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. George W. Bush and John Kerry both back Israel 100 per cent, and neither man will offer a single word of criticism about Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan, even though it means abandoning the notion of a peace settlement. Once again, the Israeli tail is wagging the American dog. Last week, Sharon's chief of staff and most trusted adviser, Dov Weisglass, indulged in a carefully calculated indiscretion in an interview with the newspaper Ha'aretz. "The 'disengagement' is actually formaldehyde," he said. "It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians." Perfectly true, of course, and yet it was a shocking thing to say out loud. Full Article : indymedia.org
USA on 10.16.04 @ 08:10 AM CST [ link]
The president's real goal in Iraq
The official story on Iraq has never made sense. The connection that the Bush administration has tried to draw between Iraq and al-Qaida has always seemed contrived and artificial. In fact, it was hard to believe that smart people in the Bush administration would start a major war based on such flimsy evidence. The pieces just didn't fit. Something else had to be going on; something was missing. In recent days, those missing pieces have finally begun to fall into place. As it turns out, this is not really about Iraq. It is not about weapons of mass destruction, or terrorism, or Saddam, or U.N. resolutions. This war, should it come, is intended to mark the official emergence of the United States as a full-fledged global empire, seizing sole responsibility and authority as planetary policeman. It would be the culmination of a plan 10 years or more in the making, carried out by those who believe the United States must seize the opportunity for global domination, even if it means becoming the "American imperialists" that our enemies always claimed we were. Full Article : informationclearinghouse.info
USA on 10.16.04 @ 08:02 AM CST [ link]
Friday, October 15th
FBI Shutdown of Indymedia Threatens Free Speech
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
October 15, 2004 In a chilling attack on free speech, U.S. authorities on October 7 seized two internet servers in London belonging to the independent media network Indymedia. More than 20 Indymedia sites around the world were taken down as a result of the raid. The servers were returned on October 14, but no formal charges have been announced and no explanation has been given for the raid. FBI spokesperson Joe Parris told Agence France Presse that the raid was "not an FBI operation" but that the FBI issued the subpoena on behalf of Italy and Switzerland (10/8/04). U.S. authorities have refused to comment further. Rackspace, the U.S.-based company that hosts the Indymedia servers at its London offices, revealed in a press release that the subpoena was issued "pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), which establishes procedures for countries to assist each other in investigations such as international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering." Rackspace told Indymedia that they could not reveal any information about the subpoena—apparently the result of a gag order (Indymedia, 10/7/04).
USA on 10.15.04 @ 11:49 PM CST [ more..]
Why Do Bush and Kerry Fear Hugo Chavez?
By Katherine LaheyThe US government and Presidential candidate John Kerry have announced that President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, is a threat to the United States. What is most ironic is that while using a different framework through which to analyze this statement, this is true. The vision of Hugo Chavez and the strong community organizing of the Venezuelan people little by little destroys the corrupt, imperialist, and repressive vision and practice of the US government and its capacity to intervene in the affairs of the people, minimizing their efforts to control the beloved nation called Venezuela. In fact, it transforms their framework while resisting it- that is why recently Colin Powell announced after the referendum that the US, while in "disagreement" over policies and ideology, will find ways in which to cooperate with the Venezuelan government. The work of the people makes it even more impossible for the US government to execute its plan to rule by a foreign hand, buying officials within while foreign banks come to partake in the fruits of the capitalist machine of globalization that has destroyed so many lives and so many countries. However, they continue to sing the cry of threat and danger, their fingers pointed toward Hugo Chavez, the leader of the resistance against neoliberalism and imperialism. Full Article : counterpunch.org
USA on 10.15.04 @ 08:32 PM CST [ link]
U.N. rips Israel for rights violations
JERUSALEM -- Israel is guilty of severe human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including "wanton destruction" of Palestinian homes, according to a U.N. report obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. The 18-page report was prepared by John Dugard, the U.N. representative for human rights and charges that while some of Israel's actions can be explained by security concerns, many cannot. During operations in the Gaza Strip, Israel engaged in "massive and wanton destruction of property," the report said. "Bulldozers have destroyed homes in a purposeless manner and have savagely dug up roads, including electricity, sewage and water lines." Full Article : seattlepi.nwsource.com
USA on 10.15.04 @ 07:33 PM CST [ link]
How to Stop the War
Francis Fox Piven Says It Takes More Than Elections Millions of Americans and others demonstrated against the invasion of Iraq in the last months before it occurred, 10 million around the world on one particular day, in what dissident intellectual Noam Chomsky described as the most significant showing of opposition to war at such an early stage in living memory. Yet all that failed to stop the war or even produce a bona fide antiwar candidate for president, at least not a major party nominee. This has discouraged many protestors, particularly among the impressive proportions of first-timers. When, they ask, will we ever have a better chance to win? If we couldn't stop this one, what's the use of even trying? Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.15.04 @ 07:04 PM CST [ link]
Reparations in Reverse
Next week, something will happen that will unmask the upside-down morality of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. On October 21, Iraq will pay $200-million in war reparations to some of the richest countries and corporations in the world. If that seems backwards, it's because it is. Iraqis have never been awarded reparations for any of the crimes they have suffered under Saddam, or the brutal sanctions regime that claimed the lives of at least half a million people, or the U.S.-led invasion, which United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Anan recently called "illegal." Instead, Iraqis are still being forced to pay reparations for crimes committed by their former dictator. Full Article : nologo.org
USA on 10.15.04 @ 07:01 PM CST [ link]
Poll Reveals World Anger at Bush
Eight out of 10 countries favor Kerry for president by Alan Travis George Bush has squandered a wealth of sympathy around the world towards America since September 11 with public opinion in 10 leading countries - including some of its closest allies - growing more hostile to the United States while he has been in office. According to a survey, voters in eight out of the 10 countries, including Britain, want to see the Democrat challenger, John Kerry, defeat President Bush in next month's US presidential election. The poll, conducted by 10 of the world's leading newspapers, including France's Le Monde, Japan's Asahi Shimbun, Canada's La Presse, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Guardian, also shows that on balance world opinion does not believe that the war in Iraq has made a positive contribution to the fight against terror. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.15.04 @ 06:58 PM CST [ link]
Zim opposition chief acquitted
Harare - The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party Morgan Tsvangirai, who was accused of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, was on Friday acquitted of treason by the High Court in Harare. "The state has not been able to prove high treason beyond reasonable doubt," said Judge Paddington Garwe pronouncing the verdict. The news came after a morning of high tension outside the Harare High Court. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.15.04 @ 11:50 AM CST [ link]
Parties react to Tsvangirai's acquittal
Official opposition leader Tony Leon on Friday welcomed the news that Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had been found not guilty of treason. The ruling was made by the Harare High Court earlier on Friday. Leon said by telephone that it was "very good news". "The charges, the trial verged on the preposterous. It does at least show that there are still vestiges of the rule of law in Zimbabwe. Full Article : bday.co.za
Africa on 10.15.04 @ 11:48 AM CST [ link]
New Malaria Vaccine May Be Lifesaver for Africa
After more than two decades of research, scientists said Thursday that they had found the first effective vaccine against malaria. Trials in Africa showed that the vaccine blocked almost half of new infections in young children and reduced serious disease by nearly 60%. Experts termed the results a major breakthrough in efforts to tame a disease that afflicts 400 million people each year, killing 1 million to 3 million - most of them children in Africa. Malaria is the leading killer of children under age 5 and ranks with AIDS and tuberculosis on the list of the world's most lethal diseases. Full Article : ktla.trb.com
Africa on 10.15.04 @ 11:44 AM CST [ link]
Africa braces itself for AIDS time bomb
Africa must brace itself for an AIDS time bomb as 8,000 people are infected with HIV a day in the region worst hit by the pandemic, the United Nations warned Thursday. Seventy per cent of the 45 million people worldwide infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa - even though the region is home to only 11 per cent of the world's population, said a fund set up to combat three of the world's most devastating diseases Full Article : brunei-online.com
Africa on 10.15.04 @ 11:42 AM CST [ link]
Somaliland leader rejects unity with Somalia
The president of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland said on Friday his administration will only negotiate with Somalia if it is for the recognition of their respective states' sovereignty. "Somaliland's independence is sacred and efforts to discuss Somaliland uniting with Somalia are futile and a waste of time," President Dahir Riyale Kahin said by telephone from Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, on Friday. Somaliland unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of Somalia in May 1991, five months after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled. But despite developing the tools of statehood, including a flag and currency, and enjoying relative peace compared with Somalia, the breakaway state has not been recognised by the international community. Kahin said: "If Somaliland were to abandon its existence as a free nation in the world, then there would be no reason why it declared its independence. "I have the full support of my people to stick to our freedom. It is good for Somalia and Somaliland to recognise each other and to make our region a peaceful place." Full Article : mg.co.za
Africa on 10.15.04 @ 11:41 AM CST [ link]
Africa Salutes Rebirth of Somalia
by Bernard Namunane
The Nation (Nairobi)History was made as 11 heads of government witnessed the rebirth of the Republic of Somalia in Nairobi, yesterday - and declared it to be a triumph for Africa. Host President Kibaki set the tone when he declared the swearing-in of the new Somalia president to be a day of victory for Somalia and for Africa. "It is a great moment of joy for us," he added. And the message for the newly elected president of a newly unified country, Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, was the same from all the heads of state, the envoys, the dignitaries and the ordinary people who flocked to Kasarani to witness his inauguration:
Africa on 10.15.04 @ 11:36 AM CST [ more..]
Thursday, October 14th
Blair not Africa's messiah
THE Tony Blair-initiated Africa Commission can best be described as one of the many ploys by the West to undermine existing homegrown forums that are better placed to bring solutions to problems in Africa. Several delegates to the just-ended two-day meeting for the Africa Commission held in Ethiopia concurred that the Africa Commission, barely a year-old, was unlikely to come to any radical conclusions about how the continent can escape from problems that it currently faces. In light of the problems facing Africa and the range of previous political declarations by African governments against existing and still unfulfilled promises by industrialised countries, millions of people are sceptical over the need for, and usefulness of, the commission. The scepticism is aggravated by the way the United Kingdom and European Union have ignored African governments in the World Trade Organisation and pushed for policies that undermine the economies of developing countries. Full Article : zimbabweherald.com
Africa on 10.14.04 @ 10:32 AM CST [ link]
Anti-Zim report: UN body admits erring
From Munyaradzi Huni in ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia THE United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has conceded that correct procedures were not followed when the report claiming there was lack of good governance in Zimbabwe was compiled. It has, through its executive secretary Dr Amoako, instructed the team that compiled the report to redo the process in order to get the true picture of the situation in Zimbabwe. Dr Amoako said ECA would give Zimbabwe an addendum to indicate that the report that was presented at the Fourth African Development Forum was compiled before correct procedures were followed. Full Article : zimbabweherald.com
Africa on 10.14.04 @ 10:19 AM CST [ link]
Iraq War Most Misguided Policy Since Vietnam
Security Scholars Say Iraq War Most Misguided Policy Since Vietnam by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON – The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has been the "most misguided" policy since the Vietnam War, according to an open letter signed by some 500 U.S. national-security specialists. The letter, released Tuesday by a Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy (S3FP), said that the current situation in Iraq could have been much better had the Bush administration heeded the advice of some of its most experienced career military and foreign service officers. But the administration's failure to do so has actually fueled "the violent opposition to the U.S. military presence," as well as the intervention of terrorists from outside Iraq. "The results of this policy have been overwhelmingly negative for U.S. interests," according to the group which called for a "fundamental reassessment" in both the U.S. strategy in Iraq and its implementation. "We're advising the administration, which is already in a deep hole, to stop digging," said Prof. Barry Posen, the Ford International Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the organizers of S3FP which includes some of the most eminent U.S. experts on both national-security policy and on the Middle East and the Arab world. Among the signers are six of the last seven presidents of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and professors teach in more than 150 colleges and universities in 40 states. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.14.04 @ 09:59 AM CST [ link]
Nigerian senate ratifies extradition treaty with SA
The Nigerian senate has ratified an extradition treaty with South Africa to facilitate the repatriation of crime suspects taking refuge in either country, officials said on Thursday. The treaty, which had earlier been endorsed by the Nigerian Cabinet, now has to be approved by the House of Representatives to be binding. Full Article : mg.co.za
Africa on 10.14.04 @ 09:51 AM CST [ link]
Thatcher 'will get fair trial'
Cape Town - Sir Mark Thatcher will have a fair trial in Equatorial Guinea (EG) should he be extradited because of his alleged role in the planned coup attempt. This was the assurance given by Ndaba Makhubele, director of international affairs at the department of justice and constitutional development, in court documents presented to the High Court in Cape Town. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.14.04 @ 09:49 AM CST [ link]
Equatorial Guinea warns UK it can play tough
London - Britain could lose contracts worth more than a billion pounds because of its failure to investigate the alleged involvement of British-based businessmen in a bungled coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, The Times newspaper said on Thursday. A delegation from the central African country were in London this week lobbying London to prosecute eight British-based businessmen, including disgraced former Conservative politician Lord Jeffrey Archer, it said. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.14.04 @ 09:47 AM CST [ link]
Wednesday, October 13th
Amnesty International: A False Beacon?
By Paul De RooijGiven the current escalation of Israeli depredations in Gaza and the daily US bombings of Falluja, it is interesting to examine Amnesty International's (AI) statements on the situation. AI is widely viewed as an authority on human rights issues, and thus it is of interest to analyze its output on these recent events. Careful scrutiny of AI's record reveals that, its typical response to the daily obscene deeds by either Israeli or US armies is a few barely audible ruminations with an occasional lame rebuke. The impotence of these responses raises many questions. Full Article : counterpunch.org
USA on 10.13.04 @ 09:14 PM CST [ link]
Scientists search Chinese site for evidence of early man
Scientists have started drilling holes into the ground around the Peking Man site near Beijing in hopes of finding more relics from the ancient representative of the human race. The project, jointly conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Electricite de France, aims to drill nine holes of up to 30 metres in depth, the Xinhua news agency reported. Full Article : abc.net.au
USA on 10.13.04 @ 07:02 PM CST [ link]
Bitter-Sweet Harvest: Afghanistan's New War
You need not go far from the southern city of Kandahar, the former spiritual stronghold of the Taliban, to find poppy fields. A 20-minute drive away, farmer Mahbub is busy harvesting his crop, despite the Interim Authority's ban in January 2002 on poppy cultivation. Sap from the poppies is turned into opium - a class-A drug sold for millions of US dollars worldwide. "There is no way I will stop growing poppies unless you can offer me an alternative crop which will give me the same amount of money," Mahbub told IRIN, scraping the sap from a poppy head, which is then refined into the lethal drug. Full Article : irinnews.org
Africa on 10.13.04 @ 03:04 PM CST [ link]
Aids spreading to rural Africa
Addis Ababa - Africa's farmers and rural communities have become the forgotten victims of HIV/Aids, health experts and political leaders from the across the continent were told on Tuesday at a conference in Addis Ababa. Rural communities are being torn apart while the bulk of Aids prevention and support work focuses on the continent's cities, according to speakers at the United Nations Commission on HIV/Aids and Governance in Africa (CHGA). Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.13.04 @ 01:33 PM CST [ link]
Air Zimbabwe to launch flight to China
Zimbabwe's national carrier, Air Zimbabwe, is set to introduce a direct flight to Beijing, China via Singapore before the end of the year, the New Ziana news agency reported on Tuesday. The country's Transport and Communications permanent secretary, Karikoga Kaseke was quoted as saying he could confirm that Zimbabwean government was expecting the introduction of the flight. Full Article : chinadaily.com.cn
Africa on 10.13.04 @ 11:59 AM CST [ link]
Zimbabwe Oppn leader in court ahead of crunch treason ruling
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai appeared before a magistrate's court on Wednesday for a remand hearing on a second set of treason charges, two days before a ruling on a charge of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe. Full Article : hindustantimes.com
Africa on 10.13.04 @ 11:57 AM CST [ link]
Chavez Supporters Pull Down Statue of Columbus
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated Columbus Day on Tuesday by toppling a statue in Caracas of the explorer whom Chavez blames for ushering in a "genocide'' of native Indians. Police firing tear gas later recovered parts of the broken bronze image, which was dragged by the protesters to a theater where the Venezuelan leader was due to speak. Full Article : nytimes.com
Venezuela on 10.13.04 @ 09:15 AM CST [ link]
Two Women Sentenced to Death by Stoning in Nigeria
BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Islamic courts in Nigeria sentenced two women to death by stoning for having sex out of wedlock, but two men whom they said they slept with were acquitted for lack of evidence, authorities said on Tuesday. Both sentences, which were passed within the last month in the northern state of Bauchi, have to be confirmed by the state governor before being carried out, and they are open to appeal. Full Article : nytimes.com
Africa on 10.13.04 @ 09:13 AM CST [ link]
Violence in Haiti Claims at Least 46 Lives
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Violence in Haiti's capital has claimed at least 46 lives, with hospital records showing Tuesday that 17 victims were killed this week. The United States accused supporters of an ousted president of trying to destabilize the interim government. Full Article : guardian.co.uk
Haiti on 10.13.04 @ 09:12 AM CST [ link]
Tuesday, October 12th
Chavez Threatens Venezuela's Central Bank
President Hugo Chavez threatened Venezuela's Central Bank that if it doesn't allow him to use part of its international reserves to fund his social programs for the poor, he will get a Supreme Court order to do so. Full Article : biz.yahoo.com
Venezuela on 10.12.04 @ 09:12 PM CST [ link]
Past Imperfect: The Roots of Darfur
Underlying the present hostilities is not only the contemporary political conflict and competition for scarce land and water resources among rival ethnic groups, but also the long, complex history of enslavement and racism in East Africa. Beginning in the tenth century, a.d., the Trans-Saharan slave trade exported East Africans to be sold as slaves in the Arab peninsula. The trade stretched for a full millennium - six hundred years longer than the Trans-Atlantic trade that brought West Africans to the Americas. It was this Saharan trade that dispersed black populations as far as present-day Iran and Iraq, where their descendants remain. (The name "Sudan" is, in fact, derived from the Arabic "Bilad al Sudan" or "Land of the Blacks" - a term that was often used as a general reference to Africa, not solely the current Sudanese nation.) To be accurate, the Arab enslavement did not focus solely upon Africans - Eastern Europeans were also traded as slaves in the Arab peninsula (which is where we derive the term "Slavic" peoples.) Nor was Arab slavery identical to its Western counterpart, as there were a number of circumstances under which one could attain emancipation and slaves often rose to socially significant positions - particularly in the military. Full Article : africana.com
Africa on 10.12.04 @ 12:36 PM CST [ link]
Robert Mugabe is Still the Better "Devil"
The question of Zimbabwe is not about lack of Western form of democracy or human rights. Rather, it is about whether Zimbabweans and Africans at large should correct injustices done to them by their former European colonizers. The world should not judge President Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe as a nation from the bias and fabricated reports of British and American media. We should not forget that Mugabe liberated Zimbabwe from colonialism. Do not also forget that he is an elected president and is ruling on the mandate and the trust of the very Zimbabwean people the media claim he is suppressing. Full Article : africahome.com
Africa on 10.12.04 @ 10:27 AM CST [ link]
South African culture reclaimed in 'Umoja'
Born as a black person under apartheid, growing up in an extremely poor family with eight siblings, having a baby out of wedlock at age 16 -- this is surely a hard life to lead. But South African dancer and choreographer Todd Twala has lived it, and has proved that one can rise above hardship. The musical, "Umoja," which she co-created and choreographed, is a powerful demonstration of her -- and much of South Africa's -- struggle to overcome adversity. "Umoja," which will come to Japan in October for the second time following its success here last year, is a musical that chronicles the history of black people in South Africa, as well as their vibrant music and dance. Full Article : japantimes.co.jp
Africa on 10.12.04 @ 10:03 AM CST [ link]
Oil Peaks On Strike In Africa
October 12, 2004 -- Oil futures surged to a new high yesterday as a strike began in Africa's largest exporter of crude, exacerbating global supply concerns at a time of strong demand and reduced output in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf of Mexico. A nationwide strike in Nigeria to protest higher fuel prices began yesterday, shutting down most of the capital, Lagos. Militants smashed car windows to keep people home and streets were nearly void of traffic except soldiers and anti-riot police in armored vehicles. Full Article : nypost.com
Africa on 10.12.04 @ 09:58 AM CST [ link]
Monday, October 11th
U.S. Spies on Chat Rooms
TROY, N.Y. -- Amid the torrent of jabber in internet chat rooms -- flirting by QTpie and BoogieBoy, arguments about politics and horror flicks -- are terrorists plotting their next move? The government certainly isn't discounting the possibility. It's taking the idea seriously enough to fund a yearlong study on chat room surveillance under an anti-terrorism program. Full Article : wired.com
USA on 10.11.04 @ 11:28 PM CST [ link]
Columbus Day Celebration? Think Again...
by Thom Hartmann "Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure; and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to Paradise." -- Christopher Columbus, 1503 letter to the king and queen of Spain. "Christopher Columbus not only opened the door to a New World, but also set an example for us all by showing what monumental feats can be accomplished through perseverance and faith." --George H.W. Bush, 1989 speech If you fly over the country of Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, the island on which Columbus landed, it looks like somebody took a blowtorch and burned away anything green. Even the ocean around the port capital of Port au Prince is choked for miles with the brown of human sewage and eroded topsoil. From the air, it looks like a lava flow spilling out into the sea. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.11.04 @ 09:16 PM CST [ link]
Why Columbus offers the best history lesson
Although I studied to be an American historian for a decade, it never occurred to me that one of the most important things I'd ever do in a classroom would be to teach about Christopher Columbus. For me, Columbus meant a three-day weekend. But the unorthodox text I'd assigned in an introductory U.S. history course some years ago, Howard Zinn's " A People's History of the United States" -- since made famous by Matt Damon in the movie "Good Will Hunting" -- starts with Columbus, so I gave it a whirl. Here's how Zinn begins: "Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat." Full Article : startribune.com
USA on 10.11.04 @ 09:12 PM CST [ link]
EU lifts weapons embargo on Libya
European Union foreign ministers have agreed to end sanctions against Libya, including an arms embargo. Italy had argued for the lifting of the 18-year-old arms ban, so that it could supply Libya with hi-tech equipment intended to curb illegal migration. EU ambassadors decided on 22 September that the sanctions - imposed in 1992 - should be lifted. But ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, have now gone further in removing the arms embargo, which dates back to 1986. Full Article : bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.11.04 @ 06:30 PM CST [ link]
China cancels Africa's debts
Beijing has fulfilled its commitment by cancelling 31 African countries' debts totalling US $1.27 billion. During the second China-Africa trade summit held this week in Ethiopia, China said it would provide enhanced support for Africa, without any political discrimination. Both African and Chinese delegates agreed that there was vast potential for growth in trade between China and Africa, and that this was vital for Africa's development. Chinese and African leaders vowed to build stronger political and economic ties to counter western dominance in world affairs and improve the standing of poor countries. Attending the two-day summit in Addis-Ababa, Chinese Primier Wen Jiabao promised preferential, zero-tariff trade deals with 34 African countries. Wen said China has taken further measures to increase its imports from African countries, and that the trade volume between China and Africa has been increasing at an annual rate of more than 20 per cent. Full Article : warmafrica.com
Africa on 10.11.04 @ 01:06 PM CST [ link]
Zimbabwe Pays Off Debts: Mozambique
The Zimbabwean electricity company (ZESA) has now completely paid off its debts to Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi in the province of Tete. HCB, a company 82 per cent owned by the Portuguese state and 18 per cent by Mozambique, supplies Zimbabwe with 500 megawatts of power. For a lengthy period, Zimbabwe failed to pay, and ran up a debt which reached $42 million. Although more Cahora Bassa energy is sold to the South African electricity company, Eskom, than to Zimbabwe, it is the latter which is providing the greater part of HCB's revenue,due to the low tariff paid by Eskom. HCB is currently studying the possibility of building a second line from Cahora Bassa to Zimbabwe. Source: poptel.org.uk
Africa on 10.11.04 @ 01:05 PM CST [ link]
Zimbabwe-Mozambique ties hailed
PRESIDENT Mugabe has said Zimbabwe is encouraged that other African countries have seen through the shameless hypocrisy, blatant double standards and the desperate game of lies which seek the country’s isolation from the family of nations. Cde Mugabe, who arrived here on Saturday for an official visit and is accompanied by Defence Minister Cde Sydney Sekeramayi and other top Government officials, was speaking at a banquet hosted for him by his Mozambican counterpart, Mr Joaquim Chissano. He said the excellent relations enjoyed by Zimbabwe and Mozambique at various levels, particularly on the bilateral and regional levels, had been a source of consternation for those who had desired to divide the two countries because of those detractors’ opposition to Zimbabwe’s land reform programme. "The leadership of my country has been demonised by their rabidly anti-Zimbabwe media while issues of democracy, human rights and good governance have been used as a façade to hide their intentions of breaking the solidarity in our ranks. Full Article : zimbabweherald.com
Africa on 10.11.04 @ 10:32 AM CST [ link]
Ex-officer elected Somalia president
NAIROBI, Kenya - Members of Somalia's transitional Parliament on Sunday elected a former army colonel as interim president, the final stage of a peace plan meant to end 13 years of civil war in the Horn of Africa nation. Abdullahi Yusuf won with 189 votes in a third round of voting, Shariif Hassan Sheikh Aden told the 275-member transitional Parliament and regional foreign affairs ministers, who observed the vote. Former Finance Minister Abdullahi Addow garnered 79 votes in the last round, which narrowed the race to two candidates after none of the original 28 won a majority, said Aden, who is Parliament speaker. Full Article : azcentral.com
Africa on 10.11.04 @ 09:58 AM CST [ link]
Inoculation push in Africa aims to eradicate polio
JOHANNESBURG -- Health workers across west and central Africa began a 23-country polio immunization campaign yesterday to reach more than 80 million children in the next several days. The undertaking is part of an international effort to eradicate the disease by next year. Full Article : boston.com
Africa on 10.11.04 @ 09:40 AM CST [ link]
Sunday, October 10th
If You Had Seen What I Have Seen
The Inspection Process was Rigged to Create Uncertainty Over WMD to Bolster the US and UK's Case for War by Scott Ritter It appears that the last vestiges of perceived legitimacy regarding the decision of President George Bush and Tony Blair to invade Iraq have been eliminated with the release this week of the Iraq Survey Group's final report on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The report's author, Charles Duelfer, underscored the finality of what the world had come to accept in the 18 months since the invasion of Iraq - that there were no stockpiles of WMD, or programs to produce WMD. Despite public statements made before the war by Bush, Blair and officials and pundits on both sides of the Atlantic to the contrary, the ISG report concludes that all of Iraq's WMD stockpiles had been destroyed in 1991, and WMD programs and facilities dismantled by 1996. Full Article : commondreams.org
Iraq on 10.10.04 @ 10:59 PM CST [ link]
2 more beheaded corpses found in Haiti's capital
Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- Two beheaded bodies, one wrapped in tires and set ablaze, turned up in Haiti's capital, officials said Thursday, the latest victims of violence fueled by supporters of an ousted president, The killings brought the death toll to 20 in a weeklong protest by backers of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who are seeking the former president's return to power. Last week, three policemen were beheaded in the capital. Aristide supporters say police started the violence by firing at unarmed protesters. They also criticize the authorities and U.N. troops for not disarming rebels who ousted Aristide. Full Article : indystar.com
Haiti on 10.10.04 @ 09:41 PM CST [ link]
Rich West is looting Africa's resources
Addis Ababa - Rich nations must stop their citizens laundering money, selling arms and looting resources in Africa in order to help the continent fight poverty, a UK expert said yesterday, quoting a draft of a British-backed report. The final report, commissioned by Prime Minister Tony Blair, is due to be presented to the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations and the EU when Britain chairs both organisations next year. Blair is in the Ethiopian capital and will attend the final meeting of the Commission for Africa before it publishes its report next year. Full Article : busrep.co.zaAfricans were saying that all along. Try Reparations!
Africa on 10.10.04 @ 09:37 PM CST [ link]
Fraud trial dogs South Africa's heir apparent
DURBAN - The man widely tipped as South Africa's next leader, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, will be far from a court in Durban on Monday as a trial starts that could determine his political future. Zuma, South Africa's second most powerful politician and long expected to take over from President Thabo Mbeki in 2009, has not been charged in the fraud case against his one-time financial adviser Schabir Shaik. However, the 62-year-old Zuma will nevertheless be in the spotlight as prosecutors present charges of corruption and bribery against Shaik in a multi-billion dollar arms deal. Full Article : nzherald.co.nz
Africa on 10.10.04 @ 09:32 PM CST [ link]
Giant ape found in Africa may be new species
Nairobi - A giant ape unlike those already known has been found in a remote area of central Africa, and scientists believe it could be new species of primates, a news report said. The animals, who stand over two metres tall and have similarities to both chimpanzees and gorillas, were sighted in a forest in northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Sunday. Villagers in the area have said that the apes can be ferocious, and that they are capable of killing lions. The apes, who live hundred of kilometres away from known gorilla populations, have a diet similar to that of chimpanzees. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.10.04 @ 10:46 AM CST [ link]
Saturday, October 9th
UK promise of troops for Africa
Geldof 'diplomacy' eclipses UK promise of troops for AfricaTony Blair's launch of an initiative for British humanitarian intervention in Africa yesterday was overshadowed by his outspoken companion, Bob Geldof, who accused an EU aid official of "talking out of his arse". Mr Blair had announced that1,500 British soldiers would be committed to a 10,000-strong European force of "rapidly deployable" battle groups. The force would be established by 2006, with a mission to "hold the fort" in African conflicts before United Nations or African Union peace-keepers can be deployed. Mr Blair also pledged to train 20,000 African troops in logistics and planning, and warned that war was a major factor holding back the continent's development. Downing Street said the force would be set up alongside the planned European Rapid Reaction Force. The battle-groups would be deployable for up to three months to intervene in battle zones before African troops can take over long-term peace-keeping work. Full Article : independent.co.ukNo British/European/American troops should be deployed in Africa. Reparations and not charity is what Africa needs.
Africa on 10.09.04 @ 02:26 PM CST [ link]
Nobel winner: Aids a WMD
Nairobi - Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, on Saturday reiterated her claim that the AIDS virus was a deliberately created biological agent. "Some say that Aids came from the monkeys, and I doubt that because we have been living with monkeys (since) time immemorial, others say it was a curse from God, but I say it cannot be that. "Us black people are dying more than any other people in this planet," Maathai told a press conference in Nairobi a day after winning the prize for her work in human rights and reversing deforestation across Africa. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.09.04 @ 02:17 PM CST [ link]
Time for excuses on Africa is over: Blair
ADDIS ABABA: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to say on Thursday that the time for excuses on Africa is over as he chairs a meeting in Ethiopia he hopes will turn the continent's problems into a global priority. The meeting of the British-sponsored Commission for Africa is drawing up a policy agenda for London to press when it takes the leadership of both the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations and European Union next year. "Once we have that report, the time for excuses will be over. The world, inside Africa and outside Africa, will know not just what the problems are, but also the solutions," Blair is to say in his speech. "The means to finally lift Africa out of poverty will be there for us to grasp," he adds. Full Article : dailytimes.com.pkGet this! Africa needs Reparations and not charity.
Africa on 10.09.04 @ 02:12 PM CST [ link]
Africa diary: Ethiopia's challenge
The UK government set up the Commission for Africa in February to "take a fresh look at Africa's past, present and future". It has been holding its second meeting in Ethiopia to discuss regional conflicts, refugees, trade and corruption. BBC world affairs correspondent Peter Biles, travelled through Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Ethiopia to examine the scale of the task the commission has set itself. The final leg of his journey took him to Ethiopia's capital. Full Article : bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.09.04 @ 02:08 PM CST [ link]
Friday, October 8th
Oil Wars
Transforming the American Military into a Global Oil-Protection Service by Michael T. Klare In the first U.S. combat operation of the war in Iraq, Navy commandos stormed an offshore oil-loading platform. "Swooping silently out of the Persian Gulf night," an overexcited reporter for the New York Times wrote on March 22, "Navy Seals seized two Iraqi oil terminals in bold raids that ended early this morning, overwhelming lightly-armed Iraqi guards and claiming a bloodless victory in the battle for Iraq's vast oil empire." A year and a half later, American soldiers are still struggling to maintain control over these vital petroleum facilities -- and the fighting is no longer bloodless. On April 24, two American sailors and a coastguardsman were killed when a boat they sought to intercept, presumably carrying suicide bombers, exploded near the Khor al-Amaya loading platform. Other Americans have come under fire while protecting some of the many installations in Iraq's "oil empire." Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.08.04 @ 06:39 PM CST [ link]
Polio vaccinations set to start in Africa
Nairobi - About 80 million children in 23 countries will start receiving vaccinations on Friday in the largest polio immunisation campaign ever in Africa, the World Health Organisation said. The campaign, expected to last four days, is a direct response to the ongoing polio epidemic in the region, which risks paralysing thousands of children for life, said the WHO. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.08.04 @ 11:05 AM CST [ link]
Richer nations must help Africa - Blair
ADDIS ABABA - British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a clarion call yesterday for the world to help Africa free itself from poverty, disease and conflict, describing his personal crusade for the continent as "the one noble cause worth fighting for". In an impassioned and at times emotional speech to dignitaries in Ethiopia, Blair argued that the "common bond of humanity" around the globe gave a clear moral imperative to richer nations to help. Heading to the speech here directly from a visit to a centre which cares for orphans and people with Aids, Blair spoke at length about how such projects brought people hope. "When I come and see what is happening here and what could happen, I know that, however difficult politics is, there is at least one noble cause worth fighting for - and it is here on this continent." Full Article : dispatch.co.zaBlair's arrogance and paternalism towards Africa. Africa does not need charity; Africa deserves reparation and fair trade.
Africa on 10.08.04 @ 11:00 AM CST [ link]
Africa: Highest child deaths
United Nations - One in four children in Sierra Leone dies before age five, and one in 10 in Iraq. Across the globe, poor care for newborns, malaria, diarrhoea, malnutrition and even measles snuff out lives before a fifth birthday, according to a United Nations report released on Friday. The United Nations Children's Fund reported "alarmingly slow progress on reducing child deaths": One in 12 children worldwide doesn't make it to age 5, with half of all under-5 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. "It is incredible that in an age of technological and medical marvels, child survival is so tenuous in so many places, especially for the poor and marginalised," said Unicef director Carol Bellamy, launching the report. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.08.04 @ 10:52 AM CST [ link]
Thursday, October 7th
Analyse markets, Museveni urges African countries
AFRICAN countries should conduct a thorough analysis of markets that exist internally, regionally and internationally to fully take advantage of opportunities that exist in these markets, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said. President Museveni told Zimbabwean businessmen at a dinner hosted in his honour on Tuesday that the identification of these markets would help in determining what countries can produce and the quantities needed. Uganda pushed maize production from 200 000 tonnes a year to 1,2 million tonnes, but there was no market so the prices plunged and growers stopped producing. Milk production increased from 200 million litres to 1,3 billion litres, but until the country introduced a feeding scheme for all schoolchildren, the market was too small. "In South Africa, I understand that the government has introduced a system where the prison service buys South African products only; that is another way of encouraging the growth of the internal market," he said. President Museveni said the biggest challenge facing African countries was access to markets. "In Africa our combined market is US$550 billion, which is a small market for the 830 million people on the continent, and when we compare that with the market for the United States, which is about US$11 trillion, we see that their market is 22 times bigger than ours." Markets were small because Africans did not have money because they did not have jobs, having exported the jobs. Full Article : zimbabweherald.com
Africa on 10.07.04 @ 07:29 AM CST [ link]
No weapons, no programmes: nothing to justify the invasion
Destroying the Bush administration's main rationale for war against Iraq, the chief US weapons inspector declared yesterday that Saddam Hussein had neither weapons of mass destruction nor programmes to manufacture them at short notice when the US and its allies invaded in March 2003. Full Article : independent.co.uk
Iraq on 10.07.04 @ 06:39 AM CST [ link]
How 1,200 inspectors failed to find WMD
Weeks into the invasion of Iraq, as the Bush administration panicked over its failure to find any weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq Survey Group was hastily assembled. It was headed by the controversial and outspoken CIA adviser David Kay and later by Charles Duelfer, who told journalists he was convinced of a link between Saddam Hussein and the 11 September attacks. The ISG, manned by 1,200 intelligence officers and weapons experts mostly from the US and Britain, spent six months searching for WMD and issued its interim report a year ago Full Article : independent.co.uk
Iraq on 10.07.04 @ 06:35 AM CST [ link]
Wednesday, October 6th
Africa must negotiate as one bloc: Museveni
Herald Reporters Africa has got the resources and what is needed is for the continent to identify the stimulus to transform its economies, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who arrived in Harare yesterday for a three-day State visit, said. Speaking at a banquet hosted for him by President Mugabe at State House last night, Mr Museveni said the continent could initiate this transformation without being continuously lectured on cliches such as development, sustainable development and Millennium Development Goals. He said Zimbabwe and Uganda enjoy good relations despite being on opposite sides in the Democratic Republic of Congo conflict. "In spite of this little misunderstanding, we have always worked together. I come here to show to you that we are brothers. Historically speaking, we are on the same side; we must work together," he said. Full Article : herald.co.zw
Africa on 10.06.04 @ 03:20 PM CST [ link]
We won't demonise Mugabe
news24.comHarare - Regime change does not work in Africa and Britain is responsible for some of the continent's troubles, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Wednesday. Speaking during his state visit to Zimbabwe, Museveni, whose controversial "no party democracy" has scored some success, said he supported the seizure of white-owned farms in that country.
USA on 10.06.04 @ 03:10 PM CST [ more..]
Dear Mike, Iraq sucks
Civilian contractors are fleecing taxpayers; US troops don't have proper equipment; and supposedly liberated Iraqis hate them. After the release of Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore received a flood of letters and emails from disillusioned and angry American soldiers serving in Iraq. Here, in an exclusive extract from his new book, we print a selection Full Article : guardian.co.uk
USA on 10.06.04 @ 02:53 PM CST [ link]
Lecture describes African Muslim role in New World
By Elise von DohlenProminent African-American Muslim Imam Zaid Shakir spoke on Black Muslim uprisings during the colonization of the New World over a live video feed from the Zaytuna Institute in California on Sunday night. Muslim African slaves were instrumental in many slave revolts during the first years of colonization, leading to a ban on the importation of Muslim slaves in 1526, Shakir said. But before the ban took effect, many of these African Muslims rebelled on Christopher Columbus' son's plantation in 1522, starting the first slave uprising. This revolt precipitated many more, including the rebellion which ultimately led to Haitian independence, Shakir said. Full Article : tuftsdaily.com
USA on 10.06.04 @ 09:58 AM CST [ link]
Chavez Rejects Support of Venezuelan Pro-Chavez Guerrilla
By Gregory Wilpert – Venezuelanalysis.comCaracas, October 4, 2004—During his weekly television program, "Hello President," President Chavez said, in reaction to pronouncements of the Venezuelan pro-Chavez guerrilla group FBL (Fuerzas Bolivariana de Liberación – Bolivarian Liberation Forces), "I do not need a guerrilla. I am a soldier and I trust in the military. If it is true that you are Venezuelans and revolutionaries, sirs, turn in your weapons, come and plant coffee, and work in the Mission Vuelvan Caras." Vuelvan Caras is an employment training program. Chavez confirmed that "we have evidence that they do exist." The FBL has long been rumored to be active in various parts of Venezuela, but the government has so far never confirmed its existence. In several communiqués they have said that they support the Chavez government and intend to defend it against paramilitaries and those who try to overthrow the Chavez government.
Venezuela on 10.06.04 @ 09:53 AM CST [ more..]
Locusts 'heading to North Africa'
Swarms of crop-devouring desert locusts are on the move and are likely to reach North Africa soon, the UN says. Dense swarms of the insects have flown to Libya, and are heading for Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Full Article : bbc.co.uk
Africa on 10.06.04 @ 08:28 AM CST [ link]
Take them out, dude: pilots toast hit on Iraqi 'civilians'
By Andrew Buncombe in WashingtonIndependent.co.ukThe Pentagon said yesterday it was investigating cockpit video footage that shows American pilots attacking and killing a group of apparently unarmed Iraqi civilians. The 30-second clip shows the pilot targeting the group of people in a street in the city of Fallujah and asking his mission controllers whether he should "take them out". He is told to do so and, shortly afterwards, the footage shows a huge explosion where the people were. A second voice can be heard on the clip saying: "Oh, dude." The existence of the video, taken last April inside the cockpit of a US F-16 fighter has been known for some time, though last night's broadcast by Channel 4 News is believed to be the first time a mainstream broadcaster has shown the footage. At no point during the exchange between the pilot and controllers does anyone ask whether the Iraqis are armed or posing a threat. Critics say it proves war crimes are being committed. source : independent.co.ukNew 'Liberation Video' Shows Fallujah Bombing Massacre Video
Iraq on 10.06.04 @ 07:23 AM CST [ link]
Tuesday, October 5th
Why Washington Won't Save Darfur Villagers
By Norm DixonOn September 21, Salih Booker, the director of the Africa Studies Program at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations ruling-class think tank, argued in the International Herald Tribune that the US government has failed to convince the UN Security Council to take tough action to end Sudan's "government-sponsored campaign of genocide" in Darfur because it "cried wolf" over Saddam Hussein's non-existent weapons of mass destruction in order to justify its illegal invasion of Iraq. Booker and many other US liberals, as well as influential establishment organisations such as Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group (ICG), are campaigning for President George Bush to launch a military "humanitarian intervention" in western Darfur. Booker claimed that, following the rebellion that erupted in western Sudan in February 2003, US Secretary of State Colin Powell "dithered" as Sudanese government-sponsored janjaweed Arab militia drove more than a million of the region's non-Arabic speaking villagers from their lands. "The violence in Darfur went on for 16 months and international human rights groups and African advocacy groups shouted about this crime against humanity... the secretary stayed silent, even visiting the scene of the crime without saying the word 'genocide'." Full Article : counterpunch.org
Africa on 10.05.04 @ 09:29 PM CST [ link]
The eyes that cannot see beyond Jabaliya and Samarra
At first glance the violence in Jabaliya in Palestine and in the Iraqi town of Samarra appear to be unconnected. The Israeli army's incursion into northern Gaza looks like just another deadeningly familiar episode in the unending conflict between Palestinians and Jews. The US-led weekend assault on insurgents in mainly Sunni Samarra seems to be broadly typical of the continuing turmoil in Iraq. But peer beneath the headlines and it is clear that these ostensibly separate events are far from routine, and are closely linked in many ways, directly and indirectly. In both Jabaliya and Samarra modern armies with state-of-the-art weaponry and unanswerable air power attacked residential areas, causing numerous civilian casualties. Full Article : guardian.co.uk
USA on 10.05.04 @ 08:40 PM CST [ link]
Annan: No progress in Sudan
United Nations - Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported no progress by the Sudanese government to end the crisis in the western Darfur region, citing continuing clashes, attacks against civilians, escalating banditry and tribal conflict. In a report to the United Nations Security Council circulated on Monday night, Annan described fresh promises by the Khartoum government but no positive action during September to end the 19-month conflict that has killed over 50 000 people and forced 1.4 million to flee their homes. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.05.04 @ 04:46 PM CST [ link]
U.K.'s Blair to Put Africa at Heart of the G-8 Agenda
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair this week will put efforts to curb disease and poverty in Africa at the center of the agenda of the Group of Eight industrial nations next year. In his first trip since treatment for a heart flutter last week, Blair will arrive tomorrow in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, for talks with the nation's prime minister and a commission of Africa leaders drawing up a plan for action on issues including debt relief and AIDS. Full Article : bloomberg.com
Africa on 10.05.04 @ 04:44 PM CST [ link]
Monday, October 4th
Memorial for reburied slaves comes under criticism
New York- When more than 400 slaves were reburied last year at a site unearthed by construction workers in lower Manhattan, the occasion was marked by singing, dancing - and promises for an elaborate memorial. Today, the site is marked by only one small sign. Full Article : cleveland.com
USA on 10.04.04 @ 07:44 PM CST [ link]
US 'hyping' Darfur genocide fears
American warnings that Darfur is heading for an apocalyptic humanitarian catastrophe have been widely exaggerated by administration officials, it is alleged by international aid workers in Sudan. Washington's desire for a regime change in Khartoum has biased their reports, it is claimed. The government's aid agency, USAID, says that between 350,000 and a million people could die in Darfur by the end of the year. Other officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, have accused the Sudanese government of presiding over a 'genocide' that could rival those in Bosnia and Rwanda. Full Article : guardian.co.uk
USA on 10.04.04 @ 02:27 PM CST [ link]
Sharon vows to escalate offensive
JERUSALEM Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged yesterday to escalate a broad Israeli offensive into northern Gaza, saying troops will remain in the area until Palestinian rocket attacks are halted. The fighting has dragged the Israeli army deeper into Gaza at a time when Sharon is preparing to withdraw from the area. Israeli officials said the offensive will help clear the way for the pullback, scheduled for next year. Israel poured 2,000 troops into northern Gaza after a Palestinian rocket attack on Wednesday killed two preschoolers in the Israeli town of Sderot. Since then, 58 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed. In new bloodshed, at least seven Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed yesterday, while another 13-year-old boy died of wounds sustained earlier. Full Article : timesdispatch.com
USA on 10.04.04 @ 02:14 PM CST [ link]
20 years on, Ure finds Ethiopia is still suffering
The rock musician Midge Ure has returned to Ethiopia 20 years after he co-wrote the charity record that publicised its desperate plight, only to discover that millions of people there are still threatened by starvation. The musician said he was dismayed to find that, two decades on from the drought that claimed 500,000 lives, the region remained the most famine-prone in the world. The former Ultravox frontman last came to Ethiopia after producing the 1984 Band Aid hit "Do They Know It's Christmas?" with Bob Geldof. The record spawned Live Aid, which raised £90m for Africa and launched a famine-relief operation that saved two million lives. Full Article : independent.co.uk
USA on 10.04.04 @ 08:43 AM CST [ link]
Afghanistan: Thousands of Civilian Casualties
When U.S. bombs hit my home country of Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, I was in an Afghan restaurant in New York with other Afghan-Americans grieving over Sept. 11. We weren't surprised that the old country was being bombed. We all knew it would happen. Yet it was still shocking to see it happen on television. We worried about friends and loved ones who still lived there. As I watched, I remembered the hospitality and love of my aunt and her seven children, whom I had visited just two months before in Kandahar. Most of us gathered in the restaurant supported the war, at least at first. We despised terrorism and the Taliban. We thought that the U.S. military would wage a rapid, precise war and finally free our country of its demons. We were hungry for peace and freedom, and we hoped that one last war could end the killing. While we were concerned about civilian casualties, we kept our mouths shut. We were afraid of being rounded up, so men stopped gathering together on Saturday nights to play cards and talk politics. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.04.04 @ 08:39 AM CST [ link]
Paradise Cleansed
by John PilgerThere are times when one tragedy, one crime tells us how a whole system works behind its democratic facade and helps us to understand how much of the world is run for the benefit of the powerful and how governments lie. To understand the catastrophe of Iraq, and all the other Iraqs along imperial history's trail of blood and tears, one need look no further than Diego Garcia. The story of Diego Garcia is shocking, almost incredible. A British colony lying midway between Africa and Asia in the Indian Ocean, the island is one of 64 unique coral islands that form the Chagos Archipelago, a phenomenon of natural beauty, and once of peace. Newsreaders refer to it in passing: "American B-52 and Stealth bombers last night took off from the uninhabited British island of Diego Garcia to bomb Iraq (or Afghanistan)." It is the word "uninhabited" that turns the key on the horror of what was done there. In the 1970s, the Ministry of Defence in London produced this epic lie: "There is nothing in our files about a population and an evacuation." Full Article : lewrockwell.com
UK on 10.04.04 @ 07:10 AM CST [ link]
Sunday, October 3rd
New investigation uncovers more racism
New investigation uncovers more racism, voter intimidation and faulty poll machinesBLACK people intimidated at the polling booth. Voting machines that register ballots wrongly. Welcome to the disaster-waiting-to-happen that is the US presidential election of November 2004. An investigation by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) into voter intimidation recounts a catalogue of incidents designed to suppress the black vote. In Kentucky, county Republican party chairman Jack Richardson said he wanted to put "voter challengers" – people who check that voters are who they say they are and are eligible to vote – in predominantly Democratic precincts which have a large African-American population. Other Republicans called the plan "rogue and racist behaviour". In Detroit, John Pappageorge, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, said: "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election." Black people make up 83% of Detroit’s population. Full Article : sundayherald.com
USA on 10.03.04 @ 07:03 PM CST [ link]
New UNCTAD Study Makes Case For African Debt Write-Off
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Geneva)PRESS RELEASE
September 30, 2004 Geneva Debt servicing at any level is incompatible with attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in many African countries, according to Debt Sustainability: Oasis or Mirage?, released today by UNCTAD. The report concludes that any lasting solution to the debt overhang hinges as much on political will as on financial rectitude.
Africa on 10.03.04 @ 03:18 PM CST [ more..]
Business in Africa tough
It was a case of ideals clashing with reality last week, as far as doing business in the Southern African Development Community was concerned. While the free movement of goods and people within the region may be something the grouping aspires to, a survey released in Johannesburg has shown that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has some way to go before achieving this goal. According to the study, conducted by the Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI), entrepreneurs face unnecessary obstacles when conducting their day-to-day business in the 13-nation grouping. Full Article : news24.com
Africa on 10.03.04 @ 03:08 PM CST [ link]
Two police beheaded in Haiti
The decapitated bodies of two police officers were found in a seaside slum as violence erupted again in the Haitian capital. They and another policeman were killed on Friday in a clash with protesters demanding the return of ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Officials said police killed two gang leaders and yesterday at least one civilian died after being shot. Full Article : heraldsun.news.com.au
Haiti on 10.03.04 @ 08:32 AM CST [ link]
Doubt over Zarqawi's role as ringleader
American intelligence obtained through bribery may have seriously overstated the insurgency role of the most wanted fugitive in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. US agents in Baghdad and Fallujah have revealed a series of botched and often tawdry dealings with unreliable sources who, in the words of one, "told us what we wanted to hear". "We were basically paying up to $US10,000 ($A13,700) a time to opportunists, criminals and chancers who passed off fiction and supposition about Zarqawi as cast-iron fact, making him out as the linchpin of just about every attack in Iraq," one agent said. "Back home this stuff was gratefully received and formed the basis of policy decisions. We needed a villain, someone identifiable for the public to latch on to, and we got one." Full Article : fairuse.1accesshost.com
USA on 10.03.04 @ 08:17 AM CST [ link]
Saturday, October 2nd
Mr. Tall and Mr. Small
by Greg Palast Our President told the debate audience, "You cannot lead if you send mexxed missiges." I certainly hope not. But that's exactly what we got. You watch our President, the nervous hand-hiding, the compulsive water-glass-fondling, the panicked I-wish-I-had-a-whiskey look, and you think, "My god, this is the guy who's supposed to save us from al Qaeda." And how are we going to win the War on Terror, Mr. President? "First of all, of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that," he said. Well, that's a start, I suppose. But it doesn't have to stay this way. This is America, home of the brave and where, I remember from school, we could vote for president and the votes would count. So we looked to the tall man next to him to show us the way out. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.02.04 @ 07:15 PM CST [ link]
Balanced Reporting of Political Violence in Haiti is Not Fair
By Zoe Moskovitz and Sasha KramerOn September 5, 2004 the Florida Sun Sentinel published an article by Alva James-Johnson entitled Haiti's Fragile Peace. Having recently returned from a trip to Haiti with a group of human rights monitors, we read the article with great interest. Haiti's Fragile Peace is another in a long line of articles published in the mainstream media that portray the conflict in Haiti as a chaotic power struggle between equally violent rival factions over which the interim government is attempting to gain control. After interviewing community organizers, elected officials, and labor leaders we came away with a very different impression. Whether or not the government of Haiti currently acknowledges having ties to the former military, despite the fact that Latortue hailed them as "freedom fighters" in early March, it was our impression that the majority of Haitians see the interim government and the former military as two hands on the same body. One hand presents the façade of legitimacy, while the other violently represses legitimate political dissent. Full Article : counterpunch.org
Haiti on 10.02.04 @ 05:14 PM CST [ link]
Haiti's Elections: A High-Tech Sham is Underway
By Lucson Pierre-CharlesThe ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide was orchestrated by and for the ruling minority. For two hundred years, they have ruled the country by proxy and have undoubtedly some responsibility to bear for the current state of affairs in the country. However, following Aristide's forced departure, they have decided to change course. They have established a puppet regime of technocrats with the aim of smoothing the progress of a total minority rule and according to latest indications, they are right on target. The technocrats have turned the country upside down. They have transformed the nation into an open theater with farcical promises, farcical disarmament, farcical trials and upcoming farcical elections. In an attempt to boost its technocratic profile, the U.S.-backed administration--assuming it survives the present chaos--plans to hold digitized elections next year in order to seal a victory for a few. According to a Reuters report released in early August, "Haiti's plans to hold high-tech and costly elections in 2005 are at risk unless international donors rapidly provide promised funds, a senior election official said. Five months after president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in an armed revolt, Haiti's electoral council needs $100 million to organize what will be the most expensive ballot in Haiti's 200 years of independence, council member Rosemond Pradel said." Full Article : counterpunch.org
Haiti on 10.02.04 @ 05:11 PM CST [ link]
1.3 million benefit from Venezuela-Cuba literacy programme
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said yesterday that 1.3 million students have graduated from a Cuba-backed literacy programme that has become a banner of his "revolution for the poor." "This is the path to freedom, it's not just about learning to read and write, it's the first step toward emerging from darkness," said Chavez, speaking at a graduation ceremony in Caracas for 50,000 students. Almost 39,000 members of Venezuela's indigenous tribes, including Yanomami Indians of the remote Amazon jungle region, have graduated from the year-old programme. Chavez, a self-proclaimed "revolutionary" and close ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro, vowed to wipe out illiteracy by the end of the current year. Full Article : jamaicaobserver.com
Venezuela on 10.02.04 @ 01:42 PM CST [ link]
Jamaica: Corporate giants threatening to withdraw support
CORPORATE SPONSORS are threatening to withdraw support from the local entertainment industry if dancehall artistes continue to make violent lyrics a part of their musical repertoire. In a joint statement issued yesterday, Cable and Wireless Jamaica Ltd., Courts Jamaica Ltd., Digicel Jamaica, Red Stripe, Pepsi-Cola Jamaica and Wray & Nephew Ltd. said they would no longer lend their names to anything that incites or promotes violence. "As a group of corporate sponsors of the entertainment industry, we are concerned that the continued use of violent lyrics could ultimately lead to the decline of our music industry, as well as a social and economic backlash," they noted. "International success of reggae and more recently, dancehall music, had been a source of pride for Jamaicans. Recently, however, concerns have been raised about the content and tone of some of the music." Full Article : jamaica-gleaner.com
Caribbean on 10.02.04 @ 01:05 PM CST [ link]
Debt Forgiveness for Poorest Nations Only a First Step
In 2002, developing countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean received 58 billion dollars in loans and development aid, but paid 324 billion dollars to service debts from old loans, according to the World Bank and IMF. Full Article : yahoo.com
USA on 10.02.04 @ 12:25 PM CST [ link]
Whiner-in-Chief
It appears that George W. Bush is tired of being president. His weariness and frustration with the job was evident throughout last night's first presidential debate of the 2004 campaign. Whenever the discussion turned to questions about his management of the occupation of Iraq, Bush said, "It's hard work." Why didn't he anticipate the disaster? "It's hard work." Considering the mounting death toll, was the Iraq invasion worth it? "It's hard work." By the end of the night, the sullen president had repeated the "hard work" line at least nine times, using it as frequently as he did those stock talking points about "progress" in Iraq and Democrat John Kerry's "mixed messages." And, in contrast to his rote recitation of the talking points, Bush's grumbling about how difficult it is to do his job did not seem at all insincere. At least on this point, Bush was speaking the truth. For George W. Bush, serving as president at this time in history is very hard work. Full Article : commondreams.org
USA on 10.02.04 @ 11:32 AM CST [ link]
EU to hold asylum seekers in N Africa
The European Union agreed yesterday to press ahead with plans to process asylum seekers in North Africa before they reach European soil, despite grave misgivings from France, Spain, and Sweden. EU justice ministers backed proposals by the European Commission for five pilot projects in Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia to handle refugee applications. Full Article : telegraph.co.uk
Africa on 10.02.04 @ 11:18 AM CST [ link]
Global warming heats up African conflict
Many conflicts in war-torn Africa are rooted in increasingly parched and degraded land exacerbated by global warming, the first of a series of United Nations regional checkups of the planet's health found. "From food security to health we see climate change as a very big threat right across Africa," said Crispian Olver, director general of South Africa's department of environmental affairs and tourism. A new study which highlights the environmental causes of conflict in Africa has added to the sense of urgency and sends out flashing red lights on issues often regarded as "green". Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.02.04 @ 11:16 AM CST [ link]
Riots by Aristide supporters erupt for second day in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Violence erupted again yesterday in Port-au-Prince, one day after three policemen were killed in a clash with protesters demanding the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Full Article : jamaicaobserver.com
Haiti on 10.02.04 @ 11:09 AM CST [ link]
Pro-Aristide Riots Erupt for Second Day in Haiti
Violence erupted in Haiti Friday, as supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide took to the streets for a second straight day, demanding his return. Witnesses say the Aristide supporters fired shots in the air, smashed car windows and blocked streets in Port-au-Prince. The protesters ordered street vendors to stay home, leaving normally crowded marketplaces empty. Full Article : voanews.com
Haiti on 10.02.04 @ 11:07 AM CST [ link]
Freed Italian backs Iraqi resistance
In comments that were bound to annoy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government, Simona Torretta also called on Rome to withdraw the troops it sent to Iraq to support its US ally. "I said it before the kidnapping and I repeat it today," she told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview published on Friday. "You have to distinguish between terrorism and resistance. The guerrilla war is justified, but I am against the kidnapping of civilians." Full Article : aljazeera.net
Iraq on 10.02.04 @ 07:01 AM CST [ link]
Friday, October 1st
Launching Zimbabwe's Fourth Chimurenga
IN STRUGGLE AGAINST LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM The struggles waged in Africa are not about the past but they contain the solutions to the ideology crises of the African world. These struggles have been necessitated by the fact that there is a scramble for Africa going on, not for material wealth (though that still continues) but for the African culture, way of life, spiritually and languages. After the successful undertaking of the agrarian revolution in Zimbabwe, the war is not over, there is need to restore the languages to the people. Zimbabweans must at the deepest possible level fight to curb linguistic imperialism and seek out to regain and rejuvenate their languages in the same manner the late Julius Mwalimu Nyerere launched a linguistic revolution in Tanzania. Full Article : indymedia.org
Africa on 10.01.04 @ 01:10 PM CST [ link]
Why Africa keeps fighting over oil
LAGOS, NIGERIA – At one of the main forest bases of Nigerian militia leader Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the man partly responsible for pushing world oil prices over $50 a barrel this week, a small television was set up last month next to a pile of DVDs. The titles varied from action movies like "Mortal Kombat" to a film on the French Revolution. The selection gives a sense of both the violence and the spirit of resistance characterizing a conflict over the control of oil fields here and the benefits from them. The country's Niger Delta region, which produces nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil a day and accounts for 10 percent of US crude imports, is infused with a deep popular anger over pollution and the failure of oil revenues to bring development. Mr. Dokubo-Asari, who claims to command 2,000 armed fighters, earlier this week called for the immediate withdrawal of all foreigners from the delta until the resolution of political issues, including control of the country's oil resources. Peace talks continued Thursday between Dokubo-Asari and the Nigerian government. Full Article : csmonitor.com
Africa on 10.01.04 @ 11:36 AM CST [ link]
Aussie asylum report slams South Africa
Sydney - An Australian report to be handed to the United Nations next week names South Africa as a "high-risk" country for asylum-seekers. The report by the Edmund Rice Centre, a Sydney-based Catholic organisation, highlights the actions of private South African companies engaged by the Australian government to send failed asylum-seekers home to other parts of Africa. Full Article : iol.co.za
Africa on 10.01.04 @ 08:49 AM CST [ link]
French Threat to EU Asylum Camps in North Africa
EU leaders clashed today over a plan to set up camps in North Africa to process immigrants and asylum seekers to help stop the flow of illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino proposed five pilot projects to set up processing centres in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania, officials said. But French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said he was totally against the idea. Full Article : scotsman.com
Africa on 10.01.04 @ 08:47 AM CST [ link]
UN plea for more troops in Congo
The UN is under pressure to expand its peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the prospect of renewed fighting has prompted tens of thousands of refugees to flee. Tomorrow the security council is to debate the secretary general Kofi Annan's plea to renew the force's mandate and more than double its number to 23,900, making Congo one of the UN's more expensive missions at $1.4bn (£800m) a year. Full Article : guardian.co.uk
Africa on 10.01.04 @ 08:44 AM CST [ link]
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