tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52379462024-03-23T13:56:52.768-04:00Black Star JournalCommentary on the news, culture, sports and current events of sub-Saharan Africa from someone who's lived there.<br>
<br>
The author served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa.
<br>
<br>
All essays are available for re-print, with the explicit permission of the author. Contact him at mofycbsj @ yahoo.comUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1065125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-90677509754486602892014-04-19T17:09:00.002-04:002014-04-19T17:09:41.793-04:00Responding to disasters in urban areas vs rural onesThe IRIN news service has <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report/99948/bigger-badder-the-challenge-of-urban-disasters" target="_blank">a good piece</a>
about how responding to the devastation wrought by disaster in urban
areas offers very different challenges than responding to disasters in
more rural areas. Worth a read.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-54434372820984621802013-12-06T23:11:00.000-05:002013-12-06T23:12:46.703-05:00Mandela's legacy was about human dignity<i>"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to
live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." -Nelson
Mandela</i><br />
<br />
South Africa's first democratic president
Nelson Mandela passed away yesterday. Mandela is the most important
world statesman of the last 70 years.<br />
<br />
Much has been said about the great man's contribution to justice and reconciliation, so I'll focus on something different.<br />
<br />
Abraham Lincoln said, "Anyone can overcome adversity. If you really want to test a man's character, give him power."<br />
<br />
And
this is perhaps the most significant way in which Mandela distinguished
himself: by NOT pretending he was indispensable to his nation's fate.<br />
<br />
He could easily have erected a cult of personality around himself. So <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/06/12/191028616/mandela-a-rare-success-as-liberation-leader-and-president" target="_blank">many liberation leaders around the world fell into that trap</a>. His insistence on instead choosing the greater good is one of the biggest reasons he is so universally admired.<br />
<br />
He
was denounced as a terrorist by misleaders like Margaret Thatcher and
Ronald Reagan. But as state sponsors of terrorism themselves, they were
in no position to cast judgment on a man who was fighting for freedom as
they fought against it.<br />
<br />
But much like with <a href="http://mofyc.blogspot.com/2013/01/dr-kings-real-dream-dignity-for-all.html" target="_blank">Dr. Martin Luther King Jr</a>.,
Mandela's legacy is usually oversimplified, at least in western
countries. It's oversimplified into his role in the fight for legal
equality for black people. In fact, his real quest, much like Dr.
Lking's was for the complete, fundamental dignity of human beings. That
included legal equality but was much broader.<br />
<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/12/06/3030781/nelson-mandela-believed-people-wont-talk/" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/12/06/3030781/nelson-mandela-believed-people-wont-talk/" target="_blank">He argued</a> that poverty and inequality "have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils."<br />
<br />
That was his legacy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-62968048032030419562013-10-08T11:53:00.001-04:002013-10-08T11:54:48.544-04:00Syria suffering awful but NOT 'unparallled in recent history'In a rather shocking statement statement from someone in a position to know better, the head of the UN refugee agency <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/522495669.html" target="_blank">described the situation in Syria</a> as involving “suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history." <br />
<br />
Perhaps
António Guterres should get off YouTube and speak to his staff in the
eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, home of what is widely
acknowledged to be the deadliest war and worst humanitarian catastrophe
anywhere on the planet since World War II.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-20020697454018782282013-08-18T17:34:00.000-04:002013-08-18T17:34:05.684-04:00How the Baghdad bombing changed humanitarian affairsTen years ago today, a bombing obliterated United Nations headquarters in the Iraqi
capital Baghdad, killing 22 aid workers and UN staff members. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23717105" target="_blank">This piece</a>
on the BBC website highlights how this attack fundamentally changed the
work of not only the UN, but also of humanitarian aid organizations
around the world.<i> </i>A subsequent bombing of the facilities of the
Red Cross, generally considered the most respected humanitarian
organization in the world, also had a shattering effect. In the
subsequent decade, aid workers have increasingly found themselves the target of combatants, not merely bystanders.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-40691889718139533132013-02-15T17:32:00.001-05:002013-02-15T17:32:16.987-05:00Are anti-AIDS programs based on a false premise?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">The public radio show This
American life has a fascinating story on how counterintuitive behavior
sometimes save lives and how many AIDS prevention programs in Africa are based
on flawed conventional wisdom. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">(<a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/444/gossip" target="_blank">Click here to access theshow</a>... see Act One) </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-59366628598837436082012-07-10T21:14:00.003-04:002012-07-10T23:32:12.751-04:00How Mali became a failed state<i>The Washington Post</i> has <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/how-1-man-derailed-2-decades-of-democracy-in-mali-and-helped-create-haven-for-terrorism/2012/07/07/gJQA0tMpTW_story_1.html">a good analysis</a> of Mali's rapid descent into a virtual failed state following a military coup d'Etat three months ago that overturned 20 years of democracy.<br />
<br />
Mali was hardly a paragon prior to the coup that brought to power a junta headed by Capt. Amadou Sanogo to power. The government was increasingly corrupt and ineffectual. The military was poorly armed in the face of a combined insurgency of Tuaregs who wanted a separate state in the north and of Islamists who wanted all of Mali united under a harsh form of Sharia.<br />
<br />
However the coup rapidly accelerated, rather than halted, Mali's slide into chaos. The junior officers couldn't decide if they wanted power or not, though they did decide to help themselves to government laptops and other office equipment as part of their looting 'strategy.' The rebel groups took advantage of the indecision to seize most of northern Mali, including the culturally significant city of Timbuktu, where the Islamists have blown up ancient statues and started imposing Taliban-esque punishments. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the military leaders have certainly gotten comfortable with the lavish perks of power (even as the regional body ECOWAS doesn't recognize the coup) as their country burns. <i>The Post</i> articles concludes: <b>Businessmen are still waiting in front of [Sanogo]'s office to see him, with the customary suitcase of cash, a sign of his enduring influence.</b><br />
<br />
<i>Update: </i>The Post<i> ran <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mysterious-fatal-crash-provides-rare-glimpse-of-us-commandos-in-mali/2012/07/08/gJQAGO71WW_story.html">another article</a> a few days ago on a mysterious crash in Mali that killed three US Army commandos. The soldiers were engaged in anti-terrorism operations in the Sahara against the Islamists. The crash occurred *after* the US suspended military cooperation with Mali following the coup, </i><b><br /></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-74576892652234329772012-05-17T16:17:00.004-04:002012-05-17T16:17:33.553-04:00Evil scum war criminal pats himself on the backIn his sentencing hearing yesterday, evil scum and war criminal Charles Taylor <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18082584">pleaded for mercy</a> from the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone... without acknowledging any guilt. The former Liberian dictator was convicted by the court of knowingly aiding and abetting war crimes in that country’s civil war (he’s never been charged for his role in the barbarity in his own country).<br>
<br>
Taylor had the gall to praise himself as bringing healing and reconciliation to Liberia. He is correct.... sort of. Healing and reconciliation arrived in his country, but only after he fled the country in disgrace.<br>
<br>
Prosecutors called for an 80 year sentence for the convictions, a term which defense attorneys called ‘disproportionate.’ They are correct, it is disproportionate. Taylor’s reign of terror which destabilized an entire region merits a much harsher sentence.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-55862538687837875362012-05-07T17:24:00.000-04:002012-05-07T17:24:11.609-04:00Record foreign investment in Africa<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s been <a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE84207R20120503">widely reported</a> that 2011 marked the year in which
Africa received its largest ever share of global foreign direct investment
(FDI). The continent received some 5.5%, up a full percent from the previous
year. Africa still ranked as “the least attractive investment destination in
the world,” in a survey of investors. But those who already had a presence in
the continent viewed it overwhelmingly positively, while those who didn’t
viewed its prospects dimly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-90162656204644690032012-04-28T22:48:00.000-04:002012-04-28T22:48:30.949-04:00Murderous war criminal scum finally receives justiceOne of the world's worst war criminals finally received a small measure of justice this week. Former Liberian warlord and dictator <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/charles-taylor-former-liberian-leader-found-guilty-of-war-crimes/2012/04/26/gIQAlYJAjT_story.html">Charles Taylor was convicted of multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity</a> by the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor was convicted of aiding and abetting crimes in that country by arming Sierra Leone rebel groups knowing full well of the groups' actions.<br />
<br />
As you might infer, I hold particularly enmity for this vile piece of trash. I lived in Guinea in the mid-90s, when the country hosted over half a million refugees from the Sierra Leonean and Liberian civil wars. I personally knew people whose lives were ruined by Taylor's roving bands of murderous thugs.<br />
<br />
Since Taylor still has many allies inside Liberia itself, he was never going to be treated for the even greater he was responsible for in his own country, so it's a consolation that he will like spend the rest of his miserable life rotting in jail.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-51620158072775618422012-04-17T00:33:00.000-04:002012-04-17T00:36:12.945-04:00Mali: a boon to African democracy?The <a href="http://blackstarjournal.blogspot.com/2012/03/mali-coup-undermines-countrys-stability.html">recent events in Mali</a>, previously one of the most stable, democratic countries on the continent, have been widely described internationally as a blow to African democracy. <a href="http://www.seadiaspora.com/2012/04/mali-notable-surprise-in-history.html">Over at SEADiaspora blog</a>, Adien Ignoi takes the opposite view. The refusal of the Malian population to accept the junta's legitimacy, essentially forcing it to hand back power to civilians, is, in his view, a good sign.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-4366789234468364292012-03-31T15:47:00.000-04:002012-03-31T16:36:21.866-04:00You want power? You can have itA follow up on the recent <a href="http://blackstarjournal.blogspot.com/2012/03/mali-coup-undermines-countrys-stability.html">military theft of power</a> in Mali that overthrew the democratically elected president Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT)...<br />
<br />
If you'll recall, the coup leaders insisted their action was solely motivated by the desire to stop the insurgency in the north of the country and to preserve Mali's territorial integrity. So what was one of the first acts committed by soldiers following the consolidation of the coup? The<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17474946"> looting of the presidential palace</a>.<br />
<br />
Not that the country's territorial integrity has fared much better. The army has lost control of several key towns since the coup, <a href="http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/DEPAFP20120331100848/mali-aqmi-rebellion-touaregue-islamistemali-la-ville-de-kidal-aux-mains-des-rebelles-la-junte-appelle-a-l-aide.html">most recently Kidal</a>. The major northern town of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/31/us-mali-idUSBRE82U05U20120331">Gao is also under assault</a>.<br />
<br />
The ruling junta calls itself the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy, a beautiful Orwellian name, since it was they who disestablished democracy in the first place.<br />
<br />
Even as the French government formally condemned the coup, it was common knowledge that <a href="http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20120322093154/">Paris had been considered ATT too lax</a> in fighting against the Islamist insurgency. This has fueled speculation that the French may have had some role in the regime change. While there seems to be little concrete evidence to that effect, the long history of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7afrique">La Françafrique</a> nourishes such suspicions.<br />
<br />
Black Looks blog offers <a href="http://www.blacklooks.org/2012/03/coup-in-mali-the-rats-and-dogs-discussion-continues/">a fresh perspective</a> on the events.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-74320955230087951872012-03-22T18:31:00.001-04:002012-03-22T18:31:40.400-04:00Mali coup undermines country's stability, securityIt was very disappointing to hear about <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201203221185.html">the military coup in Mali</a> by junior officers, which overthrow the democratically-elected president Amadou Toumani Touré (known popularly as ATT). ATT was set to give up power following elections scheduled for next month.<br />
<br />
Mali had been a more or less stable, reasonably well-run democratic state for 20 years. But in recent months, the north of the country had fallen into the grips of a rebellion by a Tuareg splinter group affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM). Following a 2009 peace agreement, many of these fighters crossed the border into Libya to act as mercenaries for Muammar Gadhaffi. When that regime fell earlier this year, they streamed back into Mali.<br />
<br />
I'd become aware of the latest Tuareg rebellion but did not realized it had undermined the state's authority that quickly.<br />
<br />
It’s also known that France has believed that the Malian government was too lax in dealing with the rebellion and was concerned about AQIM's increasing influence. France was also annoyed that <a href="http://www.tv5.org/cms/chaine-francophone/info/Les-dossiers-de-la-redaction/Mali/p-20754-Coup-d-Etat-militaire-au-Mali.htm">ATT's government had denied offers of military assistance in combating AQIM</a>, forcing the European country to set up shop in Niger instead.<br />
<br />
As a result, there are rumblings that France may have had some role in the coup... a plausible claim given the country's meddlesome history in Africa.<br />
<br />
Though, as a BBC analyst pointed out, the coup may not have been well-thought out by thits leaders. The purported rationale was that the government was not sufficiently arming and training the military to deal with the rebellion, but the US and EU countries will now be forced to cut military aid to the country until constitutional order is restored.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-77777559135344220492012-03-20T17:26:00.001-04:002012-03-20T17:26:12.159-04:00Shaming AIDS victims<a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/314816/20120315/tanzania-hiv-aids-students-red-ribbons-stigma.htm">A story</a> broke recently whereby authorities in Tanzania will require all students with AIDS to wear an identifying red ribbon. Officials claim that it's for the students' own benefit: they will not have to do physical tasks. However, the move was quickly denounced by AIDS activists in the country and abroad who complained that the move would stigmatize the children. They also denounced it as a grotesque invasion of privacy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-27886275518174144992012-02-18T16:51:00.001-05:002012-02-18T16:51:25.150-05:00More irreality in SomaliaVOA reports that 'leaders' (whatever that means) in Somalia have signed agreements on <a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Somalia-Leaders-Sign-Agreements-on-Government-Formation--139569423.html">the formation of a new national government</a>. The agreement came in advance of <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201202101070.html">a conference in London</a> on the future of the country. Neither the agreement nor the conference included the Islamist al-Shabab group which controls most of the country. More time and money wasted on agreements and meetings that are completely divorced from the real world.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-66842505332115741912011-12-27T10:33:00.000-05:002011-12-26T10:37:09.741-05:00Press liberalization in NigerAfricaphiles are often reading disturbing stories about attacks on press freedom on the continent. Even South Africa, arguably the freest state in Africa, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/world/africa/south-african-parliament-to-vote-on-press-law.html?pagewanted=all">recently rammed through a law</a> that was widely denounced as a serious assault on the country's thriving independent media.<br>
<br>
So I was pleased to read the following headline in a Zambian newspaper: <b>President of Niger to be first to sign document abolishing barbaric media laws in Africa.</b><br>
<br>
Niger's president Mahamadou Issoufou approved a bill that revoked the country's criminal defamation and insult laws. Such a repeal is one of the major appeals of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, which cites the laws as one of the severe threats to media freedom in Africa. By contrast, defamation is a civil offense in most western countries (which means the punishment is monetary, not prison). Criminal defamation laws are a popular tool used by autocratic regimes to silence dissent, by making criticism an imprisonable offense.<br>
<br>
Kudos to Pres. Issoufou for the move. Many long-time opposition leaders turn autocratic as soon as they gain power. Senegal's Abdoulaye wade and former Cote d'Ivoire strongman Laurent Gbagbo are just two. So it's gratifying to see Niger's leader bucking the trend.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-41424424455041665912011-12-26T10:10:00.001-05:002011-12-26T10:11:30.847-05:00All that glitters isn't goldRadio Netherlands Africa service has <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201112210316.html">a story</a> about the problems caused by the gold rush in southeastern Senegal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-7263948895683461392011-10-27T21:31:00.000-04:002011-10-27T21:31:36.477-04:00Nigeria's exploding populationNigeria's This Day has <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201110271089.html">a piece</a> on the country's skyrocketing population. There were 140 million Nigerians five years ago but that figure has already risen to nearly 168 million and is expected to hit 221 million by the year 2020. The head of the country's National Population Commission pointed out that this meant that Nigerians represent fully 2.4% of humanity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-65538530682852411372011-10-23T21:52:00.000-04:002011-10-23T21:53:07.488-04:00Tubman backs Taylor returnThere has been <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201110200314.html">a critical international reaction</a> to comments by a Liberian presidential candidate. Winston Tubman, who recently qualified for a run off against the incumbent president and Nobel Peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said that former warlord and dictator Charles Taylor would be free to return to the country. Taylor, an indicted war criminal and convicted scumbag, is presently on trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone for his widely believed meddling in that country's civil war. He's yet to face trial for his role in his own country's conflict. Taylor's wife, a Liberian senator, is expected to be part of a Tubman administration if he wins. Tubman is a nephew of a former Liberian strongman.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-64418462538565270482011-09-02T22:26:00.005-04:002011-09-02T22:33:19.974-04:00Top Kenyan officials indicted for post-electoral violenceThe <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iwqR-ic9Cfl19OBxWVZUJgx2y_5w?docId=CNG.1d6667c8a37d4092d1b473c7c0d61cf7.771">International Criminal Court recently indicted several Kenyan ex-cabinet ministers</a> for their alleged role in planning the widespread violence that followed the country's 2007 presidential election. Significantly, the former officials <a href="http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000042004&cid=4">were present in the Hague courtroom</a> to answer the charges. Another set of hearings is scheduled for later in the month to deal with other suspects, including sitting Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, a former presidential candidate and son of the country's founding president.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-17743180672243424202011-08-19T10:41:00.006-04:002011-08-19T10:47:28.304-04:00Gbagbos chargedFormer Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo, whose election loss sparked a brief civil war, <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201181973458586872.html?utm_content=automateplus&utm_campaign=Trial5&utm_source=SocialFlow&utm_term=tweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount">has been charged by prosecutors with "economic crimes, armed robbery, looting and embezzlement,"</a> as was his wife. Pascal Affi N'Guessan, former head of Gbagbo's FPI party, has also been charged with attacking state security following the election defeat.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-9017768151304818742011-07-29T21:34:00.009-04:002011-07-29T21:50:35.872-04:00Male victims of sex crimes in war 'almost equal' number of female victimsIn recent years, there's been quite a bit of press coverage of the rape and sexual assault against women during war time, and rightly so. However, there's virtually no awareness of such crimes against men. Both al-Jazeera (<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2011/07/2011728101626315380.html?utm_content=automateplus&utm_campaign=Trial5&utm_source=SocialFlow&utm_medium=MasterAccount&utm_term=tweets">here</a>) and the UK <i>Observer</i> (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men?INTCMP=SRCH">here</a>) have done pieces on this mostly ignored scourge. <br /><br />Both news outlets report the claim that sex crimes against men during war is nearly as common as those against women, some of the victims having been gang raped repeatedly for months or even years. <br /><br />But <i>The Observer</i> points out that the problem is so little thought of that such statistics are hard to find. <b>Because there has been so little research into the rape of men during war, it's not possible to say with any certainty why it happens or even how common it is – although a rare 2010 survey, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 22% of men and 30% of women in Eastern Congo reported conflict-related sexual violence.</b><br /><br /><br />They note that, in addition to the taboos (and in some places, laws) preventing many such men from getting help, many non-governmental organizations are set up to help female victims of sex crimes but not males.<br /><br />"The organisations working on sexual violence don't talk about it," says Chris Dolan, director of the <a href="http://www.refugeelawproject.org/">Refugee Law Project</a> (RLP) at the Makerere University in Uganda.<br /><br />But it goes beyond not talking about it to an active muzzling of reality.<br /><br /><b>"I know for a fact that the people behind [a 2006 United Nations] report insisted the definition of rape be restricted to women," [Dolan] says, adding that one of the RLP's donors, Dutch Oxfam, refused to provide any more funding unless he'd promise that 70% of his client base was female.</b><br /><br /><i>The Observer</i> article concludes depressingly: <b>Before receiving help from the RLP, one man went to see his local doctor. He told him he had been raped four times, that he was injured and depressed and his wife had threatened to leave him. The doctor gave him a Panadol.</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-44959983324437386972011-07-09T11:02:00.001-04:002011-07-09T12:15:39.748-04:00Congratulations South SudanCongratulations to the <a href="http://www.goss.org/">Republic of South Sudan</a>, the world's newest nation, which achieved independence today. To the country's government: it took you a long time to get to this day. Don't screw it up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-53269639641098582692011-07-01T19:03:00.006-04:002011-07-01T19:10:17.478-04:00Arrest warrant for Blé GoudéAn international <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13997865">arrest warrant has been issued for Charles Blé Goudé</a>, one of Côte d'Ivoire's most notorious criminals. Blé Goudé (age 39) is the long-time leader of the 'Jeunes patriotes' (Young Patriots), a group that's little more than an armed gang affiliated with whichever political group claims the nationalist/xenophobic mantle. He was a close ally of the recently defeated president Laurent Gbagbo. The prosecutor accused Blé Goudé of inciting xenophobia and ethnic violence during the clashes in which Gbagbo supporters tried to cling to power following the election defeat.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-88990114258128787832011-06-15T17:56:00.002-04:002011-06-15T17:58:28.758-04:00The new African land grab, brought to you by HarvardThe UK <i>Guardian</i> has <a href="http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/08/us-universities-africa-land-grab?cat=world&type=article">a disturbing piece</a> on how many prestigious US universities, including Harvard and Vanderbilt, are collaborating with European speculators to buy or lease large chunks of land in Africa thus forcing thousands of locals off the land.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237946.post-69271929764067684302011-06-14T17:54:00.001-04:002011-06-15T17:56:47.418-04:00JosThe BBC World Service’s Assignment program has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fvldf">a good documentary</a> on sectarian divisions that persist in the Nigerian city of Jos.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0