Some peacekeepers in the capital Juba abandoned their posts inside “Protection of Civilian” sites – where tens of thousands have sought safety from successive bouts of fighting – while outside the fortified bases, peacekeeper presence was “non-existent.” They refused to help when foreign aid workers were attacked and some of them gang-raped in a hotel close to a UN base…. Read more »
After another two weeks of Subsaharan Africa and talking to Mr.Bailey about my last post I have taken a less extreme view point on Subsaharan Africa. I still do not like the place nor do i have high hopes for their future. Although after more research I have realized that even though it is not a great place at all… Read more »
vory Coast’s energy ministry has announced plans to invest around US$1 billion to build oil pipelines and storage facilities. The investment will be made through two newly-created companies owned by a dozen of investors, including France’s Total SA (NYSE:TOT) and industrial group Bollore, the ministry said on Tuesday. Just before that announcement, Ivory Coast had signed a deal with a consortium led by Total… Read more »
Police fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets at protesters who were voicing frustration over the cost of university education at a Johannesburg university. Details of the unrest at Wits University on Tuesday were widely shared on social media. Some protesters threw rocks as police and private security guards tried to clear the scene. However, Twitter users — using… Read more »
The world is failing impoverished kids. Although the rate of extreme poverty is declining worldwide, children are disproportionately impacted, according to two new reports. The number of people living in extreme poverty ― or on less than $1.90 a day ― has declined, per a report the World Bank released Sunday. In 2013, the year with the latest comprehensive data,… Read more »
Over the last few years, I’ve gotten to know a determined cast of characters in academia aiming to identify paths to a good Anthropocene — Anthropocene being the closest thing there is to common shorthand for this span of human-dominated planetary history unfolding around us. One such researcher is Elena M. Bennett, an ecosystem ecologist and geographer at McGill University…. Read more »
With an arid climate, one of the lowest GDPs per capita in the world and a recent history of political upheaval, it is perhaps remarkable that most of Burkina Faso’s capital has access to piped water. The Office National de l’Eau et de l’Assainissement (ONEA), the utility in charge of water and wastewater services in the capital Ouagadougou and other… Read more »
Straddling the borders of Chad, Niger and Cameroon in West Africa, Lake Chad has been a source of freshwater for irrigation projects in each of these countries. Maps drawn from a series of satellite images show a dramatic decrease in the size of the lake over the past 30 years. Since 1963, the lake has shrunk to nearly a twentieth… Read more »
Chad has sent some 2,000 troops to neighboring Niger to help the fight against Boko Haram following last week’s terrorist attacks by the Takfiri militants in the Nigerien town of Bosso. The “heavily armed” soldiers will “search everywhere for Boko Haram,” a military source said Wednesday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that some 50,000… Read more »
Anger with the ANC continues to grow, as students in South Africa stage nation-wide protests against a planned tuition hike. Protesters are calling for free tuition, and are putting pressure on the mining industry to help fund it. South Africa is facing increasing instability as student protests sweep across the country, leading to violent clashes with police. The unrest began… Read more »