NEWSBRIEFS

Photo: Brian Gitta (centre) has been named a finalist for the prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. Source: Daily Monitor, Uganda.

Young Ugandan Wins Major Prize For Malaria Detector

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ugandan inventor Brian Gitta, 24, has scooped a major prize for his device that detects tell-tale signs of malaria – the leading cause of death in his country.

In fact, Gitta developed the device, called “Matibabu” after blood tests failed to diagnose his own malaria. It took four blood tests to diagnose him with the disease, said Shafik Sekitto, part of the Matibabu team in an interview with the BBC.

"Matibabu is simply a game-changer," said Rebecca Enonchong, a judge for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation and Cameroonian technology entrepreneur.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 June 2018

Photo: Ramon Esono Ebale María. Credit: ED Justice

Campaign Frees Famous Cartoonist In Equatorial Guinea Prison

By Lisa Vives

Global Information Network

NEW YORK (GIN) – If you’ve ever received a request to step up for a jailed author, artist or journalist, you might have wondered later: Was he ever freed?

In the case of Ramon Nse Esono Ebale – he certainly was and he thanks you.

In a moving letter published under the title “Artist, Finally Free, Leaves Country,” artist Ramon Esono Ebale confirms he was released after six months in prison on apparent false charges and then a three month wait for travel documents.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 June 2018

Photo: Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara. Credit: Togo Tribune.

Ivory Coast President's Agenda 2030 Evokes Protests

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YOK (IDN) - In a recent interview with a French magazine, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara revealed his vision of two more terms in office despite having repeatedly said he would step down at the end of his second term in 2020.

The news throws cold water on the plans of the opposition and even members of Ouattara’s own coalition who had been lining up to run for the powerful job.

But it’s hardly a surprising move in Africa, which is home to many of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state. A phenomenon which had its start under colonialism has taken a life of its own. The trend of entrenched leadership can be seen across the continent, feeding corruption, instability, societal fractures and economic stagnation.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 June 2018

Photo: Cyril Ramaphosa (L) and Jacob Zuma before his ouster. Credit: Face2FaceAfrica

Infighting Delays a ‘New Dawn’ in South Africa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – South Africa’s former leader Jacob Zuma is among those said to be impeding efforts by his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, to create a “new dawn” for citizens and foreign investors – free of corruption and cronyism which became associated with the Zuma regime.

Zuma was ousted as president of South Africa three months ago. It was a humiliating end to his nine-year rule. Now Zuma’s shadow is looming large over the Ramaphosa era as his allies launch a fight back within the ANC."There is bad blood there, and Zuma is feeling betrayed – it is an open secret," political analyst Somadoda Fikeni from the UNISA university in Pretoria told the French news service.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 June 2018

Photo: Families of massacre victims, in Kumasi Ghana, April 2018. © 2018 Reed Brody/HRW

Gambia Ex-President Tied to 2005 Murders of Refugees

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ACCRA (IDN) – Strong evidence has been gathered linking the former president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, to the murder of 44 West African migrants mostly from Ghana by operatives of the ex-president.

The sole survivor of the mass killing, also from Ghana, promised himself not to rest until Jammeh was brought to justice. ''It is my mission, on behalf of my friends, we want justice,'' Martin Kyere, now age 37, told the BBC.

Kyere was selling shoes in Ghana and the Ivory Coast when he decided to use his savings to travel to Senegal and then to Europe. His plan fell apart when the boat used by migrants ran out of fuel and beached in the Gambia. The group was arrested, detained for a week in Banjul and beaten.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 May 2018

Photo: Rwandan President Kagame with the President of Niger and Champion of the CFTA Process, Mahamadou Issoufou, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat. Credit: The New Times Rwanda.

Me Too Movement Challenges African Halls Of Power

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – A promised investigation into gender discrimination at the African Union appears to be idling on the back burner, according to the South African Mail & Guardian.

Some 37 women employees at the African Union Commission (AUC) have complained of “ill-treatment and humiliation”, investigators at the South African paper found.

The women, who work at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, appealed to Moussa Faki Mahamat, the new AUC chair, and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, the AU chair, in a signed letter obtained by the paper.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 May 2018

Photo: President Buhari. Credit: Premium Times.

Trump Apparently Met His Match in Nigerian President Buhari

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Try as he might, President Trump couldn’t land a deal with Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari at their tête-à-tête in Washington end of April 2018.

Deploying his usual tough talk on trade, the U.S. president was shooting for a deal that would open the doors to U.S. farm products by “ripping down” Nigerian trade barriers that protect the fragile state of that country’s agricultural economy.

Nigeria had too many trade barriers, President Trump complained, and should lift those barriers ASAP. He pointed out that Nigeria receives significant aid from the U.S. to fight terrorism and questioned whether the U.S. was getting its money’s worth.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 May 2018

Photo: An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 3, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. William Collette)

US Launches Minuteman III Missile Test in Cloud of Secrecy

NEW YORK (IDN) – With little prior notice from military officials, the U.S. launched a Minuteman III Ballistic Missile on April 25 morning at approximately 5:26 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Civilians and residents living near the base, who regularly receive ample notice of missile tests, were left in the dark this time as the missile raced through the early morning sky, according to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

The U.S conducts three or four ICBM tests each year. These are the same class of missiles for which the U.S. has been highly critical of the North Koreans for developing and testing, the Santa Barbara based Foundation said.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 25 April 2018

Photo: Makoma Lekalakala (left) and Liz McDaid (right). Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize.

South African Women Honoured For Anti-Nuclear Effort

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Using the knowledge gained in the anti-apartheid struggle, two South African women challenged a secret, multibillion-dollar nuclear deal that would have dotted South Africa with nuclear power plants from Russia.

The women, Makoma Lekalakala and Liziwe McDaid, waged a five-year court battle against the plants. Against all odds, including a secret agreement between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and former President Jacob Zuma, the High Court ruled on April 26, 2017 that the $76 billion nuclear power project was unconstitutional – a landmark legal victory that protected South Africa from an unprecedented expansion of the nuclear industry and production of radioactive waste.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 24 April 2018

Photo: African Asylum seekers protesting against Israel's decision. Credit: chikaoduahblog

Surprise at Netanyahu's Rejection of Asylum for Africans

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Thousands of African asylum seekers who reached Israel after dangerous voyages may have lost their last best hope to be released and sent to western countries or resettled in Israel after members of the Israeli coalition government trashed a negotiated asylum plan.

A landmark agreement negotiated with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had been announced only hours before it was pulled off the table. According to The Jerusalem Post, the plan was rejected by the Israeli cabinet, members of the governing coalition, the culture minister and the education minister who said “granting legal status to 16,000 infiltrators will turn Israel into a paradise for infiltrators”.