Africa

Images: Dahomey Royal Sandals (top) and Candomblé Doll from 1940s Bahiat (bottom). Courtesy of the National Museum of Brazil.

Rare African Antiquities Lost in Brazil Museum Fire

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A fast-moving fire that swept Brazil's National Museum on September 2 incinerated priceless objects and reduced hundreds of African antiquities to ash, museum official are now saying.

The museum's permanent African exhibit was named Kumbukumbu – a Swahili word for the memory of people, objects and experiences. A throne from the Kingdom of Dahomey (current-day Benin) and ritual objects of Afro-Brazilian religion (Candomblé) were some of the museum's most prized possessions.

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

Photo: President Kagame meets Chinese President in Beijing. Credit: Paul Kagame's website.

African Critics Warn of Dark Side to China's ‘Charitable' Loans

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – There are two sides to every coin and two widely opposing views on China's offer of generous loans and grants to African countries announced at the recent China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing.

At the conference, with representatives from 53 of 54 African countries, sky-high numbers were bandied about. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced $60 billion in funds for eight initiatives over the next three years, in areas ranging from industrial promotion, infrastructure construction and scholarships for young Africans.

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

South Africa Faced with Rising Suicides among Young and Old

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – South Africa’s rising suicide rate was in the spotlight as the World Health Organization marked World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. 450 men take their lives every month with four out of five deaths being the result of suicide, according to the Men’s Foundation of South Africa.

Suicide is among others the visible end product of struggle, stress, mental illnesses or disorders.

In August, Professor Bongani Mayosi succumbed to the pressures of being one of the few Blacks at the mostly white University of Cape Town’s Department of Medicine and Groote Schuur Hospital, colleagues said.

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

Photo: Protests for freedom of Bobi Wine. Credit: Facebook Bobi Wine

Ugandan Leader Tarnished by Torture of Reggae Star Bobi Wine

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KAMPALA (IDN) – Images of a popular reggae music star in a wheel chair holding crutches have raised questions of whether Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered the arrest and torture of the star-turned-parliamentarian, Bobi Wine, who attended a rally of the opposition in the town of Arua.

Museveni was forced to release the star for treatment in the U.S. after an outcry by Wine's supporters.

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known professionally as Bobi Wine, arrived on September 2 in Boston. Initially blocked from boarding his flight, he was briefly held in a government-owned hospital before finally being released.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 September 2018

Photo: An evening glimpse of entrance to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Big Oil Locked in War with Institutions of the Art World

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A growing number of museums in Europe are turning thumbs down on oil company dollars when the companies not only contribute to global warming but fund the "science" that supposedly disproves it.

Oil company funding also misleads public perception of environmental devastation as in Nigeria where billions of dollars were made extracting oil while highly toxic water and soil remain.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Hydrology found that levels of Cobalt, Copper and Iron are so high in the communities of Gokana, Ogoniland, River State, as to render their water unsuitable for human consumption due to the potential adverse health effect at high levels.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 September 2018

Photo: View of the ICJ courtroom on the opening day of the hearings. Credit: ICJ

Mauritius Approaches UN Court for Return of Diego Garcia

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – When colonial powers redrew borders in Africa and picked choice lands for themselves and less desirable land for everyone else, some of those deals remained through this century. Few were undone.

A case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will decide if colonial deals that redrew African borders can be declared illegal and, if so, if islands taken by the United Kingdom from the nation of Mauritius can be rejoined to Mauritius as before.

Mauritius says it was illegally stripped by Britain of the Chagos Islands, now home to a major U.S. air base.

: Global Information Network; UN INSIDER; 04 September 2018

Photo: Lake Chad map. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Conference Comes to the Aid of Drought-Stricken, Boko Haram Terrorised Lake Chad Region

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Europe's powerhouse Germany, which joins the UN Security Council next January as a non-permanent member for 2019-2020, has pledged 100 million Euros (116 million USD) in emergency aid until 2020 to lessen the sufferings of over 10 million people in Africa's crisis-ridden Lake Chad region. This is in addition to 40 million Euros already earmarked to aid political stability in 2018 and 2019.

Maas, who was opening a two-day high-ranking international donor conference in Berlin on September 3 said the Lake Chad region – once a crucial interface between the Sahara and the southern part of Africa – is "one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of our times".

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 September 2018

Photo: The closing ceremony marks the end of the quadrennial multisport event held from August 18 until September 2 in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra. Credit: Asian Games 2018.

Out of Africa into Asian Games Arena – 'Shameful', Critics Say

By Kalinga Seneviratne

NEW DELHI (IDN) – It has been simmering since the Doha Asian Games of 2006, which is now perhaps coming to a boil, about whether Arab Gulf States flushed with petrodollars should be allowed to import athletes from Africa merely to win medals at Asian Games. There is a lot of resentment in India because it deprived India of a historic achievement of topping the gold medal table in athletics at the just concluded 18th Asian Games from August 18 to September 2 in Jakarta.

Tiny Arab Gulf States of Bahrain and Qatar stood out with African born athletes sweeping the medals. Bahrain in particular stood out, with all of their 25 medals at the Games having come in track and field, largely from athletes that only recently gained Bahrain nationality.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 September 2018

Photo: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose for members of the media with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his wife Margaret Kenyatta as they arrive at the White House, August 27, 2018, in Washington. Credit: U.S. Department of State.

Kenya Signs Deal with U.S. to Finance Wind Power

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) - Kenya has signed agreements with a U.S. wind energy company, providing a major boost for wind power and food security.

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya said the 'Big Four agenda' projects – boosting manufacturing industry, promoting food security, providing affordable housing and universal healthcare coverage – present major opportunities for local and foreign investors.

The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Kipeto Wind Energy Company signed documents to close a $232 million deal in financing the construction and operation of a 100-megawatt grid-connected wind power plant south of Nairobi.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 August 2018

Photo: Families leave Maasai Mau Forest on July 8, 2018 as evictions of illegal settlers started. Photo | File | Nation Media Group

Settlers Face Eviction in Kenya as Gov't Plan to Save Trees

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) – Some 40,000 settlers in the Maasai Mau forest in Kenya face imminent eviction by the Kenyan government which says it is protecting the forest in the name of conservation.

Deputy President William Ruto said those who encroached on the forest should be flushed out but in a humane manner. "We respect every Kenyan's rights. No force should be used as they are Kenyans and not animals," Ruto said.

Ruto’s calls for negotiations were dismissed by Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko who declared that the evictions were non-negotiable and that there would be no compensation.