<h1>The small hands of Moroccan recycling</h1>

<figure><img alt="File 20170519 12263 vvjzz7" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170165/width754/file-20170519-12263-vvjzz7.jpg" />
<figcaption>A wastepicker working in the streets of Casablanca. (Photo Pascal Garret, July 2013) <a class="source" href="http://www.bab-el-louk.org/">www.bab-el-louk.org</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></figcaption>
</figure>

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/benedicte-florin-348742">B&eacute;n&eacute;dicte Florin</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-francois-rabelais-de-tours-2282">Universit&eacute; Fran&ccedil;ois-Rabelais de Tours</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mustapha-azaitraoui-369200">Mustapha Azaitraoui</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-hassan-ier-3095">Universit&eacute; Hassan Ier</a>

This article is based on a series about recycling documented in the 2017 book <a href="http://www.pressesdesciencespo.fr/fr/livre/?GCOI=27246100106200">What to do with leftovers? Re-employment in Accumulation Societies</a>. The photographs by <a href="http://www.bab-el-louk.org/">Pascal Garret</a>, sociologist and freelance photographer, who collaborates with social scientists on the theme of waste recovery and recycling.

<hr />
Casablanca, Morocco, summer 2016. With constant heat often above 30&deg;C, garbage can quickly suffocate the four millions inhabitants of this city. But as visitors navigate through the second-largest city of the Maghrebian region, small hands are making sure that large quantities of waste do not pile up on landfills by offering them new life.

These men and women belong to populations that anthropologist Delphine Corteel and sociologist St&eacute;phane Le Lay (<a href="https://www.cairn.info/travailleurs-des-dechets--9782749214368.htm">ERES, 2011</a>) have called &ldquo;waste workers&rdquo;.

Despite their tremendous and tiring work, they remain excluded from the Moroccan society because of the uncleanliness of their work, and the nature of their living spaces.

They live on the margins of legal urban areas, in slums and makeshift houses, which are regularly demolished or threatened by real estate and urban projects. While working in the streets, they are often victims of violence either committed by the authorities or other inhabitants.

We conducted interviews with many members of this community <a href="https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01249663">from 2011</a>. Our objective was to show that these waste collectors, sorters, semi-wholesalers, recyclers and transporters often consider their work as a real profession and believe that their role is essential, especially given that environmental issues have never been higher on the agenda.

According to our multi-site surveys, more than a third of Casablanca&rsquo;s household waste would escape rejection from landfills.

Far from presenting an image of misery and exclusion, we wish to portray this population free from the stigma that usually accompanies activities linked to waste.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170162/area14mp/file-20170519-12226-tpm669.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170162/width754/file-20170519-12226-tpm669.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>Overview of one part of a waste recycling area in Casablanca, Lahraouine. In the background, you can see the social housing district of Attacharouk. (Photo Pascal Garret/MuCEM, January 2015)</figcaption>
</figure>

Situated on the outskirts of Casablanca and in a topographic depression, the Lahraouine district remains virtually invisible from the outside. Most workers live in neighbouring douars (slums) where running water is absent and electricity is supplied by generators or illegal connections.

Several real estate projects have put pressure on the city to revamp the <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/04/15/casablanca-construit-son-reve-de-place-economique-internationale_4616523_3212.html">district and get rid of its slums</a>. As the waste collectors do not owner their lands and there&rsquo;s no rehousing project, they live in fear of eviction.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170167/area14mp/file-20170519-12231-td08us.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170167/width754/file-20170519-12231-td08us.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>A bouar returning from his tour in the outskirts of Casablanca. (Photo Pascal Garret, May 2016)</figcaption>
</figure>

This bouar (the word is derived from the French word &eacute;boueur for garbage man) returns from the city with a cart filled with his daily collection. But the increasing number of containers buried in the affluent neighbourhoods of Casablanca reduces access to this waste resource.

More often than not, the bouara (plural for bouar) have to limit their work to open bins in working-class neighbourhoods. They are also more tolerated in these areas than in the city&rsquo;s central districts or middle-upper class areas. In the latter, police can harass them, even arrest them and confiscate their donkeys and carts.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170277/area14mp/file-20170522-25068-19nhlyf.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170277/width754/file-20170522-25068-19nhlyf.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>Inside view of a gelssa of Lahraouine. (Photo Pascal Garret, April 2017)</figcaption>
</figure>

The gelssas (a term derived from the verb gels, which means sit down in darija, the language of the Maghreb region) are enclosures of various sizes surrounded by palisades (metal sheets, tarps, boards or dried waste that form a kind of wall) where the bouara centralise their harvest after each city tour.

Their collection is sold by weight and consists mainly of cardboard, plastics, metals, glass, fabrics and vegetable waste. Valuable objects, after changing hands several times, will eventually end up in one of the city&rsquo;s flea markets (joutiya). Nothing that can be used is left behind.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170280/area14mp/file-20170522-25041-9c0nul.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170280/width754/file-20170522-25041-9c0nul.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>A worker sorting waste in a gelssa specialised on plastic materials. (Photo Pascal Garret, May 2016)</figcaption>
</figure>

The bouara of Casablanca can make about &euro;20 daily, but many must rent their equipment (cart and animal) from their bosses for &euro;2.

Some gelssas are versatile sorting and recycling sites (plastics, wood, metal, rags), where materials are sorted by type. Others specialise in a particular material, as is the case below for plastic.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170282/area14mp/file-20170522-25076-jox0vi.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170282/width754/file-20170522-25076-jox0vi.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>There is no electricity in the gelssas and this machine is powered by a generator. (Photo Pascal Garret, April 2017)</figcaption>
</figure>

After collection and sorting, some materials have to be compacted and crushed to take up less space, which adds value. The materials will then be sold to informal sector wholesalers or to the formal sector through pick-ups or trucks sent to carry the waste.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170279/area14mp/file-20170522-25076-9jjyyc.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170279/width754/file-20170522-25076-9jjyyc.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>Women sorting plastic waste. (Photo Pascal Garret, May 2016)</figcaption>
</figure>

In Lahraouine, we have not seen many women in the gelssas. Among the 3,000 active waste-recyclers we roughly counted, the majority are young men and we estimated that there were only 500 to 600 women. They are only assigned to sorting tasks.

The <a href="http://www.hcp.ma/Etude-d-Impact-de-la-crise-mondiale-sur-l-economie-marocaine_a867.html">economic crisis in Morocco</a> has led to an increase of waste workers in Casablanca.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170286/area14mp/file-20170522-25008-1jbpntt.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170286/width754/file-20170522-25008-1jbpntt.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>The sheds of waste collectors are themselves made with waste. (Photo Pascal Garret, January 2015)</figcaption>
</figure>

Waste collectors come, for the most part, from the countryside to escape poverty. Some of them originate from very remote villages in the eastern regions of Casablanca.

Many, especially youngsters, come and go according to agricultural cycles. <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/10/17/poverty-has-fallen-in-the-maghreb-but-inequality-persists">Nearly 19% of Morocco&rsquo;s agriculturally dependent rural population</a> still lives in poverty or in danger of becoming impoverished. These seasonal workers are hosted by relatives in the douars of Lahraouine or live in sheds inside gelssas.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170285/area14mp/file-20170522-25041-wjvqkj.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170285/width754/file-20170522-25041-wjvqkj.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>The boss of a gelssa posing with his horse. (Photo Pascal Garret, January 2015)</figcaption>
</figure>

This boss of a gelssa employs several waste collectors. He owns a few carts pulled by a donkey or a horse, and is a &ldquo;middle-income earner&rdquo;.

There is a very strong hierarchy in the world of recycling. At the lower level are the simple bouara and women who sort and earn low incomes. At the end of the higher range are the bosses of large gelssas who own one or more trucks and plastic crushers.

Gelssas bosses are very familiar with the cost and value of materials on the market and keep themselves updated through the internet or their mobile phones. They know exactly where, to whom and when to sell to get the maximum benefit from their wares.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170288/area14mp/file-20170522-25027-1l4gh1j.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/170288/width754/file-20170522-25027-1l4gh1j.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>A waste collector at work in the Mediouna dump. (Photo Pascal Garret/MuCEM, January 2015)</figcaption>
</figure>

Situated about 20 kilometres south of Greater Casablanca, <a href="https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01524893">the Mediouna&rsquo;s landfill</a> receives nearly 3,500 tons of household waste each day, brought in by the trucks of waste-recycling companies.

At this site, which should normally mark the end of life for Casablanca&rsquo;s waste, some 600 illegal waste collectors extract about 1000 tons of materials daily that will be re-injected into the informal and formal recycling circuit.

The business of recycling factories and export wholesalers depends heavily on the activities of street collectors or the Mediouna landfill from whom they buy recovered materials at a lower cost. Secondary raw materials produced by the formal sector of the economy are largely derived from the work of these hidden workers.

Blurring the borders, this small world of informal workers is thus &ndash; directly or indirectly &ndash; well inserted in the economic chain on every level: local, regional, national and even international. The PET brought in by waste collectors, for example, is exported to China.

Many of them have also fully understood and integrated environmental arguments. One, called Mustapha, told us in an interview in 2013:

<blockquote>
We contribute to the economy of Morocco. It is thanks to us that this waste is recycled instead of being simply buried or burned. This is our livelihood, it&rsquo;s our survival and it makes our community live
</blockquote>

This wholesaler even tried to create an association for the waste collectors of the Lahraouine district in order to get them officially acknowledged and organised. But so far he has faced indifference or opposition from the authorities.

His failure highlights the perpetual stigma attached to the profession of waste collecting. It also shows their isolation and relegation to the spatial and social margins of the economic capital of Morocco.

Yet, <a href="http://globalrec.org/en/">elsewhere in the world</a>, innovative experiments, mobilisation of reclaiming communities and associations are signs that integration, access to social rights and, more broadly, recognition or informal waste collectors are possible.

<hr />
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/74878/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" />B&eacute;n&eacute;dicte Florin and Pascal Garret also collaborated for the <a href="http://www.mucem.org/programme/exposition-et-temps-forts/vies-dordures">Vies d&#39;ordures, waste economics exhibition at the Museum of Civilisation of Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM, Marseille)</a>, March 22 to August 14 2017.

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/benedicte-florin-348742">B&eacute;n&eacute;dicte Florin</a>, Ma&icirc;tre de conf&eacute;rences, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-francois-rabelais-de-tours-2282">Universit&eacute; Fran&ccedil;ois-Rabelais de Tours</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mustapha-azaitraoui-369200">Mustapha Azaitraoui</a>, Enseignant-chercheur en g&eacute;ographie humaine, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-hassan-ier-3095">Universit&eacute; Hassan Ier</a>

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-small-hands-of-moroccan-recycling-74878">original article</a>.

The small hands of Moroccan recycling A wastepicker working in the streets of Casablanca. (Photo Pascal Garret, July 2013) www.bab-el-louk.org, CC BY-NC-ND Bénédicte Florin, Université François-Rabelais de Tours and Mustapha Azaitraoui, Université Hassan Ier This article is based on a series about recycling documented in the 2017 book What to do with leftovers?

The small hands of Moroccan recycling A wastepicker working in the streets of Casablanca. (Photo Pascal Garret, July 2013) www.bab-el-louk.org, CC BY-NC-ND Bénédicte Florin, Université François-Rabelais de Tours and Mustapha Azaitraoui, Université Hassan Ier This article is based on a series about recycling documented in the 2017 book What to do with leftovers? Re-employment in Accumulation Societies. The photographs by Pascal Garret, sociologist and freelance photographer, who collaborates with social scientists on the theme of waste recovery and recycling. Casablanca, Morocco, summer 2016. With constant heat often above 30°C, garbage can quickly suffocate the four millions inhabitants of this city. But as visitors navigate through the second-largest city of the Maghrebian region, small hands are making sure that large quantities of waste do not pile up on landfills by offering them new life. These men and women belong to populations that anthropologist Delphine Corteel and sociologist Stéphane Le Lay (ERES, 2011) have called “waste workers”. Despite their tremendous and tiring work, they remain excluded from the Moroccan society because of the uncleanliness of their work, and the nature of their living spaces. They live on the margins of legal urban areas, in slums and makeshift houses, which are regularly demolished or threatened by real estate and urban projects. While working in the streets, they are often victims of violence either committed by the authorities or other inhabitants. We conducted interviews with many members of this community from 2011. Our objective was to show that these waste collectors, sorters, semi-wholesalers, recyclers and transporters often consider their work as a real profession and believe that their role is essential, especially given that environmental issues have never been higher on the agenda. According to our multi-site surveys, more than a third of Casablanca’s household waste would escape rejection from landfills. Far from presenting an image of misery and exclusion, we wish to portray this population free from the stigma that usually accompanies activities linked to waste. Overview of one part of a waste recycling area in Casablanca, Lahraouine. In the background, you can see the social housing district of Attacharouk. (Photo Pascal Garret/MuCEM, January 2015) Situated on the outskirts of Casablanca and in a topographic depression, the Lahraouine district remains virtually invisible from the outside. Most workers live in neighbouring douars (slums) where running water is absent and electricity is supplied by generators or illegal connections. Several real estate projects have put pressure on the city to revamp the district and get rid of its slums. As the waste collectors do not owner their lands and there’s no rehousing project, they live in fear of eviction. A bouar returning from his tour in the outskirts of Casablanca. (Photo Pascal Garret, May 2016) This bouar (the word is derived from the French word éboueur for garbage man) returns from the city with a cart filled with his daily collection. But the increasing number of containers buried in the affluent neighbourhoods of Casablanca reduces access to this waste resource. More often than not, the bouara (plural for bouar) have to limit their work to open bins in working-class neighbourhoods. They are also more tolerated in these areas than in the city’s central districts or middle-upper class areas. In the latter, police can harass them, even arrest them and confiscate their donkeys and carts. Inside view of a gelssa of Lahraouine. (Photo Pascal Garret, April 2017) The gelssas (a term derived from the verb gels, which means sit down in darija, the language of the Maghreb region) are enclosures of various sizes surrounded by palisades (metal sheets, tarps, boards or dried waste that form a kind of wall) where the bouara centralise their harvest after each city tour. Their collection is sold by weight and consists mainly of cardboard, plastics, metals, glass, fabrics and vegetable waste. Valuable objects, after changing hands several times, will eventually end up in one of the city’s flea markets (joutiya). Nothing that can be used is left behind. A worker sorting waste in a gelssa specialised on plastic materials. (Photo Pascal Garret, May 2016) The bouara of Casablanca can make about €20 daily, but many must rent their equipment (cart and animal) from their bosses for €2. Some gelssas are versatile sorting and recycling sites (plastics, wood, metal, rags), where materials are sorted by type. Others specialise in a particular material, as is the case below for plastic. There is no electricity in the gelssas and this machine is powered by a generator. (Photo Pascal Garret, April 2017) After collection and sorting, some materials have to be compacted and crushed to take up less space, which adds value. The materials will then be sold to informal sector wholesalers or to the formal sector through pick-ups or trucks sent to carry the waste. Women sorting plastic waste. (Photo Pascal Garret, May 2016) In Lahraouine, we have not seen many women in the gelssas. Among the 3,000 active waste-recyclers we roughly counted, the majority are young men and we estimated that there were only 500 to 600 women. They are only assigned to sorting tasks. The economic crisis in Morocco has led to an increase of waste workers in Casablanca. The sheds of waste collectors are themselves made with waste. (Photo Pascal Garret, January 2015) Waste collectors come, for the most part, from the countryside to escape poverty. Some of them originate from very remote villages in the eastern regions of Casablanca. Many, especially youngsters, come and go according to agricultural cycles. Nearly 19% of Morocco’s agriculturally dependent rural population still lives in poverty or in danger of becoming impoverished. These seasonal workers are hosted by relatives in the douars of Lahraouine or live in sheds inside gelssas. The boss of a gelssa posing with his horse. (Photo Pascal Garret, January 2015) This boss of a gelssa employs several waste collectors. He owns a few carts pulled by a donkey or a horse, and is a “middle-income earner”. There is a very strong hierarchy in the world of recycling. At the lower level are the simple bouara and women who sort and earn low incomes. At the end of the higher range are the bosses of large gelssas who own one or more trucks and plastic crushers. Gelssas bosses are very familiar with the cost and value of materials on the market and keep themselves updated through the internet or their mobile phones. They know exactly where, to whom and when to sell to get the maximum benefit from their wares. A waste collector at work in the Mediouna dump. (Photo Pascal Garret/MuCEM, January 2015) Situated about 20 kilometres south of Greater Casablanca, the Mediouna’s landfill receives nearly 3,500 tons of household waste each day, brought in by the trucks of waste-recycling companies. At this site, which should normally mark the end of life for Casablanca’s waste, some 600 illegal waste collectors extract about 1000 tons of materials daily that will be re-injected into the informal and formal recycling circuit. The business of recycling factories and export wholesalers depends heavily on the activities of street collectors or the Mediouna landfill from whom they buy recovered materials at a lower cost. Secondary raw materials produced by the formal sector of the economy are largely derived from the work of these hidden workers. Blurring the borders, this small world of informal workers is thus – directly or indirectly – well inserted in the economic chain on every level: local, regional, national and even international. The PET brought in by waste collectors, for example, is exported to China. Many of them have also fully understood and integrated environmental arguments. One, called Mustapha, told us in an interview in 2013: We contribute to the economy of Morocco. It is thanks to us that this waste is recycled instead of being simply buried or burned. This is our livelihood, it’s our survival and it makes our community live This wholesaler even tried to create an association for the waste collectors of the Lahraouine district in order to get them officially acknowledged and organised. But so far he has faced indifference or opposition from the authorities. His failure highlights the perpetual stigma attached to the profession of waste collecting. It also shows their isolation and relegation to the spatial and social margins of the economic capital of Morocco. Yet, elsewhere in the world, innovative experiments, mobilisation of reclaiming communities and associations are signs that integration, access to social rights and, more broadly, recognition or informal waste collectors are possible. Bénédicte Florin and Pascal Garret also collaborated for the Vies d'ordures, waste economics exhibition at the Museum of Civilisation of Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM, Marseille), March 22 to August 14 2017. Bénédicte Florin, Maître de conférences, Université François-Rabelais de Tours and Mustapha Azaitraoui, Enseignant-chercheur en géographie humaine, Université Hassan Ier This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The small hands of Moroccan recycling

Almost 1.4 million children suffering from severe malnutrition could die this year from famine in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, the UN children&#39;s agency said Monday.

In Yemen, where war has been raging for nearly two years, 462,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition while 450,000 children are severely malnourished in northeast Nigeria.

Fews Net, the famine early warning system, said some remote areas of Nigeria&#39;s Borno state are already affected by famine since late last year and the disaster is likely to continue as aid agencies are unable to reach those in need.

Drought in Somalia has left 185,000 children on the brink of famine but that figure is expected to reach 270,000 in the next few months, said UNICEF.

In South Sudan, over 270,000 children are malnourished and a famine has just been declared in parts of Unity State in the north of the country, where 20,000 children live.&nbsp;

UNICEF director Anthony Lake appealed for quick action. &quot;We can still save many lives,&quot; he said.

UN Security Council ambassadors are due to travel to northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger next month to draw international attention to the humanitarian crisis triggered by the conflict with Boko Haram militants.

(AFP)

In Yemen, where war has been raging for nearly two years, 462,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition

Almost 1.4 million children suffering from severe malnutrition could die this year from famine in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, the UN children's agency said Monday. In Yemen, where war has been raging for nearly two years, 462,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition while 450,000 children are severely malnourished in northeast Nigeria. Fews Net, the famine early warning system, said some remote areas of Nigeria's Borno state are already affected by famine since late last year and the disaster is likely to continue as aid agencies are unable to reach those in need. Drought in Somalia has left 185,000 children on the brink of famine but that figure is expected to reach 270,000 in the next few months, said UNICEF. In South Sudan, over 270,000 children are malnourished and a famine has just been declared in parts of Unity State in the north of the country, where 20,000 children live. UNICEF director Anthony Lake appealed for quick action. "We can still save many lives," he said. UN Security Council ambassadors are due to travel to northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger next month to draw international attention to the humanitarian crisis triggered by the conflict with Boko Haram militants. (AFP)

1.4 million malnourished children could die due to famine in four countries: UN

It&#39;s lower cost has made it popular in commercial food production, but after being blamed for deforestation in Asia, palm oil plantations are now getting a similar rap in Africa.

The sheer scale of land required is having an impact in Gabon, Cameroon and the Congo Basin, environmentalists say.

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<h5>The production process accelerates deforestation, contributes to climate change and threatens fauna and flora in vulnerable areas, opponents argue</h5>
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With financing coming from American, European and Asian agri-businesses, palm bunches are cultivated then cut from trees and sent to factories where oil is extracted by hot pressing.

But the production process accelerates deforestation, contributes to climate change and threatens fauna and flora in vulnerable areas, opponents argue.

However, the companies say that palm oil is not only less expensive than soya or sunflower oil but requires much less land to produce and provides much-needed jobs.

Gabon -- where forest covers 80 percent of the territory -- is feeling the brunt.

Brainforest and Mighty, two environmental groups, investigated the activities of Olam, an agri-business from Singapore, which said it has planted 58,000 hectares of palm trees in Gabon.

&quot;It is estimated that Olam has deforested 20,000 hectares in its Gabonese concessions of Awala et Mouila since 2012,&quot; the groups said in a report released in mid-December. &quot;Investigators on the scene witnessed and filmed bulldozers knocking down huge trees en masse.&quot;

Olam said palm trees had been planted on 25,000 hectares of land which had previously been forested, but that this had been &quot;highly logged and degraded secondary forest&quot; and represented just 0.1 percent of Gabon&#39;s forests.

In response to the report, Olam published advertisements touting the almost 11,000 jobs it has created, the 1,100 hectares of food crops planted and 251 kilometres (150 miles) of roads built.

A wider impact

But the impact appears wider. In their report, the environmental groups expressed fears that the Congo Basin, considered the lung of Africa, could go the same way as forests in Sumatra, Indonesia and on Borneo.

&quot;A few decades ago, these places were almost entirely covered with forests, a paradise for orangutans, rhinos, elephants and exotic birds. Today, only 20-30 percent of the forest cover exists.&quot;

The report was released in Libreville when an environmental film festival honoured the French documentary &quot;Et Maintenant Nos Terres&quot; (And Now Our Land).

Its directors, Julien Le Net and Benjamin Polle, chronicled how villages in Cameroon and Senegal were being affected by what they called &quot;land grabs&quot; by multinational companies.

In south-west Cameroon, 244 farmers have filed a trespassing complaint against a company that intends to plant 20,000 hectares of palm trees.

Hearings in the case against Sustainable Oils Cameroon, formerly a subsidiary of American company Herakles Farms, were postponed after reports of unrest in the area in November.

Greenpeace has asked Cameroon not to renew the company&#39;s concession which expired at the end of November, and it cited &quot;six years of illegal foresting, trampling of locals&#39; rights, unfulfilled investments and destruction of forest&quot;.

A petition signed by 180,000 people against renewal of the contract was sent last week to Cameroon President Paul Biya, Greenpeace said.

The government has not yet made a decision but Greenpeace said it hoped it would hear the voices of &quot;thousands of Cameroonians&quot;.

Meanwhile, the plantations of Socapalm, a subsidiary of the Luxembourg company Socfin in which the family firm of French businessman Vincent Bollore owns a large minority stake, were targeted by protests in November.

&quot;No to pollution and massive environmental destruction&quot; read one banner, while another urged the company to open a dialogue with residents.

&quot;More than 5,000 hectares has been used,&quot; a resident called Ebeneser Ekango told AFPTV at the time, complaining there wasn&#39;t enough land to plant the staple crop cassava. &quot;What do we eat?&quot;

Greenpeace, which has complained that Socfin concessions have included old-growth forests, applauded the company publishing in December a responsible management policy commits to &quot;eliminating deforestation&quot;.

(AFP)

The sheer scale of land required is having an impact in Gabon, Cameroon and the Congo Basin, say environmentalists

It's lower cost has made it popular in commercial food production, but after being blamed for deforestation in Asia, palm oil plantations are now getting a similar rap in Africa. The sheer scale of land required is having an impact in Gabon, Cameroon and the Congo Basin, environmentalists say. The production process accelerates deforestation, contributes to climate change and threatens fauna and flora in vulnerable areas, opponents argue × With financing coming from American, European and Asian agri-businesses, palm bunches are cultivated then cut from trees and sent to factories where oil is extracted by hot pressing. But the production process accelerates deforestation, contributes to climate change and threatens fauna and flora in vulnerable areas, opponents argue. However, the companies say that palm oil is not only less expensive than soya or sunflower oil but requires much less land to produce and provides much-needed jobs. Gabon -- where forest covers 80 percent of the territory -- is feeling the brunt. Brainforest and Mighty, two environmental groups, investigated the activities of Olam, an agri-business from Singapore, which said it has planted 58,000 hectares of palm trees in Gabon. "It is estimated that Olam has deforested 20,000 hectares in its Gabonese concessions of Awala et Mouila since 2012," the groups said in a report released in mid-December. "Investigators on the scene witnessed and filmed bulldozers knocking down huge trees en masse." Olam said palm trees had been planted on 25,000 hectares of land which had previously been forested, but that this had been "highly logged and degraded secondary forest" and represented just 0.1 percent of Gabon's forests. In response to the report, Olam published advertisements touting the almost 11,000 jobs it has created, the 1,100 hectares of food crops planted and 251 kilometres (150 miles) of roads built. A wider impact But the impact appears wider. In their report, the environmental groups expressed fears that the Congo Basin, considered the lung of Africa, could go the same way as forests in Sumatra, Indonesia and on Borneo. "A few decades ago, these places were almost entirely covered with forests, a paradise for orangutans, rhinos, elephants and exotic birds. Today, only 20-30 percent of the forest cover exists." The report was released in Libreville when an environmental film festival honoured the French documentary "Et Maintenant Nos Terres" (And Now Our Land). Its directors, Julien Le Net and Benjamin Polle, chronicled how villages in Cameroon and Senegal were being affected by what they called "land grabs" by multinational companies. In south-west Cameroon, 244 farmers have filed a trespassing complaint against a company that intends to plant 20,000 hectares of palm trees. Hearings in the case against Sustainable Oils Cameroon, formerly a subsidiary of American company Herakles Farms, were postponed after reports of unrest in the area in November. Greenpeace has asked Cameroon not to renew the company's concession which expired at the end of November, and it cited "six years of illegal foresting, trampling of locals' rights, unfulfilled investments and destruction of forest". A petition signed by 180,000 people against renewal of the contract was sent last week to Cameroon President Paul Biya, Greenpeace said. The government has not yet made a decision but Greenpeace said it hoped it would hear the voices of "thousands of Cameroonians". Meanwhile, the plantations of Socapalm, a subsidiary of the Luxembourg company Socfin in which the family firm of French businessman Vincent Bollore owns a large minority stake, were targeted by protests in November. "No to pollution and massive environmental destruction" read one banner, while another urged the company to open a dialogue with residents. "More than 5,000 hectares has been used," a resident called Ebeneser Ekango told AFPTV at the time, complaining there wasn't enough land to plant the staple crop cassava. "What do we eat?" Greenpeace, which has complained that Socfin concessions have included old-growth forests, applauded the company publishing in December a responsible management policy commits to "eliminating deforestation". (AFP)

After Asia, palm oil faces backlash in Africa

Protests against United Nations peacekeepers in Central African Republic turned violent on Monday, leaving four civilians dead and 14 wounded.&nbsp;

The UN said&nbsp;five of its peacekeepers were among those wounded in demonstrations across the capital city of&nbsp;Bangui.&nbsp;

The agency condemned the gunfire and looting reported during mass protests called by a coalition of civil society groups.

Protesters are demanding the withdrawal of&nbsp;the more than 10,000-strong&nbsp;United&nbsp;Nations&nbsp;Multidimensional&nbsp;Integrated&nbsp;Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) force over alleged failures to stop the rise of armed militias.

Gervais Lakosso, the coordinator of the civil society coalition calling for the UN to withdraw, said Monday that &quot;wherever the UN forces go there is violence&quot;. &quot;Civil society believes MINUSCA has shown passivity and complicity,&quot; he added.

The statement said the force &quot;intervened from the early hours of Monday in the capital to dismantle the barricades erected by hostile demonstrators&quot;.

President of CAR Red Cross, Antoine Mbai-Bogo told Reuters that three protesters were killed and six injured in violence.&nbsp;

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric has called for calm in the capital and said that patrols would be strengthened.

The MINUSCA statement rejected the protests as a &quot;smear campaign&quot; against the peacekeeping force, and threatened &quot;international criminal prosecution&quot; for those accused of violence against the mission.

According to Reuters, MINUSCA workers have been accused of sexual assault and of not doing more for the people of CAR.&nbsp;

The Central African Republic has been in turmoil since 2013 due to conflict between Muslim Seleka rebels and anti-Balaka Christian militants.

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Five MINUSCA peacekeepers were wounded as the UN prepares to pull out from the country

Protests against United Nations peacekeepers in Central African Republic turned violent on Monday, leaving four civilians dead and 14 wounded. The UN said five of its peacekeepers were among those wounded in demonstrations across the capital city of Bangui. The agency condemned the gunfire and looting reported during mass protests called by a coalition of civil society groups. Protesters are demanding the withdrawal of the more than 10,000-strong United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) force over alleged failures to stop the rise of armed militias. Gervais Lakosso, the coordinator of the civil society coalition calling for the UN to withdraw, said Monday that "wherever the UN forces go there is violence". "Civil society believes MINUSCA has shown passivity and complicity," he added. The statement said the force "intervened from the early hours of Monday in the capital to dismantle the barricades erected by hostile demonstrators". President of CAR Red Cross, Antoine Mbai-Bogo told Reuters that three protesters were killed and six injured in violence. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric has called for calm in the capital and said that patrols would be strengthened. The MINUSCA statement rejected the protests as a "smear campaign" against the peacekeeping force, and threatened "international criminal prosecution" for those accused of violence against the mission. According to Reuters, MINUSCA workers have been accused of sexual assault and of not doing more for the people of CAR. The Central African Republic has been in turmoil since 2013 due to conflict between Muslim Seleka rebels and anti-Balaka Christian militants. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Central African Republic protest leaves 4 civilians dead and 14 injured

Social media, if used strategically, is one of the most powerful tool to communicate and engage with masses. While brand marketers&nbsp;are innovatively&nbsp;using&nbsp;the web&nbsp;to engage with&nbsp;potential customers, there are many&nbsp;who&nbsp;harnessed this impactful platform&nbsp;to raise attention and initiate action on social causes.&nbsp;Here, we talk about some majorly successful campaigns that used an out of the box approach of&nbsp;inducing&nbsp;a comic factor to grab attention of the masses. These campaigns, besides tickling audience&#39;s funny&nbsp;bone, also instigated a sense of responsibility in them&nbsp;to participate in a larger than life issue behind the humour.

Here are brilliant examples of comedy&nbsp;being used to convey serious messages:

<meta charset="utf-8" />

<h2>ALS Ice Bucket Challenge</h2>

 
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qgqsgXSJ7g8" width="560"></iframe>

Source : Shine On Media

 
The ice bucket challenge was launched by the ALS association in 2014 to raise awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal brain disease that damages motor neurons.&nbsp;People poured a bucket of iced water over their heads in order to appeal for donations before nominating others to do the same. The campaign spread like wildfire over the internet with over 2.4 million entertaining videos circulating. Renowned personalities including Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise, Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr and Tom Cruise participated. The campaign raised over $100 million in the first month itself that was used to fund several research projects. One of these was Project MinE, where the researchers recently announced that they have identified a new gene associated with the disease, which experts say could lead to new treatment possibilities

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<h2>Feeling Nuts</h2>

&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/jack-20160929042403.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
Source : @realhughjackman via Twitter (Twitter)
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="javascript:void(0)" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

&nbsp;

Brothers and founders of Salter Brothers Entertainment, Simon and Andrew Salter were touched and inspired by the story of Wendy Gough, a woman who lost her son to testicular cancer only because he was too embarrassed to talk about it.

They launched the #FeelingNuts campaign where boys were to post a picture of crotch grabs to catch attention of males to check early symptoms of the disease.&nbsp;With support from celebrities like Hugh Jackman and Nick Jonas, the campaign reached 750 million people globally.

The &quot;simple and powerful message&quot; of Feeling Nuts has impressed the British&nbsp;health minister Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, who said &quot; we have to make sure as the government that the system is able to respond to those people who come forward as a result.&quot;

<h2> 
Save The Internet, By All India Backchod</h2>

 
<meta charset="utf-8" />

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mfY1NKrzqi0" width="560"></iframe>

Source : All India Bakchod 
 
All India Bakchod from India released a video - Save The Internet, that explained net neutrality and highlighted how telecom companies can change the internet usage scenario through a very basic and funny example. #SaveTheInternet took over Twitter trends with Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Ayushmann Khurrana urging fans to support the cause. 
&nbsp;

<h2> 
Africa For Norway</h2>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oJLqyuxm96k" width="560"></iframe>

Source : SAIH Norway 
 
A Norwegian group called Radi-Aid launched a video to request Africa to send radiators to Norway. The cause was the condition of freezing children during Norway&rsquo;s severely cold winter months. The humorous video has a serious message. Their effort is a serious critique of the Western media coverage that stereotypes underdeveloped nations .The point is that images of pitiable&nbsp;Africans are just as imprecise&nbsp;as the idea of helpless freezing Norwegians.

<h2> 
British Heart Foundation - Promoting Hands-Only CPR</h2>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ILxjxfB4zNk" width="560"></iframe>

Source : British Heart Foundation 
 
British Heart Foundation (BHF) launched a campaign aimed at encouraging bystanders to perform hands only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in case of emergency. Actor and former footballer Vinnie Jones appeared in a humourous training video demonstrating hands-only CPR. It demonstrates a simple drill : Call 999 and push hard and fast in the centre of the chest to the tune of the song &#39;Stayin Alive&#39;.The BHF claimed at least 23 people used the technique&nbsp;in a medical emergency after seeing the ad.

<h2> 
Movember</h2>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8w1p5UI7Siw" width="560"></iframe>

Source : Made Men

<meta charset="utf-8" />Movember, a fusion&nbsp;of the words &quot;moustache&quot; and &quot;November,&quot; is an annual movement where men ditch their razors for a month and grow moustaches to raise funds for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and other men&#39;s health issues. Popularly known as &lsquo;No Shave November&rsquo;, this&nbsp;initially started as a fundraiser in 1999 that grew into a worldwide tradition, led by the Movember Foundation and has raised over $559 million to fund 832 men&#39;s health programs in 21 countries.

<h2> 
Spice Girls</h2>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UpBoKjdm2Ek" width="560"></iframe> 
 
The United Nations&rsquo; Global Goals for Sustainable Development campaign recreated Spice Girls&rsquo; 1996 hit &ldquo;Wannabe&rdquo; to empower women by emphasising on a number of key women&rsquo;s issues like violence gender pay gap, and quality education for girls. It stars a range of stars from across the globe, including Canada&rsquo;s Taylor Hatala, Sri Lanka&rsquo;s Jacqueline Fernandez, Nigeria&rsquo;s Seyi Shay and the UK&rsquo;s M.O. The original &ldquo;Wannabe&rdquo; debuted on July 8, 1996 featuring Victoria Beckham, so this is a pitch perfect way to celebrate 20 years of completion.

&nbsp;

What an entertaining mix of social media and social responsibility!

&nbsp;

(Inputs from Shashwat Mittal and Devanshi Verma)

Sometimes, humour tells you where the trouble is

Social media, if used strategically, is one of the most powerful tool to communicate and engage with masses. While brand marketers are innovatively using the web to engage with potential customers, there are many who harnessed this impactful platform to raise attention and initiate action on social causes. Here, we talk about some majorly successful campaigns that used an out of the box approach of inducing a comic factor to grab attention of the masses. These campaigns, besides tickling audience's funny bone, also instigated a sense of responsibility in them to participate in a larger than life issue behind the humour. Here are brilliant examples of comedy being used to convey serious messages: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Source : Shine On Media The ice bucket challenge was launched by the ALS association in 2014 to raise awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal brain disease that damages motor neurons. People poured a bucket of iced water over their heads in order to appeal for donations before nominating others to do the same. The campaign spread like wildfire over the internet with over 2.4 million entertaining videos circulating. Renowned personalities including Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise, Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr and Tom Cruise participated. The campaign raised over $100 million in the first month itself that was used to fund several research projects. One of these was Project MinE, where the researchers recently announced that they have identified a new gene associated with the disease, which experts say could lead to new treatment possibilities Feeling Nuts Source : @realhughjackman via Twitter (Twitter) × Brothers and founders of Salter Brothers Entertainment, Simon and Andrew Salter were touched and inspired by the story of Wendy Gough, a woman who lost her son to testicular cancer only because he was too embarrassed to talk about it. They launched the #FeelingNuts campaign where boys were to post a picture of crotch grabs to catch attention of males to check early symptoms of the disease. With support from celebrities like Hugh Jackman and Nick Jonas, the campaign reached 750 million people globally. The "simple and powerful message" of Feeling Nuts has impressed the British health minister Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, who said " we have to make sure as the government that the system is able to respond to those people who come forward as a result." Save The Internet, By All India Backchod Source : All India Bakchod All India Bakchod from India released a video - Save The Internet, that explained net neutrality and highlighted how telecom companies can change the internet usage scenario through a very basic and funny example. #SaveTheInternet took over Twitter trends with Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Ayushmann Khurrana urging fans to support the cause. Africa For Norway Source : SAIH Norway A Norwegian group called Radi-Aid launched a video to request Africa to send radiators to Norway. The cause was the condition of freezing children during Norway’s severely cold winter months. The humorous video has a serious message. Their effort is a serious critique of the Western media coverage that stereotypes underdeveloped nations .The point is that images of pitiable Africans are just as imprecise as the idea of helpless freezing Norwegians. British Heart Foundation - Promoting Hands-Only CPR Source : British Heart Foundation British Heart Foundation (BHF) launched a campaign aimed at encouraging bystanders to perform hands only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in case of emergency. Actor and former footballer Vinnie Jones appeared in a humourous training video demonstrating hands-only CPR. It demonstrates a simple drill : Call 999 and push hard and fast in the centre of the chest to the tune of the song 'Stayin Alive'.The BHF claimed at least 23 people used the technique in a medical emergency after seeing the ad. Movember Source : Made Men Movember, a fusion of the words "moustache" and "November," is an annual movement where men ditch their razors for a month and grow moustaches to raise funds for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and other men's health issues. Popularly known as ‘No Shave November’, this initially started as a fundraiser in 1999 that grew into a worldwide tradition, led by the Movember Foundation and has raised over $559 million to fund 832 men's health programs in 21 countries. Spice Girls The United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development campaign recreated Spice Girls’ 1996 hit “Wannabe” to empower women by emphasising on a number of key women’s issues like violence gender pay gap, and quality education for girls. It stars a range of stars from across the globe, including Canada’s Taylor Hatala, Sri Lanka’s Jacqueline Fernandez, Nigeria’s Seyi Shay and the UK’s M.O. The original “Wannabe” debuted on July 8, 1996 featuring Victoria Beckham, so this is a pitch perfect way to celebrate 20 years of completion. What an entertaining mix of social media and social responsibility! (Inputs from Shashwat Mittal and Devanshi Verma)

Social media campaigns that used comedy to bring awareness

US Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from eight African nations meet in Nairobi on Monday to discuss ways to prevent South Sudan from sliding back into civil war and advance a political transition in Somalia. 
 
Kerry arrived in the Kenyan capital late on Sunday - after a two-week summer break - for his second trip as secretary of state to Nairobi since May 2015. 
 
On Tuesday, he travels to Sokoto, Nigeria, the historic Muslim city in the remote northwest, followed by talks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. 
 
&quot;We will ... talk about how we move forward in trying to implement peace in this country,&quot; a senior State Department official said of South Sudan. 
 
&quot;The people of South Sudan have suffered for far too long, and the continued instability there has led almost a million refugees and a humanitarian crisis that is far beyond the abilities of even the international community to respond to,&quot; the official told a conference call. 
 
The international community has poured billions of aid into supporting the world&#39;s youngest nation, which gained independence in 2011. Oil production, by far the biggest source of government revenue, has plummeted. 
 
But worsening violence has raised fears of a return to civil war that erupted in late 2013, which broadly ran along ethnic lines, pitting President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, against his rival and vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer. 
 
Violence flared when Machar withdrew his forces from the capital Juba in July and was sacked by Kiir as vice president. 
 
Machar was picked up by UN peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo a week ago with a leg injury and was handed over to authorities in Congo. 
 
Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to rival Kiir before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president. 
 
On Monday, Kerry will meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta before joining foreign ministers from Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, Djibouti, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia to discuss South Sudan and Somalia, where there are concerns that delays in the approval of new election rules could dampen its recovery from conflict. 
 
World powers and regional states have struggled to find leverage over the warring factions in South Sudan, despite US and European sanctions on some military leaders and African threats of punitive actions. 
 
Especially of concern to Washington was an attack on a Juba hotel in July by uniformed men who killed a U.S.-funded journalist and raped civilians, including aid workers. 
 
The UN has launched an investigation into accusations UN peacekeepers in Juba failed to respond properly to the attack. 
 
In Kerry&#39;s talks with Kenyatta, he will also discuss Kenya&#39;s presidential election set for August 2017, the senior State Department official said. 
 
Opposition protests in Nairobi since April have stoked fears among church leaders and Western diplomats of a repeat of the violence following the 2007 election in which 1,200 people were killed. 
 
In a letter to Kerry before his visit, the Human Rights Watch group urged him to discuss rights concerns with Kenyatta. The group said it had documented 34 cases of extrajudicial killings and another 11 deaths of people last seen in state custody over alleged links with al-Shabaab militants in Nairobi and in the northeast. 
 
(Reuters)

World powers and regional states have long struggled to find leverage over the warring factions in South Sudan

US Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from eight African nations meet in Nairobi on Monday to discuss ways to prevent South Sudan from sliding back into civil war and advance a political transition in Somalia. Kerry arrived in the Kenyan capital late on Sunday - after a two-week summer break - for his second trip as secretary of state to Nairobi since May 2015. On Tuesday, he travels to Sokoto, Nigeria, the historic Muslim city in the remote northwest, followed by talks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. "We will ... talk about how we move forward in trying to implement peace in this country," a senior State Department official said of South Sudan. "The people of South Sudan have suffered for far too long, and the continued instability there has led almost a million refugees and a humanitarian crisis that is far beyond the abilities of even the international community to respond to," the official told a conference call. The international community has poured billions of aid into supporting the world's youngest nation, which gained independence in 2011. Oil production, by far the biggest source of government revenue, has plummeted. But worsening violence has raised fears of a return to civil war that erupted in late 2013, which broadly ran along ethnic lines, pitting President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, against his rival and vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer. Violence flared when Machar withdrew his forces from the capital Juba in July and was sacked by Kiir as vice president. Machar was picked up by UN peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo a week ago with a leg injury and was handed over to authorities in Congo. Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to rival Kiir before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president. On Monday, Kerry will meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta before joining foreign ministers from Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, Djibouti, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia to discuss South Sudan and Somalia, where there are concerns that delays in the approval of new election rules could dampen its recovery from conflict. World powers and regional states have struggled to find leverage over the warring factions in South Sudan, despite US and European sanctions on some military leaders and African threats of punitive actions. Especially of concern to Washington was an attack on a Juba hotel in July by uniformed men who killed a U.S.-funded journalist and raped civilians, including aid workers. The UN has launched an investigation into accusations UN peacekeepers in Juba failed to respond properly to the attack. In Kerry's talks with Kenyatta, he will also discuss Kenya's presidential election set for August 2017, the senior State Department official said. Opposition protests in Nairobi since April have stoked fears among church leaders and Western diplomats of a repeat of the violence following the 2007 election in which 1,200 people were killed. In a letter to Kerry before his visit, the Human Rights Watch group urged him to discuss rights concerns with Kenyatta. The group said it had documented 34 cases of extrajudicial killings and another 11 deaths of people last seen in state custody over alleged links with al-Shabaab militants in Nairobi and in the northeast. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State John Kerry, African ministers to meet on South Sudan violence, Somalia

Serbian Milovan Rajevac has been appointed the new coach of Algeria, the country&#39;s football federation has confirmed. 
 
Rajevac came close to helping Ghana, who became the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2010 and takes over from Christian Gourcuff, who resigned in April ahead of a move to French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais. 
 
Rajevac, 62, will be expected to lead Algeria to the World Cup in Russia but faces a difficult qualification group that also contains Nigeria, Cameroon and Zambia. Only the top team advances to the finals. 
 
Algeria have already qualified for the African Nations Cup finals in Gabon starting next January. 
 
(Reuters)

He takes over from Christian Gourcuff who resigned in April ahead of a move to French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais

Serbian Milovan Rajevac has been appointed the new coach of Algeria, the country's football federation has confirmed. Rajevac came close to helping Ghana, who became the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2010 and takes over from Christian Gourcuff, who resigned in April ahead of a move to French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais. Rajevac, 62, will be expected to lead Algeria to the World Cup in Russia but faces a difficult qualification group that also contains Nigeria, Cameroon and Zambia. Only the top team advances to the finals. Algeria have already qualified for the African Nations Cup finals in Gabon starting next January. (Reuters)

Milovan Rajevac confirmed as new coach of Algeria

Morocco said today that it had arrested 52 suspected militants inspired by Islamic State and that it had foiled several attacks in the North African kingdom by seizing weapons and bomb-making materials. 
 
It is the largest group arrested in years and the latest of a series of cells that the authorities say they have found plotting attacks inside and outside Morocco. 
 
The North African kingdom, an ally of the West against Islamist militancy, has been on high alert since 2014, when Islamic State took control of large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria. The 52 arrested were among 143 people investigated in many Moroccan cities and towns, the interior ministry said in a statement. 
 
Many members of the group were planning to create an Islamic State province (Wilayat) in Morocco, the statement said. They intended to assassinate Moroccan security and military officers and tourists, as well as targeting prisons and festivals and other institutions in the country. 
 
Morocco&#39;s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation, the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service, has tracked suspected militants since Islamic State established itself as a global threat. Morocco has dismantled 38 suspected militant cells with Islamic State ties since 2013, the statement said, adding 159 cells had been found since 2002. 
 
Hundreds of fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts have said. 
 
Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Islamic State has taken advantage of the security chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. 
 
Morocco has been the target of militant attacks, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh, when an explosion in a cafe killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. 
 
(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

The 52 suspects arrested were among 143 people investigated in many Moroccan cities and towns

Morocco said today that it had arrested 52 suspected militants inspired by Islamic State and that it had foiled several attacks in the North African kingdom by seizing weapons and bomb-making materials. It is the largest group arrested in years and the latest of a series of cells that the authorities say they have found plotting attacks inside and outside Morocco. The North African kingdom, an ally of the West against Islamist militancy, has been on high alert since 2014, when Islamic State took control of large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria. The 52 arrested were among 143 people investigated in many Moroccan cities and towns, the interior ministry said in a statement. Many members of the group were planning to create an Islamic State province (Wilayat) in Morocco, the statement said. They intended to assassinate Moroccan security and military officers and tourists, as well as targeting prisons and festivals and other institutions in the country. Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation, the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service, has tracked suspected militants since Islamic State established itself as a global threat. Morocco has dismantled 38 suspected militant cells with Islamic State ties since 2013, the statement said, adding 159 cells had been found since 2002. Hundreds of fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts have said. Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Islamic State has taken advantage of the security chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. Morocco has been the target of militant attacks, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh, when an explosion in a cafe killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. (Reuters)

Morocco arrests 52 suspected Islamic State militants, foils several attacks

Malawian President Peter Mutharika today ordered the arrest of a man paid to have sex with more than 100 adolescent girls as part of a traditional ritual marking their passage to womanhood. 
 
The order was issued after the man from the southern district of Nsanje gave a media interview confessing to have slept with the girls for a fee between four and seven dollars paid by each of their families.&nbsp;&quot;I order police to immediately arrest Mr Eric Aniva, investigate him and take him to court forthwith for defilement cases,&quot; Mutharika said in a statement. 
 
This little-known local practice is performed in southern Malawi by men known as &quot;hyenas&quot; at the behest of a girl&#39;s parents after her first menstruation.&nbsp;The ritual is believed to train girls to become good wives and to protect them from disease, or misfortune could fall on their families or their village. But it is blamed for spreading AIDS. 
 
In a BBC interview broadcast last week, Aniva confessed to being infected with HIV and sleeping with virgin girls without using protection.&nbsp;Aniva said that the girls were as young as 12. &quot;All these girls find pleasure in having me as their &#39;hyena&#39;,&#39; he said. &quot;They actually are proud.&quot; 
 
Mutharika said Aniva should &quot;be investigated for exposing the young girls to contracting HIV and further be charged accordingly.&quot;&nbsp;He also ordered an inquiry into the role of parents, saying &quot;harmful cultural and traditional practices cannot be accepted.&quot; 
 
The sexual cleansing ritual by a &quot;hyena&quot; is also performed on bereaved widows in Nsanje district to exorcise villages of evil spirits or to prevent another death occurring.&nbsp;Aniva said a &quot;hyena&quot; was selected by the community based on good morals and that custom did not allow him to use condoms. 
 
Malawi, which has one of the highest HIV infections in the world, criminalises sex with a person under the age of 16.&nbsp;If found guilty of underage sex, Aniva could be imprisoned for life. 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

A 'ritual' of paid sex in Malawi is believed to train girls to become good wives. But it is blamed for spread of AIDS

Malawian President Peter Mutharika today ordered the arrest of a man paid to have sex with more than 100 adolescent girls as part of a traditional ritual marking their passage to womanhood. The order was issued after the man from the southern district of Nsanje gave a media interview confessing to have slept with the girls for a fee between four and seven dollars paid by each of their families. "I order police to immediately arrest Mr Eric Aniva, investigate him and take him to court forthwith for defilement cases," Mutharika said in a statement. This little-known local practice is performed in southern Malawi by men known as "hyenas" at the behest of a girl's parents after her first menstruation. The ritual is believed to train girls to become good wives and to protect them from disease, or misfortune could fall on their families or their village. But it is blamed for spreading AIDS. In a BBC interview broadcast last week, Aniva confessed to being infected with HIV and sleeping with virgin girls without using protection. Aniva said that the girls were as young as 12. "All these girls find pleasure in having me as their 'hyena',' he said. "They actually are proud." Mutharika said Aniva should "be investigated for exposing the young girls to contracting HIV and further be charged accordingly." He also ordered an inquiry into the role of parents, saying "harmful cultural and traditional practices cannot be accepted." The sexual cleansing ritual by a "hyena" is also performed on bereaved widows in Nsanje district to exorcise villages of evil spirits or to prevent another death occurring. Aniva said a "hyena" was selected by the community based on good morals and that custom did not allow him to use condoms. Malawi, which has one of the highest HIV infections in the world, criminalises sex with a person under the age of 16. If found guilty of underage sex, Aniva could be imprisoned for life. (AFP)

Malawi orders arrest of man paid to have sex with children

At least eight people were killed today when two huge bombs went off near Mogadishu&#39;s airport, including one close to the UN&#39;s political office in the Somali capital, a security source told AFP. 
 
An AFP journalist at the scene heard gunfire after the explosions tore through the area, one of which was believed to be a car bomb. 
 
Somalia&#39;s Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has carried out a string of similar attacks. 
 
The city&#39;s airport is heavily fortified and adjoins the capital&#39;s main base for the African Union mission to Somalia, the 22,000-strong force backing the government in the battle against Shabaab insurgents. 
 
The jihadists were chased out of Mogadishu in 2011 but remain a serious threat in both Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, where they carry out frequent attacks. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has carried out a string of similar attacks

At least eight people were killed today when two huge bombs went off near Mogadishu's airport, including one close to the UN's political office in the Somali capital, a security source told AFP. An AFP journalist at the scene heard gunfire after the explosions tore through the area, one of which was believed to be a car bomb. Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has carried out a string of similar attacks. The city's airport is heavily fortified and adjoins the capital's main base for the African Union mission to Somalia, the 22,000-strong force backing the government in the battle against Shabaab insurgents. The jihadists were chased out of Mogadishu in 2011 but remain a serious threat in both Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, where they carry out frequent attacks. (AFP)

Twin explosions kill at least 8 in Somali capital

Moroccan King Mohammed VI announced that his country wanted to rejoin the African Union, 32 years after quitting the bloc in protest of its decision to accept Western Sahara as a member. 
 
&quot;For a long time our friends have been asking us to return to them, so that Morocco can take up its natural place within its institutional family. The moment has now come,&quot; the monarch said in a message sent to an AU summit taking place in Kigali, the MAP Moroccan news agency reported. 
 
Morocco quit the grouping in protest in 1984 when the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was admitted as a member. 
 
But although Morocco left the club, &quot;it never quit Africa&quot;, King Mohammed said in his message to AU leaders as they began a two-day meeting in the Rwandan capital. 
 
Morocco has occupied the sparsely populated Western Sahara area since 1975 in a move that was not recognised by the international community. 
 
It maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom even though local Sahrawi people have long campaigned for the right to self-determination. 
 
In 1991, the United Nations brokered a ceasefire between Moroccan troops and Sahrawi rebels of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front but a promised referendum to settle the status of the desert territory has yet to materialise. 
 
In his address to the African Union, King Mohammed urged the bloc to rethink its position on the &quot;fantom state&quot; of Western Sahara, saying that a political solution was being worked on under the auspices of the UN. 
 
(AFP)

King Mohammed urged the bloc to rethink its position on the 'fantom state' of Western Sahara

Moroccan King Mohammed VI announced that his country wanted to rejoin the African Union, 32 years after quitting the bloc in protest of its decision to accept Western Sahara as a member. "For a long time our friends have been asking us to return to them, so that Morocco can take up its natural place within its institutional family. The moment has now come," the monarch said in a message sent to an AU summit taking place in Kigali, the MAP Moroccan news agency reported. Morocco quit the grouping in protest in 1984 when the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was admitted as a member. But although Morocco left the club, "it never quit Africa", King Mohammed said in his message to AU leaders as they began a two-day meeting in the Rwandan capital. Morocco has occupied the sparsely populated Western Sahara area since 1975 in a move that was not recognised by the international community. It maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom even though local Sahrawi people have long campaigned for the right to self-determination. In 1991, the United Nations brokered a ceasefire between Moroccan troops and Sahrawi rebels of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front but a promised referendum to settle the status of the desert territory has yet to materialise. In his address to the African Union, King Mohammed urged the bloc to rethink its position on the "fantom state" of Western Sahara, saying that a political solution was being worked on under the auspices of the UN. (AFP)

Morocco wants to rejoin African Union after 32 years

HIV, AIDS remains the leading cause of death among Africans aged between 10 and 19, &nbsp;United Nations Children&#39;s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) chief Anthony Lake said on Monday at the start of a major international conference on the virus. 
 
&quot;Despite remarkable global progress in tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic, much work remains to be done to protect children and adolescents from infection, sickness and death,&quot; Lake said in a statement released on the first day of AIDS 2016, held in the South African city of Durban. 
 
&quot;AIDS is still the number two cause of death for those aged 10-19 globally - and number one in Africa,&quot; added the head of the UN children`s agency. 
 
According to UNICEF, AIDS-related deaths among people aged between 15 and 19 have more than doubled since 2000, with 29 new infections within this age group taking place across the world every hour. 
 
&quot;Girls are particularly vulnerable, making up about 65 per cent of new adolescent infections worldwide,&quot; said the statement. 
 
&quot;In sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for about 70 per cent of people in the world living with HIV, three out of every four adolescents newly infected by HIV in 2015 were girls.&quot; 
 
Some 68 per cent of 52,000 young people surveyed in 16 countries said they did not want to be tested, both because they were afraid of an HIV-positive result, and because they were worried about social stigma. 
 
Meanwhile, new mother-to-child infections taking place during childbirth or breastfeeding have dropped by 70 per cent since 2000. 
 
In 2015, just six countries - all but one in Africa - accounted for half of new infections among under-14s: India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. 
 
&quot;The undeniable progress we have made in the last three decades does not mean that our struggle is over,&quot; said Lake. 
 
&quot;The battle against AIDS will not be over until we redouble prevention and treatment efforts; until we reach those young lives still being denied the progress that millions before them have enjoyed; and until we end the stigma and fear that prevent so many young people from getting tested.&quot; 
 
AIDS 2016, the 21st International AIDS Conference, brings together 18,000 scientists, politicians, activists, jurists, and donors. 
 
(AFP)

UNICEF: AIDS-related deaths among people aged between 15 and 19 have more than doubled since 2000

HIV, AIDS remains the leading cause of death among Africans aged between 10 and 19, United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) chief Anthony Lake said on Monday at the start of a major international conference on the virus. "Despite remarkable global progress in tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic, much work remains to be done to protect children and adolescents from infection, sickness and death," Lake said in a statement released on the first day of AIDS 2016, held in the South African city of Durban. "AIDS is still the number two cause of death for those aged 10-19 globally - and number one in Africa," added the head of the UN children`s agency. According to UNICEF, AIDS-related deaths among people aged between 15 and 19 have more than doubled since 2000, with 29 new infections within this age group taking place across the world every hour. "Girls are particularly vulnerable, making up about 65 per cent of new adolescent infections worldwide," said the statement. "In sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for about 70 per cent of people in the world living with HIV, three out of every four adolescents newly infected by HIV in 2015 were girls." Some 68 per cent of 52,000 young people surveyed in 16 countries said they did not want to be tested, both because they were afraid of an HIV-positive result, and because they were worried about social stigma. Meanwhile, new mother-to-child infections taking place during childbirth or breastfeeding have dropped by 70 per cent since 2000. In 2015, just six countries - all but one in Africa - accounted for half of new infections among under-14s: India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. "The undeniable progress we have made in the last three decades does not mean that our struggle is over," said Lake. "The battle against AIDS will not be over until we redouble prevention and treatment efforts; until we reach those young lives still being denied the progress that millions before them have enjoyed; and until we end the stigma and fear that prevent so many young people from getting tested." AIDS 2016, the 21st International AIDS Conference, brings together 18,000 scientists, politicians, activists, jurists, and donors. (AFP)

HIV, AIDS top killers of African adolescents

African heads of state meeting in Kigali failed today to elect a new head of the African Union and will try again in January, an official said. 
 
Current AU Commission President Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was due to stand down but leaders were unable to agree on a successor to lead the executive branch of the continental body during its 27th summit meeting, being held in the Rwandan capital. 
 
&quot;Black smoke billows from the 27th AU Summit as no winner emerges... Commission elections postponed till next summit,&quot; Dlamini-Zuma&#39;s spokesman, Jacob Enoh Eben, said on Twitter, referencing the smoke signal that precedes the naming of a new pope. 
 
None of the three candidates was able to muster the two-thirds majority required to win in the secret ballot. 
 
Ahead of the vote many states had expressed dismay at the &quot;lack of stature&quot; among the little known candidates from Botswana, Equatorial-Guinea and Uganda and, in the end, 28 of the 54 member states abstained from the final round of voting thus forcing a postponement of the election and an extension of Dlamini-Zuma&#39;s term. 
 
(AFP)

28 of the 54 member states abstained from the final round of voting thus forcing postponement of the election

African heads of state meeting in Kigali failed today to elect a new head of the African Union and will try again in January, an official said. Current AU Commission President Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was due to stand down but leaders were unable to agree on a successor to lead the executive branch of the continental body during its 27th summit meeting, being held in the Rwandan capital. "Black smoke billows from the 27th AU Summit as no winner emerges... Commission elections postponed till next summit," Dlamini-Zuma's spokesman, Jacob Enoh Eben, said on Twitter, referencing the smoke signal that precedes the naming of a new pope. None of the three candidates was able to muster the two-thirds majority required to win in the secret ballot. Ahead of the vote many states had expressed dismay at the "lack of stature" among the little known candidates from Botswana, Equatorial-Guinea and Uganda and, in the end, 28 of the 54 member states abstained from the final round of voting thus forcing a postponement of the election and an extension of Dlamini-Zuma's term. (AFP)

African Union fails to elect new leader

Congolese student Arnold Mutumbo Muama refuses to be cowed by a spate of racist violence towards Africans in India&#39;s capital New Delhi, defiant after a friend was beaten up by security guards at his apartment block. 
 
&quot;The guard called him a &#39;monster&#39; in Hindi before taking him to the basement and beating him,&quot; recalled Muama, 29, who chairs a Congolese welfare association. 
 
Racism against Africans in India was thrown into the spotlight following the brutal stoning to death in May of Congolese national Masunda Kitada Oliver in a dispute over an auto-rickshaw, a motorised three-wheeler. 
 
Following the attack, African ambassadors in New Delhi threatened to recommend to their governments that they don&#39;t send students to the capital &quot;as their security is not guaranteed&quot;. 
 
Around 30,000 Africans live in New Delhi, according to police, and they have told AFP of numerous humiliations they face, from insults in the street to housing discrimination and even violent attacks. 
 
This week, television footage showed police officers in the southern city of Bangalore forcefully restraining a Nigerian woman following an altercation at a market.&nbsp;She was tied up with ropes before being injected with sedatives. 
 
Despite these incidents, IT student Muama believes it is &quot;out of the question to live in fear&quot;. 
 
&quot;You have to be aware of your rights,&quot; he said. 
 
&#39;They eat dogs&#39;&nbsp; 
 
In Khirki Extension, a bustling set of interlacing streets in the south of the Indian capital long home to a sizeable Nigerian community, prejudices remain on display. 
 
&quot;The way they eat, drink, live... Everything is different,&quot; said Inderjeet Singh, a real estate agent who has been in the neighbourhood for 15 years.&nbsp;&quot;People say they eat street dogs, families fear they cut their children into pieces and eat them,&quot; the 53-year-old said. 
 
The number of Nigerians living in the district has dwindled since January 2014, when it was the scene of a crackdown by a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Somnath Bharti. 
 
Bharti, accompanied by supporters of his anti-corruption party and night vision cameras, took to the streets to denounce an alleged prostitution and drug trafficking network run by Nigerians and Ugandans. 
 
Bharti attempted to force the police to search several apartments, and reportedly ordered four Africans to take urine tests to detect any traces of drugs. 
 
In an attempt to now tackle racist views, India&#39;s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has promised an awareness campaign in neighbourhoods with large numbers of African inhabitants. 
 
&quot;We are trying to break the communication gap between the locals and our African friends,&quot; RP Upadhyay, a senior Delhi Police official in charge of the campaign told AFP. 
 
&quot;We are requesting everyone that whenever anything happens, report it to the police.&quot; 
 
&#39;Good friendships&#39;&nbsp; 
 
The death of the Congolese student comes as India is seeking to charm African nations, seeking to rival China, which has long staked its interest on the continent. 
 
Following an India-Africa summit last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited four African countries in early July. 
 
Nigerian, Cameroonian and Congolese residents in New Delhi interviewed by AFP say that while they encounter difficulties in daily life, many Indians are open and tolerant towards them. 
 
Congolese student Loic Ipanga, 24, believes the &quot;racist reactions&quot; he experiences are often due to ignorance of Africa. 
 
&quot;It is very shocking that every time an Indian sees you, he asks you if you are Nigerian, thinking that because of my skin colour I must be Nigerian,&quot; he says.&nbsp;&quot;This is sometimes a disturbing issue.&quot; 
 
Yet he says he has &quot;very good friendships with Indians, who are willing to get up in the middle of the night to help you&quot;. 
 
&quot;We must act like adults -- mature and wise. You cannot lay a hand on anyone,&quot; he said. 
 
(AFP)

30,000 Africans who live in Delhi face numerous humiliations, from insults in the street to housing discrimination and violent attacks

Congolese student Arnold Mutumbo Muama refuses to be cowed by a spate of racist violence towards Africans in India's capital New Delhi, defiant after a friend was beaten up by security guards at his apartment block. "The guard called him a 'monster' in Hindi before taking him to the basement and beating him," recalled Muama, 29, who chairs a Congolese welfare association. Racism against Africans in India was thrown into the spotlight following the brutal stoning to death in May of Congolese national Masunda Kitada Oliver in a dispute over an auto-rickshaw, a motorised three-wheeler. Following the attack, African ambassadors in New Delhi threatened to recommend to their governments that they don't send students to the capital "as their security is not guaranteed". Around 30,000 Africans live in New Delhi, according to police, and they have told AFP of numerous humiliations they face, from insults in the street to housing discrimination and even violent attacks. This week, television footage showed police officers in the southern city of Bangalore forcefully restraining a Nigerian woman following an altercation at a market. She was tied up with ropes before being injected with sedatives. Despite these incidents, IT student Muama believes it is "out of the question to live in fear". "You have to be aware of your rights," he said. 'They eat dogs' In Khirki Extension, a bustling set of interlacing streets in the south of the Indian capital long home to a sizeable Nigerian community, prejudices remain on display. "The way they eat, drink, live... Everything is different," said Inderjeet Singh, a real estate agent who has been in the neighbourhood for 15 years. "People say they eat street dogs, families fear they cut their children into pieces and eat them," the 53-year-old said. The number of Nigerians living in the district has dwindled since January 2014, when it was the scene of a crackdown by a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Somnath Bharti. Bharti, accompanied by supporters of his anti-corruption party and night vision cameras, took to the streets to denounce an alleged prostitution and drug trafficking network run by Nigerians and Ugandans. Bharti attempted to force the police to search several apartments, and reportedly ordered four Africans to take urine tests to detect any traces of drugs. In an attempt to now tackle racist views, India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has promised an awareness campaign in neighbourhoods with large numbers of African inhabitants. "We are trying to break the communication gap between the locals and our African friends," RP Upadhyay, a senior Delhi Police official in charge of the campaign told AFP. "We are requesting everyone that whenever anything happens, report it to the police." 'Good friendships' The death of the Congolese student comes as India is seeking to charm African nations, seeking to rival China, which has long staked its interest on the continent. Following an India-Africa summit last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited four African countries in early July. Nigerian, Cameroonian and Congolese residents in New Delhi interviewed by AFP say that while they encounter difficulties in daily life, many Indians are open and tolerant towards them. Congolese student Loic Ipanga, 24, believes the "racist reactions" he experiences are often due to ignorance of Africa. "It is very shocking that every time an Indian sees you, he asks you if you are Nigerian, thinking that because of my skin colour I must be Nigerian," he says. "This is sometimes a disturbing issue." Yet he says he has "very good friendships with Indians, who are willing to get up in the middle of the night to help you". "We must act like adults -- mature and wise. You cannot lay a hand on anyone," he said. (AFP)

Facing racist abuse, Africans in India refuse to give in to fear

Oil prices rebounded in Asia today after tanking nearly five per cent the day before on fresh worries about an oversupply, while traders await the release of key US jobs data. 
 
The commodity plunged Thursday in response to official figures showing US commercial inventories fell less than expected last week, indicating softer demand in the world&#39;s top oil consumer as the crucial driving season kicks in. 
 
The data added to an already downbeat mood on markets as investors worry about the longer-term fallout from Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union (EU). 
 
At around 0650 GMT, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 26 cents, or 0.58 per cent, at $45.40 and Brent gained 32 cents, or 0.69 per cent, to $46.72. 
 
WTI plunged 4.8 per cent and Brent sank 4.9 per cent on Thursday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported stockpiles fell 2.2 million barrels in the week ending July 1. The market was expecting a 2.5 million barrel drop, according to Bloomberg News. 
 
Both contracts are more than six per cent lower down from last Friday. 
 
The DoE also reported a much smaller than expected decline in petrol stockpiles during the peak summer driving season when Americans take to the road for their holidays. Gasoline stockpiles fell 100,000 barrels, well below the forecast 350,000. 
 
IG Markets analyst Bernard Aw said traders were looking for bargains after Thursday&#39;s &quot;substantial drop&quot; in prices, but added the oversupply concerns will linger. 
 
&quot;What&#39;s even more important was the lack of decline in the gasoline inventories, given that the summer driving season in the US still has two more months to go,&quot; Aw said. 
 
&quot;Traders now fear that we could see a worsening of the supply overhang when summer is over,&quot; he added.&nbsp; 
 
Prices were also given some support after a militant group in Nigeria, Africa&#39;s biggest oil producer, said it attacked more oil infrastructure in the country&#39;s south, ignoring a call for unity from President Muhammadu Buhari. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The data added to an already downbeat mood on markets as investors worry about the longer-term Brexit fallout

Oil prices rebounded in Asia today after tanking nearly five per cent the day before on fresh worries about an oversupply, while traders await the release of key US jobs data. The commodity plunged Thursday in response to official figures showing US commercial inventories fell less than expected last week, indicating softer demand in the world's top oil consumer as the crucial driving season kicks in. The data added to an already downbeat mood on markets as investors worry about the longer-term fallout from Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU). At around 0650 GMT, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 26 cents, or 0.58 per cent, at $45.40 and Brent gained 32 cents, or 0.69 per cent, to $46.72. WTI plunged 4.8 per cent and Brent sank 4.9 per cent on Thursday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported stockpiles fell 2.2 million barrels in the week ending July 1. The market was expecting a 2.5 million barrel drop, according to Bloomberg News. Both contracts are more than six per cent lower down from last Friday. The DoE also reported a much smaller than expected decline in petrol stockpiles during the peak summer driving season when Americans take to the road for their holidays. Gasoline stockpiles fell 100,000 barrels, well below the forecast 350,000. IG Markets analyst Bernard Aw said traders were looking for bargains after Thursday's "substantial drop" in prices, but added the oversupply concerns will linger. "What's even more important was the lack of decline in the gasoline inventories, given that the summer driving season in the US still has two more months to go," Aw said. "Traders now fear that we could see a worsening of the supply overhang when summer is over," he added. Prices were also given some support after a militant group in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, said it attacked more oil infrastructure in the country's south, ignoring a call for unity from President Muhammadu Buhari. (AFP)

Oil prices rebound in Asia as investors await key US jobs data

Thousands of people have fled renewed violence in the Central African Republic to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon, the United Nations said Friday, voicing fears that many more could follow. 
 
The UN refugee agency said that it had helped register 5,643 Central African refugees in Chad, in the villages of Sourouh and Mini next to the border, in recent weeks. 
 
Another 555 refugees had crossed to Yamba village in eastern Cameroon, UNHCR said. 
 
&quot;The exodus began on June 12 when clashes erupted between livestock herders and local arable farmers in and around the north-west town of Ngaoundaye, Ouham Pende region,&quot; it said in a statement. 
 
The agency pointed out that such clashes typically occur when herders move their animals across the land, but warned that &quot;this year, disturbingly, rival ex-Seleka and anti-Balaka militias have become involved.&quot; 
 
The violence comes as the former French colony struggles to recover from over a year of sectarian bloodletting, which drove half a million people from their homes starting in 2013. 
 
Central African Republic, one of the world&#39;s poorest countries, was plunged into chaos by the ousting in March that year of long-serving president Francois Bozize, a Christian, by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance. 
 
The coup sparked a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks by the Muslim forces and Christian vigilantes known as &quot;anti-balaka&quot; (anti-machete) militias, in which thousands of people were slaughtered. 
 
The trouble has subsided significantly in the past year. 
 
But the UNHCR warned Friday that the new clashes had forced more people from their homes. 
 
Refugees told UNHCR workers they had seen &quot;killings, kidnappings, looting and the torching of their homes,&quot; the agency said. 
 
Most of those fleeing were &quot;exhausted, weak and hungry&quot; and needed &quot;urgent aid&quot;, the refugee body said. 
 
Before the latest upsurge in violence, UNHCR was already helping provide protection to 67,000 Central African refugees in Chad, and 260,000 in Cameroon, with an additional 415,000 people displaced inside the country. 
 
The agency said it had appealed for $225.5 million to finance its operations linked to the Central African Republic crisis this year, but so far has only received $24.7 million. 
 
(AFP)

The violence comes as the former French colony struggles to recover from over a year of sectarian bloodletting

Thousands of people have fled renewed violence in the Central African Republic to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon, the United Nations said Friday, voicing fears that many more could follow. The UN refugee agency said that it had helped register 5,643 Central African refugees in Chad, in the villages of Sourouh and Mini next to the border, in recent weeks. Another 555 refugees had crossed to Yamba village in eastern Cameroon, UNHCR said. "The exodus began on June 12 when clashes erupted between livestock herders and local arable farmers in and around the north-west town of Ngaoundaye, Ouham Pende region," it said in a statement. The agency pointed out that such clashes typically occur when herders move their animals across the land, but warned that "this year, disturbingly, rival ex-Seleka and anti-Balaka militias have become involved." The violence comes as the former French colony struggles to recover from over a year of sectarian bloodletting, which drove half a million people from their homes starting in 2013. Central African Republic, one of the world's poorest countries, was plunged into chaos by the ousting in March that year of long-serving president Francois Bozize, a Christian, by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance. The coup sparked a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks by the Muslim forces and Christian vigilantes known as "anti-balaka" (anti-machete) militias, in which thousands of people were slaughtered. The trouble has subsided significantly in the past year. But the UNHCR warned Friday that the new clashes had forced more people from their homes. Refugees told UNHCR workers they had seen "killings, kidnappings, looting and the torching of their homes," the agency said. Most of those fleeing were "exhausted, weak and hungry" and needed "urgent aid", the refugee body said. Before the latest upsurge in violence, UNHCR was already helping provide protection to 67,000 Central African refugees in Chad, and 260,000 in Cameroon, with an additional 415,000 people displaced inside the country. The agency said it had appealed for $225.5 million to finance its operations linked to the Central African Republic crisis this year, but so far has only received $24.7 million. (AFP)

Thousands flee renewed central Africa violence: UN

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head to Africa on Thursday, seeking to boost his country&#39;s economic influence in a region long dominated by rival Asian power China. 
 
India has been working to improve ties with African nations as it vies for a greater share of the continent&#39;s natural resources. Last year, it hosted a major summit of Africa&#39;s heads of state in New Delhi. 
 
Modi will head first to Mozambique, marking the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 34 years, before travelling on to South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. 
 
&quot;The visit marks an unprecedented diplomatic outreach to the African continent and underlines the importance that India places on forging a multi-layered relationship with a rising continent,&quot; political analyst Manish Chand said. 
 
&quot;The visit is not going to be just about the optics. It is underpinned by a substantive agenda encompassing all areas of interest - economic as well as strategic,&quot; said Chand, the editor of Africa Quarterly. 
 
India&#39;s economic presence in Africa is dwarfed by that of China, whose trade with the continent topped $200 billion last year - more than the GDP of the 30 smallest African economies combined. 
 
But it is gaining ground, dominated by the energy sector and led by private entrepreneurs.&nbsp;India is now South Africa&#39;s sixth largest trade partner, with two-way trade reaching $5.3 billion in 2015-16. 
 
South Africa has also been vocal on the need to reform the UN security council, making it a natural ally in India&#39;s long-running campaign to be made a permanent member. 
 
India and Africa are together home to a third of the world&#39;s population, but neither India nor any African country has a permanent seat on the council, which is made up of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. 
 
&quot;South Africa is seen as a representative of the continent,&quot; said Chand.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s a part of the BRICS grouping and has been shaping the global discourse.&quot; 
 
With 1.3 million people of Indian origin, it also has the largest diaspora population in Africa, a major element of Modi&#39;s diplomatic push across the world since taking office two years ago. 
 
On Friday, he will address a thousands-strong audience at a stadium in Johannesburg, having hosted similar rallies for the diaspora in cities from New York to London. 
 
India&#39;s foreign ministry sought to downplay any rivalry with China and denied New Delhi had neglected the continent in the past. 
 
&quot;(Relations between India and Africa) are like the two banks of the river which are apart but never separate. We are trying to bridge that,&quot; said Amar Sinha, secretary for economic relations in the foreign ministry. 
 
&quot;Africa is a huge continent, it has tremendous requirement for development assistance and infrastructure building. Everybody can chip in.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

First visit by an Indian PM in 34 years. China's trade with Africa touched $200 billion last year, whereas India captured only $5.3 billion

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head to Africa on Thursday, seeking to boost his country's economic influence in a region long dominated by rival Asian power China. India has been working to improve ties with African nations as it vies for a greater share of the continent's natural resources. Last year, it hosted a major summit of Africa's heads of state in New Delhi. Modi will head first to Mozambique, marking the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 34 years, before travelling on to South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. "The visit marks an unprecedented diplomatic outreach to the African continent and underlines the importance that India places on forging a multi-layered relationship with a rising continent," political analyst Manish Chand said. "The visit is not going to be just about the optics. It is underpinned by a substantive agenda encompassing all areas of interest - economic as well as strategic," said Chand, the editor of Africa Quarterly. India's economic presence in Africa is dwarfed by that of China, whose trade with the continent topped $200 billion last year - more than the GDP of the 30 smallest African economies combined. But it is gaining ground, dominated by the energy sector and led by private entrepreneurs. India is now South Africa's sixth largest trade partner, with two-way trade reaching $5.3 billion in 2015-16. South Africa has also been vocal on the need to reform the UN security council, making it a natural ally in India's long-running campaign to be made a permanent member. India and Africa are together home to a third of the world's population, but neither India nor any African country has a permanent seat on the council, which is made up of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. "South Africa is seen as a representative of the continent," said Chand. "It's a part of the BRICS grouping and has been shaping the global discourse." With 1.3 million people of Indian origin, it also has the largest diaspora population in Africa, a major element of Modi's diplomatic push across the world since taking office two years ago. On Friday, he will address a thousands-strong audience at a stadium in Johannesburg, having hosted similar rallies for the diaspora in cities from New York to London. India's foreign ministry sought to downplay any rivalry with China and denied New Delhi had neglected the continent in the past. "(Relations between India and Africa) are like the two banks of the river which are apart but never separate. We are trying to bridge that," said Amar Sinha, secretary for economic relations in the foreign ministry. "Africa is a huge continent, it has tremendous requirement for development assistance and infrastructure building. Everybody can chip in." (AFP)

Indian PM Modi heads to Africa with an eye on China

South Africa&#39;s competition tribunal today approved the buyout of SABMiller by the world&#39;s top brewer AB InBev, subject to conditions, paving the way towards completion of the huge deal. 
 
Conditions include the sale of SABMiller&#39;s stake in Distell Group, as South Africa&#39;s regulator moved to protect competition and prevent job losses in the country&#39;s struggling economy. 
 
AB InBev&#39;s acquisition of the London-based SABMiller was valued at $121 billion when it was announced in November and in line to be the third largest in history if it clears all regulatory hurdles. 
 
However, it is now worth considerably less given the plunge in the value of the pound after Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union. 
 
Current exchange rates put the value of the acquisition around $106.5 billion for Belgium-based AB InBev. 
 
&quot;The competition tribunal approved the merger between beer giants Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) and SABMiller plc subject to wide ranging conditions designed to address both public interest and competition concerns,&quot; the tribunal said in a statement. 
 
AB InBev, brewer of Stella Artois and Budweiser, secured approval from EU and Australian regulators in May. 
 
Clearance has also been granted by several other countries including India, South Korea, Mexico and Chile. 
 
The acquisition is poised to get approval from both the US justice department and China&#39;s ministry of commerce, Bloomberg reported today. &quot;We are delighted by the competition tribunal&#39;s decision to approve our proposed combination with SABMiller in South Africa, a market that would play a critical role in the combined company,&quot; the company said. 
 
&quot;We recognise South African Breweries important contribution to the country&#39;s economy and society and look forward to building on this through the commitments we have made on jobs,&quot; the company added. 
 
Isaac Matshego, economist at Nedbank, said he hoped the takeover would bring investment into South Africa and boost local production infrastructure. 
 
&quot;If it does go through, AB InBev could use South Africa as its base for expansion to the rest of the continent, in that way preserving the thin job market,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Naturally, everyone is concerned about jobs at the moment and it is important that AB InBev finds our local market attractive enough for investment,&quot; Matshego said. 
 
AB InBev sees the buyout of SABMiller as a key way to counterweight falling beer demand in big markets by building its presence in Africa and other regions where sales are rising. 
 
SABMiller, which generates nearly a third of its profits from Africa, operates in 15 African countries, and has a stake in 22 others through a partnership with French firm Castel. 
 
The company has its roots in supplying beer to miners during the 1886 Johannesburg gold rush. 
 
In April, AB InBev said it would sell SABMiller&#39;s stake in leading Chinese beermaker Snow Breweries, in a move that appeared aimed at persuading Chinese regulators to sign off on the giant merger deal. 
 
(AFP)

AB InBev's buyout of SABMiller to counter falling beer demand in big markets by establishing presence in Africa where sales are on the rise

South Africa's competition tribunal today approved the buyout of SABMiller by the world's top brewer AB InBev, subject to conditions, paving the way towards completion of the huge deal. Conditions include the sale of SABMiller's stake in Distell Group, as South Africa's regulator moved to protect competition and prevent job losses in the country's struggling economy. AB InBev's acquisition of the London-based SABMiller was valued at $121 billion when it was announced in November and in line to be the third largest in history if it clears all regulatory hurdles. However, it is now worth considerably less given the plunge in the value of the pound after Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Current exchange rates put the value of the acquisition around $106.5 billion for Belgium-based AB InBev. "The competition tribunal approved the merger between beer giants Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) and SABMiller plc subject to wide ranging conditions designed to address both public interest and competition concerns," the tribunal said in a statement. AB InBev, brewer of Stella Artois and Budweiser, secured approval from EU and Australian regulators in May. Clearance has also been granted by several other countries including India, South Korea, Mexico and Chile. The acquisition is poised to get approval from both the US justice department and China's ministry of commerce, Bloomberg reported today. "We are delighted by the competition tribunal's decision to approve our proposed combination with SABMiller in South Africa, a market that would play a critical role in the combined company," the company said. "We recognise South African Breweries important contribution to the country's economy and society and look forward to building on this through the commitments we have made on jobs," the company added. Isaac Matshego, economist at Nedbank, said he hoped the takeover would bring investment into South Africa and boost local production infrastructure. "If it does go through, AB InBev could use South Africa as its base for expansion to the rest of the continent, in that way preserving the thin job market," he said. "Naturally, everyone is concerned about jobs at the moment and it is important that AB InBev finds our local market attractive enough for investment," Matshego said. AB InBev sees the buyout of SABMiller as a key way to counterweight falling beer demand in big markets by building its presence in Africa and other regions where sales are rising. SABMiller, which generates nearly a third of its profits from Africa, operates in 15 African countries, and has a stake in 22 others through a partnership with French firm Castel. The company has its roots in supplying beer to miners during the 1886 Johannesburg gold rush. In April, AB InBev said it would sell SABMiller's stake in leading Chinese beermaker Snow Breweries, in a move that appeared aimed at persuading Chinese regulators to sign off on the giant merger deal. (AFP)

South Africa approves takeover of SABMiller by top brewer AB InBev

Two people were killed and more than 80 wounded in a grenade attack in Madagascar`s capital Sunday during the country`s national day celebrations, in what the president called &quot;an act of terrorism&quot;. 
 
The blast struck the Mahamasina municipal stadium in Antananarivo at around 1600 GMT, just as a free concert was taking place to mark the nation`s 56th anniversary of independence from France. 
 
President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who visited the injured victims in hospital, blamed the attack on tensions with political opponents in the Indian Ocean island nation. 
 
&quot;There may be differences of opinion between us, but these acts of destabilisation are unacceptable,&quot; he said in a statement broadcast on national television, describing the attack as &quot;not just a destabilising act but an act of terrorism&quot;. 
 
Pleading for calm, he added: &quot;We will not respond to violence with violence.&quot; 
 
According to the gendarmerie, the attack killed two teenagers aged 16 and 18, while 84 people were injured. 
 
A military parade was held at the stadium earlier in the day. 
 
&quot;The explosion was caused by a grenade,&quot; general Anthony Rakotoarison, head of security and intelligence with the national gendarmerie, told AFP by phone. 
 
&quot;We consider this a terrorist act,&quot; he added. 
 
The last attack to hit Madagascar was in January 2014 when a grenade blast killed a toddler and injured several other people outside the same stadium targeted on Sunday. 
 
No arrests were ever made in connection with that attack and there was no claim of responsibility. 
 
Madagascar, one of the world`s poorest countries, is slowly getting back on its feet after a lengthy period of political instability triggered by the 2009 ouster of president Marc Ravalomanana by Antananarivo`s then-mayor Andry Rajoelina. 
 
Rajoelina led a transitional government until late 2013, when a new election that was designed to resolve complex struggles brought Rajaonarimampianina to power. 
 
International donors, on which the country relies heavily, only recently returned to Madagascar after withdrawing over the 2009 turmoil, and the economy is starting to show the first signs of recovery. 
 
(AFP)

President Hery Rajaonarimampianina blamed the attack on tensions with political opponents in the Indian Ocean island nation.

Two people were killed and more than 80 wounded in a grenade attack in Madagascar`s capital Sunday during the country`s national day celebrations, in what the president called "an act of terrorism". The blast struck the Mahamasina municipal stadium in Antananarivo at around 1600 GMT, just as a free concert was taking place to mark the nation`s 56th anniversary of independence from France. President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who visited the injured victims in hospital, blamed the attack on tensions with political opponents in the Indian Ocean island nation. "There may be differences of opinion between us, but these acts of destabilisation are unacceptable," he said in a statement broadcast on national television, describing the attack as "not just a destabilising act but an act of terrorism". Pleading for calm, he added: "We will not respond to violence with violence." According to the gendarmerie, the attack killed two teenagers aged 16 and 18, while 84 people were injured. A military parade was held at the stadium earlier in the day. "The explosion was caused by a grenade," general Anthony Rakotoarison, head of security and intelligence with the national gendarmerie, told AFP by phone. "We consider this a terrorist act," he added. The last attack to hit Madagascar was in January 2014 when a grenade blast killed a toddler and injured several other people outside the same stadium targeted on Sunday. No arrests were ever made in connection with that attack and there was no claim of responsibility. Madagascar, one of the world`s poorest countries, is slowly getting back on its feet after a lengthy period of political instability triggered by the 2009 ouster of president Marc Ravalomanana by Antananarivo`s then-mayor Andry Rajoelina. Rajoelina led a transitional government until late 2013, when a new election that was designed to resolve complex struggles brought Rajaonarimampianina to power. International donors, on which the country relies heavily, only recently returned to Madagascar after withdrawing over the 2009 turmoil, and the economy is starting to show the first signs of recovery. (AFP)

Two killed, 80 injured in Madagascar terror blast

Around 5,000 migrants were rescued from rubber dingies in the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said, averting a potential high seas disaster. 
 
A coastguard spokesman pointed out it appeared many people had left the Libyan coast to attempt the perilous voyage across the sea to Europe during a spell of good weather. 
 
&quot;Around 5,000 people were saved in 43 rescue operations,&quot; the coastguard said in a statement. 
 
A body was found on board one of the rubber dinghies, a coastguard spokesman told AFP earlier. 
 
&quot;We registered a large number of voyages today, after several days of bad weather at sea had stopped people leaving Libya,&quot; the spokesman added. 
 
Most of the migrants were on the dinghies, while three wooden boats were being used by Libyan people traffickers, the coastguard said. 
 
The Italian navy also noted a mass movement of boats in the Mediterranean from &quot;the first light of dawn.&quot; 
 
Five Italian navy ships took part in the rescue operations, together with two vessels from the EU&#39;s Operation Sophia, which was set up to combat human smuggling in the Mediterranean, and another four from humanitarian organisations. 
 
More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in overcrowded boats since 2014, according to UN figures published earlier this month. 
 
This year alone more than 50,000 migrants and asylum seekers from Africa have managed to complete the journey to Italy, a country that, like Greece, acts mainly as a gateway to northern Europe for most of the newcomers. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in overcrowded boats since 2014, according to UN figures

Around 5,000 migrants were rescued from rubber dingies in the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said, averting a potential high seas disaster. A coastguard spokesman pointed out it appeared many people had left the Libyan coast to attempt the perilous voyage across the sea to Europe during a spell of good weather. "Around 5,000 people were saved in 43 rescue operations," the coastguard said in a statement. A body was found on board one of the rubber dinghies, a coastguard spokesman told AFP earlier. "We registered a large number of voyages today, after several days of bad weather at sea had stopped people leaving Libya," the spokesman added. Most of the migrants were on the dinghies, while three wooden boats were being used by Libyan people traffickers, the coastguard said. The Italian navy also noted a mass movement of boats in the Mediterranean from "the first light of dawn." Five Italian navy ships took part in the rescue operations, together with two vessels from the EU's Operation Sophia, which was set up to combat human smuggling in the Mediterranean, and another four from humanitarian organisations. More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in overcrowded boats since 2014, according to UN figures published earlier this month. This year alone more than 50,000 migrants and asylum seekers from Africa have managed to complete the journey to Italy, a country that, like Greece, acts mainly as a gateway to northern Europe for most of the newcomers. (AFP)

5,000 migrants rescued from rubber dingies in Mediterranean

Protesters burnt vehicles and set tires on fire to barricade roads in South Africa&#39;s capital on Tuesday, June 21, after the ANC named a mayoral candidate not nominated by the ruling party&#39;s regional branches. 
 
The violence spread overnight from the townships and started after a member of the African National Congress (ANC) was shot dead on Sunday, June 19, as factions clashed at a meeting in Pretoria to decide on the candidates for mayor of Tshwane municipality, where Pretoria is located. 
 
The ANC then named senior party member and former cabinet minister, Thoko Didiza, as its candidate for Tshwane, saying that it made the decision after wrangling between members at the party&#39;s headquarters over who should lead the municipality. 
 
According to local media, residents want the incumbent mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa to be allowed to run on the ANC ticket but Ramokgopa has publicly backed Didiza&#39;s selection and called for calm. 
 
The ANC said its members were not to blame for the violence. 
 
Local elections in August pose a major test for the ANC as it gears up for a 2019 presidential vote in the face of a slowing economy and a strong challenge from the opposition 
 
(Reuters)

The violence spread overnight, starting after a member of the African National Congress was shot dead on Sunday

Protesters burnt vehicles and set tires on fire to barricade roads in South Africa's capital on Tuesday, June 21, after the ANC named a mayoral candidate not nominated by the ruling party's regional branches. The violence spread overnight from the townships and started after a member of the African National Congress (ANC) was shot dead on Sunday, June 19, as factions clashed at a meeting in Pretoria to decide on the candidates for mayor of Tshwane municipality, where Pretoria is located. The ANC then named senior party member and former cabinet minister, Thoko Didiza, as its candidate for Tshwane, saying that it made the decision after wrangling between members at the party's headquarters over who should lead the municipality. According to local media, residents want the incumbent mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa to be allowed to run on the ANC ticket but Ramokgopa has publicly backed Didiza's selection and called for calm. The ANC said its members were not to blame for the violence. Local elections in August pose a major test for the ANC as it gears up for a 2019 presidential vote in the face of a slowing economy and a strong challenge from the opposition (Reuters)

Protesters in Pretoria burn cars, tires after unnominated man becomes mayoral candidate

Twenty-two years after the end of apartheid, classical dance, confined to South Africa&#39;s white minority for decades, is finally finding its feet in the country&#39;s black townships.&nbsp; 
 
In a Soweto dance studio with yellowing mirrors, enthusiastic ballet students practise their first positions and plies in socks at the barre 
 
&quot;We have beautiful contemporary dancers but not classical dancers,&quot; shares, Dirk Badenhorst, head of the South African International Ballet Competition, seeking out rising stars across the continent. He is also trying to shake things up with this new project to train township dance teachers in classical ballet. 
 
Elucidating how teachers and students are sharing their love for ballet in this Soweto studio, he shares how the dearth of black talent can be attributed to the history of the region.&nbsp;&quot;Ballet was only for white people .. and the ballet was only taught in the traditional white areas,&quot; underlines Badenhorst.&nbsp; 
 
 
&#39;Up, up, up. Stomach!&#39;&nbsp; 
Lessons take place in the heart of Soweto, a hop and a skip from the Hector Pieterson Museum dedicated to a key moment in the fight against apartheid, the uprising led by high school students in 1976. 
 
&quot;Up, up, up. Stomach, more, back,&quot; says classical teacher Maria de Torguet, pointing at a less-than-perfectly-poised back or a lazily-held head among her eight students, all black adults. 
 
&quot;When I grew up .. there was no ballet in townships. We had to go out in the town and pay for the lessons,&quot; says one of them, Mmule Mokgele, taking a break between exercises at the barre. 
 
&quot;I am happy for my kids because ballet is coming to the township,&quot; she adds. 
 
Aged 34, Mmule teaches contemporary dance and Afro-fusion in Soweto in a run-down school, whose yard has been turned into a car wash. But she decided to get trained to teach classical. 
 
&quot;Once you get to learn ballet, it disciplines you mentally, physically, it is easier for you to learn other dances,&quot; points out Mmule, short-cropped hair dyed red, with a baggy T-shirt and muscled legs beneath her black leggings. 
 
Every Tuesday morning, she endlessly repeats the first position, plies and works on holding her arms under Maria&#39;s attentive but relentless gaze. In the afternoon, she teaches her 10-year-old students what she learned in the morning. 
 
&#39;Without love nothing succeeds&#39;&nbsp; 
&lsquo;It is often said that if you are a brilliant scientist you are not necessarily a brilliant science teacher . It is the same with ballet,&rsquo; opines Badenhorst.&nbsp; 
 
He adds saying that undertaking the ballet training as a student and later training others makes a teacher more empathetic towards the children. &nbsp;&ldquo;They have a better understanding as how to explain and encourage the kids in what to do and how to do it,&quot; he explains.&nbsp; 
 
With his project, which aims to train a thousand teachers over the next three years, teachers and students are taking the same path together, shares Badenhorst.&nbsp; 
 
Maria, brought in from Cuba, a country with close ties to South Africa in areas including politics and dance, is a patient instructor. With a firm voice, she asks one student to take off a scarf, another to remove a hood. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s very difficult to teach them classical. In Cuba, teachers have studied classical dance for at least eight years,&quot; adds the petite 58-year-old brunette. 
 
&quot;Not here. I teach them to hold their bodies well. Concentration is also important, as much as passion. Without love nothing succeeds.&quot; 
 
Ballet for men? 
Under this project, many male ballerinas are also honing their dancing skills to grace the stage as they learn the techniques.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;My friends are, like, why are you doing ballet? Why don&#39;t you find something that would suit you as a man? But I love dancing,&quot; shares fellow student Ncepa Sitokwe, whose body is already toned by years of African dancing. 
 
&quot;Our traditional dancers did not expose us, with our African dances, we only do gigs to be seen when there is something celebrated. With this methodology, you are going to be seen outside South Africa,&quot; he added. 
 
Amid the dancers perfecting their turns, Badenhorst nurtures a dream. &quot;When Benjamin Millepied was the director of the Paris Opera, he was talking about the lack of transformation in the Paris Opera,&quot; he confides, referring to the dearth of non-white dancers. 
 
&quot;So I would love in 8 years or 10 years the young kids from this project to land up in the Paris Opera, he sums up.&nbsp; 
(AFP)

Lessons take place in heart of Soweto, close to the Hector Pieterson Museum dedicated to the fight against apartheid

Twenty-two years after the end of apartheid, classical dance, confined to South Africa's white minority for decades, is finally finding its feet in the country's black townships. In a Soweto dance studio with yellowing mirrors, enthusiastic ballet students practise their first positions and plies in socks at the barre "We have beautiful contemporary dancers but not classical dancers," shares, Dirk Badenhorst, head of the South African International Ballet Competition, seeking out rising stars across the continent. He is also trying to shake things up with this new project to train township dance teachers in classical ballet. Elucidating how teachers and students are sharing their love for ballet in this Soweto studio, he shares how the dearth of black talent can be attributed to the history of the region. "Ballet was only for white people .. and the ballet was only taught in the traditional white areas," underlines Badenhorst. 'Up, up, up. Stomach!' Lessons take place in the heart of Soweto, a hop and a skip from the Hector Pieterson Museum dedicated to a key moment in the fight against apartheid, the uprising led by high school students in 1976. "Up, up, up. Stomach, more, back," says classical teacher Maria de Torguet, pointing at a less-than-perfectly-poised back or a lazily-held head among her eight students, all black adults. "When I grew up .. there was no ballet in townships. We had to go out in the town and pay for the lessons," says one of them, Mmule Mokgele, taking a break between exercises at the barre. "I am happy for my kids because ballet is coming to the township," she adds. Aged 34, Mmule teaches contemporary dance and Afro-fusion in Soweto in a run-down school, whose yard has been turned into a car wash. But she decided to get trained to teach classical. "Once you get to learn ballet, it disciplines you mentally, physically, it is easier for you to learn other dances," points out Mmule, short-cropped hair dyed red, with a baggy T-shirt and muscled legs beneath her black leggings. Every Tuesday morning, she endlessly repeats the first position, plies and works on holding her arms under Maria's attentive but relentless gaze. In the afternoon, she teaches her 10-year-old students what she learned in the morning. 'Without love nothing succeeds' ‘It is often said that if you are a brilliant scientist you are not necessarily a brilliant science teacher . It is the same with ballet,’ opines Badenhorst. He adds saying that undertaking the ballet training as a student and later training others makes a teacher more empathetic towards the children. “They have a better understanding as how to explain and encourage the kids in what to do and how to do it," he explains. With his project, which aims to train a thousand teachers over the next three years, teachers and students are taking the same path together, shares Badenhorst. Maria, brought in from Cuba, a country with close ties to South Africa in areas including politics and dance, is a patient instructor. With a firm voice, she asks one student to take off a scarf, another to remove a hood. "It's very difficult to teach them classical. In Cuba, teachers have studied classical dance for at least eight years," adds the petite 58-year-old brunette. "Not here. I teach them to hold their bodies well. Concentration is also important, as much as passion. Without love nothing succeeds." Ballet for men? Under this project, many male ballerinas are also honing their dancing skills to grace the stage as they learn the techniques. "My friends are, like, why are you doing ballet? Why don't you find something that would suit you as a man? But I love dancing," shares fellow student Ncepa Sitokwe, whose body is already toned by years of African dancing. "Our traditional dancers did not expose us, with our African dances, we only do gigs to be seen when there is something celebrated. With this methodology, you are going to be seen outside South Africa," he added. Amid the dancers perfecting their turns, Badenhorst nurtures a dream. "When Benjamin Millepied was the director of the Paris Opera, he was talking about the lack of transformation in the Paris Opera," he confides, referring to the dearth of non-white dancers. "So I would love in 8 years or 10 years the young kids from this project to land up in the Paris Opera, he sums up. (AFP)

Classical dance finding feet in South Africa's black townships

&nbsp;Al Shabaab militants killed five police officers in a border region in northeastern Kenya today, a regional official said. 
 
&quot;We condemn the attack by al Shabaab at Dimu this morning five police officers killed. The info about their presence was long shared by the locals,&quot; Mandera county governor Ali Roba said on his Twitter account. 
(Reuters)

Mandera county governor Ali Roba condemned the attack at Dimu and said locals alerted the authorities

Al Shabaab militants killed five police officers in a border region in northeastern Kenya today, a regional official said. "We condemn the attack by al Shabaab at Dimu this morning five police officers killed. The info about their presence was long shared by the locals," Mandera county governor Ali Roba said on his Twitter account. (Reuters)

5 police officers killed by al-Shabaab militants in Kenya

At least 17 million women and girls in Africa collect water every day, which increases their risk of sexual abuse, disease and dropping out of school, a study published recently has found.

It is one of the first studies to calculate how many women and children were responsible for water collection in Africa, the researchers said.

Using datasets from the World Bank, the UN&nbsp;children&#39;s agency UNICEF, and the US&nbsp;Agency for International Development, researchers found that around 3 million children and 14 million women collect water in sub-Saharan Africa.

&quot;The absolute number of adult females affected by this practice was a shock to me,&quot; Jay Graham, lead author of the study, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

&quot;I knew it would be large... but I didn&#39;t realise it would be that high,&quot; added Graham, who is professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University.

The daily practice causes musculoskeletal damage, soft tissue damage and can lead to early arthritis, Graham said.

People also have to contend with water-borne diseases like schistosomiasis, an infection caused by parasitic worms living in fresh water, he said.

Across all 24 countries examined, including Sierra Leone, Malawi and Niger, more girls were tasked with water collection than boys. Women were also the primary water collector in all countries.

Children are pulled out of school for the daily task, and many women cannot earn an income because of the time and energy it takes to collect water, Graham said.

Since they often need to walk long distances to find water, women and children are also at a higher risk of sexual abuse, he added.

In a statement issued last month, the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone said drought was putting even more pressure on children to find water.

&quot;Children, particularly girls, are out in the street very late at night or as early as 4a.m. in search of water,&quot; the statement read.

&quot;This heightens their vulnerability and contributes to increase in teenage pregnancy, child labour, high rates of school drop outs, and poor school performance,&quot; it said.

Demand for water is expected to increase by 2050 as the world&#39;s population is forecast to grow by one-third to more than 9 billion, according to the United Nations.

As climate change strengthens, drought is becoming more frequent and severe in southern Africa, and that &ndash; combined with this year&#39;s El Nino phenomenon &ndash; is taking a heavy toll on rural lives and economies.

&quot;With climate change, it&#39;s going to be more of an uphill battle,&quot; said Graham. &quot;If there&#39;s focused attention on it and resources, we can improve upon the situation but I do think it&#39;s going to become more difficult.&quot;

But it also crucial to address gender inequality and to recognise the unpaid labour that women do across the globe, he said, which he believes is the underlying issue.

&quot;There is a need to address cultural values and really shifting the belief that women and men are equal too.&quot;

Many have to travel real far to collect water, thus exposing them to the risk of being sexually abused. And there is the added threat of a water-borne disease and other ailments.

At least 17 million women and girls in Africa collect water every day, which increases their risk of sexual abuse, disease and dropping out of school, a study published recently has found. It is one of the first studies to calculate how many women and children were responsible for water collection in Africa, the researchers said. Using datasets from the World Bank, the UN children's agency UNICEF, and the US Agency for International Development, researchers found that around 3 million children and 14 million women collect water in sub-Saharan Africa. "The absolute number of adult females affected by this practice was a shock to me," Jay Graham, lead author of the study, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "I knew it would be large... but I didn't realise it would be that high," added Graham, who is professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. The daily practice causes musculoskeletal damage, soft tissue damage and can lead to early arthritis, Graham said. People also have to contend with water-borne diseases like schistosomiasis, an infection caused by parasitic worms living in fresh water, he said. Across all 24 countries examined, including Sierra Leone, Malawi and Niger, more girls were tasked with water collection than boys. Women were also the primary water collector in all countries. Children are pulled out of school for the daily task, and many women cannot earn an income because of the time and energy it takes to collect water, Graham said. Since they often need to walk long distances to find water, women and children are also at a higher risk of sexual abuse, he added. In a statement issued last month, the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone said drought was putting even more pressure on children to find water. "Children, particularly girls, are out in the street very late at night or as early as 4a.m. in search of water," the statement read. "This heightens their vulnerability and contributes to increase in teenage pregnancy, child labour, high rates of school drop outs, and poor school performance," it said. Demand for water is expected to increase by 2050 as the world's population is forecast to grow by one-third to more than 9 billion, according to the United Nations. As climate change strengthens, drought is becoming more frequent and severe in southern Africa, and that – combined with this year's El Nino phenomenon – is taking a heavy toll on rural lives and economies. "With climate change, it's going to be more of an uphill battle," said Graham. "If there's focused attention on it and resources, we can improve upon the situation but I do think it's going to become more difficult." But it also crucial to address gender inequality and to recognise the unpaid labour that women do across the globe, he said, which he believes is the underlying issue. "There is a need to address cultural values and really shifting the belief that women and men are equal too."

The risks more than 17 million African women and girls have to take to fetch water

Boys are slightly more likely to be sexually abused than girls in South&nbsp;Africa, where a third of all children have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime, according to the first-ever national study of child maltreatment.

Nearly 37 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls have been sexually abused by the age of 17, either physically or in non-physical ways - such as being forced to watch sexual acts, look at genitalia or explicit material.

Girls were more likely to have been sexually abused physically and boys more likely to have experienced non-contact sexual abuse, researchers said in the study published on Tuesday.

&quot;Even though the forms the abuse takes may differ it can nonetheless be equally harmful to the victim and should be treated just as seriously,&quot; Ian Welle-Skitt, spokesman for UBS Optimus Foundation which commissioned the research.

&quot;This study puts South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;in line with the rest of the world, and challenges the myth that South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;is a more violent society than others,&quot; Welle-Skitt&nbsp;told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A similar study carried out in Switzerland by UBS Optimus Foundation found that abuse between peers and cyber-abuse was higher there than in South&nbsp;Africa.

There were more than 350,000 cases of sexual abuse among children in South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;last year, according to researchers from the University of Cape Town, and the Cape Town-based Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention, who carried out the study.

Only 31 percent of girls and no boys reported sexual abuse to the police. Young males were especially reluctant to report any form of abuse, the researchers found.

&quot;The sexual abuse and maltreatment of children is preventable, but until now, a lack of data has hindered the development of systems needed to protect and support children,&quot; researchers&nbsp;said.

The study found that when parents knew who their children spent time with and where, they were less likely to become victims of sexual abuse.&nbsp;A&nbsp;supportive relationship between parents and their daughters also significantly lowered the risk for girls.

The researchers&nbsp;recommended that teachers be trained in school safety and that children have classes on sex, gender and violence.&nbsp;They also found substance abuse played an important role.

&quot;Since parental substance misuse is associated with sexual abuse of children, one key preventive strategy is to make substance abuse treatment programmes far more widely available and accessible than they are at present,&quot; the researchers said.

A third of all children in the country have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime

Boys are slightly more likely to be sexually abused than girls in South Africa, where a third of all children have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime, according to the first-ever national study of child maltreatment. Nearly 37 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls have been sexually abused by the age of 17, either physically or in non-physical ways - such as being forced to watch sexual acts, look at genitalia or explicit material. Girls were more likely to have been sexually abused physically and boys more likely to have experienced non-contact sexual abuse, researchers said in the study published on Tuesday. "Even though the forms the abuse takes may differ it can nonetheless be equally harmful to the victim and should be treated just as seriously," Ian Welle-Skitt, spokesman for UBS Optimus Foundation which commissioned the research. "This study puts South Africa in line with the rest of the world, and challenges the myth that South Africa is a more violent society than others," Welle-Skitt told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. A similar study carried out in Switzerland by UBS Optimus Foundation found that abuse between peers and cyber-abuse was higher there than in South Africa. There were more than 350,000 cases of sexual abuse among children in South Africa last year, according to researchers from the University of Cape Town, and the Cape Town-based Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention, who carried out the study. Only 31 percent of girls and no boys reported sexual abuse to the police. Young males were especially reluctant to report any form of abuse, the researchers found. "The sexual abuse and maltreatment of children is preventable, but until now, a lack of data has hindered the development of systems needed to protect and support children," researchers said. The study found that when parents knew who their children spent time with and where, they were less likely to become victims of sexual abuse. A supportive relationship between parents and their daughters also significantly lowered the risk for girls. The researchers recommended that teachers be trained in school safety and that children have classes on sex, gender and violence. They also found substance abuse played an important role. "Since parental substance misuse is associated with sexual abuse of children, one key preventive strategy is to make substance abuse treatment programmes far more widely available and accessible than they are at present," the researchers said.

In South Africa, boys more likely to be sexually abused than girls: researchers

The latest outbreak of Ebola in Guinea has ended, the World Health Organization said today, warning that a recurrence of the killer tropical disease still remained a threat.&nbsp; 
The last known Ebola patient in the west African country was discharged from hospital in April.&nbsp; 
WHO has declared the end to an outbreak, also known as the end to viral transmission, 42 days after the last known patient was tested negative for the second time.&nbsp; 
&quot;WHO commends the Government of Guinea and its people on ending this Ebola outbreak,&quot; said Abou Bekr Gaye, the UN agency`s representative in Guinea.&nbsp; 
He called for vigilance to &quot;stop any new cases that may occur.&quot; 
In the three countries hit hardest by the Ebola crisis -- Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- fresh cases emerged after an outbreak was declared over.&nbsp; 
The worst-ever Ebola epidemic began in Guinea in December 2013 and went on to kill more than 11,300 people, devastating economies and health systems in the worst affected countries, while testing the world`s capacity to respond to a global health emergency.&nbsp;

An outbreak of Ebola virus in Guinea, which was earlier confined to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, was the first ever outbreak in a west African country. Since March 2014, West Africa has had the largest outbreak in history, with countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea being the worst affected.

The latest outbreak of Ebola in Guinea has ended, the World Health Organization said today, warning that a recurrence of the killer tropical disease still remained a threat. The last known Ebola patient in the west African country was discharged from hospital in April. WHO has declared the end to an outbreak, also known as the end to viral transmission, 42 days after the last known patient was tested negative for the second time. "WHO commends the Government of Guinea and its people on ending this Ebola outbreak," said Abou Bekr Gaye, the UN agency`s representative in Guinea. He called for vigilance to "stop any new cases that may occur." In the three countries hit hardest by the Ebola crisis -- Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- fresh cases emerged after an outbreak was declared over. The worst-ever Ebola epidemic began in Guinea in December 2013 and went on to kill more than 11,300 people, devastating economies and health systems in the worst affected countries, while testing the world`s capacity to respond to a global health emergency.

Latest Ebola outbreak in Guinea is over: WHO

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty on Monday of raping a woman, the first conviction in several charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. 
The court`s Burkinabe president Gberdao Gustave Kam said testimony from Khadija Hassan Zidane had established &quot;non-consensual sexual relations on three occasions, and a non-consensual oral sex act,&quot; committed by Habre.

Hissene Habre, former dictator found guilty of rape

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty on Monday of raping a woman, the first conviction in several charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court`s Burkinabe president Gberdao Gustave Kam said testimony from Khadija Hassan Zidane had established "non-consensual sexual relations on three occasions, and a non-consensual oral sex act," committed by Habre.

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre convicted of rape

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