In The News

Ebola Virus Continues to Rage in West Africa

April 14, 2014
Ebola is a highly contagious virus without a preventive vaccine or cure. The disease emerged in Guinea in February, then spread to Liberia, with 200 cases in this first outbreak reported for West Africa. “So far, Ebola outbreaks have only been recorded in Central Africa, such as in Sudan, Congo or Uganda,” reports Deutsche Welle. “According to the World Health Organization, there have been 15...

Somalia in High Speed Internet “Culture Shock”

Moalimu Mohammed April 14, 2014
The extremist group al-Shabab had ordered a stop to internet services in Somalia, but that has not dented Mogadishu residents’ appreciation for newly installed high-speed internet, suggests one internet provider to BBC News. Following the threat by al-Shabab, “3G networks nationwide were turned off but the project to launch fibre optic cable services continued in the capital, reports Moalimu...

As Africans Surge to Europe’s Door, Spain Locks Down

Suzanne Daley March 3, 2014
Europe’s barricades and dangerous seas, beatings and insults, military police and rubber bullets, are not slowing the stream of immigrants attempting to flee poverty in Africa or war in Syria. “Ten years ago Spain spent more than 30 million euros building up the barriers around Melilla and Ceuta, its two enclaves surrounded by Morocco on the northern coast of Africa,” reports Suzanne Daley for...

Forestalling Genocide in the Central African Republic

Gwynne Dyer December 11, 2013
The Central African Republic, a former French colony, is impoverished and endured years of poor governance, mostly under the military rule, and more recently with flawed elections. A rebellion that began in March collapsed into ruthless battle between Muslims and Christians that approaches genocide. Independent journalist Gwynne Dyer reports that rebel leader Michel Djotodia, a Muslim, had...

Mandela's Miraculous Capacity for Forgiveness a Carefully Calibrated Strategy

Stephanie Nolen December 6, 2013
Nelson Mandela became a global leader while serving a life sentence in prison for opposing South Africa’s cruel system of apartheid. Sacrificing much, initially labeled terrorist, Mandela never gave up fighting for justice, and went on to become South Africa’s first president in a new era, publicly forgiving his political opponents – and urging lasting reconciliation in large ways by working with...

The Dilemma of Desperation Migration

Joseph Chamie November 14, 2013
Poverty, conflict and overpopulation have historically forced migrants to pursue opportunity in wealthier nations. Modern migrants have more options for low-cost travel, yet nations have more organized registration, border surveillance and enforcement tools, explains Joseph Chamie, former director of the UN Population Division. Thus, transit countries face new pressures. The desperate in North...

African Art on the Move

Susan Froetschel November 7, 2013
Visitors to Africa have long been intrigued by the continent's art, eager to introduce the work to global markets. Stone sculpture was revived in Zimbabwe, the former British colony known as Southern Rhodesia, in the 1960s after a British art adviser, Frank McEwen, became director of the national museum. He hosted workshops for museum staff and visitors and relied on his network to display...