In The News

Migrants Tell How Boat Split and Sank off Tunisia

Reuters June 22, 2003
The impact of the economic crisis gripping Africa is washing up on the shores of the Mediterranean. A stream of boats make regular crossings between Africa and nearby Italy, bearing scores of illegal immigrants desperate to escape war-torn countries and faltering economies. The trip is a dangerous one – a boat carrying 250 migrants capsized off Tunisia last week, killing most of the passengers....

Fossil Find May Back 'Out of Africa' Theory

Guy Gugliotta June 12, 2003
Scientists now have more evidence to support the claim that modern humans arose from one common ancestor in Africa. The recent discovery of the remains of two adults and a child from 160,000 years ago in northeast Ethiopia closes "a temporal and geographical gap" in the route on which human ancestors moved north out of Africa, to the Middle East and other regions of the world. Other...

The New Global Food Fight

Kathleen McAfee June 6, 2003
Genetically modified (GM) food offered as aid by the US is not simply manna from the heavens for people in famine-stricken countries, says Yale scholar Kathleen McAfee. African nations have refused GM food aid from the US not just because they fear losing access to the European Union market, where imported GM foods are subject to substantial restrictions. They also worry about environmental...

In Africa, Pricking the West's Conscience

Somini Sengupta June 2, 2003
A French-led peacekeeping force of 1,400 is expected to arrive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo later this week. The recent surge of violence in the Congo has raised fears that, unless action is taken immediately, another peacekeeping fiasco like the one in Rwanda might take place. The violence that plagues the DRC has made the delivery of aid (in food and medicine) very difficult, making...

Water Tap Often Shut to South Africa's Poor

Ginger Thompson May 29, 2003
In an attempt to lessen the government's financial burden from household utilities, the South African government has decided to privatize public water operations and start cutoff standards and water-pricing. According to some government officials, this new policy can give people the incentive to lower their consumption and not to waste resources. However, many people in low-income families...

We've Seen This Situation Before

Mark Turner May 21, 2003
Almost a decade ago half a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred in Rwanda through a "state-sponsored genocide." Recent reports of ethnic killings in the northeastern part of Congo have international observers fearing a repeat of Rwanda. But this time the UN seems determined not to have the international community be mere bystanders, and already efforts to form a sizeable...

Nigeria at Crossroads as Dual Elections Approach

Michael Peel April 9, 2003
Though they have never had two successive elections without a military takeover, Nigerians hope the upcoming election will be peaceful. But with the election only days away, violence and corruption are still rampant. Peaceful elections are critical, for the country needs stability. Another rigged vote or military takeover would leave Nigerians without hope and the country in danger of becoming...