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Archives: Africa

Obama Walks Fine Line in Kenya on LGBTI Rights

By Aruna Dutt | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS, Jul 25 2015 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in Nairobi at the end of a two-day visit Saturday,…

Obama in Kenya: Why the Horn of Africa Matters to Geopolitics

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - President Obama's visit to Kenya is of course personal, though he has been there before both as a civilian and as a senator.…

Wars targeting Children: 20 mn Homeless, 300K Conscripted & now Mass Abductions by ISIL

By Beatriz Ciordia | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Whether in Palestine, Ukraine or Somalia, wars result in millions of children threatened by the brutality of armed…

Rhodesian Flag, Confederate Flag: Roof & the Legacies of Racial Hate

Benjamin Foldy | (Informed Comment) | - - When the perpetrator in the horrific massacre at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston was first publicly identified as Dylann Storm Roof, a near-instantaneous…

By the Time Washington wakes up to China’s Eurasian Strategy will it be too Late?

By Alfred W. McCoy | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - For even the greatest of empires, geography is often destiny. You wouldn’t know it in Washington, though. America’s political, national security, and foreign…

Can Nigeria’s new Muslim President defeat Boko Haram Extremists?

By Lisa Vives | -- NEW YORK (IPS) - Muhammadu Buhari, his hand on the Holy Book, was sworn in as Nigeria’s president at an open-air ceremony this past Friday in the…

Global Connections: World History as Social History – a New Synthesis

I and colleagues have just brought out a world history. Because of the fine and exciting writing of my co-authors, it is more than just a textbook. My readers often ask me…

ISIL’s Libya Affiliate Murders 30 Ethiopian Christians

By EurActiv | - A video purportedly made by Islamic State and posted on social media sites on Sunday (19 April) appeared to show militants shooting and beheading about 30 Ethiopian Christians…

How will Kenya respond to Al-Shabab Terror?

NTV | - "Terror On Campus Interview with MP for Bala Mbala, Abdikadir Aden & Deputy Secretary General of the Kenya Red Cross, James Kisia discuss the Garissa Attack with Smriti Vidyarthi."…

As South Africa aims to get 1/2 of Power from Solar, US Firms Jump In

CCTV | - "Pretoria is promoting its growing solar industry, with predictions the sun will soon contribute about half of all South Africa's new power generation. The ambitious approach is leading to…

Why solar power is spreading so fast in Africa

The Economist | -- "Africans have been waiting for decades for the mains electricity which the rich world takes for granted. Sub-Saharan Africa’s 910m people consume less electricity each year than the…

Boko Haram Menaces Cameroon Schoolchildren after Massacre in Nigeria

By Ngala Killian Chimtom MAROUA, Far North Region, Jan 14 2015 (IPS) - “I’d quit my job before going to work in a place like that.” That is how a primary school…

Do Nigerians Matter to World Press? – 2,000 feared dead in Boko Haram Attacks

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer | Commondreams.org As many as 2,000 people are feared dead in Nigeria from what has been described as Boko Haram's deadliest attack amid ongoing bloodshed a UN…

After 500 Strikes: Is America’s Drone War Crashing And Burning?

AJ+ | -- "Drone strikes are the weapon of choice in America's so-called War on Terror. They've been used nearly 500 times in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia since 2002. But while U.S.…

Americans 64 times more likely to be Murdered than die in Terrorism

By Juan Cole | -- The Institute for Economics and Peace in the UK has released a report on terrorism in 2013, which it maintains was substantially up. There are virtues of…

Reading Africa: How exciting Literature takes us beyond the Dreary Headlines

By Shaun Randol There is not one positive news story on the front page. The two news organizations might as well tack up a single headline—“Africa Implodes”—and call it a day. The…

The US helped Break up the Sudan, and now South Sudan Faces Famine

By Nick Turse [This story was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. Additional funding was provided through the generosity of Adelaide Gomer.] Juba, South Sudan -- The…

Gaza Crisis Spills Into Nigeria

by Allan Christelow On Friday, July 25, in the city of Zaria, a procession of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria came into conflict with Nigerian army troops. The procession had gathered for…

Gaza and Soweto

By Juan Cole On June 16, 1976, some 20,000 students rose up to protest in the slum of Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Here is a summary of the June 18…

On D-Day: Remembering the Muslim Troops who Fought the Axis

By Juan Cole One of the frustrations for a world historian is the unyieldingly parochial vision of the North Atlantic common among journalists and even many historians, and consequently among the public.…