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Category Archives: Africa
Kenya After the Elections
Editorial (source 
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Nairobi/Brussels: Though the 2013 general elections were relatively peaceful, Kenya is still deeply divided and ethnically polarised. Kenya After the Elections, the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines the 4 March elections that saw Jubilee Coalition’s Uhuru Kenyatta declared president. Despite various shortcomings and allegations of irregularities, Kenyans averted a repeat of the 2007-2008 post-election violence. However, the conflict drivers that triggered the … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Elections, Leadership, Opinion, Politics
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Return of Berbers & Berberization: Politics of Ethnicity in North Africa
Morris Mottale (source )
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Contemporary international politics has seen a phenomenon in the Arab world that has been dubbed the Arab Spring. It began on December 17, 2010 in Tunisia where a young fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, committed suicide by burning himself to give vent to his grievances against the system that he thought had treated him arbitrarily and tyrannically in denying him economic opportunities. The episode sparked an … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Culture, Diaspora, Global issues, Historical, Leadership, Middle East, Opinion, Politics
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Zimbabwe: Election Scenarios
Editorial (source )
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Johannesburg/Brussels : The pervasive fear of violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe’s 2013 elections contradicts political leaders’ rhetorical commitments to peace, and raises concerns that the country may not be ready to go to the polls. Zimbabwe: Election Scenarios, the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, reviews developments in what remains an inchoate political environment, and describes possible paths towards elections, expected to be held … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Elections, Politics
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Trial by Error: Justice in Post-Qadhafi Libya
Editorial (source )
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Tripoli/Brussels – Middle East/North Africa Report N°140 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS There are many necessary cures to Libya’s pervasive insecurity, but few more urgent than repairing its judicial system. Qadhafi-era victims, distrusting an apparatus they view as a relic, take matters in their hands; some armed groups, sceptical of the state’s ability to carry out justice, arbitrarily detain, torture or assassinate presumed Qadhafi loyalists; … Continue reading
Mali: Security, Dialogue and Meaningful Reform
Editorial (source )
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Dakar/Brussels: Mali and its international partners need to seize the moment for national dialogue to forestall renewed political and security crises. Mali: Security, Dialogue and Meaningful Reform, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the situation in Mali after France’s military intervention to restore the north of the country to government control and as the UN Security Council considers the deployment and mandate … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Diplomacy, Intelligence, Leadership, Politics, Reconciliation, Security, Terrorism
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A topless feminist revolution is taking place in Tunisia
Loukas Mexis (source )
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A 19-year old girl declared war on Islam by posting a topless picture of herself on the Tunisian Femen Facebook page, with writing on her body which read ‘F**k you morals’. Soon afterwards a second, with her smoking a cigarette and a new sentence: “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour”. Activists of the Communist Youth Organization alongside women’s … Continue reading
Posted in A, Africa, Arts & Culture, Discrimination, Ethics, General, Global issues, Human rights, Humanity, Judgement, Law & Order, Morals, Opinion, Oppression, Protest, Religion, Society, Young generation
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Mogadishu calms, but the line in the sand is blurred
Glen Johnson (source )
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There’s no exit strategy for Somalia’s African peacekeepers. Peacekeepers: One of the Nigerian contingent to Amison, the Africa Union’s force, supports Somali police on night patrol. Photo: Jake Simkin MOGADISHU: A Nigerian policeman clings to a wall, the glare of his torch illuminating a narrow alley. Half a dozen Somali police flit past in shabby uniforms, clutching assault rifles. They vanish into a gloomy maze … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Intelligence, Security
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‘War Witch’: Child soldier’s tale offers many surprises ??? 1/2
Kenneth Turan, Tribune Newspapers critic (source )
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The powerful things we expect from “War Witch” are as advertised, but what we don’t expect is even better. Given that the subject matter is two violent years in the life of an African child soldier, it’s not surprising that the film’s events are disturbing and horrific. But it’s the unforeseen way they’re told that makes “War Witch” potent enough to have been one of … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Arts & Culture, Child abuse, Child labor, Events, Global issues, Humanity, Opinion, Society, Young generation
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Failure Has Many Fathers: The Coup in Central African Republic
Thierry Vircoulon (source )
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On Sunday, 24 March 2013, the Seleka rebel alliance in Central African Republic (CAR) took the capital, Bangui. President Francois Bozizé fled to Cameroon. Comment Armed fighters from the Seleka rebel alliance patrol the streets in pickup trucks to stop looting in Bangui. PHOTO: REUTERS – Thibaud Lesueur and Thierry Vircoulon, @TVircoulon A number of South African troops in Bangui were killed in a fight with the … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Diplomacy, Intelligence, Politics, Security
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