Kenya has largely disappeared from the headlines, and what is reported generally has an optimistic slant—a new power-sharing accord is hoped to end the violence. Meanwhile, the situation seems to be escalating to open war. On March 10, the armed… Read moreKenya: land tenure fuels violence
A US submarine fired three Tomahawk cruise missiles into southern Somalia March 3, aiming at what the Defense Department called terrorist targets. The missiles hit the town of Dobley, five miles from Somalia’s border with Kenya, partly destroying a house… Read moreUS launches cruise missile attack on Somalia
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has issued a statement condemning “in the strongest possible terms” attacks on Mogadishu radio stations by the armed forces of the Transitional Federal Government. The statement said government troops raided the offices of… Read moreSomalia: independent media under attack
Angry protests against rising food prices in Burkina Faso spread to the capital, Ouagadougou, Feb. 28, shutting the city down as young people burned tires and clashed with police. “The choice is to demonstrate or to die of hunger,” a… Read moreProtests rock Burkina Faso
Three were killed by security forces in Cameroon Feb. 28 as anti-government protests broke out in the western towns of Bamenda and Bafang. Up to 20 are believed dead in unrest earlier in the week in the western region and… Read moreProtests rock Cameroon
In his recent tour of African capitals, President Bush did his best to avoid any mention of the Pentagon’s new Africa Command (AfriCom), focusing instead on development projects and his new initiative against AIDS. But on Feb. 20 in Ghana,… Read moreAfrican leaders, civil society reject Pentagon’s Africa Command
Dozens of Senegalese gays are reported to have fled to neighboring Gambia and Mali following a wave of arrests and violent anti-gay street protests. The anti-gay campaign began when newspapers reported on a gay wedding that took place on the… Read moreAnti-gay pogroms in Senegal
The Sudanese military renewed its aerial bombing campaign in West Darfur region Feb. 25, with the joint UN-AU mission in Sudan, UNAMID, saying it had received reports of air-strikes in the Jebel Moun region. UNAMID said there is grave concern… Read moreSudan resumes Darfur air-strikes; China denies fueling war
Henry Okah, a leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), is rumored to have been killed Feb. 18 upon being extradited from Angola to Nigeria. A MEND communique, signed by Jomo Gbomo, said: “Disturbing reports… Read moreOil prices hit new peak on Niger Delta tensions
First polygamous lesbians—now cross-dressers. From the BBC, Feb. 15: The trial of 18 men accused of dressing up as women has started in a Sharia court in northern Nigeria. The men were arrested last year in a hotel room in… Read moreNigeria: cross-dressers face sharia court
The same depressing story that we’ve heard from Bosnia to Baghdad now reaches us from Kenya. From the New York Times, Feb. 15, “Signs in Kenya of a Land Redrawn by Ethnicity “: Kenya used to be considered one of… Read moreKenya: whither “majimboism”?
Jan Eliasson, UN special envoy for Darfur, warns that deployment of peacekeeping forces continues to be stalled and that rebel groups show little willingness to enter peace talks. (NYT, Feb. 9) Meanwhile, the ongoing carnage barely gets headlines anymore. This… Read moreWarplanes, Janjaweed attack Darfur towns
