Africa's first female Nobel Peace laureate dies at 71 - OBITUARY. Kenya: Provide Land for New Refugee Camps. (Nairobi) – The Kenyan government should urgently provide land for new refugee camps in response to the humanitarian crisis in existing camps near its border with Somalia, Human Rights Watch said today. Kenya should also allow recently arrived Somalis fleeing drought and conflict to seek shelter in an unused refugee camp, and stop saying assistance should only be provided in Somalia, Human Rights Watch said. Almost 100,000 Somali refugees have arrived in Kenya since January, currently about 1,300 a day. This brings the total number of refugees, most of them Somalis, living in inhuman conditions in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps to nearly 400,000. The camps were originally built for 90,000 people. However, Kenyan authorities have refused to open the “Ifo extension” camp, which has been ready to take refugees in since November 2010, and have failed to identify urgently needed additional land to reduce crowding in the existing camps.
Zambie: l’opposition tente de bloquer la réélection de Banda. Le principal parti d’opposition de la Zambie, le Front Patriotique (PF) a fait une demande à la haute court de justice pour bloquer la participation du président Rupiah Banda aux élections, prévues pour le mois prochain. Le PF affirme que Banda n’est pas qualifié pour poser sa candidature. La constitution de la Zambie exige que les deux parents d’un candidat présidentiel soient Zambiens de naissance. Le PF affirme que le père de Banda est né au Malawi. Banda a dissolu le parlement le mois dernier et a fixé les élections à la date du20 septembre. Banda et son Mouvement pour la démocratie multipartiste (MMD) seront vraisemblablement réélu pour un nouveau mandat de cinq ans à la tête du pays le plus grand producteur de cuivre.
Le porte-parole de Banda, Dickson Jere, a déclaré que les tentatives de le bloquer sont une tactique de diversion, car ses deux parents sont Zambiens. "Pourquoi le PF est-il resté silencieux en 2008? Source : Reuters.
US 'to aid Islamist areas of famine-hit Somalia' 20 July 2011Last updated at 21:35 Tens of thousands of Somalis have fled to neighbouring countries to escape the famine The US has said it will send aid to famine-hit areas of Somalia controlled by the Islamist group al-Shabab. But US aid officials say assurances must be given that the insurgents will not interfere with its distribution.
The US considers al-Shabab a terrorist group and last year stopped aid to the large area of Somalia it controls. The UN has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region experiences the worst drought in more than half a century. Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group which controls large swathes of south and central Somalia, had imposed a ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories in 2009, but has recently allowed limited access.
The deputy administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Donald Steinberg, said the aid must not benefit al-Shabab. 'Dangerously inadequate' Continue reading the main story Analysis. China Defends Engagement with Africa | Asia. Chinese officials are defending their approach to engagement with Africa, saying embargoes and sanctions against Sudan and other brutal African governments do not work. The country’s former envoy to Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region, Liu Guijin says China is offering a new type of engagement with Africa based on equality and mutual benefit. Sudan President al-Bashir visits China next week China's special envoy for Africa Affairs, Liu Guijin, insists China will not repeat the mistakes of former colonial powers in Africa and will build long-lasting legacies that benefit ordinary Africans.
Liu spoke to journalists ahead of next week’s visit to China by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan’s western Darfur region. “If you genuinely wish to resolve problems there, conflicts there, on the ground, simply resorting to embargoes or sanctions will not solve the problems. FRANCE 24 - Ouattara troops pull back, Gbagbo clings to power. FRANCE 24 - Pro-Ouattara forces blockade Gbagbo’s bunker. A Duékoué, le choc d'un massacre de grande ampleur en Côte d'Ivoire.
Ivory Coast: AU panel of leaders to seek way forward. 29 January 2011Last updated at 00:21 The AU has called for an end to the siege of the hotel where Alassane Ouattara is living The African Union is setting up a panel of heads of state to find a solution to the political crisis in Ivory Coast. The panel will come up with a legally binding settlement within a month, according to the Mauritanian president. Alassane Ouattara is internationally recognised as the winner of Ivory Coast's November presidential election. But the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, is refusing to step down after the Constitutional Council, headed by one of his allies, ruled in his favour. The AU has previously backed Mr Ouattara, who is running a parallel government from a hotel in Abidjan which Mr Gbagbo's forces have blockaded.
But Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni suggested earlier this week that the UN should not have recognised Mr Ouattara so quickly. The African Union's peace and security council met in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Friday. 'African solution' Confusion en Côte d’Ivoire après l’annonce des résultats du second tour. Le Net ivoirien, grand vainqueur du scrutin.