SOUTH AFRICA
CAPE TOWN - South Africa's top tourist city struggles to cope with flooding affecting thousands of people. The flooding has cut off roads and forced shantytown residents to bale out water with buckets. Relief officials estimate that some 38 000 people have been affected since the week-long heavy rain began lashing the city, and it is estimated that the cost of damage will run into millions of rands. City disaster management spokesperson Johan Minnie says that it is the highest number of people hit by flooding in five years.
PRETORIA - France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn meets South African President Thabo Mbeki, in the last leg of a lobbying tour to rally support for his candidacy to become MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Backed by the European Union States, Strauss-Kahn, a former Finance Minister, is seeking wider support at a time when many developing countries are questioning a past practice under which a European heads the IMF and an American heads the World Bank.
AFRICA
KHARTOUM - The United Nations Human Rights Committee calls on Sudan to prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes committed in Darfur and to ensure that no support is given to militias that engage in "ethnic cleansing". The committee's concerns are that "widespread and systematic serious human rights violations, including murder, rape, forced displacement and attacks against the civil population, have been, and continue to be, committed with total impunity throughout Sudan, and particularly in Darfur". The committee, a body of 18 independent experts, is voicing concerns that Sudan has not carried out a thorough and independent probe into serious human rights violations in the country, especially in the western region of Darfur.
DAKAR - On a visit to Senegal, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposes a 'Eurafrica' partnership between the two continents to tame the harmful effects of globalisation and foster development. Sarkozy acknowledges the damaging effects of colonialism but says that it is not responsible for all the continent's ills nearly 50 years later. Sarkozy, whose tough stance on immigration has made him unpopular with many in Africa, is urging the continent to take responsibility for tackling corruption and widespread conflict.
WORLD
BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) warns China of the dangers of lending money to Africa and says it is not willing to write off any unrepaid debt to Beijing from Europe's former colonial back yard. Europe remains by far Africa's biggest trading partner and aid donor, but recent years have seen a surge in soft loans from energy hungry China to finance projects in Africa ranging from roads to telecoms networks. Joao Cravinho, Portugal's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, holder of the rotating EU presidency, stresses that the long-awaited EU-Africa summit in December will aim to boost political and economic ties with Africa and make good governance a cornerstone of this relationship.
NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council authorises up to 26 000 troops and police for Darfur and approves the use of force to protect civilians in Sudan's arid western region. Expected to cost more than $2-billion in the first year, the combined 'hybrid' UN-African Union operation aims to quell violence in Darfur, where more than 2,1-million people have been driven into camps and an estimated 200 000 have died over the last four years. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, who conducted months of talks with Khartoum, describes the unanimously approved resolution as "historic and unprecedented" and says the mission would "make a clear and positive difference".
LONDON - A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association draws attention to reconciliation efforts in countries where children have been press-ganged into fighting wars, and emphasises the need to pay more attention to the severe trauma suffered by many of these combatants. The United Nations estimates some 250 000 children worldwide are currently fighting in wars - mostly in Africa - but very little research has gone into the effects of such violence on the mental health of the young combatants. The study, based on interviews with former Ugandan and Congolese child soldiers, underlines the role psychological trauma may play in their ability to reconcile and one day help put an end to cycles of revenge killing in war-torn regions.
CAPE TOWN - South Africa's top tourist city struggles to cope with flooding affecting thousands of people. The flooding has cut off roads and forced shantytown residents to bale out water with buckets. Relief officials estimate that some 38 000 people have been affected since the week-long heavy rain began lashing the city, and it is estimated that the cost of damage will run into millions of rands. City disaster management spokesperson Johan Minnie says that it is the highest number of people hit by flooding in five years.
PRETORIA - France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn meets South African President Thabo Mbeki, in the last leg of a lobbying tour to rally support for his candidacy to become MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Backed by the European Union States, Strauss-Kahn, a former Finance Minister, is seeking wider support at a time when many developing countries are questioning a past practice under which a European heads the IMF and an American heads the World Bank.
AFRICA
KHARTOUM - The United Nations Human Rights Committee calls on Sudan to prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes committed in Darfur and to ensure that no support is given to militias that engage in "ethnic cleansing". The committee's concerns are that "widespread and systematic serious human rights violations, including murder, rape, forced displacement and attacks against the civil population, have been, and continue to be, committed with total impunity throughout Sudan, and particularly in Darfur". The committee, a body of 18 independent experts, is voicing concerns that Sudan has not carried out a thorough and independent probe into serious human rights violations in the country, especially in the western region of Darfur.
DAKAR - On a visit to Senegal, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposes a 'Eurafrica' partnership between the two continents to tame the harmful effects of globalisation and foster development. Sarkozy acknowledges the damaging effects of colonialism but says that it is not responsible for all the continent's ills nearly 50 years later. Sarkozy, whose tough stance on immigration has made him unpopular with many in Africa, is urging the continent to take responsibility for tackling corruption and widespread conflict.
WORLD
BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) warns China of the dangers of lending money to Africa and says it is not willing to write off any unrepaid debt to Beijing from Europe's former colonial back yard. Europe remains by far Africa's biggest trading partner and aid donor, but recent years have seen a surge in soft loans from energy hungry China to finance projects in Africa ranging from roads to telecoms networks. Joao Cravinho, Portugal's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, holder of the rotating EU presidency, stresses that the long-awaited EU-Africa summit in December will aim to boost political and economic ties with Africa and make good governance a cornerstone of this relationship.
NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council authorises up to 26 000 troops and police for Darfur and approves the use of force to protect civilians in Sudan's arid western region. Expected to cost more than $2-billion in the first year, the combined 'hybrid' UN-African Union operation aims to quell violence in Darfur, where more than 2,1-million people have been driven into camps and an estimated 200 000 have died over the last four years. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, who conducted months of talks with Khartoum, describes the unanimously approved resolution as "historic and unprecedented" and says the mission would "make a clear and positive difference".
LONDON - A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association draws attention to reconciliation efforts in countries where children have been press-ganged into fighting wars, and emphasises the need to pay more attention to the severe trauma suffered by many of these combatants. The United Nations estimates some 250 000 children worldwide are currently fighting in wars - mostly in Africa - but very little research has gone into the effects of such violence on the mental health of the young combatants. The study, based on interviews with former Ugandan and Congolese child soldiers, underlines the role psychological trauma may play in their ability to reconcile and one day help put an end to cycles of revenge killing in war-torn regions.
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