SOUTH AFRICA
KIMBERLEY - Zwelinzima Vavi, the head of powerful labour federation Cosatu, warns that South Africa's ruling party, labour and communist party alliance will not survive if President Thabo Mbeki wins a third term as ANC leader. Speaking at a rally to mark the sixty-third anniversary of the African National Congress Youth League, Vavi asserts, "We want to close the chapter of division ... Cosatu is not mincing its words. We want Jacob Zuma to lead the ANC as part of a new collective." Mbeki and Zuma, a popular but controversial politician who may be charged again in a corruption case that has haunted him, are frontrunners for the December election. The rivalry has triggered some of the worst party infighting in its history, with the winner is a shoo-in to take over the national presidency in 2009 given the ANC electoral majority.
AFRICA
KAMPALA - Negotiators from Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) plan to meet President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala, to try to revive talks to end one of Africa's most brutal conflicts. The visit to the Ugandan capital will be the first by LRA representatives since the start of a 20-year insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people and been characterised by extreme brutality against children. Martin Ojul will lead the LRA peace delegation while top leader Joseph Kony and other rebels wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes remain in their forest hide-out.
NDJAMENA - Aid agencies and authorities in eastern Chad urge local people not to lose confidence in the international humanitarian community, after members of a French association claiming to rescue Sudanese orphans from the war in Darfur were charged with fraud and abduction of minors. A committee of 21 non governmental organisations working in eastern Chad, including Save the Children, Oxfam, and Action against Hunger, has signed a joint statement expressing "profound concern" over the incident, which the committee calls a "serious violation" of the children's rights.
HARARE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe launches an intelligence academy named after him, saying it will produce officers able to counter growing threats from Western powers. Mugabe denies claims by critics that he is increasingly reliant on security forces to keep opponents in check in the face of growing anger over the unravelling economy. The intelligence academy is expected to train members of the army, police and operatives from other Southern African countries.
WORLD
NEW YORK - The United Nations (UN) calls upon more African governments to sign the Geneva Declaration on armed violence or risk stunting their fledgling economic growth. Established in June 2006, only 42 countries, ten of them from Africa, have signed the declaration, which commits nations to tackling armed conflict, which is blamed for poor economic growth. Peter Batchelor, head of the UN Conflict Prevention and Recovery Team believes that if African countries are slow to respond to the convention, armed violence will impact on their development negatively and undermine their ability to achieve the millennium development goals.
PARIS - Nicolas Sarkozy rounds off his first visit to Morocco as French president with a warning that France's dominant trade relations with its former colony are no longer guaranteed. France has seen Morocco as its natural preserve since the North African country's independence in 1956 and remains its dominant investment and trade partner by far. However, in recent years Morocco has sealed free-trade agreements with the US, Turkey and others, its decision to shun France's Rafale fighter plane in favour of US F-16s suggests France must now work harder to stay on top. The visit appears to have restored normal ties with Morocco after it took offence at Sarkozy's decision to make Algeria his first foreign destination outside Europe after taking office in May.
LISBON - The European Union (EU) announces that it will issue invitations to leaders of all African Union nations, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, to attend an EU-Africa summit in December. Past efforts to hold such a meeting have foundered over whether to invite Mugabe, accused of human rights abuses. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is threatening to boycott the long-delayed event if the veteran leader attends. Portuguese diplomats are justifying holding the first EU-Africa summit in seven years to counter China's growing investments and influence over the commodities-rich continent.
KIMBERLEY - Zwelinzima Vavi, the head of powerful labour federation Cosatu, warns that South Africa's ruling party, labour and communist party alliance will not survive if President Thabo Mbeki wins a third term as ANC leader. Speaking at a rally to mark the sixty-third anniversary of the African National Congress Youth League, Vavi asserts, "We want to close the chapter of division ... Cosatu is not mincing its words. We want Jacob Zuma to lead the ANC as part of a new collective." Mbeki and Zuma, a popular but controversial politician who may be charged again in a corruption case that has haunted him, are frontrunners for the December election. The rivalry has triggered some of the worst party infighting in its history, with the winner is a shoo-in to take over the national presidency in 2009 given the ANC electoral majority.
AFRICA
KAMPALA - Negotiators from Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) plan to meet President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala, to try to revive talks to end one of Africa's most brutal conflicts. The visit to the Ugandan capital will be the first by LRA representatives since the start of a 20-year insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people and been characterised by extreme brutality against children. Martin Ojul will lead the LRA peace delegation while top leader Joseph Kony and other rebels wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes remain in their forest hide-out.
NDJAMENA - Aid agencies and authorities in eastern Chad urge local people not to lose confidence in the international humanitarian community, after members of a French association claiming to rescue Sudanese orphans from the war in Darfur were charged with fraud and abduction of minors. A committee of 21 non governmental organisations working in eastern Chad, including Save the Children, Oxfam, and Action against Hunger, has signed a joint statement expressing "profound concern" over the incident, which the committee calls a "serious violation" of the children's rights.
HARARE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe launches an intelligence academy named after him, saying it will produce officers able to counter growing threats from Western powers. Mugabe denies claims by critics that he is increasingly reliant on security forces to keep opponents in check in the face of growing anger over the unravelling economy. The intelligence academy is expected to train members of the army, police and operatives from other Southern African countries.
WORLD
NEW YORK - The United Nations (UN) calls upon more African governments to sign the Geneva Declaration on armed violence or risk stunting their fledgling economic growth. Established in June 2006, only 42 countries, ten of them from Africa, have signed the declaration, which commits nations to tackling armed conflict, which is blamed for poor economic growth. Peter Batchelor, head of the UN Conflict Prevention and Recovery Team believes that if African countries are slow to respond to the convention, armed violence will impact on their development negatively and undermine their ability to achieve the millennium development goals.
PARIS - Nicolas Sarkozy rounds off his first visit to Morocco as French president with a warning that France's dominant trade relations with its former colony are no longer guaranteed. France has seen Morocco as its natural preserve since the North African country's independence in 1956 and remains its dominant investment and trade partner by far. However, in recent years Morocco has sealed free-trade agreements with the US, Turkey and others, its decision to shun France's Rafale fighter plane in favour of US F-16s suggests France must now work harder to stay on top. The visit appears to have restored normal ties with Morocco after it took offence at Sarkozy's decision to make Algeria his first foreign destination outside Europe after taking office in May.
LISBON - The European Union (EU) announces that it will issue invitations to leaders of all African Union nations, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, to attend an EU-Africa summit in December. Past efforts to hold such a meeting have foundered over whether to invite Mugabe, accused of human rights abuses. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is threatening to boycott the long-delayed event if the veteran leader attends. Portuguese diplomats are justifying holding the first EU-Africa summit in seven years to counter China's growing investments and influence over the commodities-rich continent.
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