SOUTH AFRICA
PRETORIA – The message coming out of an Institute of Security Studies seminar on HIV/Aids is that HIV/Aids testing and treatment of the disease require more debate and a more sophisticated understanding. Mary Crewe, director of the Centre for the Study of Aids at the University of Pretoria believes that there needs to be more research about why some people feel comfortable about being tested and going for treatment and why others do not. For Crewe, individual and community responses to the pandemic are rooted in society's beliefs and superstitions. While much has been made of epidemiological aspects of HIV/Aids, Crewe feels that more needs to be done to understand the social processes that fuel stigma about the disease and the shame individuals with the disease feel. (Insert image of Aids ribbon)
JOHANNESBURG – The African National Congress (ANC) is to convene a summit on the controversial demarcation of the Merafong municipality in the North West province. This follows a visit to Khutsong by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, who held a meeting with local community leaders on issues raised in a memorandum presented to the ANC earlier in the year. Ever since the incorporation of the region into the North West province in 2005, the residents of Khutsong have made use of both legal and extralegal activities to have the Merafong municipality reincorporated into the "wealthier" Gauteng province. (Insert picture of Gwede Mantashe)
AFRICA & WORLD
DAR ES SALAAM – African Union chair Tanzania wants to see a 50-50 power-sharing deal agreed for Zimbabwe, in order to stem that country's deepening economic crisis. The power-sharing talks have deadlocked over how to share executive power between President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who refuses to sign an agreement that would make him prime minister. Tsvangirai is opposing the deal, saying that it does not give him enough executive powers. The economic price of the political deadlock is rising by the day. The hardships, including rampant inflation, are forcing millions of Zimbabweans to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. (Insert Mugabe / Tsvangirai picture)
GENEVA – While studies indicate that male circumcision can be 70% effective in protecting men against HIV infection, concern is being raised over the high rate of complications accompanying male circumcision in Africa. A World Health Organisation study suggests that African health workers need more training and better tools to circumcise men and boys safely for HIV prevention. The study indicates that adverse effects associated with circumcision are common, six percent of which result in life-long problems for the circumcised individuals. The WHO study concludes that health workers should be trained in sterilisation techniques, surgical procedures, pain management, post-operative care and counselling about wound care before male circumcision is pursued on a large scale.
WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes a landmark visit to Libya, the first by a US secretary of state in more than fifty years. Rice's visit is a tangible sign of warming in US-Libyan relations, which first began to improve when Tripoli gave up its weapons of mass destruction in 2003. The secretary of state may sign a trade and investment framework agreement during her visit. How quickly ties between the two countries depends on whether Libya implements an agreement signed last month between the two countries to establish a humanitarian fund to resolve compensation cases involving victims of US and Libyan bombings. (Insert picture of Condoleezza Rice)
GENEVA – The United Nation's new High Commissioner for Human Rights, South African judge Navanthem Pillay, says she will speak out firmly for victims of rights abuses around the world, and against the abusers. Pillay wants to make the upcoming United Nations anti-racism conference a success by convincing as many countries as possible to attend. Many Western countries continue to voice disappointment with the performance of the Human Rights Council, which two years ago replaced the largely discredited Human Rights Commission. Canada has already indicated that it will not attend next April's anti-racism summit in Geneva, dubbed "Durban-2", while other western countries have also suggested that they will also stay away should the condemnation of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians eclipse all other issues like the abuses in Sudan's Darfur region.
LUANDA – Parliamentary elections in Angola mark another step in the oil-rich country's emergence from decades of civil war to become one of Africa's most important powers. With one of the world's fastest growing economies owing to surging oil output, the latest member of OPEC enjoys increasing regional influence, though critics say that it still has a poor record on human rights and transparency. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, is banking on Angola's first election since 1992 to improve the country's image, especially after the post-election turmoil in Kenya and Zimbabwe. (Insert Angolan elections image)
PRETORIA – The message coming out of an Institute of Security Studies seminar on HIV/Aids is that HIV/Aids testing and treatment of the disease require more debate and a more sophisticated understanding. Mary Crewe, director of the Centre for the Study of Aids at the University of Pretoria believes that there needs to be more research about why some people feel comfortable about being tested and going for treatment and why others do not. For Crewe, individual and community responses to the pandemic are rooted in society's beliefs and superstitions. While much has been made of epidemiological aspects of HIV/Aids, Crewe feels that more needs to be done to understand the social processes that fuel stigma about the disease and the shame individuals with the disease feel. (Insert image of Aids ribbon)
JOHANNESBURG – The African National Congress (ANC) is to convene a summit on the controversial demarcation of the Merafong municipality in the North West province. This follows a visit to Khutsong by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, who held a meeting with local community leaders on issues raised in a memorandum presented to the ANC earlier in the year. Ever since the incorporation of the region into the North West province in 2005, the residents of Khutsong have made use of both legal and extralegal activities to have the Merafong municipality reincorporated into the "wealthier" Gauteng province. (Insert picture of Gwede Mantashe)
AFRICA & WORLD
DAR ES SALAAM – African Union chair Tanzania wants to see a 50-50 power-sharing deal agreed for Zimbabwe, in order to stem that country's deepening economic crisis. The power-sharing talks have deadlocked over how to share executive power between President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who refuses to sign an agreement that would make him prime minister. Tsvangirai is opposing the deal, saying that it does not give him enough executive powers. The economic price of the political deadlock is rising by the day. The hardships, including rampant inflation, are forcing millions of Zimbabweans to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. (Insert Mugabe / Tsvangirai picture)
GENEVA – While studies indicate that male circumcision can be 70% effective in protecting men against HIV infection, concern is being raised over the high rate of complications accompanying male circumcision in Africa. A World Health Organisation study suggests that African health workers need more training and better tools to circumcise men and boys safely for HIV prevention. The study indicates that adverse effects associated with circumcision are common, six percent of which result in life-long problems for the circumcised individuals. The WHO study concludes that health workers should be trained in sterilisation techniques, surgical procedures, pain management, post-operative care and counselling about wound care before male circumcision is pursued on a large scale.
WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes a landmark visit to Libya, the first by a US secretary of state in more than fifty years. Rice's visit is a tangible sign of warming in US-Libyan relations, which first began to improve when Tripoli gave up its weapons of mass destruction in 2003. The secretary of state may sign a trade and investment framework agreement during her visit. How quickly ties between the two countries depends on whether Libya implements an agreement signed last month between the two countries to establish a humanitarian fund to resolve compensation cases involving victims of US and Libyan bombings. (Insert picture of Condoleezza Rice)
GENEVA – The United Nation's new High Commissioner for Human Rights, South African judge Navanthem Pillay, says she will speak out firmly for victims of rights abuses around the world, and against the abusers. Pillay wants to make the upcoming United Nations anti-racism conference a success by convincing as many countries as possible to attend. Many Western countries continue to voice disappointment with the performance of the Human Rights Council, which two years ago replaced the largely discredited Human Rights Commission. Canada has already indicated that it will not attend next April's anti-racism summit in Geneva, dubbed "Durban-2", while other western countries have also suggested that they will also stay away should the condemnation of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians eclipse all other issues like the abuses in Sudan's Darfur region.
LUANDA – Parliamentary elections in Angola mark another step in the oil-rich country's emergence from decades of civil war to become one of Africa's most important powers. With one of the world's fastest growing economies owing to surging oil output, the latest member of OPEC enjoys increasing regional influence, though critics say that it still has a poor record on human rights and transparency. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, is banking on Angola's first election since 1992 to improve the country's image, especially after the post-election turmoil in Kenya and Zimbabwe. (Insert Angolan elections image)
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