africom related newsclips 19 aug11

8/4/2019 AFRICOM Related Newsclips 19 Aug11

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This USAFRICOM Public Affairs product

was compiled by LTC Steven Lamb

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office19 Aug 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

U.S, Nigeria to collaborate on security (Afrique Avenir)17 Aug 2011 - APA, Abuja (Nigeria) The Commander of U.S. Africa Command(AFRICOM), Gen. Carter Ham, said on Monday in Abuja that the U.S and Nigeria willcollaborate to solve the current security challenges in the country.

Nigeria: Could the Sultan of Sokoto open the door to talks with Boko Haram? (Christian Science Monitor)17 Aug 2011 - Nigeria's Boko Haram says it would be willing to negotiate with thegovernment if the mediator was the Sultan of Sokoto, a critic of government tacticsagainst the militant group.

Nigeria launches security, disaster monitoring satellites(Agence France Press)18 Aug, 2011 - Nigeria has launched two satellites into orbit with the aim of using themfor a range of tasks, including disaster monitoring and security, a governmentstatement said.

Somalia famine: UK insists aid is 'getting through' (BBC)18 Aug 2011 - The UK will "not tolerate" corruption hindering efforts to tackle thefamine in Somalia, a senior minister has said.

UN urges more help for drought hit Africa (Xinhua)BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) UN's Food and Agriculture Organization is calling formore help as it says there's no let-up in the famine in the Horn of Africa.

On patrol with the Somali National Army (FRANCE 24)18 Aug 2011 - The Islamist militant group al-Shabaab has retreated from the Somali

capital but vows to wage a guerrilla war against the African Union mission sent in tobolster government troops. FRANCE 24 joined a Somali army patrol in Mogadishu.


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US Defense Officials Say Future Not Bright for Gadhafi(Voice of America)17 Aug 2011 - As Libyan rebels advance closer to the center of Moammar Gadhafisgovernment in Tripoli, U.S. defense officials say the Libyan leaders future prospects arelooking dim.

Our chance to shape change in North Africa and the Mideast (Washington Post)We are about to miss a historic opportunity to advance American interests.The Middle East and North Africa are in political and economic transition. Some ofthese transitions will come after dramatic revolutionary upheavals

US decision to drop Sudan from terror list imminent: FM (Sudan Tribune)17 Aug 2011 (KHARTOUM) The Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti said that theUnited States administration will soon decide to remove the country from the list ofstates that sponsor terrorism.

West Africa Rising: Ivory Coast defaulting on loans, despite economic recovery (Christian Science Monitor)16 Aug 2011 - The scene of a chaotic power struggle earlier this year, Ivory Coast is nowenjoying a recovery summer. But while it has the money to pay its debts, it ispurposefully defaulting instead.

African Teachers Eager to Return to Classroom After U.S. Training( IIP Digital - USEmbassy)17 Aug 2011 - Ndeye Bineta Mbodi of Senegal types at her computer during E-Teachertraining at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Next to her is RewaiMakamani of Namibia.

Mosquitoes 'developing resistance to bed nets'(BBC)17 Aug 2011 - Mosquitoes can rapidly develop resistance to bed nets treated withinsecticide, a study from Senegal says.

S.Africa mines minister worried about mine "carnage"(Reuters)18 Aug 2011 - CAPE TOWN - South African mining minister Susan Shabangu describedthe mounting death toll in the country's lethal mines as "carnage" on Thursday and saidthere was a link between the pursuit of profits and the body count.

INTERVIEW-Algeria "not immune to Arab spring revolt"(Reuters)

18 Aug 2011 - ALGIERS, - Algeria could be swept by an Arab Spring-style revolt if thegovernment does not urgently fix social and political problems, the country's leadingIslamist opposition politician said.

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UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website

Security Council calls for concerted efforts to enhance stability in Central Africa18 August The Security Council today encouraged the United Nations Regional Office

for Central Africa (UNOCA) to form partnerships with other organizations to helpcountries in the region to address peace and security challenges, particularly the flow ofillicit small arms, border security and the threat posed by the marauding LordsResistance Army (LRA).

UN gathering stresses relief and investment to tackle hunger in Horn of Africa18 August A United Nations-convened meeting on hunger in the Horn of Africa todaycalled for a twin-pronged approach to tackle the food crisis, stressing immediate reliefand the strengthening of the resilience of affected communities to enable them to copewith future shocks in the drought-prone region.

Ban welcomes step towards dialogue following deadly violence in Malawi17 August Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the signing of a jointcommuniqu by the Malawian Government and civil society organizations in a meetingfacilitated by the United Nations following deadly clashes last month.

Aid efforts in the Horn of Africa need to be scaled up further, says UN relief chief17 August The United Nations humanitarian chief today stressed the need to furtherscale up efforts to assist the millions of people suffering in Somalia and the wider Hornof Africa, warning that more lives will be lost to famine and disease without urgentaction.

Egyptian trauma surgeon on Somali front line epitomizes UN humanitarian role17 August Omar Saleh was leading a peaceful and comfortable life as a traumasurgeon and university lecturer in Egypt when the call came from the United Nationshealth agency: surgeons urgently needed in war-torn Somalia. He didnt have to thinktwice.------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

1 SEPT 2011WHEN: September 1, 2011, 5:45 p.m. 7:30 p.m.WHAT: The Long Shadow of 9/11: Americas Response to TerrorismWHO: Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of RANDWHERE: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St., Santa Monica, CACONTACT: [email protected] contact: http://www.rand.org/events/2011/09/01.html


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8 SEPT 2011

WHEN: September 8, 2011, 12:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m.WHAT: Ten Years Later Public Diplomacy and the Arab World, Center on Public

Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, Conversations in Public DiplomacyWHO: Several Panelists (see website)WHERE: USC; Tutor Campus Center ForumCONTACT: [email protected] contact:http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/16973/

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Full Article Text

U.S, Nigeria to collaborate on security (Afrique Avenir)

17 Aug 2011 - APA, Abuja (Nigeria) The Commander of U.S. Africa Command(AFRICOM), Gen. Carter Ham, said on Monday in Abuja that the U.S and Nigeria willcollaborate to solve the current security challenges in the country.

Ham, who visited Nigeria's Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Olusola Obada, said hewas in Nigeria to strengthen what was already a long partnership between the twocountries.

``The security challenges facing Nigeria are exactly the same challenges facing the

United States, so the purpose of my visit is for us to share our common view he said.

He said the collaboration would seek ``to find ways that the armed forces of the UnitedStates and the armed forces of Nigeria can increase our cooperation andsynchronisation to address our shared security challenges.

``It has been a very interesting opportunity to meet with the minister of state fordefence as well as senior military and civilian leaders in Nigeria to exploit thepossibilities of strengthening what is already a very good partnership,'' he said.

Ham said that the economic tie between the two countries was very strong so that anythreat to that tie, for example, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, would be of interest to bothcountries.

He pointed out that the present violence by the Islamist organisation, Boko Haram,particularly in the northeast and parts of the country, was a concern not only to Nigeriabut to the world in general.


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``We are very concerned about the linkages between Boko Haram and all otherextremist organisations in Africa and other places and so we will find ways tocollaborate to address this,'' Ham said.

Responding, the minister expressed appreciation to the U.S for the gift of NigerianNavy Ship (NNS) Thunder, billed to arrive in Nigeria soon.

``We appreciate also your cooperation for the security of the Gulf of Guinea and also inthe area of counter terrorism to bring this to the lowest level and totally eradicate it inthe African sub-region and not only in Nigeria'' he added.

The AFRICOM commander had earlier visited the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-GenAzubuike Ihejirika.------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nigeria: Could the Sultan of Sokoto open the door to talks with Boko Haram? (Christian Science Monitor)By Alex Thurston, Guest blogger

17 Aug 2011 - Nigeria's Boko Haram says it would be willing to negotiate with thegovernment if the mediator was the Sultan of Sokoto, a critic of government tacticsagainst the militant group.

The Boko Haram movement, which conducts assassinations and bombings primarily in

northeastern Nigeria, draws on some northerners feelings of political and religiousdisenfranchisement. These feelings target not only national and state politicians, butalso Muslim leaders: Boko Haram has killed rival Muslim clerics, including relatives ofthe Shehu of Borno, northeastern Nigerias preeminent traditional Muslim authority.Yet some Nigerians believe that the Sultan of Sokoto, the traditional Muslim leader withperhaps the greatest influence in the North (and nationwide), can resolve the crisis.

The Sultan has recently spoken out on issues connected to Boko Haram, decrying theuse of force by security forces and calling for dialogue with the movement. Thesegestures may have caught Boko Harams attention:

One of the leaders of the Islamic sectexpressed the groups readiness to enter intopeace talks with the Federal Government on condition that people of impeccablecharacter such as the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sad Abubakar, wouldaccept to broker the peace talks. By this pronouncement, the leaders of the sect havemade a call.


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Interestingly, the Sultan made clear his readiness to wade into the crisis with a view tobringing to an end, the increasing toll of the loss of lives and casualties associated withthe Boko Haram saga in the country but with a matching condition that they must ceaseto be faceless. By his pronouncement, the Sultan has answered the call made by the sectleaders. Going by his pedigree as a retired military general who, as a commander, was

trained on how to handle war situations and even excesses of news hounds, an elite andsomeone who approaches issues with modernity coupled with the respect hecommands from the Nigerian Muslim class including the Boko Haram leaders asevidenced in the plea for his intervention by the sect leader, nobody should doubt thatthe Sultan has all it takes to resolve the crisis once and for all, if given the mandate to doso.

Federal and state authorities have said repeatedly that they are open to the possibility ofdialogue with Boko Haram, but the sect has steadfastly refused. If Boko Haram wouldaccept the Sultan as a mediator, the dynamic could shift.

Alex Thurston is a PhD student studying Islam in Africa at Northwestern Universityand blogs at Sahel Blog.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nigeria launches security, disaster monitoring satellites(Agence France Press)

18 Aug, 2011 - Nigeria has launched two satellites into orbit with the aim of using themfor a range of tasks, including disaster monitoring and security, a governmentstatement said.

The satellites NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X were launched on Wednesday from therocket launch base in Yasny, Russia, the statement said.

According to the government, the two satellites can be used for forestry, mapping,disaster monitoring, military applications and security, among other functions.

"I congratulate our nation for this new chapter in our transformational efforts as westrive for self-reliance," President Goodluck Jonathan said. "Let me congratulate theresourceful Nigerians who made this history possible."

According to Jonathan, NigeriaSat-X was designed and built by Nigerian engineers andscientists, while NigeriaSat-2 was built in collaboration with Surrey Satellite TechnologyLimited in Britain.

A much-hyped Nigerian satellite launch in 2007 led to disappointment when it laterfailed. The 257-million-dollar Chinese-built satellite was to provide phone, Internet andbroadcast services.


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"We insist this food, water and other health support gets through. We are absolutelyintent of ensuring it does."

The UK public have donated 50m to help Somalia and other areas of the Horn ofAfrica affected by famine and drought through the co-ordinated Disasters Emergency

Committee appeal.

'Trusted partners'

People had been "enormously generous", Mr Mitchell added, and the government was"very careful" to ensure the money was getting through to those affected.

Andrew Mitchell met many in need of aid in the war-torn, drought-stricken city

He added: "We track very carefully the money that the British taxpayer is providing

and the Disasters Emergency Committee work through very trusted partners.

"We know this [aid] is getting through."

A lack of health care, immunisation, clean water and sanitation are fuelling outbreaks ofdiseases including cholera and measles and urgent action is needed to provide food andcombat disease.

The latest funds will take total UK government support for Somalia to 54m.

They will enable UNICEF - the UN organisation for children - to providesupplementary rations for up to 192,000 people and supplies to vaccinate 800,000children against measles. It will also pay for polio vaccines, vitamin A, and dewormingsupplies to help prevent malaria.

Instability

Mr Mitchell said Somalia was inherently unstable and beset by a huge number ofproblems but the priority was saving the lives of as many people as possible.

He has urged more security for humanitarian relief workers operating in the country.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 and has beenplagued by infighting between rival warlords. Continuing conflict has hampered aidefforts in the country, although Islamist rebels pulled out of Mogadishu two weeks ago.

The 57 member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference pledged $350m tohelp famine victims in Somalia, after a one-day OIC meeting in Istanbul.


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The United Nations estimates 12 million people have been affected by drought in theHorn of Africa.-------------------------------------------------------------------------

UN urges more help for drought hit Africa (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) UN's Food and Agriculture Organization is calling formore help as it says there's no let-up in the famine in the Horn of Africa.

Its Director General, Jacques Diouf, says the famine has spread further to three otherregions in Somalia, while Kenya and Ethiopia have seen inflows of refugees across theirborders as they struggle to cope on their own.

Diouf says the degradation of resources, lack of water for crops and cattle, along with

conflicts in the region have all contributed to the problem. He says while human rightsgroups and efforts by local governments have reached those mostly in need, finding asustainable solution is urgent. He is also urging the use of quality seeds and improvedirrigation techniques before the rainy season begins in October and next spring.

(Source: CNTV.cn)------------------------------------------------------------------

On patrol with the Somali National Army (FRANCE 24)

18 Aug 2011 - The Islamist militant group al-Shabaab has retreated from the Somalicapital but vows to wage a guerrilla war against the African Union mission sent in tobolster government troops. FRANCE 24 joined a Somali army patrol in Mogadishu.It has been 10 days since the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab withdrew its insurgentsfrom Somalias capital, Mogadishu, in the face of the African Union Mission inSomalias (AMISOM) superior firepower.

The streets of the war-shattered capital are now patrolled by AMISOM troops as well asregular soldiers from the Somali National Army.

Al Shabaab or Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahideen, as it calls itself is an al Qaeda-

linked group that controls much of central and southern Somalia. Almost 40% ofMogadishu was under the insurgents control before they announced their retreat fromthe Somali capital on August 5. But even now there is a lingering al-Shabaab presence inthe capital, and the group has warned that it will start an Afghanistan-style guerrillacampaign against AMISOM.


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FRANCE 24 correspondent James Andr accompanied a Somali National Army patrolinto districts of the city formerly held by al-Shabaab fighters. At the north-eastern edgesof Mogadishu, an outpost holds the front line against the militia.

General Dagho Badan, who is the armys second-in-command and in charge of all the

troops on the ground in the capital, admitted that the militia was still present.

The enemy wouldnt be able to stop us if we decided to move on them, he toldAndr. But I have ordered the men to stay here because there is still an enemypresence behind us that needs to be cleaned up before we can attack.

The city tour continued to the stadium, guarded by a handful of soldiers and a tank,which was once the site of executions and public amputations conducted by al Shabaab.

Nearby, soldiers have taken over a former al-Shabaab hospital, which wasnt so muchcaptured by the Somali army as simply abandoned by the militia.

Although they are less visible now, al-Shabaab militants are never far away, and thethreat of a return to chaos in the capital of the famine-stricken country is ever-present.

You have to do what you have to do, General Badan said. I want to rid this countryof al-Shabaab, and they need to capture me.------------------------------------------------------------------------------

US Defense Officials Say Future Not Bright for Gadhafi(Voice of America)Sean Maroney | The Pentagon

17 Aug 2011 - As Libyan rebels advance closer to the center of Moammar Gadhafisgovernment in Tripoli, U.S. defense officials say the Libyan leaders future prospects arelooking dim.

Libyan rebels and pro-government forces are fighting fierce battles in an oil refinery just50 kilometers west of Libyas capital Tripoli, as rebels report capturing towns elsewherein the west and south.

Tripoli remains the seat of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafis goverment as themonths-long popular uprising continues to seek his removal.

In his first briefing with Pentagon reporters, Defense Secretary Leon Panettasspokesman George Little said Wednesday that the indications on the ground show Mr.Gadhafis exit may come sooner rather than later. If you put all of those thingstogether, the future doesnt look particularly bright for Gadhafi, but you know, well


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have to see where things go. The secretary said that Gadhafis days are numbered, butneither he nor I can put a precise number on how many days," he said.

In addition to the rebel advances, Little credited recent high-profile defections from theGadhafi government, as well as sustained pressure from NATO operations and from

economic and diplomatic sanctions, with contributing to what analysts expect will beMr. Gadhafis eventual ouster.

Reza Jan is a Research Analyst for the Critical Threats Project at the AmericanEnterprise Institute.

He tells VOA that he believes the rebels reaching Tripoli will just be the beginning forthe next violent phase in the Libyan crisis. Theyve made some astonishing advancesin the last few days, but it really remains to be seen what happens once they get closerto Tripoli because the fight is far from over," he said.

Jan says that based on intelligence from the capital, there still is a lot of support for Mr.Gadhafi in the city. He says this will most likely lead to bloody battles in the streets ofTripoli.

He also says that despite the months-long NATO campaign against Mr. Gadhafisgovernment, there does not seem to be a breakdown among his military forces.

There also does not seem to be a clear path to peace through diplomacy. On Tuesday,the rebels dismissed reports that they held talks with aides to Colonel Gadhafi.

Jan says that at this stage, this does not surprise him. If Gadhafi were to make a deal, Idont think he would do it until he was absolutely sure that victory was impossible orthat survival was impossible. And I dont think thats necessarily the case yet," he said.

But he does think the situation is moving in the right direction for talks. Its comingclose. I mean, weve been approaching that point for some time now. Its been muchslower than any of us I think would have appreciated or would have desired. Itsdifficult to say exactly how long its going to take to get there," he said.

As they moved in from the west late last week, rebel fighters made their closestapproach to the capital since the early weeks of the uprising.

If Libyan rebels are successful in cutting off Tripoli from the western part of thecountry, it would remove one of the few sources of fuel for Mr. Gadhafis troops andpeople in the capital.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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But our nation has not yet shown the organization or commitment required to takeadvantage of this historic opportunity.

It is not a question of massive amounts of U.S. money or a go-it-alone U.S. effort. Ournation cannot afford that, and the situation does not require it. Global organizations

such as the International Monetary Fund, as well as regional banks and oil-rich Arabstates, can take the lead in stabilizing post-revolutionary economies. Expert economistscan help establish the framework for effective free markets. Major internationalcompanies (many headquartered in the United States) and their European and regionalcounterparts can be the source of foreign direct investment that can create jobs in theregion as well as demand for goods and services that can create jobs here. Internationaland nongovernmental organizations with some governmental support can helpbuild the infrastructure of democracy.

This approach also reflects regional politics. The Middle East is not looking for a big

U.S. government footprint. Assistance from international organizations, Europeannations or neighboring states may be much more politically acceptable. Help from theprivate sector, charitable foundations and NGOs may be even better.

The role for the U.S. government is to help organize a comprehensive approach byour nation and others, bringing together and coordinating the disparate efforts. But firstthe U.S. government needs to organize itself.

The president needs to appoint an empowered official reporting to him (or to thepresident through the secretary of state) to work full time on this effort. This official

must create a small interagency team to coordinate all relevant U.S. governmentagencies in a unified approach. Even more important, this official must reach out to andencourage action by the various nongovernmental entities whose contribution willprobably be even more critical to this effort.

It is an effort worth making. We know the price of a failed post-revolutionary transition.The 1979 uprising against the shah of Iran was conducted in the name of freedom anddemocracy. But it was soon hijacked by a radical Islamist regime that still rules Iran andbrutally oppresses its people. Through its support for terror, pursuit of nuclearweapons and subversion of its neighbors, this regime has been one of the biggest threatsto our nation, Israel and our Arab allies for three decades.

We cannot afford more failed transitions in the Middle East.

Stephen J. Hadley, a senior adviser at the U.S. Institute of Peace, was national securityadviser in the George W. Bush administration.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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US decision to drop Sudan from terror list imminent: FM (Sudan Tribune)

17 Aug 2011 (KHARTOUM) The Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti said that theUnited States administration will soon decide to remove the country from the list ofstates that sponsor terrorism.

Karti told the pro-government Al-Rayaam newspaper in an interview that Sudan hasbeen under U.S. monitoring for the last six months in accordance with the relevant U.S.laws that require certification that the East African nation does not support terroristgroups.

The Sudanese top diplomat said that the evaluation and assessment process byWashington is now complete.

The recommendations have now been completed and submitted and 15 days are left

from today so the picture becomes clear.This issue will be presented for a decisionfrom the [US] president and then it will be reviewed whether this should be presentedto [US] Congress, Karti said.

Last year the Obama administration promised to de-list Sudan by mid-2011 should itrecognizes and facilitates the independence of South Sudan.

Presence on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list bars a country from receiving U.S.arms exports, controls sales of items with military and civilian applications, limits U.S.aid and requires Washington to vote against loans to the country from international

financial institutions.

The de-listing process however, appears to have been stalled by clashes that erupted inSouth Kordofan between the Sudanese army and Sudan People Liberation Army(SPLA) units as well Khartoums military takeover of Abyei which is a contested oil-richregion that lies on the North-South borders.

As a result Sudanese officials have started to voice frustration at Washington sayingthat it has not lived up to its promises and that it keeps moving the goalposts.

Two visiting US officials recently including special envoy to Sudan Princeton Lymanand Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor MichaelPosner received a cool welcome in Khartoum.

Neither Lyman nor Posner have been able to meet with key Sudanese officials in whatappeared to be a deliberate move.


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Karti has warned in earlier statements that positions taken by some circles within thegovernment in Khartoum may hamper normalization of ties with Washingtonincluding a rebuke by the parliament of the Congress.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

West Africa Rising: Ivory Coast defaulting on loans, despite economic recovery (Christian Science Monitor)By Drew Hinshaw, Correspondent

16 Aug 2011 - The scene of a chaotic power struggle earlier this year, Ivory Coast is nowenjoying a recovery summer. But while it has the money to pay its debts, it ispurposefully defaulting instead.

Four months after French tanks trundled through Abidjan, forcing an end to IvoryCoast's civil war, the reemerging African nation has regained enough better-than-

expected economic growth to honor its overdue debt payments it's just choosing notto.

Earlier this year, Ivory Coast was the site of a chaotic power struggle between rivalpresidents who both claimed victory in a decade-delayed vote then both proceeded toshut down banks, blockade one another's government, and dispatch soldiers into thestreets of Abidjan.

Now that that's over, the once-bright economy the Jewel of Africa, it was called isenjoying something of a recovery summer.

The nation's farmers are harvesting and shipping several hundred more tons of cocoathan expected. The world's top cocoa growing nation though Ivory Coast lookedlikely, during its civil war, to lose that mantle to eastern neighbor Ghana shouldproduce as much as 1.5 million tons of the chocolate ingredient this season, more than athird of all the cocoa the world will eat next year, the International Cocoa Organizationsaid Thursday.

Then there's Ivorian industry: The nation's factories are churning out roughly the sameamount of goods they were manufacturing this time last year, as if nothing everhappened. Last month, the government announced it had collected a third more taxrevenue since the end of the war than it expected. It will spend $20 million of that looteach year to start its new airline, backed by Air France.

By 2012, the debt-encumbered country could qualify for a mammoth $3 billion in debtrelief.


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The economy is recovering much faster than expected, Standard Bank economistSamir Gadio says. By year-end, there is going to be increasing evidence of a strongrecovery, and 2012 should be even a greater year.

The problem, Mr. Gadio says, is that the country isn't using any of its newfound

prosperity to pay off the $2.3 billion in non-debt-relief-eligible commercial debt itincurred in 2010. Twice this year, first in January, then in June, the country missedminor but symbolic $29 million payments on that debt.

Last month, the government announced it would keep missing them. Instead, it isinvesting that money into rebooting its industry and cocoa sector.

"I think that [investors] would be happier with a government that missed a few[payments] and made it up later and had a strong recovery, than a government whichmet its debt service in a timely manner but failed to relaunch the economy," local

director Wayne Camard of the International Monetary Fund, which backed the move,said in a Reuters interview.

That said, the decision is likely to further downgrade the country's perceived creditscore, forcing Ivory Coast to spend more the next time it goes out to borrow.

It's a very modest amount they have the capacity to repay, Gadio says. [Lenders]understood why Ivory Coast didn't pay in January, during the middle of a politicalmeltdown, less so in June, and much less so now. It's a trade off: Today's pressingneeds? Or tomorrow's requirements?

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African Teachers Eager to Return to Classroom After U.S. Training( IIP Digital - USEmbassy)By Louise Fenner

17 Aug 2011 - Ndeye Bineta Mbodi of Senegal types at her computer during E-Teachertraining at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Next to her is RewaiMakamani of Namibia.

Baltimore Four African teachers of English are bringing new strategies to theclassroom after completing a training program sponsored by the U.S. Department ofState.

Jean-Baptiste Mohamadou Bassirou Sanfo, a teacher and junior high school principal inBurkina Faso, said he plans to conduct workshops on teaching English in large classes,which are common in his country.


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Some students are visual learners; they need to see a picture, for instance, he said.There are some who are oral learners. We as teachers need to consider thesepreferences in our lesson plans.

Sanfo and teachers from Cape Verde, Namibia and Senegal were among 26 educators

from around the world selected for a three-week professional development program atthe University of Maryland, Baltimore County, (UMBC) in the summer of 2011 aftercompleting online courses in their own countries on English teaching methods.

In Burkina Faso, we consider the teacher as the center, the one who has the knowledgeand is trying to share or pour that knowledge into the students, Sanfo said. However,the students matter too. He encourages teachers to seek feedback from their classesand adapt different strategies to reach all the students.

The online training and UMBC program were financed through the State Departments

E-Teacher Scholarship Program. About 650 teachers from 100 countries took thegraduate-level online courses though UMBC and the University of Oregon during the20102011 academic year.

Each of the participants in the Baltimore program gave a presentation about teachertraining projects to carry out back home.

Rewai Makamani, a lecturer at the Polytechnic of Namibia, said he will be trainingteachers at his school to implement a new curriculum geared to academics, scientistsand business people who need to learn specific English terms associated with their

disciplines.

His online English-teaching course was an eye-opener and a confidence booster,Makamani said. He came to believe that teachers must shift from lecturer-studentmode to becoming facilitators or collaborators with students. Its not enough to justpresent terminology, he said.

Jean-Baptiste Mohamadou Bassirou Sanfo, junior high school principal and Englishteacher, Burkina FasoMakamanis workshop for teachers definitely wont be a top-down class, he said. Theywill have to make some contributions themselves.

Elsa de Jesus Furtado, a secondary school teacher in Cape Verde, said: The impact ofthis training was enormous. I feel I am a different teacher now. I feel much moreempowered.


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She said she gained ideas on how to teach without teaching letting your learners becreative, engaged and involved through student-centered activities. Furtado plans toshow other Cape Verdean English teachers these techniques.

On the last day of the Baltimore program, Ndeye Bineta Mbodi of Senegal was nervous

about her presentation. She didnt need to be. When it was over, she received acongratulatory phone call from the office of Moussa Sakho, Senegals minister oftechnical education and vocational training, who had watched it online. (Thepresentations were streamed online to other E-Teacher alumni worldwide.)

If I compare what I was doing before the [online] course and what I am doing now, Iask myself, How could I teach this before? said Mbodi, who teaches English at asecondary school and in the medical department of Thies University. We should notstart with assumptions, but thats exactly what I was doing.

Mbodi said she used to think that for medical students learning English, whatever isrelated to health care will interest them. And that is not what is really happening. Theirneeds are not just reading texts and some English words. They need to perform thetasks.

Now she will have students complete projects such as writing a first-aid pamphlet,Mbodi said. She will pass along these techniques in a series of workshops for Englishteachers.

Mbodi recently applied to teach a class in English at a local company. I designed the

curriculum exactly the way I was taught at the University of Oregon [online course].There were many other experienced teachers who applied too, but I got it, thanks tothat course.

Find out more about the E-Teacher Scholarship Program on the website of the StateDepartments Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. U.S. embassies manage theselection and nomination of candidates.

Read more:http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/08/20110817163713esiuol0.5132105.html#ixzz1VNpgcyQt----------------------------------------------------------------------

Mosquitoes 'developing resistance to bed nets'(BBC)By Matt McGrath

17 Aug 2011 - Mosquitoes can rapidly develop resistance to bed nets treated withinsecticide, a study from Senegal says.


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In recent years the nets have become a leading method of preventing malaria, especiallyin Africa.

In the Lancet Infectious Diseases, the researchers also suggest the nets reduced the

immunity of older children and adults to malaria infection.

But other experts say the study was too small to draw conclusions about the long-termeffectiveness of nets.

In the war against malaria, the cheapest and most effective weapon to date has been thelong-lasting insecticide-treated bed net.

Over the last few years the nets have been widely distributed in Africa and elsewhere -the World Health Organization says that when properly deployed they can cut malaria

rates by half.

Continue reading the main story Start QuoteIf indeed this is a real trend we are seeingin this part of Senegal then it has very important implications for future malariaprevention and control strategies

End Quote Dr Joseph Keating Tulane UniversityIn Senegal, around six million nets have been distributed over the last five years. In thisstudy researchers looked at one small village in the country and tracked the incidenceof malaria both before and after the introduction of nets in 2008.

Within three weeks of their introduction the scientists found that the number of malariaattacks started to fall - incidence of the disease was found to be 13 times lower thanbefore the nets were used.

The researchers also collected specimens of Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito speciesresponsible for transmitting malaria to humans in Africa. Between 2007 and 2010 theproportion of the insects with a genetic resistance to one type of pesticide rose from 8%to 48%.

By 2010 the proportion of mosquitoes resistant to Deltamethrin, the chemicalrecommended by the World Health Organization for bed nets, was 37%.

In the last four months of the study the researchers found that the incidence of malariaattacks returned to high levels. Among older children and adults the rate was evenhigher than before the introduction of the nets.


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The researchers argue that the initial effectiveness of the bed nets reduced the amountof immunity that people acquire through exposure to mosquito bites. Combined with aresurgence in resistant insects, there was a rapid rebound in infection rates.

The scientists were led by Dr Jean-Francois Trape from the Institut de Recherche pour le

Developpement in Dakar. The authors are worried that their study has implicationsbeyond Senegal.

"These findings are a great concern since they support the idea that insecticideresistance might not permit a substantial decrease in malaria morbidity in many parts ofAfrica," they write.

But other experts in this field say that it is impossible to draw wider conclusions.

True trend?

In a commentary, Dr Joseph Keating from Tulane University, New Orleans, US,acknowledges the concerns the study raises.

"If indeed this is a real trend we are seeing in this part of Senegal then it has veryimportant implications for future malaria prevention and control strategies."

But he says there are a number of important provisos.

"I would certainly advise extending the study a couple of more years which would be

helpful in determining if this is a true trend or is it something specific to that particulararea.

"We need to be very careful when generalising these data to the larger continent ofAfrica as a whole; there is plenty of variation between communities and withincommunities."

Dr Keating acknowledges there is a debate within the scientific community on the issueof acquired immunity, the level of resistance to the disease that people get throughbeing bitten.

"There is a huge discussion around acquired immunity. And how long does it take foran individual to lose this immunity once they are no longer exposed to parasite?

"So if you give someone a net he would be less exposed to parasites and it is possiblethat their immunity would shift to become less - but I think over all the benefits of netscertainly outweigh this potential loss of acquired immunity."-------------------------------------------------------------------------


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S.Africa mines minister worried about mine "carnage"(Reuters)By Wendell Roelf

18 Aug 2011 - CAPE TOWN - South African mining minister Susan Shabangu described

the mounting death toll in the country's lethal mines as "carnage" on Thursday and saidthere was a link between the pursuit of profits and the body count.

In some of her strongest comments to date on the issue, she also said sky-high gold andplatinum prices might be a factor contributing to fatal accidents in South Africa's mines,which are the deepest and among the most dangerous on the world.

"I want to reiterate that I am still very concerned about the continued carnage in ourmines," she told a Cape Town Press Club function.

She said that up to August 15, 76 South African miners had lost their lives in 2011,compared with 79 in the same period last year.

"My department will continue with its hard stance on these issues. We will not hesitateto stop unsafe mines in order to save the lives of workers who inadvertently fall victimto these lapses," she said.

Mine safety is a huge issue in South Africa and unions often accuse management ofputting profits ahead of safety. Shabangu said there was evidence this was the case.

"We are seeing a correlation currently between, where there is a high profitability weare seeing a rise in those companies of fatalities," Shabangu said.

"It is clear where there is more profit there is an increase in fatalities, so that's thechallenge we are looking at. Maybe the high commodity prices (for gold and platinum)does contribute," she said in response to questions.

The price of gold has surged to record highs, making it more viable to extract the orefrom deeper and more dangerous levels. South Africa's gold mining operationscurrently reach depths of around 4 kms (2-1/2 miles).

Most of the country's main mining houses say safety is a top priority and mining deathshave fallen dramatically over the past couple of decades though the industry's labourforce has also shrunk.

According to government data, 855 miners were killed in South Africa in 1986 but thatnumber has been falling, hitting 220 in 2007 and 169 in 2009.


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But this positive trend has had setbacks and some individual companies like GoldFields have seen a rise in deaths this year. Thirteen of its workers were killed in the firstsix months of this year compared to 11 in the same period in 2010.

Mechanisation is seen as one way to reduce fatalities but this is a sensitive issue as the

sector is a key source of employment in a country with a jobless rate of over 25 percent.--------------------------------------------------------------------

INTERVIEW-Algeria "not immune to Arab spring revolt"(Reuters)

By Lamine Chikhi

18 Aug 2011 - ALGIERS, - Algeria could be swept by an Arab Spring-style revolt if thegovernment does not urgently fix social and political problems, the country's leadingIslamist opposition politician said.

Sheikh Abdallah Djaballah, 54, head of a party called the Front for Justice andDevelopment, said the government had tried to appease anger by handing out cash, buthad failed to address a lack of democracy at the root of Algeria's problems.

"The sources of tensions may unify and become a tsunami that will destroy everything,"Djaballah told Reuters in an interview.

"The regime wanted to fix the problem financially by saying that the crisis is social and

that raising wages will be enough... It is true that the social aspect of the crisis is real,but the key problem remains political."

Algeria, an important gas supplier to Europe and a U.S. ally in its fight against alQaeda, has been shaken by unrest and strikes since the beginning of this year, withpeople demanding better pay and lower prices.

The government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 74, feared the strikes and protestscould lead to the kind of revolt which toppled long-standing rulers in Egypt and

neighbouring Tunisia.

Bouteflika responded by using energy revenues to give hefty pay rises for almost allpublic employees and to raise subsidies on basic foodstuffs.


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To relieve pressure for political change, he also lifted a 19-year-old state of emergency,promised to give the opposition a voice in state media and set up a commission torecommend political reforms.

Since then the number of protests has fallen sharply, but the problems are still there,said Jaballah, who wears a beard, like most Islamists, but also dresses in Westernclothes.

"If someone has cancer, you cannot just give them a sedative and this is what thegovernment has been doing so far," he said.

GRIEVANCES

As a prominent Islamist who is an outspoken critic of the government, Jaballah hasinfluence with a large segment of the Algerian population. A previous party he led wasthe third biggest in parliament.

Moderate Islamist ideas are widely held among Algerians, but they are not wellreflected in the secular political elite, which is nervous about political Islam afterwaging a nearly-two decade conflict against Islamist militants.

Speaking in his office in a run-down apartment building in a suburb of the capital,Djaballah said no amount of government spending can address the huge number ofsmall local grievances over issues such as housing, unemployment and healthcare.

He said the root of these grievances was the fact that, in Algeria, ordinary people do notidentify with their government and the only way they could see of expressing theirviews was to take to the streets.

That, he said, was because the authorities did not allow people the freedom to choosetheir own rulers. Algeria's government says it conducts free and fair elections.

"The regime has been using state money to sponsor its candidates versus othercandidates, the regime has also been using the state media to polish the image of itscandidates versus other candidates, the regime has also committed fraud during past


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elections... all this has widened the gap between the people and the regime," Djaballahsaid.

"This is a very dangerous phenomenon that indicates that a big explosion may happen

at any time," Djaballah said. (editing by David Stamp)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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