18 January 2006

Stories from 18 January 2006

Syria: Khaddam chances are?

  18 January 2006

For Khaddam, chances are he is simply too corrupt for other people in the opposition to approach. Should he drastically temper and revise his expectations, he might have a chance of appealing to some. One thing is clear though: he will not be allowed to become the leader of the...

Kenyan: Childhood beatings

  18 January 2006

Childhood beatings is the subject of KenyanMusings…commenting on her nephew who she describes as the “most spoilt child I know” and returns to his/her own childhood “I got beatings for screwing up. I got beatings, slippers, belts, sucker punches, water pipes, kicks and sticks, ngotos, hot burning ears and crying...

SouthAfrica: Retraction by Global Fund on HIV funding

  18 January 2006

South African blog, Idland posts on the retraction of a $40M grant that was coming to town to prevent mother-to child transmission of hiv by the Global Fund because of a discrepancy between the treatment cost per head and the drug cost per head. He comments “It seems so much...

Nigeria: Gbenga Obasanjo interview

  18 January 2006

The Nigerian media and blogs has been full of comments on the recent interview with Gbenga Obasanjo, son of the President, in The News “interview”. Here Gbenga of Oro blog points to one response “Well, you need to read the materpiece… quite revealing, and worthy of an additional category in...

Kenya: Returning home

  18 January 2006

The topic of returning home is currently popular in the African blogosphere. Here ThinkersRoom writes an imaginery two week visit by a Kenyan to her/his homeland then goes on to discuss how things would change for the better if Kenyans began returning home and contributing to the building of the...

Ethiopia: pro democracy movement

  18 January 2006

Friends of Ethiopia wonders if the coming visit by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs to Ethiopia and Eritrea is bad news for the pro-democracy movement in Ethiopia…..”” Washington's leverage over Ethiopia is a promise to help Meles deal with a turbulent political situation at home and to...

DRC: Belgium

  18 January 2006

Black Star Journal comments on objections to the trial of former Chadian dictator, Hissène Habré, taking place in Belgium stating “But if one is going to get outraged at Belgian hypocrisy regarding crimes against humanity, isn't it more compelling to invoke one of the worst crimes against humanity of all...

Northern Uganda peace process

  18 January 2006

Uganda-Can writes that ignoring “Northern Uganda is not a coherent policy” and points to an op/ed in the Stanford Progressive that argues for more US involvement in working for peace in the region.

Ethiopia: Search for a port

  18 January 2006

The Voice of Somaliland Diaspora-Ottawa writes about Ethiopia's search for a port in Somaliland and Djibouti...””Ethiopian officials want an alternative port because they don't want to be fully dependent on Djibouti,” says an expert in the forwarding business. “If Ethiopia could use other ports like Berbera and Port Sudan it...

Haiti: Child soldiers photo hoax

  18 January 2006

Somebody seems to think the issue of child soliders is a joke. According to the Archivex Haiti Archives, photos of child soldiers, allegedly Haitian and “led supposedly by gang leaders who have announced that they will vote for René Préval,” have been circulating on the internet. The photos have been...

Iran:No War!Peace Please!

  18 January 2006

In Zemestan ( means Winter), blogger shares his feeling about peace and war. He says nothing is more preciouse than life (Persian) and a smile on a child's face. He remembers his experience of war ( Iran-Iraq war) where many young people were killed and their parents suffered. Zemestan adds...

Guyana: Flood coverage

  18 January 2006

MediaCritic commends Stabroek News reporter Christopher Yaw for his coverage of the flooding and the plight of the residents in the Mahaica/Mahaicony area.

Trinidad & Tobago, India: Hutch prize for Naipaul?

  18 January 2006

The Caribbean Beat Blog speculates on whether V. S. Naipaul may have Indian citizenship. The Trinidad-born Nobel laureate, a long-time British subject, has been nominated for a Hutch Crossword Book Award — “the Indian ‘Booker Prize'” — whose eligibility rules state that authors “must be Indian citizens or must hold...

Jamaica: Arrests in Steve Harvey murder

  18 January 2006

Andrés Duque links to a Jamaica Gleaner report which states that arrests have been made in connection with the murder of AIDS outreach worker Lenford “Steve” Harvey. Harvey was abducted from his home by gunmen and shot last November.