Latest posts by Alice Backer from July, 2006
DRC: Demonstrations Leading Up to Election
Opposition party blog UDPS Liege announces an intensification of peaceful protests in the capital Kinshasa leading up to the July 30 election. Protests are planned for July 25, 27, 28 and 30.
Gripes with Footballer Lilian Thuram
Of Lilian Thuram, a French football player of Guadeloupean origin, France-based Senegalese blogger says (Fr): “Wanting desperately to become a Martin Luther King-style defender of the Black cause, Thuram seems to have no friends around him to tell him to calm down and to stay away from politics, an artform...
New Caledonia: Video of Kanak and Polynesian Dance Show
Sebastien of 5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie posts a video of Kanak and Polynesian dances performed during a 14 Juillet [July 14] celebration.
Reunion: Moslem Community Rallying Cry
Zarabes writes (Fr): “We members of the moslem community of la Reunion, are watching powerless the current events in Palestine and Lebanon. Tired of the ambiant silence, we ask the various heads of the island's masjids to hold a common discourse next Friday (July 28, 2006) for the salat of...
Reunion: Volcano Eruption
From Reunion, Jean-Paul at Dijoux.re writes (Fr):”It is the first eruption of the year. Of the two lava flows registered at the beginning of the eruption, one stopped and the other has diminished. The awful weather (i.e. the cold, the rain and the fog) is not making for a scenic...
Reunion: Volcano Eruption
Reunion Passion writes (Fr): “Le Piton de la Fournaise started erupting at the end of the night of July 20 at 4 am. According to information from the volcano observatory, the eruption took place at the volcano's summit, near the Bory crater.”
French-Speaking Bloggers on Rabat Conference on Migration
What Will the Conference Bring? Says France-based African blogger Le Pangolin, Du 10 au 11 juillet 2006, s'est tenue à Rabat au Maroc, la première rencontre interministérielle euro-africaine sur les problèmes des migrations entre ces deux continents.Elle a regroupé 57 pays africains et européens et certaines organisations humanitaires qui se...
DRC: Police Repression at July 11th Demo
Le Blog du Congolais writes (Fr):” Kinshasa, June 3oth Boulevard, Tuesday July 11th 2006. The Congolese police, trained and equipped by the European Union, unleashed itself against the 19 presidential candidates to the July 30 elections and the demonstrators of the Front to Defend the Congo (FDC) led by UDPS....
Cameroon: Debt Cancelled by Canada
Fojrega writes (Fr) that: “Canada's Minister of Finance announced tuesday that he was cancelling the USD 198.9 million debt that Cameroon owed Canada.” Cameroon fulfilled enough conditions to become the 12th country eligible for Canadian debt forgiveness including: “progress in economic reforms, especially corruption and improvement in the drawing up...
Haiti: Reporter Jacques Roche Killed a Year Ago
Collectif Haiti de Provence points to an article stating (Fr): “To commemorate the first anniversary of the killing of poet and journalist Jacques Roche this July 14, the organization SOS Journaliste organized a forum at Le Plaza Hotel on the theme Security of journalists, impunity and disarmament.”
Haiti: NGOs Financing Violence
Collectif Haiti de Provence points to an article stating that (Fr): ” The violence in poor neighborhoods is financed by NGOs operating on the ground according to the Senator of the Ouest Department. Funds destined to development projects in those neighborhoods are being misused to those ends.”
France: The Beginnings of Affirmative Action
Says (Fr) France-based Senegalese blogger Seckasysteme about the allegedly affirmative-action induced hiring and debut of Black French newsanchor Harry Roselmack on French national television: “Roselmack's (…) professional competence and the recognition he has earned from his peers is so obvious that even the detractors of affirmative action are starting to...
DRC: Can a Finger Free the Congo?
UDPS Liege posts pictures (Fr) of Didier Bongeya and the finger which was allegedly severed from his body during a recent march in the DRC. The blog post is titled “The finger that will free the Congo.”
DRC: Diaspora excluded from electoral process
Prince du Fleuve du Congo points to (Fr) a program for the Congo by Alain Matumona that deplores the USD 50,000 deposit required of presidential candidates and the exclusion of the Congolese Diaspora from the electoral process.
Rwanda: Gorillas Without Mist
Guillaume, an ex-pat working in Rwanda, went on a road trip (Fr) to Gisenyi where he visited and took these snapshots of luxury hotel the Kivu Sun and then to Ruhengeri where he took these pictures of the gorillas for which the area is known.
Haiti: Grateful to Wyclef for his World Cup Performance
Collectif Haiti de Provence points to a Le Nouvelliste article thanking (Fr) Haitian-American hip hop star Wyclef for his representation of Haiti at the World Cup closing ceremony: “Wyclef Jean did everything to associate Haiti to his performance. The Haitian flag served as a bandana that covered his head (…)...
Ivoirians in Paris: Church Anniversary
Voyage en Cote d'Ivoire posts (Fr) festive pictures of the anniversary of Paris’ Ivoirian church.
Senegal: Rabat Conference on International Migration
Blogger and Ziguinchor mayor Robert Sagna reflects on the recent conference on migration that took place in Rabat, Morocco (Fr): “Faced with the ample phenomenon of migration, Europe and France (…) are shivering. The paradox is that it is that very Europe that provokes immigration. If immigration hopefuls were sure...
Reunion: International Procrastination Day
LSZ Blog celebrated International Procrastination Day (yesterday July 16) by… procrastinating. He wrote (Fr): “I was thinking of writing a great article on procrastination but today is Sunday, not a good day to write an informative article on the subject. Maybe tomorrow…”
New Caledonia: Best Coca-Cola
Valesdir.net points to an article announcing (Fr) that New Caledonia produces the best Coca-Cola in the world.
DRC: Asking for Louis Michel's Resignation
Le Blog du Congolais posts a Belgian petition asking for Louis Michel's resignation and says (Fr): “Certain Belgians are courageous enough to denounce the neocolonialist behavior of Louis Michel in the Congo. We encourage and support the courageous initiative of Mrs. Anja Vanduysen asking for Loulou's resignation.”
