Latest posts by Jennifer Brea from May, 2007
Lebanon: Questioning Amnesty for Islamic Militants
Frencheagle writes that certain members of Fatah Islam implicated in the decapitation of 27 people on the first night of the conflict with the Lebanese government were not only granted amnesty by parliament [Fr] in 2005, but were arrested last year–and then promptly released–for vandalizing the Danish embassy. “You don't...
Corruption in Senegal
Le Blog Politique du Senegal posts data on the incidence of corruption in Senegal and reminds us that the definition of corruption differs around the world; in Senegal, the practice of exchanging gifts is deeply rooted in traditional culture.
Maternal Mortality Still High in Tunisia
Zizou from Djerba writes that Tunisia is on its way to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in all areas except for maternal mortality [Fr]. Zizou attributes the problem to poor quality emergency health care, citing an incident where a woman who hemorrhaged after giving delivery died while waiting to...
Benin: New government rumored to be considering a Ministry of Religion
Babilown points to an article in Le Matin (Fr) about rumors that Benin's government plans to create a Ministry of Religion, and outlines the potential of such a ministry to erode the constitutional separation of church and state (Fr). In a comment, T. Nouatin agrees that although a Ministry of...
New Book Examines Causes of the D.R. of Congo's Political Instability
Congopage offers a brief review of a new book by Gilbert Dzassabi, a lieutenant-colonel of the Congolese Air Force (Congo-Brazzaville) who studied in Russia and later in France, where he earned a Ph.D in political science. Dzassabi tries to explain why his country's troubled neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the...
DRC: Congolese Curious About Money Ocean's 13 Stars Raised for Darfur
Bien au Bout… writes about his neighbor, Karim, who asked to be shown photographs of Brad Pitt and George Clooney (Fr). Apparently, Karim was listening to the BBC and heard about an event in Cannes organized by Ocean's 13 stars Pitt, Clooney, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle that raised $9.2...
Lebanon: Where's Our Patriotism?
After relegating herself to the status of spectator of the recent violence in Lebanon, Marie-Josee takes up her pen, this time to write about how the country's trivialization of the deaths of Lebanese soldiers shows a “fundamental lack of patriotism” (Fr) on the part of Lebanon's government and its people.
A Return to Morocco, in Pictures
France/Maroc à VTT posts hundreds of vivid photographs of his journey back to Morocco, the country of his birth.
How the South is financing the North's internet connection
Reseau International de correspondants writes about pricing inequalities in the international telecom system (Fr) that place a disproportionate burden of payment on developing countries to the extent that “the South is financing the North” and it is in effect “three times more expensive to connect to the internet” in developing...
Guinean proverb
Roots and Culture posts a Guinean proverb: “When ants work together they carry lift elephants.” (Fr)
D.R. of Congo: Should Christian Revivalist Churches Be Encouraging Political Activism?
Continuing an age-old debate--is religion the "opium of the people" or can it be a catalyst for social change?--Congolese blogger Blaise Mantoto at UDPS Liege says the Congo’s Christian revivalist churches, which he cynically refers to as "for-profit spiritual shops," encourage political disengagement. He argues these churches should inspire their followers to improve their social conditions through political activism, but not everyone agrees that religion and politics ought to be mixed.
Human Sacrifice & the Politics of Death
At Babilown, French-Beninian author Blaise Aplognan describes the religious and political function of human sacrifice (Fr) in ancient societies: “…its goal was to channel violence toward a (sacrificed) individual, toward the sacred realm, institutionalizing violence by supervising it and practicing it according to very precise rules and rituals.”
France's Overseas Territories Now Under the Administration of the Ministry of the Interior
Martiniquian Le Blog de [Moi] writes that under the new French cabinet, the Ministry of Overseas Territories has been abolished, or rather, folded in with the Ministry of the Interior to create the Ministry of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Collectivities. This is a good thing, writes Le Blog de...
First female head of Togolese press agency celebrates first anniversary
Agence Togolaise de Presse Atop, the Togolese press agency, celebrates its 32nd anniversary and the first anniversary of its new director, Claudine Assiba, the first woman to ever head a public media organization in Togo. In an interview (Fr) she says, “men and women have the same rights, the same...
French Polynesia's Beauty Pageant Fever
In May, French Polynesia, where even the smallest island communities host their own beauty pageants, choose a new Miss Tahiti, a Miss Pirae, and a Miss Dragon. The islands have seen a proliferation of pageants in recent years, including a “Miss Hinano,” named for a Tahitian beer, and a “Miss...
Congolese Youth Organization Takes President Joseph Kabila to Task
Kakaluigi posts an open letter (Fr) from COJESKI, an umbrella of Congolese youth organizations, demanding President Joseph Kabila: end the incursions and occupations of Congolese villages by foreign troops from Angola, Burundi, Congo-Brazaville, and even as far afield as Chad, the Sudan and Central African Republic; end the pillaging of...
Senegal: A debate over feminism and women's work
Blog Politique du Senegal, Naomed describes a visit to a profitable garden in Casamance, where women produce vegetables for market. He notes that there was not a single male older than 10 in sight and all of the work was being done by women. One reader praises the bravery of...
Bukavu on the Congolese-Rwandan border: A city at the crossroads of conflict
Kakaluigi, a foreign missionary who has lived in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for 35 years describes a feeling of apprehension about the future that overshadows Bukavu. Bukavu is a city of survivors. During the First Congo War （1996-1997），Bukavu was caught in the middle...
Congo-Brazzaville: renewed calls for an independent election commission
Deman Le Congo-Brazzaville renews its calls for an independent election commission (Fr) as the only way to ensure the upcoming presidential and legislative elections are transparent, fair, and free of violence.
Seyni Kouyate on Yankadi Reggae
Roots and Culture has an interview with Seyni Kouyate (Fr), a Yakandi reggae musician from a griot family in Guinea-Conakry. Kouyate says Yakandi reggae is not a Western-African fusion; it's a fundamentally African music form. “It's the meeting of traditional African rhythms, specifically from West Africa, with Jamaican skunk…the beating...
Alain Mabanckou on the new French government
Congolese poet-novelist Alain Mabanckou writes about several politicians from the left who were given positions in France's new conservative government, as well as the appointment of France's first African Minister of Justice, Rachida Dati, the daughter of Moroccan and Algerian immigrants. On the basis of these appointments, he calls France's...
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