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This article concerns the region in Africa. For the present-day country in this region, see South Africa; for the former country, see South African Republic.

More on [ Southern Africa ]

BBC News | Africa | World Edition

Deadly Cameroon tanker explosion
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:23:13 -0000
A fuel tanker overturns and explodes in Cameroon, with 30 people feared to have been burned to death.
Iran agrees Nigeria nuclear deal
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:46:36 -0000
Iran agrees to share nuclear technology with Nigeria to help it increase its generation of electricity.
Lockerbie evidence not disclosed
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:13:17 -0000
UK police failed to disclose evidence to the defence of a Libyan man in the Lockerbie trial, the BBC learns.
Rebels and army clash in DR Congo
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:21:06 -0000
Clashes erupt between rebels and the army in eastern DR Congo, in the fiercest fighting since a January peace deal.
Nigerian state bans co-ed schools
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:19:11 -0000
Bauchi State in Nigeria bans girls and boys from going to schools together because of teenage pregnancies.
Ethiopia hints at Somali pullout
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:59:19 -0000
Ethiopia is prepared to withdraw troops from Somalia even if the government is not stable, Ethiopia's PM says.

NYT > Africa

2 Hijackers of Jet in Darfur Surrender and Free Hostages in Libya
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:50:22 -0000
Passengers said the hijackers identified themselves as members of a Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, which denied any involvement.
Ex-Rebel Leader Deflects Questions About Atrocities in Liberia
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:56:12 -0000
Nigeria’s former rebel leader Sekou Conneh refused to accept blame for any wrongdoing during an appearance before a public commission.
A Threat Renewed: Ragtag Insurgency Gains a Lifeline From Al Qaeda
Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:57:32 -0000
A group of Algerian militants has been transformed from a nationalist insurgency to a potent ally of Al Qaeda.

L.A. Times - Africa

Hijackers of Darfur plane surrender in Libya
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Two Sudanese men, armed with handguns and the threat of explosives, stormed the cockpit of the Boeing 737, taking control just minutes into the flight. Passengers said the hijackers remained calm but they still spent a night in fear.
Iran to share nuclear know-how
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
It signs an agreement with Nigeria to give the African nation technology to help it generate electricity. An Iranian trade delegation announced an agreement Thursday for Iran to share peaceful nuclear technology with Nigeria to help bolster its woeful capacity to generate electricity.
World Briefing
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Mexico: 129 Baja law agents dismissed / Libya: Hijacking of Sudan plane ends peacefully / Pakistan: Police van bombing kills 9 129 Baja law personnel dismissed

UN News Centre - Africa

UN mission dispatches patrol following clashes in eastern DR Congo
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has dispatched patrols to the country's volatile eastern region after some of the worst fighting since a peace deal was signed in January broke out earlier today between Government forces and armed rebel groups.
UN helping Madagascar increase crop output to reduce costly imports
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is helping Madagascar boost its local food supply, particularly rice, to avoid importing large quantities at high prices to meet the country's food needs for this year.
New UN-African Union mediator for Darfur conflict takes up post
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The newly appointed chief of the joint United Nations-African Union effort to bring peace to Darfur arrived today in the conflict-wracked Sudanese region, pledging to consult as widely as possible with the warring parties to try to find a lasting solution.

The Economist: Middle East and Africa

Nigeria:
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:36 -0000
The president shows who’s bossGIVEN Nigeria’s long record of military coups, President Umaru Yar’Adua’s dismissal of his top military commanders last week might have looked a bit risky—suicidal, even. And, indeed, there were rumours of rebellion in the air. But the fact that Mr Yar’Adua not only removed the officers but calmly left the country immediately afterwards for a pilgrimage to Mecca speaks of a growing confidence among Nigerians that the bad old days of military intervention have finally been laid to rest. Until recently Africa had a deserved reputation for violent military takeovers, and Nigeria was no exception. Half a dozen coups took place in the three decades or so from 1966 until elections restored civilian rule in 1999. Even then the new president, Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr Yar’Adua’s predecessor, was a former general who had previously run the country as head of a military junta. With their aviator shades and shiny epaulettes, the generals plundered Nigeria’s vast oil wealth, none more aggressively or brutally than Sani Abacha in the 1990s. ...
Zimbabwe:
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:36 -0000
The opposition scores a telling point IT WAS a humiliating week for Robert Mugabe. As the new parliament elected in March was convened for the first time, the chairman of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Lovemore Moyo, won the vote to become speaker, beating Mr Mugabe’s candidate. Then the veteran leader was booed and heckled during his speech, for the first time in his 28 years in power. Negotiations between the ruling ZANU-PF and the MDC are still suspended, after the two sides failed to agree on who should hold executive power. Mr Mugabe, not one to take humiliation well, looks set to harden his stance: prospects for an early deal look slim. But it was a rare and telling victory for the opposition.The Zimbabwean leader had violated ground rules, agreed on before the negotiations began, stipulating that the new parliament should not be convened, nor a new cabinet appointed, while negotiations were under way. Several MDC MPs have already been arrested, some as they were entering Parliament to be sworn in. Ahead of a regional meeting earlier this month, Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, and his party’s secretary-general and chief negotiator were both detained at the airport and their passports confiscated en route to the meeting; they were allowed to continue on their way after South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki, mandated by the region’s leaders to mediate in the talks, apparently intervened. ...
The Gaza Strip:
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:36 -0000
Though a ceasefire is more or less holding, Gaza is still under siegeDESPITE warnings by Israel’s government that it would stop two boatloads of pro-Palestinian campaigners from “breaking the siege of Gaza”, the ships, carrying some 40-plus enthusiasts, were eventually allowed to dock safely in Gaza’s main port on August 23rd and to disgorge a cargo of medicine, hearing-aids and other items that the local Palestinians have sorely lacked. But, though a ceasefire signed in June is more or less holding and there has been a slight increase in an inflow of humanitarian supplies, Gazans still feel they are virtually under siege. Since a year ago, when the Islamists of Hamas clobbered their secular rivals, Fatah, in the Strip, the Israelis have restricted the supply of necessities in a bid to make Hamas stop firing rockets at Israel and encourage Gaza’s Palestinians to turn against their new rulers. In June, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire. Since then, the flow of goods has increased, but not enough. The boat campaigners intended to publicise the Gazans’ continuing plight. ...

Africa & Middle East - International Herald Tribune

U.S. military secretly sending foreign fighters to home nations
By MARK MAZZETTI AND ERIC SCHMITT Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:17:44 -0000
The system is similar in some ways to the rendition program used by the Central Intelligence Agency to secretly transfer suspected militants back to their home countries to be jailed and questioned.
U.S. to turn security of Anbar Province over to Iraq
By ERICA GOODE Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:17:44 -0000
The province had been a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency and one of the most violent regions in Iraq.
Hijackers of Sudanese plane free hostages
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:17:44 -0000
The two hijackers who had commandeered a jetliner from the Darfur region of Sudan on Tuesday had asked for asylum in Libya, but it was not clear whether their request had been granted.
43 years after canceled concert, Israel is ready to rock with a Beatle
By ETHAN BRONNER Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:17:44 -0000
Excitement is building for Paul McCartney's first concert in Israel, an epilogue to a tale that began in 1965 when the authorities canceled a Beatles concert on "spiritual and cultural" grounds.
Slaying of a child rivets Israel
By ETHAN BRONNER Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:17:44 -0000
Israel is in the grip of a nightmarish tale of cross-generational infidelity, child abuse and murder, and an anguished nation is asking how it could happen there.
70 African migrants missing in Mediterranean
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:17:44 -0000
A harrowing boat journey across the Mediterranean left about 70 African migrants missing after rough seas capsized the craft, the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday.

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