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What happened today around the Presidential Palace in Cairo? It may be a long while before its implications become clear. As I write the casualty count is still confused: at least three dead according to Ministry of Health; four according to press reports, and hundreds wounded. The dead reportedly include both protesters and Muslim Brotherhood/Morsi defenders.
What seems different about today is that whatever else it proves to mean, the Muslim Brotherhood seems to be jettisoning its alliances and seeking to claim power for itself. Remember that Morsi won only 24% of the vote in round one; Morsi's 51% victory margin included plenty of people who thought he was the lesser of two evils. But today it seems to be shedding allies. Morsi's non-Brotherhood advisors are quitting right and left: the ...
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So with all the attention on Tarantino's Django Unchained (which I confess I've seen already and absoluely love - but I'll get to that soon in due time) one should keep in mind that the basic premise of a black and white team of bounty hunters isn't new at all. In fact there was a TV show based on the same premise back in 1968. I wrote about it for the old S & A wesbite, and what better time to reprint it again. The show I'm referring to was the TV western series The Outcasts. And if you were a young, impressionable black kid back then (like me), this was simply THE SHOW. The "I-have-to-see-it-every-week-or-else-I'll-die" TV show. A...
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Mick McCarthy is beginning to make an impact at Ipswich and it's ironic that the first warning of a significant breakthrough should arrive by virtue of his substitutions in the 2-1 win at Bolton on Saturday.
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The Europa League isn't my favourite betting tournament, mainly because you can't be sure how seriously managers are taking it.
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Check out this short from French director Léa Rinaldi, titled, simply, Box. Two days ago, I profiled an upcoming feature documentary that Rinaldi is directing, on the controversial Cuban hip-hop group Los Aldeanos, which was selected for the upcoming 2012 Les Arcs Work in Progess event. I wasn't familiar with Rinaldi, so I looked her up to see what's on her resume, and that's how I cam across this 2011 12-minute short film. In short, it covers a boxing match - the calm before the storm, the storm itself, and the aftermath. It's in French, but there's really no dialogue; the images tell the whole story. I think...
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As climate talks continue to grind along in Doha, food security would seem to be a major concern (especially as the U.N. issues warnings about the increasingly desperate food situation in Syria). However, the question of how farmers will feed the world's booming population while adjusting to changing weather patterns highs appears to have been sidelined even as year's crippling drought in the U.S. sent grain prices to record highs.
That doesn't mean, however, that the race for food security hasn't already begun. As the authors of the recently released book The Global Farms Race argue, cash-rich but resource-poor governments have been quietly making controversial bids for the arable fields of foreign lands to shore up their own food security. Since the 2008 global food crisis, these ...
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Ethiopian now operating four 787s from Addis Ababa Source: ATW Ethiopian Airlines, which is now operating four Boeing 787s, remains on track for aggressive growth over the next several years. The carrier operates the four 787s from its base at A...
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(GPI/Abenet Sisay and Bezunesh Mammo) Embrace of entrepreneurship redefines gender roles in Ethiopia A local entrepreneur has become the first woman to own and drive a horse-drawn cart in her town. Her family is redefining gender roles here, as her h...
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So when I heard about this new DVD coming out, my first thought was, when did this Tyler Perry movie come out? He cranks them out like a sausage machine, so I thought this was one that slipped by. Turns out this is not a film, of course, but a stage play which toured around the U.S. earlier this year. And if you missed it, here's your chance. A Blu-ray DVD of the play is coming out from Lionsgate Films on Feb. 5. Starring, who else, as Madea (which begs the question - does he have an understudy if he can't perform that night, and if so who is he?), Patrice Lovely, Chandra Currelley-Young and Cheryl "Pepsii" Riley (God, that's a name I haven't...
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Today, the Enough Project joined a coalition of organizations from central Africa, the U.S., and Europe in releasing a report that assesses the implementation of the U.N. Regional Strategy developed in June to address the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, threat. Nearly six months later, progress to date in implementing the strategy has been minimal, and no clear plans to address the myriad challenges facing the strategy appear to be underway.
The U.N. strategy is comprehensive, encompassing a wide range of critical objectives: enhance regional efforts to apprehend the LRA's top leaders and protect civilians; encourage LRA rebels to defect; improve the humanitarian response to LRA violence; and promote peacebuilding, human rights, and development in LRA-affected areas. If implemented fully, ...
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One of the questions we get often relates to Zambia's GDP. Recently someone asked : are the GDP growth figures a true reflection of Zambia's economic performance?
The simple answer is no because GDP has several limitations for a country such as ours.
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GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo -- A semblance of normal life is returning to Goma, with a few banks, shops, and schools reopening. But despite the presence of 600 policemen and a battalion of government forces who deployed to the city following M23's withdrawal, people are still petrified that M23 might return. Ahead of talks with the Congolese government, the rebels have continued to posture by threatening to retake Goma if their demands are not met.
The M23 withdrawal ended an 11-day occupation of the city and came after a peace accord negotiated by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region that set the stage for talks. Hundreds of M23 troops pulled out of the city late Saturday, with one company of troops remaining at the Goma airport alongside Congolese government ...
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Supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi clashed at the presidential palace in Cairo for a second day on Wednesday, deepening the political crisis over expanded presidential powers and a controversial draft constitution.
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Guest Post by Bhakti Shringarpure In the past decade, not many places have been as over-represented or as under-understood than Sudan and the newly formed South Sudan. From a barrage of news articles to a flurry of op-eds, from millions of dollars spent on advertising and brand-management for Darfur activism to insipid, shallow visits from [...]
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The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has just activated the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) to request support in response to Typhoo Pablo. They also need your help! Read on! The UN has asked for pictures ... Continue reading →
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Lawyers can be improbable heroes, but Arthur Chaskalson was one. He used the law to hobble apartheid and subsequently helped...
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