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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – The stench of fish rot is wafting over Namibia. It’s taken down two Namibian ministers and leaves an Icelandic fisheries minister in the hot seat.
“A coterie of well-heeled vampires is sucking our fishing sector dry!” protested the local Namibian newspaper as news of the corrupt trading of valuable fishing quotas came to light.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | BLOEMFONTEIN (IDN) – The modest home of the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Brandfort, Free State, where she was forced to live when banished in 1977, has become a museum.
The Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Brandfort House Museum in Majwemasweu, Brandfort, is now complete, according to the national Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
![comes with a substantial monetary award. [IDN-InDepthNews – 03 December 2019]](/images/Aminatou_Haidar.jpg)
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – The Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ goes to five human rights activists this year. Among them is Aminatou Haidar of the Western Sahara.
Ms. Haidar receives the Right Livelihood Award “for her steadfast nonviolent action, despite imprisonment and torture, in pursuit of justice and self-determination for the people of Western Sahara”, according to organizers of the event in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – On the occasion of World Aids Day on December 1, South African health minister Zweli Mkhize announced the roll-out of a new state-of-the-art antiretroviral drug which, he said, should drastically reduce the number of people living with HIV.
The roll-out could start as soon as this month. A modified three-in-one pill was hailed as a ‘game-changer’, much needed in South Africa where 7.7 million South Africans are living with HIV.
By Bernhard Schell
CAIRO (IDN) – “I stand here on behalf of the United Nations system and reaffirm our strong commitment to the member states and the people of Africa,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), adding: “I strongly believe Africa is one of the greatest forces for good in our world.”
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study warns that a third of tropical African plants are on the path to extinction, with much of western Africa standing to lose more than 40 percent of plant diversity.
Ethiopia, and parts of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the hardest hit regions, the researchers found.
Species at risk include trees, shrubs, herbs and woody vines.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Some of the 80 ethnic groups that form the nation of Ethiopia are demanding great autonomy and are voting with their feet for self-government. The Sidama people voted overwhelmingly in November to become self-governing, casting 98.5 percent of the votes backing the change.
The Sidama – who number about 3 million – represent close to four percent of Ethiopia’s 105 million population. By creating their own federal region, the Sidama hope to regain control of land resources, political representation as well as to reaffirm their cultural identity.
By Kwame Buist
ROME (IDN) – Almost daily violent attacks in the Sahel nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have displaced nearly one million people and caused emergency levels of malnutrition, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.
“Conflict is moving forward and moving fast,” says Margot van der Velden, Director of WFP’s Emergencies Division, referring to the three countries, where it is estimated 20 million people are living in areas affected by conflict and 2.4 million people are in need of food assistance – a figure that could rise due to continued displacements.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – It’s not a piece of cake these days for leaders of African countries plotting to rewrite their constitutions and give themselves another decade or two in power, frustrating efforts by citizen groups to give other leaders a chance to rule.
That’s the endgame facing Guinean President Alpha Conde who is poised to approve a new constitution favourable to extending his stay in power.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Unions representing more than half of South African Airways (SAA) workforce called a strike last week after the airline refused to meet wage and job security demands.
The unions, representing more than 3,000 workers, walked out on November 15 after the state-owned airline rejected their demand for 8% raises, offering 5.9% instead. The airline is also planning to cut 944 positions. The strike forced the cancellation of most flights.
