Several countries, Serbia among them, have issued advisories for their citizens asking them to leave Egypt for security concerns. The north African country is seeing mass demonstrations and unrest that has claimed more than a hundred lives so far.
Posts Tagged ‘North African’
11 Serbians decide to stay in Tunisia
January 18th, 2011 |
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it will not organize any more special flights out of Tunisia. 11 Serbians are still in the north African country that saw violence and unrest this week, but they will have to return home on regular flights.
Campbell ‘to wed Russian billionaire beau at ancient Egyptian temple’
November 12th, 2010 |
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English supermodel Naomi Campbell is reportedly set to tie the knot with her Russian billionaire boyfriend Vladislav Doronin in a star-studded ceremony at an ancient Egyptian temple. According to al Arabiya, Campbell will reportedly convert to the Russian Orthodox faith of her real estate tycoon fiance — who has been dubbed the “Russian Donald Trump,” [...]
Sir Elton John’s gig sparks conflict in Morocco
May 27th, 2010 |
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A concert by British pop star Sir Elton John has sparked outrage among Morocco’’s anti-gay conservatives and tested the limits of the country’’s modernisation drive.
Islamists in the North African kingdom were furious at the gay pop star’’s visit, while the royal palace, government and his many fans backed his appearance.
Authorities had stepped up security with [...]
Clashes in Milan after teenage Egyptian is killed
February 14th, 2010 |
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The killing of an Egyptian teenager sparked street violence in Milan on Saturday night, with cars damaged and shop windows smashed. Rival gangs of North African and South American immigrants are said to have clashed, over the stabbing, in an ethnically-mixed area of the Italian city.
Algerians home and away cheer World Cup win
November 19th, 2009 |
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Algerians at home and abroad exploded with joy as the final whistle sounded in Khartoum to send the north African country to its first football World Cup since 1986. Cheers broke out around Algeria at the end of the match, after what one supporter, 45-year-old Djamel, called “90 minutes of
Nov. 13, 1460: Death Stills Henry the Navigator
November 13th, 2009 |
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1460: Infante Henrique (Prince Henry), known to history as Henry the Navigator, dies at 66 in Sagres, Portugal. While not a seafaring man himself, Henry’s zealous advocacy and generous patronage of science, cartography and oceanic navigation effectively opens the age of European exploration.
Henry the Navigator was the third son of Portugal’s King João I, whose [...]
Football: Egypt, Algeria battle on Net before key game
November 12th, 2009 |
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A crunch World Cup qualifier between Egypt and Algeria in Cairo on Saturday has seen unprecedented tensions between the North African rivals spill onto the Internet in a no holds barred cyber war. The footballing showdown has been the talk of the town for weeks, with Facebook groups, Twitter
Hamsa Lila, Airto Moreira: S.F. Green Fest After Party
November 6th, 2009 |
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CHART-TOPPING WORLD MUSIC BAND HAMSA LILA TO PERFORM WITH AIRTO MORIERA
FOR OFFICIAL GREEN FESTIVAL AFTER PARTY BENEFITING COMMON VISION
 Hamsa Lila |
World music band Hamsa Lila will be returning to the San Francisco Bay area after a three year hiatus to headline a gala event benefiting Common Vision and featuring the legendary Brazilian drum master Airto Moreira. The event is an official Green Festival SF After-Dark event at the renowned Regency Ballroom on Saturday, November 14, 2009.
Hamsa Lila blew up the West Coast world music scene with their hypnotic world fusion sounds back in 2004, when their album Gathering One went to number two on both U.S. and Canadian world music charts. Their infusion of West and North African influences, and multi-lingual, trance-inducing songs had crowds dancing like never before at festivals like Earthdance, Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, and High Sierra Music Festival, as well as packing concert venues like The Fillmore and The Independent. Hamsa Lila’s unique blend of traditional instruments and influences along with modern electronic elements brought them international acclaim as a pioneering band in the world fusion genre, who’s membership have played with the likes of Paul Simon, Sting, Michael Franti, Ozomatli, Hugh Masekela, Mickey Hart, and many others.
The Brazilian musical legend Airto Moreira will be heralded as the super-star special guest, leading a group of world drum masters (TBA) in a rhythmic ceremony to kick off the evening, and then performing alongside Hamsa Lila throughout their set. Airto is a multi-instrumentalist/percussionist who has worked with some of the world’s all time greats like Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Santana, Paul Simon, Smashing Pumpkins, Chick Corea, and a host of others. He’s recorded numerous albums over a stellar career that spans four decades, and his recent release entitled Life After That (Narada – Virgin/EMI) has helped to win him the title as the best jazz/fusion percussionist of 2009 by DRUM! magazine.
Common Vision is a 501 (c) 3 organization that works with inner city schools planting fruit trees, traveling throughout California in bio-diesel powered coach buses and teaching young people about growing food and taking care of the Earth. To date the organization has worked with over 50,000 kids, and planted tens of thousands of fruit trees all over the state. Learn More about Common Vision here.
This special evening will be packed with guests, including Bill Rasaki, King Sunny Ade’s Master Talking drummer for 25 years. Rasaki will be performing an opening set with Airto called Planetary Pulse. Additional Master Drummers will be announced soon.
Other acts to perform include Lynx & Janover, DJ Jef Stott (6 Degrees), and DJ Dragonfly.
The evening will also include visual projections by master artists and VJs and the world renowned National Geographic South American photographer Sebastian Belaustegui will be showcasing his African’s in the Americas exhibit as well.
Tickets are on sale now here and here. Tickets are $22 in advance, $28 day of show, and $50 for special VIP passes.
Tales of everyday racism set France on the edge
October 5th, 2009 |
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When Lylia Kateb’s French manager introduced her recently to the big boss, he added reassuringly: “But don’t worry, she’s a decent person.” Despite being an Arab, was the implication. Lylia’s tale of the slights faced as a young French woman of North African descent – even as a trained engineer
Cutting red tape
September 11th, 2009 |
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Where pro-business reform has been fastest
THE World Bank’s annual report tracking changes to regulations that affect business suggests that governments have handled the global economic storm well. In the year since June 2008, 131 countries introduced 287 pro-business reforms—20% more than in the previous 12 months and more than in any year since the World Bank started the survey in 2004. Poorer economies accounted for two-thirds of the action, with Rwanda turning out to be the world’s champion reformer—the first time a sub-Saharan country has claimed the prize. Eastern European and Central Asian countries were the most energetic reformers by region for the sixth year in a row while Middle Eastern and North African countries were not far behind. But businesses in low-income countries still struggle with twice the burden of regulation as those in high-income countries. Developed countries have an average of ten times as many newly registered businesses for every adult as countries in Africa and the Middle East.
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Five ancient Roman shipwrecks offer unusually complete remains
July 24th, 2009 |
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Underwater archaeologists in Italy have discovered the wrecks of five ancient Roman ships in the Mediterranean, with their cargo still largely intact.
The ships are lying in up to 150 metres (500 feet) of water off the tiny island of Ventotene, between Rome and Naples.
They are between 1,600 and 1,900 years old, and were laden with – among other things – jars for carrying wine, olive oil and fish sauce.
One expert said: "It is like an underwater museum."
Also on board were kitchen tools, and certain metal and glass objects which have not yet been identified.
The discovery of wrecked ships is not unusual – there are said to be thousands dotted around the Mediterranean.
But Annalisa Zarattini, from the Italian Culture Ministry, said the latest to be found are much better preserved than usual because they sank in deeper water, which protected them from destructive currents.
The ships also sank without capsizing, she said, allowing examination of the cargo in almost the form it had been loaded.
Officials say the latest finds are the result of a new drive by archaeologists to scan deeper waters – a plan prompted in part by a desire to prevent the looting of treasures.
Because of improving technology, looters are now able to dive to greater depths than in the past.
"It’s important that we arrive there first," said Ms Zarattini.
The team of archaeologists and deep sea divers used sonar technology and miniature robotic submarines in their latest operation.
The biggest of the ships discovered is about 20 metres long (60 feet).
The area they were found in was on a major route for trade between Rome and its North African territories.
Some of the objects are being put on display on Ventotene. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Modiba: ‘AfroBlues’ Performance Connects Two Continents On One Stage
July 24th, 2009 |
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Mixing musical cultures is easy. Doing it well is an entirely different matter. The Lincoln Center’s “Afro Blues in the 21st Century” provides valuable insight not only into what works, but also what does not.
Wall ‘could stop desert spread’
July 24th, 2009 |
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By Jonathan Fildes
Technology reporter, BBC News, Oxford
A plan to build a 6,000km-long wall across the Sahara Desert to stop the spread of the desert has been outlined.
The barrier – formed by solidifying sand dunes – would stretch from Mauritania in the west of Africa to Djibouti in the east.
The plan was put forward by architect Magnus Larsson at the TED Global conference in Oxford.
A 2007 UN study described desertification as "the greatest environmental challenge of our times".
"The threat is desertification. My response is a sandstone wall made from solidified sand," said Mr Larsson, who describes himself as a dune architect.
The sand would be stabilised by flooding it with bacteria that can set it like concrete in a matter of hours.
North African nations have promoted the idea of planting trees to form a Great Green Belt to prevent the spread of the sand.
A similar proposal – known as the Green Wall of China – has also been proposed to stop the spread of the Gobi Desert.
Ballooning idea
In 2007, the UN issued a report that said that one third of the Earth’s population – about two billion people – are potential victims of desertification.
"The idea is to stop the desert using the desert itself"
Magnus Larsson
It is concerned that the slow creep of the sands will displace people and put new strains on natural resources and societies.
Problem areas include the former Soviet republics in central Asia, China and sub-Saharan Africa.
"It affects about 140 countries," Mr Larsson told BBC News.
Mr Larsson showed pictures of a village called Gidan-Kara in Nigeria which had had to be moved because of the creep of the dunes. He said it was one of many examples.
The architect’s proposed wall across the desert would be a complement to, rather than a replacement, of the Great Green Belt proposal.
"It would provide physical support for the trees," he said.
Crucially, he said, it would leave a barrier even if the trees were removed.
"People are so poor in these countries and these regions that they chop them down for firewood."
The wall would effectively be made by "freezing" the shifting sand dunes, turning them into sandstone.
"The idea is to stop the desert using the desert itself," he said.
The sand grains would be bound together using a bacterium called Bacillus pasteurii commonly found in wetlands.
"It is a microorganism which chemically produces calcite – a kind of natural cement."
Mr Larsson got the idea for using the bacteria from a team at the University of California Davis, which had been investigating its use for solidifying the ground in earthquake prone areas.
Mr Larsson envisages injecting the dunes with the bacteria on a massive scale or using a barrage of giant bacteria-filled balloons.
"We allow the dune to wash over this structure then we would pop the balloon," he told BBC News.
The scheme would also have advantages for nearby populations, he said. For example, it could be excavated he said to provide shade, shelter or as a structure to collect water.
However, Mr Larsson admitted that the scheme faced numerous practical problems.
"There are many details left to explore in this story: political, practical, ethical, financial. My design is fraught with many challenges," he said.
"However, it’s a beginning, it’s a vision; if nothing else I would like this scheme to initiate a discussion," he added.
TED Global is a conference dedicated to "ideas worth spreading". It runs from the 21 to 24 July in Oxford, UK.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Harvard scholar outraged at ‘racist’ arrest
July 22nd, 2009 |
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Henry Louis Gates Jr has devoted thousands of words over many years to the subject of racial injustice, as one of America’s foremost authorities of its black history. But he didn’t expect to become his own case study.
Last Thursday he was arrested on suspicion of breaking into his own home near Harvard, the university where he is an eminent professor. He was handcuffed, fingerprinted and locked in a cell for four hours for what the local police force said was “loud and tumultuous behaviour” amounting to disorderly conduct.
News that arguably the most respected scholar of African-American history had been subjected to the very treatment that he has chronicled over many years yesterday spread through the media, prompting accusations of blatant racial profiling.
Gates told the Washington Post: “There are one million black men in jail in this country and last Thursday I was one of them. This is outrageous and this is how poor black men across the country are treated every day in the criminal justice system. It’s one thing to write about it, but altogether another to experience it.”
Prolific writer, TV presenter, director of Harvard’s WEB Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research, collaborator with Oprah Winfrey – the list of Gates’s connections and achievements is long. But when he returned last Thursday to his leafy Cambridge, Massachusetts home from a trip to China filming his latest TV documentary, none of that mattered.
It was early afternoon when Gates, 58, reached his house by taxi. The front door was stuck, so he entered through the back door, disabled the alarm and then again tried to push open the front door with the help of the north African taxi driver.
A white woman walking by saw a black man trying to force the door, called 911, and hapless Sgt James Crowley arrived.
He asked Gates to step outside as he was investigating a report of a break-in. “Why, because I’m a black man in America?” Gates asked, according to Crowley’s police report, refusing to leave his front room.
Asked to prove it was his own home, Gates showed his Harvard ID and local driving licence. In return, Gates asked Crowley for his name and badge number. “This guy had this whole narrative in his head: black guy breaking and entering,” Gates told the Washington Post.
In his report, Crowley said Gates accused him of being a racist and told him he had no idea who he was messing with. The officer wrote that when asked Gates to step outside again, he responded: “I’ll speak with your mama outside.”
“I was quite surprised and confused with the behaviour he exhibited toward me,” the sergeant said. Crowley called more officers from Cambridge and from Harvard’s own police, and Gates was arrested.
Last night Gates said he was “appalled that any American could be treated as capriciously by an individual police officer. He should look into his soul and he should apologise to me. If so, I will be prepared to forgive him.”
Facing a barrage of criticism, the force last night dropped all charges, adding the “regrettable and unfortunate” incident should not be seen as demeaning the character and reputation of Gates nor the character of the police.
Gates at least has one consolation prize: a new television project has landed in his lap. He said he intends to make a documentary about the treatment of black people by the criminal justice system, with his story as the focus.
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Mali ex-rebels to tackle al-Qaeda
July 20th, 2009 |
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The main group of Tuareg ex-rebels in Mali has agreed to help the army tackle al-Qaeda’s North African branch.
Both groups roam across the Sahara Desert and so correspondents say the deal could prove significant.
The agreement was brokered by Algeria’s ambassador to Mali. Algeria is where al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb stages most of its attacks.
Last month, the group killed a British hostage who was being held in Mali after being seized in Niger.
Two weeks later, the army said it had seized an al-Qaeda base near the border with Algeria.
However, the group remains active in the region and has also staged attacks in Niger and Mauritania.
Military collaboration
The BBC’s Martin Vogl in Mali’s capital Bamako says the Malian and Algerian governments will both be pleased to have Tuareg forces as part of their offensive against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Tuaregs know how to operate in the desert perhaps better than anyone else, he says.
Under the deal, special units of fighters from the Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC) are to be sent to the desert to tackle al-Qaeda.
Although the ADC signed a deal to end its rebellion three years ago, one of its factions is still active.
The Tuaregs, a historically nomadic people living in the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa, have had militant groups in Mali and Niger engaged in sporadic armed struggles for several decades.
Meanwhile, Mali, Algeria and Libya have reportedly agreed to work more closely against the group.
Mali’s President Amadou Toumani Toure said he had agreed to share information and military resources with his two counterparts.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mauritania army ‘to fight terror’
July 20th, 2009 |
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Gen Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz has vowed to tackle terrorism, as well as its causes, after being declared the winner of Saturday’s presidential election.
Gen Abdelaziz, who came to power in a coup last year, said the army would be strengthened.
Al-Qaeda’s North African cell has claimed several attacks in Mauritania – a US man was killed last month.
Gen Abdelaziz, who denied the election had been rigged, said fighting poverty and ignorance would also be priorities.
On Sunday officials announced he had won the poll outright, with 52% of the vote.
Even before the results were announced, his challengers said the outcome had been "prefabricated" and called for an international inquiry.
MAURITANIA ELECTION- Gen Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz
52% - Messaoud Ould Boulkheir
16% - Ahmed Ould Daddah
14%
Source: Interior Minister Mohamed Ould Rzeizim
But the general challenged the opposition to provide evidence to back up their claims.
"Whatever [they] say, our camp did not engage in fraud," he said.
"It’s not enough just to say there has been fraud – you have to provide proof."
In his first news conference after being declared the winner, Gen Abdelaziz said he took the threat of terrorism seriously.
"We need to fight terrorism in terms of security but also by improving the living conditions of the people and fighting ignorance."
Earlier, one of the main opposition candidates, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, told a news conference: "The results which are starting to come out show that it is an electoral charade which is trying to legitimise the coup."
A statement from the group of four challengers read: "We firmly reject these prefabricated results, secondly we call on the international community to put in place an inquiry to shed some light on the electoral process."
Mr Boulkheir, the outgoing speaker of parliament, came second with 16% of the vote, while veteran opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah came third with 14%, according to the official results.
Voter turnout was 61%, the election commission said.
Fighting terrorism had also been one of Gen Abdelaziz’s justifications for staging the August 2008 coup, which ousted Mauritania’s only democratically elected leader Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
He had been in power for less than a year and a half.
Last year’s Paris-Dakar rally was cancelled after the killing of a family of French tourists in Mauritania.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Obama Ghana Speech: FULL TEXT
July 11th, 2009 |
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Here are President Obama’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, from his speech to Ghana’s parliament, Saturday July 11, 2009.
Good morning. It is an honor for me to be in Accra, and to speak to the representatives of the people of Ghana. I am …
New autopsy after French unrest
July 10th, 2009 |
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A second autopsy has been ordered on the body of a young man whose death in police custody has caused three nights of rioting in a southern French town.
Police say Mohamed Benmouna, a 21-year-old of Algerian origin, died after trying to hang himself in a cell earlier this week.
Youths have set shops and cars on fire and battled riot police in the town of Firminy in reaction to the death.
Prosecutor Jacques Pin said he wanted to "remove all doubt" in the case.
A first examination of Mr Benmouna’s body on Thursday showed that he had died from "cardiac arrest by suffocation", he said.
Mr Benmouna had been arrested on suspicion of extortion.
The unrest in Firminy began on Tuesday, when youths burnt cars and threw stones at security forces.
On Thursday, in a third night of violence, several shops were destroyed by fire and police cars were damaged. Police responded with tear gas and said six people had been arrested.
The youths have challenged the official version of Mr Benmouna’s death – that he hung himself with cords from a mattress.
His family have called for calm, but have also filed a complaint to ask for a full investigation.
Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux repeated on Friday that the death had been a suicide.
"He was put in detention, and during his detention, he wanted to commit suicide and unfortunately, he did so," he told French radio.
In 2005, night-time rioting spread across France after two teenagers died in a Paris suburb. Residents said they had trying to escape from police.
The violence mainly affected areas that are home to immigrant communities, many of North African origin.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.