Africa

By Ismail Serageldin* Egypt is once more doing things its own unique way. After millions of people went into the streets and in 18 days that shook the world succeeded in toppling the regime of Hosny Mubarak after 30 years…

One day after a vote to exclude, Beji Caied Sebsi, the leader of the new political party, “Nida’a Tounes”, his supporters gather to protest. “It represents the beginning of dictatorship,” Beji Caied Sebsi said.  Under the new law all former…

Hundreds of Tunisian protesters have taken to the streets in the capital Tunis to voice their opposition to a draft law that is expected to ban the former regime’s officials from running in elections. Demonstrators gathered outside the country’s National…

New HIV infections among children have been reduced by 50 per cent or more in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the United Nations agency spearheading the global AIDS response said today. Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia have reduced…

Renewable energy could meet a rising share of the continent’s fast-growing power needs and support economic development in a sustainable manner. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) convened a major international strategy session on 22 and 23 June to discuss…

Developing countries rich in natural resources can make huge gains towards universal schooling if they managed resource revenues better and devoted a significant share to education, according to a United Nations study released today. The Education for All Global Monitoring Report study,…

The Zambian authorities must immediately release two young men who have been denied bail after being arrested on charges of having sex “against the order of nature”, Amnesty International said. According to state media, police in Kapiri Mposhi in central…

The upholding of a sentence against a blogger jailed for “insulting Islam” is yet another blow to freedom of expression in Tunisia, Amnesty International said. Jabeur Mejri’s conviction was today upheld by the Court of Cassation. The blogger was sentenced…

The Security Council today approved a 12,600-strong United Nations peacekeeping operation to take over from the African-led mission in Mali on 1 July and authorized the blue helmets “to use all necessary means” to carry out security-related stabilization tasks, protect…

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) welcomes the news that the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Africa was inaugurated today by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and Masdar, the renewable energy company of Abu Dhabi, the…