Daily Archives: February 23, 2015

South Africa

A hopeful story from Greater Hermanus

kairossouthernafrica

Churches in the western Cape, where unemployment is high, especially for first-time job seekers, support a program for young people to get job experience through a type of internship.

This morning I attended what was probably one of my most “spiritual” and hopeful experiences…what I experienced could also be called a “safe space sharing” experience.

Theo Krynauw from Sparkle Kids in Hermanus (www.sparklekids.co.za ) has now initiated a group called “Get on with it Hermanus”. This is a group of people who meet at a local restaurant once a month (the restaurant owner, Francois, is a member and he provides his space and some tea and coffee for free) and this is one of the few “multiracial” spaces in Hermanus where people from the communities of Zwelihle, Hawston, Mount Pleasant and Hermanus all come together. Continue reading A hopeful story from Greater Hermanus →

Environment

Prominent Climate Change Denier Funded by Koch Brothers, Energy Companies: Reports

Common Dreams
Willie Soon received $1.25 million over 14 years to write academic research stating climate change is not caused by human activity, newly released documents show

Harvard-Smithsonian researcher Willie Soon, who has denied that climate change is caused by human activity, took more than $1 million in funding from the energy industry, newly released documents show. (Screenshot)
Harvard-Smithsonian researcher Willie Soon, who has denied that climate change is caused by human activity, took more than $1 million in funding from the energy industry, newly released documents show. (Screenshot)

Harvard-Smithsonian researcher Willie Soon, who has denied that climate change is caused by human activity, took more than $1 million in funding from the energy industry, newly released documents show. (Screenshot)

A prominent climate change denier and researcher quietly took more than $1.2 million in payouts from the energy industry, including the Koch brothers and other oil lobbyists, for the past 14 years, newly released documents have shown.
Continue reading Prominent Climate Change Denier Funded by Koch Brothers, Energy Companies: Reports →

Nigeria

Democracy delayed

Africa Confidential

Even a six-week postponement of the elections looks unlikely to slow the momentum of opposition presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari

Such is the febrile mood in national politics that President Good-luck Jonathan felt compelled to tell delegations from the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States on 18 February that there were no plans to abandon the elections and form an Interim National Government. The idea of some form of backroom deal between selected members of the two leading political parties amid an engineered political stalemate brings back unhappy memories of the electoral crisis of 12 June 1993. That resulted in the eventual galling of election winner Moshood Abiola and ushered in a harsh and corrupt military regime led by General  Sani Abacha. Continue reading Democracy delayed →

Congo

Massacres highlight complexity of violence in DRC’s Beni Territory

IRIN

Downtown Beni. Recent massacres have led tens of thousands of people in the territory to flee their homes. Photo: Jessica Hatcher/IRIN
Downtown Beni. Recent massacres have led tens of thousands of people in the territory to flee their homes. Photo: Jessica Hatcher/IRIN

KINSHASA, 10 December 2014 (IRIN) – The murders of more than 250 men, women and children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Beni Territory in recent weeks have widely been blamed on an insurgency of Ugandan origin known as the Alliance of Democratic Forces-NALU (ADF-NALU). But several armed groups and racketeering gangs are active in the area and the culprits of these killings have not been incontrovertibly identified. Continue reading Massacres highlight complexity of violence in DRC’s Beni Territory →