Latest Headline News From Africa

[CPJ] On April 16 2012, the Zimbabwe Republic Police in the southern border town of Beitbridge arrested Robin Hammond, a freelance photojournalist with dual U.K. and New Zealand citizenship, as he reported on migration between Zimbabwe and neighboring South Africa, government-controlled state daily The Herald reported.

[Leadership] Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has disclosed that while huge amount of dollars has been in the last one year on pipeline repairs, a record volume of crude valued at $7billion has been lost to crude theft via illegal bunkering within the same period.

[African Arguments] As the rumour mill turns and suspicion runs rife, conflict is unfolding in eastern Congo's Kivu provinces once again, following three years of relative calm.

[The Herald] PRESIDENT Mugabe and his Zambian counterpart Michael Sata have been appointed United Nations international tourism ambassadors in recognition of the promotion and development of tourism. In an interview yesterday on the sidelines of the

[UN News] The Security Council today imposed a travel ban against five military officers who seized power from the civilian government in Guinea-Bissau last month, and urged Member States to ensure that the sanctioned individuals do not enter or transit through their territories.

[RNW Africa] Bamako - Huge posters plastered on walls in the capital Bamako tell it all: a map of Mali, tears rolling down the North and the South covered by a big question mark. In the wake of the Tuareg rebellion that began in January, Al Qaida affiliated Islamic extremists have taken control of many but not all towns in the North.

[The Herald] Wednesday's much anticipated court address by former Liberian leader Charles Taylor, convicted of war crimes at the International Criminal Court's Special Court on Sierra Leone, opened another can of worms and put the international justice system under spotlight. Taylor's 30-minute address affirmed what we have always questioned.

[State Department] Washington - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a $100 million cash transfer agreement with Tunisia as part of the Obama administration's efforts to support the country through its democratic transition since the January 2011 ouster of ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

[State Department] REMARKS

[IWPR] The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, ICC, has asked judges to issue new charges against two alleged warlords in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. While experts welcome the idea that rebel militia commanders should be held to account, they are still debating how much of a contribution justice mechanisms can make to protracted peace efforts in the region.

[WEF] Washington, DC - Over forty-five companies have committed to invest over US$ 3 billion in Africa's agricultural sector as part of the G8's New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security initiative, US President Barack Obama announced today.

[State Department] Washington - The U.S. State Department has successfully cleared a batch of unexploded munitions left by munitions-depot explosions in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.

[State Department] The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, May 17, 2012

[Worldwatch Institute] The Chicago Council on Global Affairs' annual symposium, Advancing Food and Nutrition Security at the 2012 G8 Summit, is underway this morning. Tune in to the

[UN News] As part of the United Nations' ongoing efforts to ensure the full restoration of constitutional rule in Mali and Guinea-Bissau, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for West Africa, Said Djinnit, will participate in an upcoming regional meeting on the political crises in the two countries.

[IRIN] Blantyre - A sizeable devaluation of Malawi's currency, aimed at reinvigorating the economy and wooing back international donors, has triggered steep increases in the price of basic goods and pushed many Malawians deeper into poverty.

[IPS] Dakar - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson says Malian soldiers who overthrew the government on Mar. 22 have neither the right to remain in power nor the strength to deal with humanitarian and security challenges facing the West African country.

[IRIN] Dakar-Bissau - On 16 May a transition pact brokered by the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) and signed by all parties except the majority PAIGC [African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde] - officially nominated Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo as Interim President of Guinea-Bissau for one year. The decision was made after weeks of political wrangling following a military coup on 12 April that interrupted presidential elections, in which ex- Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior from the PAIGC party

[Zimbabwe Independent] THE military and police chiefs have launched a spirited campaign on behalf of President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF ahead of the next do-or-die elections to regain ground lost to the MDC parties in the last polls.

[IPS] Juba - In the wake of border tensions the United Nations is airlifting 12,000 southerners from a Sudanese frontier town into South Sudan. But they are returning home in the midst of an economic crisis that has the U.N. warning it may appeal for more funding to scale up humanitarian operations.