{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 30 avril 2010 – www.sos-usa.org- April 30, 2010–After years of neglecting its AIDS crisis, South Africa is launching a massive effort to provide testing, prevention, and treatment services to its citizens.

RWANDA

Westrock Coffee to Buy New 56,000-SF Production Facility in NLR
By Arkansas Business Staff/4/30/2010

Westrock Coffee will purchase a 56,000-SF production facility in North Little Rock, company officials announced Thursday.

Westrock is based in North Little Rock, and was formerly known as Coffee Legends. The roughly $5 million production facility is located at 30 Collins Industrial Place.

Current roasting operations will relocate to the new facility to expand capacity and offer what Westrock officials call more consistent quality and efficient production using new automated roasting equipment.

“The relocation and expansion of our roasting facility will serve as the foundation for the continued growth of our roasting business,” said Steve McElhanon, Westrock CEO.

The facility is expected to be in production by the fourth quarter of 2010. Once the expansion is complete, Westrock will have about 25 employees in central Arkansas.

Westrock Coffee will roast coffees sourced from multiple coffee-growing regions. In addition, the company will roast premium Rwandan coffees shipped to the North Little Rock facility by Little Rock’s Rwanda Trading Company, which is a coffee processor and exporter that owns a green-coffee dry mill in Kigali, Rwanda.

Rwanda President Paul Kagame visited Arkansas this week and met with business executives as well as Rwanda students in the area.

“The business that Rwanda Trading Company and Westrock Coffee are developing both in Rwanda and in Arkansas is an excellent example of partnerships that Rwanda seeks, one that strengthens our economy by building a bridge to the U.S. market for products produced by the Rwandan people,” Kagame said in a news release about the expansion.

Rwanda Trading was established in 2009 by a group of former Alltel executives who went to Rwanda to find for-profit business opportunities that were capitalistic in nature and would also make a meaningful difference in the lives of Rwandans.

Since then, the company has invested several million dollars in the Kigali facility to improve working conditions and raise wages for employees. As a result, Rwanda Trading has significantly increased its exports. In 2010, the company projects exports will increase fourfold over the previous year.

“We have built a significant network of suppliers in Rwanda to improve the efficiency of the coffee supply chain in that country,” McElhanon said. “Our new facility in North Little Rock will enhance our ability to deliver premium Rwandan coffee products to our customers across the country.”

Both Westrock Coffee and Rwanda Trading are divisions of Westrock Coffee Holdings LLC, wholly owned by Little Rock-based Westrock Capital Partners, which invests in public and private securities of companies engaging in agriculture, communications, technology and certain other endeavors.

UGANDA

Students’ goal: Provide hope for Uganda
By CAROLYN CLICK – cclick@thestate.com /Friday, Apr. 30, 2010

Kaitlyn Scales hopes to travel to Uganda one day to see firsthand the rebuilding of the war-torn African country.

But for now, the Ridge View High senior will settle for raising money to aid and educate the children of war through Saturday’s second annual Hope 4 Uganda Rally. The event raises money for the humanitarian organization Invisible Children.

“Last year, we had people from all over, especially the East Coast, come to the concert,” said Scales, who is serving as co-chair of the event. Some parents of teenagers were so inspired they went home and established chapters to aid the nonprofit, she said.

Local and regional acts, plus two nationally recognized bands, will perform through the afternoon. When a band breaks, the education will begin, said Lisa Ellis, Ridge View’s director of student activities.

Guest speakers include Derreck Kayongo from CARE International and the Invisible Children East Coast Roadies.

The musical acts will include local band The Bitter Suite, made up of students from Richland Northeast High, regional bands All Get Out and Sequoyah Prep School, and nationally known acts Sing It Loud and Rocket to the Moon.

Ridge View already has raised about $15,000 for Invisible Children, money that goes to rebuild northern Uganda’s infrastructure and restore civil society, Ellis said.

Students in her Leadership 1 class at Ridge View researched organizations they wanted to support and were impressed with Invisible Children, which grew out of the work of three young filmmakers who toured Uganda and met children who had been recruited as child soldiers.

“We have a strong winter project, Winter Wishes, that helps locally, but we wanted to have a spring project that is more global,” she said.

Ellis has also become inspired.

She spent part of last summer in Uganda with the Invisible Children summer teacher exchange, a program that partners American teachers with Ugandan teachers, she said.

“We team teach,” said Ellis, who plans to return this summer. “The idea is that the Ugandan teacher has content and curriculum but may not have the (up-to-date) teaching strategies.”

Scales, who will co-chair the event along with senior Kaity Chandler, said she hopes Saturday’s event will help spread the word about the organization and its work.

“More and more students in our school have become aware of the program and what is accomplishes,” she said. “The purpose of this is to expand it.”

Uganda: Historic LRA/Uganda Legislation Takes Crucial Step Forward in US House of Representatives
Resolve Uganda
30 April 2010/United States Congress (Washington, DC) /allafrica.com

Washington, DC — Yesterday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted unanimously to approve the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, making the legislation eligible to be voted on by the full United States House of Representatives. If approved by the full House, where it has the support of 187 bipartisan cosponsors, the legislation will be sent to President Obama’s desk.

“The committee’s vote is a ringing endorsement of this legislation and reflects unprecedented consensus in Congress that President Obama should be taking much stronger steps to stop LRA attacks against innocent civilians and children in central Africa,” said Michael Poffenberger, Executive Director of the Washington-based advocacy organization Resolve Uganda.

The bill seeks to help end one Africa’s longest-running conflicts by requiring the Obama Administration to develop a multilateral strategy to help permanently stop LRA violence and generate increased American assistance to address the needs of displaced persons, former child soldiers, and other civilians affected by the conflict. An identical version of the legislation passed the US Senate in March 2010 with 65 cosponsors.

“I’m very pleased that this important, bipartisan legislation will be moving to the House floor,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), an original cosponsor of the bill, said. “It is crucial that the United States commit to a proactive strategy to help bring this conflict to an end and to strengthen humanitarian assistance.”

“LRA leader Joseph Kony is driving this crisis. Ensuring United States leadership in ending his reign of terror is the goal of this legislation, and the many Americans who have backed it. Kony must be stopped,” declared Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), a former Africa subcommittee chairman and an original cosponsor of the legislation.

“Congressional leadership towards a resolution to this conflict could not come at a more urgent time,” Poffenberger said. “LRA violence is now destabilizing three countries, and poses a grave threat to the fragile peace deal between North and South Sudan. In the past year, LRA rebels have abducted hundreds of children in Congo, and more in South Sudan and Central African Republic. The failure of the international community to respond effectively to these atrocities is an outrage.”

The House Committee vote comes on the heels of massive US grassroots mobilization efforts aimed at generating Congressional support for increased action on the crisis from the Obama Administration. Nearly 2000 US citizens came to Washington, DC in June 2009 and hundreds more have participated in home district lobbying campaigns this year to lobby for the bill’s passage.

“Congress is on its way to giving President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a clear mandate to take more effective steps to help permanently end this conflict. What’s needed now is momentum within the Administration towards addressing LRA violence in a comprehensive manner, including by developing adequate mechanisms to protect civilians and abductees and facilitate the defection of LRA fighters,” said John Prendergast, Co-founder of the Enough Project.

“To permanently stop LRA attacks though, a viable strategy should include a multilateral, targeted effort to apprehend Kony and top LRA leaders,” added Prendergast.

The US legislation would also commit the United States to increase support to transitional justice efforts in Uganda, and press the Ugandan government to prioritize recovery of war-affected areas and progress on national reconciliation initiatives.

TANZANIA:

East Africa: Naturalisation of Burundian Refugees in Tanzania – A New Home?
Lucy Hovil/PAMBAZUKA NEWS/allafrica.com/30 April 2010

It is rare for host countries to offer refugees citizenship, especially in a context such as the Great Lakes region where millions have been displaced. Instead, most governments wait for circumstances to change so that refugees can go back to their home country.

Tanzania, however, has taken the bold and commendable decision to offer citizenship to 162,000 Burundian refugees who fled their country in 1972 and who have since been living as refugees in Tanzania. While it is important not to detract from the level of generosity that this demonstrates, the process itself has revealed a fundamental disjuncture between rhetoric and reality. Only when the gap between the two has substantially reduced, it is argued, can it be judged a success.

First, official UN reports claim that the refugees have been granted citizenship. Yet recent phone interviews with those who have apparently just received citizenship show that they have not been given their certificates of citizenship and have been told not to leave the settlements in which they are living. The reason for this, they are told, is that their citizenship status is actually contingent upon them being relocated to other areas of Tanzania. Only when they are moved will they get their certificates. To refer to them as citizens seems somewhat premature given that these ‘Tanzanians’ are neither allowed freedom of movement, nor the security of having the necessary and vital documentation to prove their new status.

These former refugees have spent the past 38 years cultivating the land kindly provided to them by the government and have built up strong communities with those around them – not least because they have lacked freedom of movement so have been unable to integrate freely with Tanzanians living in the surrounding areas. The government of Tanzania is free to encourage movement, but as Tanzanian citizens they have the right to choose where they want to live and can only be moved forcibly in narrowly circumscribed circumstances. They certainly should not have to undergo what essentially amounts to another displacement. In addition to potentially violating their rights as citizens of the country, such movement will also undermine their economic self-sufficiency – which is concerning in a country where livelihoods are already precarious. Previous research has shown that this group are hugely concerned about the social, cultural and economic viability of being relocated across the country. For instance, moving them away from the place that has been their “home” for the past 38 years means they will lose their extended family connections and their current fixed assets (such as their houses). Yet they are caught: without their certificates, they are unable to access their rights as Tanzanian citizens, including the acquisition of business licenses, equal access to secondary education and medical treatment (for more information see Going Home or Staying Home).

Furthermore, history has shown that public statements about the granting of citizenship do not always translate into full citizenship for individuals. Rwandan refugees who were offered mass naturalisation by the Tanzanian government in the late 1970s with a similar public profile were still waiting ten years later for their certificates, despite having been “naturalised”. At the end of the day, the proof of the success of this exercise is not in the declaration that these former refugees are now Tanzanian citizens, but in ensuring the realisation of the rights attached to citizenship.

Second, there is concern about what will happen to those whose application for naturalisation is rejected. Currently there appears to be no system for informing those whose applications are unsuccessful, and there is no understanding of what will happen to them. As previously documented by the International Refugee Rights Initiative, many of those who missed the opportunity to apply for naturalisation did so as a result of basic administrative errors. Yet with no process for appeal in place, the future for those who are not accepted remains unknown and needs to be clarified urgently.

The third concern relates to the situation of other Burundian refugees living in Tanzania who have not been included in the naturalisation process, many of whom are refugees who fled Burundi in the 1990s and are therefore not being considered eligible. These refugees fall into two main categories: first, 36,000 refugees living in the last remaining camp for Burundian refugees, Mtabila, who are coming under intense pressure to return to Burundi regardless of whether or not they have legitimate concerns about repatriating; and second, self-settled refugees (or irregular movers as they are known officially) who have fallen off the official radar. In the case of the latter, there has been some indication that those in this group who fled in 1972 might be offered the option of applying for citizenship. However, uncertainty remains.

Of specific concern is the fact that conditions in Mtabila camp have deteriorated rapidly over the last year. Schools have been closed for months leaving more than 12,000 children without education, income-generating activities have been officially suspended, and even going to church was no allowed until recently when prayers were allowed to resume under strict conditions. Only basic medical and relief services are still being provided – as one refugee put it grimly, “only services to keep refugees from dying are still being given.” With such considerable push factors, questions have to be asked as to why this group of refugees is not returning to Burundi where, surely, life could not be any worse? Yet many continue to insist that they fear individual persecution if they return to Burundi (see I Don’t Know Where to Go). Burundi is making progress in its painful transition out of decades of violence and conflict towards stability. Yet not surprisingly, numerous problems remain unresolved, not least the massive deficit of justice in the country and enormous problems relating to the re-acquisition of land (see Two People Cannot Wear the Same Pair of Shoes). The situation in Mtabila, therefore, represents something of a standoff between a government that refuses to do anything that might encourage them to stay, and a group of refugees who stubbornly refuse to return. But it is a deadlock that cannot be allowed to continue to serve as an excuse for violations of the rights of the displaced.

So what is the outlook for Burundian refugees in Tanzania? For those in Mtabila camp, it is imperative that protection continues to be offered to this group of refugees. The cessation clause in the 1951 Refugee Convention – which would effectively rescind refugee status for Burundians living in Tanzania – has not been applied. Even if it were to be applied, refugees must have an opportunity to make an individual case for continued protection. The government must guarantee that refugees are not forcibly returned and alternative solutions are sought. Likewise the government needs to be clear about the situation for self-settled refugees.

For those in the midst of the current naturalisation process, it is vital that successful applicants receive their citizenship certificates and are not forced to move from the settlement. In addition, the Tanzanian government, along with UNHCR, needs to be far more transparent and accurate in how it is portraying the situation. We hope that the time will come when the international community – and Tanzania’s new citizens – can genuinely congratulate and thank the government for offering this group the opportunity of citizenship and all the rights which are bou
nd up in that. But in the meantime, rhetoric needs to be translated into a reality that allows these new Tanzanians to fully realise their rights as full citizens.

Dr Lucy Hovil is a senior researcher at the International Refugee Rights Initiative.

Mantra Resources confirms Tanzania uranium project potential
Friday, April 30, 2010/www.proactiveinvestors.com.au

Mantra Resources (ASX: MRU, TSX: MRL) has reported that the results obtained from the first month of a two month test work program, at the fully integrated metallurgical pilot plant at ANSTO in Australia, have clearly confirmed the conceptual process flowsheet included in the Mkuju River Project Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) completed in February 2010.

The Mkuju River Project is located in southern Tanzania. In January 2010 Mantra announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate of 82.3 million tonnes averaging 464 ppm U3O8 for a contained 84.3 million pounds of U3O8 at a lower cut-off grade of 200 ppm U3O8.

The integrated pilot plant was operated for a period of 28 continuous days in March utilising feed material representing the first seven years of production. All parameters from the PFS were used as a base case operating scenario.

During this program the results indicated that the flowsheet could be considerably improved in various areas. These improvements were introduced during the pilot plant run and the plant consistently confirmed these initiatives.

Acid consumption in the leach was maintained in the order of 6-8 kg/tonne; well below the PFS parameter of 12 kg/tonne. The leach was operated at an ambient temperature leach with no addition of iron or oxidant.

Average leach recoveries of 87% were consistent with the PFS, although a record recovery of 91% was achieved during testwork with high head grade feed.

The resin absorption stage ran well with no resin fouling noted and a consistent 99.7 percent absorption rate was maintained throughout the campaign.

The direct precipitation circuit produced a high quality yellow cake, thus confirming the elimination of the solvent extraction plant.

The refining stage produced a final product yellow cake (UO4) within chemical and physical specification of major uranium off-take converters.

During the neutralisation stage a locally sourced Tanzanian limestone was used successfully which may result in considerable cost savings over the originally envisaged, imported product.

Mantra said in light of these positive aspects, the company will now commence a modified test work campaign focused on evaluating the potential to further reduce operating costs.

The company will also improve overall uranium recoveries through a combination of: decreasing the temperature in the elution process; increasing resin loadings; using a larger resin bead; optimization of the lime addition; and piloting the opportunity to leach the scatted material to recover uranium in the tailings stream.

Peter Breese, Chief Executive Officer, said the modified campaign will run for the entire month of May and will again be fed a composite of ore representing the first seven years of production. The results of this campaign will be released during June.

CONGO RDC :

Top UN man in DR Congo mission as unrest escalates
By Thomas Fessy /BBC News, Kinshasa / 30 April 2010

The UN’s top humanitarian official has flown into the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo as armed groups continue to spread insecurity.

John Holmes will travel to three provinces where humanitarian workers face increasingly difficult conditions.

He will also visit a region where tens of thousands of people have reportedly been forced to flee their homes.

Human rights abuses such as rapes and lootings are reported regularly in the country.

Fighting and banditry

Mr Holmes will visit the Kivu region, where a military campaign backed by the UN against Rwandan Hutu rebels has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Aid workers say better protection for civilians was promised at the end of similar joint military operations last year.

But, in reality, human rights abuses such as rapes and lootings are reported regularly.

And, they say, displacements of populations are constant. The situation is becoming increasingly difficult for humanitarian workers whose operations have been restricted by fighting and banditry.

As a result, thousands of people in need are left with no assistance.

Mr Holmes is also travelling to the north-eastern part of the country, where attacks by Ugandan rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army on villages are still frequent.

His Congo tour will eventually take him to the western province of Equateur, where a recent insurgency by Enyele fighters has pushed thousands of people into the bush.

The Congolese authorities have asked the UN mission to prepare for a withdrawal; Mr Holmes will be discussing civilian protection issues with President Joseph Kabila on Monday.

KENYA :

ANGOLA :

Boeing, TAAG Linhas Aereas de Angola Announce Order for Two 777-300ERs
April 30, 2010 /www.marketwatch.com

Order includes purchase rights for two additional 777-300ERs

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Boeing /quotes/comstock/13*!ba/quotes/nls/ba (BA 73.79, +1.42, +1.96%) and Angola’s TAAG Linhas Aereas de Angola (Angola Airlines) today announced the airline ordered two 777-300ERs (Extended Range) in a deal that also includes purchase rights for two additional 777-300ER jetliners.

Angola Minister of Transports Dr. Augusto da Silva Tomas and TAAG Chairman Dr. Pimentel Araujo joined several senior U.S. government and Boeing officials to celebrate the order at the Corporate Council on Africa U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference in Washington, D.C.

The two 777-300ERs are valued at approximately $544 million at list prices. The order originally was posted as unidentified on Boeing’s Orders & Deliveries Web site in 2009.

TAAG, the flag carrier for Angola, will use the airplanes for route expansion to additional European destinations. TAAG currently flies Boeing 777-200ERs 10 times weekly from Luanda, Angola, to Lisbon, twice weekly to Beijing via Dubai and four times weekly to Rio de Janeiro.

“The efficiency, reliability and popularity of the 777 family will contribute to TAAG re-establishing itself as one of Africa’s premier airlines,” said Marlin Dailey, vice president, Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “With this purchase Boeing recognizes TAAG’s continuing commitment to our products and services as an all-Boeing carrier, and we honor that commitment. We look forward to continue working together with TAAG as a long-term, trusted partner.”

“The Boeing 777-300ER is recognized by airlines and passengers alike as the No. 1 choice for long-distance travel. These two 777s will add to our current fleet of 777s so that we can expand our premium service offerings to Europe.” Dr. Araujo said.

U.S. Government officials present included John D. Porcari, deputy secretary, Department of Transportation and Fred Hochberg, chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

The Boeing 777-300ER is 19 percent lighter than its closest competitor, greatly reducing its fuel requirement. It produces 22 percent less carbon dioxide per seat and costs 20 percent less to operate per seat. The airplane can seat up to 365 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a maximum range of 7,930 nautical miles (14,685 km). The 777 family is the world’s most successful twin-engine, twin-aisle airplane. Sixty customers around the world have ordered more than 1,100 777s.

Contact:

Andrew Davis

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Communications

+44 20 8235 5664

Andrew.davis2@boeing.com

SOURCE Boeing

SOUTH AFRICA:

S. African Ratings Safe From Greek Fallout, Business Day Says
By Nasreen Seria/Bloomberg/April 30

April 30 (Bloomberg) — South Africa’s credit ratings won’t be negatively affected by the downgrading of Greece’s debt, Business Day reported, citing analysts from Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service.

Fitch said South Africa’s economic outlook is much better as growth improves and the budget deficit eases, the Johannesburg-based newspaper reported. Standard & Poor’s said there’s little risk of “contagion” from credit rating downgrades in Greece, Portugal and Spain, Business Day said.

Fitch, which rates South Africa’s debt at BBB+ with a negative outlook, plans to reassess its rating in November, Business Day said.

South Africa Speeding Up Fight Against AIDS
www.sos-usa.org/April 30, 2010

April 29, 2010: After years of neglecting its AIDS crisis, South Africa is launching a massive effort to provide testing, prevention, and treatment services to its citizens. An estimated 5.7 million South Africans are HIV-positive, the most of any country.

According to The New York Times, on Sunday, April 25, President Jacob Zuma unveiled an initiative to test 15 million of the nation’s 49 million people for the virus by June 2011. In scale and timeframe, South Africa’s anti-AIDS campaign marks the most monumental attempt by any nation to stem the scourge, say United Nations officials. The government plans to test for HIV all patients who enter the nation’s public health system. Because South Africa is short of physicians, it will train thousands of nurses to dispense AIDS drugs. It will also broaden access to drugs for HIV-positive pregnant women and babies.

To help prevent HIV, President Zuma announced that male circumcision, which the World Health Organization suggests can half a man’s risk of getting HIV, will be offered nationwide in 2011.

SOS Children’s Villages in South Africa Giving Hope to AIDS Orphans

South Africa’s children have been profoundly affected by the nation’s HIV/AIDS pandemic. SOS Children’s Villages has been providing loving homes to the nation’s vulnerable children for nearly 30 years. With eight SOS Children’s Villages and a complement of youth facilities, schools, clinics, and counselling centers, SOS provides practical assistance for children and families devastated by HIV/AIDS.

SOS believes that every child should grow up in a family with love, respect, and care. SOS provides family-based care for children without parental care. SOS children affected by AIDS are well fed and clothed and are given the medical attention they deserve. In their own communities they often face stigma and discrimination. SOS treats them like the precious children they are.

Offering Concrete Help to AIDS-Affected Families
SOS’s philosophy is based on the principle that children should remain with their biological families whenever possible. In addition to raising AIDS orphans, SOS also offers advice, free tests, and drug treatment to families affected by AIDS, with the goal of keeping households intact and able to care for their children.

AFRICA / AU :

AngloGold, ArcelorMittal, Liberty: South Africa Equity Preview
April 30, 2010/By Janice Kew/Bloomberg

April 30 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.

South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose 191.49, or 0.7 percent, to 28,716.27 in Johannesburg, after yesterday’s 2.7 percent decline.

Absa Group Ltd. (ASA SJ): South Africa’s third-largest bank said first-quarter profit more than doubled to 167 million pounds ($265.5 million) because of a pension-fund surplus and the rand’s appreciation against the British pound.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG SJ): Gold gained, poised for its strongest month since November, as the escalating European debt crisis helps rekindle investor interest in the precious metal. AngloGold, Africa’s largest gold producer, gained 4.10 rand, or 1.4 percent, to 306.95 rand.

ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. (ACL SJ): Africa’s largest steel producer will announce the amount it may be liable to pay for the iron ore it has received at the end of its fiscal second quarter if it fails to resolve a dispute over discounted ore with Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. ArcelorMittal rose 12 cents, or 0.1 percent, to 88.10 rand.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BIL SJ): Copper rose, paring the biggest weekly loss in almost three months, as a weaker dollar bolsters investment demand for commodities and the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, advanced 1.82 rand, or 0.8 percent, to 236 rand.

BSI Steel Ltd. (BSS SJ): The steel trader and processor said it’s in talks that may affect its shares. BSI fell 4 cents, or 6.8 percent, to 55 cents.

Liberty International Plc (LBT SJ): Deutsche Bank AG equity analyst Christopher Spearing cut his recommendation on the largest owner of U.K. shopping malls to “sell” from “hold.” Liberty slid 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, to 55.50 rand.

SABMiller Plc (SAB SJ): Chongqing Brewery Co., part-owned by Carlsberg A/S, said the Danish brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, and SABMiller Plc’s Chinese venture submitted bids to buy the 12.25 percent stake its parent offered for sale. SABMiller, the world’s second-biggest brewer, rose 3.49 rand, or 1.5 percent, to 232 rand.

Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ): Macquarie Research raised its recommendation on the world’s biggest maker of motor fuel from coal to “outperform” from “neutral” on the outlook for oil prices. Sasol’s 12-month share-price estimate was raised to 380 rand, from 300 rand, Johannesburg-based analyst Caroline Learmonth wrote in a note dated today. Sasol slid 1.20 rand, or 0.4 percent, to 299.80 rand.

Vukile Property Fund Ltd. (VKE SJ): The property holding and investment company said it plans to buy nine properties from Sanlam Ltd. for 527 million rand ($71.6 million). The companies had previously agreed that Vukile would buy 13 properties for 775 million rand. Vukile fell 8 cents, or 0.7 percent, to 12.08 rand.

Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:

Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) rose 2.7 percent to $21.98. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) gained 1.4 percent to $41.63. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) increased 0.7 percent to $63.85. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) was unchanged at $5.02. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) slid 0.2 percent to $13.26. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) lost 0.6 percent to $9.64. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) increased 1.3 percent to $28.15. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) rose 1.7 percent to $4.26. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) increased 0.4 percent to $40.45.

–Editors: Gavin Serkin, Paul Richardson.

UN /ONU :

UN Pleads For $190m To Help Starving Niger
Friday April 30, 2010 /news.sky.com/Emma Hurd, Africa correspondent

The United Nations has appealed for urgent assistance for Niger as a hunger crisis takes hold of the country.
At least 7.9 million people – more than half the population – are facing severe food shortages in the west African nation.

The country, two-thirds of which is Sahara desert, has been blighted by erratic rains that have destroyed successive harvests.

John Holmes, the UN aid chief, said: “There is an urgent need to scale up food aid, fodder for the animals of pastoralists and nutritional support for the most vulnerable parts of the population, particularly the children.”

Mr Holmes, who is visiting Niger as part as an effort to raise funds, has toured an emergency feeding centre in the town of Tanou.

The centre 600 miles east of the capital Niarney is full of babies showing the signs of acute malnutrition.

Outside, skeletal livestock gathered around a watering hole as Mr Holmes and his entourage spoke to the local residents about their plight.

One woman said her crops had failed for four years running as she appealed for help.

Some of the people have been surviving on the bitter berries from the local Anza bush, which are usually considered inedible.

The UN has appealed for $190m (£124m) for Niger – but so far donors have pledged only $60m (£39m).

The UN’s World Food Programme is “redoubling” its food assistance to the country to try to stave off a repeat of the 2005 crisis when hundreds of thousands of children suffered severe malnutrition.

Niger is being run by a military junta which deposed President Mamadou Tandja in January.

The new regime has welcomed outside assistance in sharp contrast to the old rulers who rejected international intervention despite repeated food shortages.

U.N. Intervenes To Prevent Rape In War Zones
www.npr.org/April 30, 2010

April 29, 2010 The numbers are astounding: hundreds of thousands of women caught in the cross fires of war are raped and subjected to other horrific sexual violence. The United Nations is now stepping up its efforts to prevent rape in war zones. Host Michel Martin discusses strategies to stop rape as a weapon of war with Margot Wallstrom; she’s the United Nations’ special representative on sexual violence in conflict.

MICHEL MARTIN, host:

I’m Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News.

Coming up, justice has been delayed for decades for victims of Argentina’s nearly decade-long Dirty War against left wing opponents where thousands of citizens were kidnapped, tortured and murdered. But in the case of one former leader of the military junta, justice is denied no longer. Argentina’s last dictator was just sentenced to prison for his role in the violence. We’ll hear what that means to two women whose lives were changed forever by that war. We’ll have that conversation in just a few minutes.

But first, we focus on a tactic of war that is going on right now as we speak in many parts of the world. We’re going to talk about rape as a weapon of war. And we recognize that this is a difficult subject and might not be appropriate for all listeners. But we can’t ignore it because the numbers are staggering. Hundreds of thousands of women in conflict zones around the world have been or are now becoming victims of rape and sexual torture.

And as we know, for many victims the pain does not end with the assaulted self. Many of these women become infected with HIV/AIDS and other diseases. They may become pregnant with children of the men who brutalized them. And many become outcasts, disowned by their families and communities.

But now, the United Nations has ramped up a campaign to end systemic sexual violence in war. That effort is called Stop Rape Now and it is led by Margot Wallstrom. She’s the United Nations’ special representative on sexual violence in conflict. She’s the first to hold this position and she’s just returned from a fact finding visit to the Congo. And we’re pleased that she’s with us now in our Washington, D.C. studio. Welcome, thank you for joining us.

Ms. MARGOT WALLSTROM (Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, United Nations): Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: On this program, as you might imagine, we’ve covered this issue a number of times and we focused on several conflict zones in Africa, including the Congo. But since you’ve just returned, I’d like to ask you to tell us the scope of the problem and tell us what you saw at the Panzi Hospital particularly.

Ms. WALLSTROM: Is it still a large problem and it’s well documented since many years now. I visited hospitals. I spoke to women survivors. I met with local leaders. I met with the police and ministers, of course, from the government. And I would say that it is difficult to you cannot be prepared for what you see.

For example, at the Panzi Hospital where Dr. Mukwege is doing a wonderful job, or Heal Africa, and their stories have to be retold and remembered because it’s all about them. And I think at the same to decide it is possible. If we can ban cluster bombs, we can ban sexual violence in conflict, in war and conflict.

MARTIN: Just to sort of (unintelligible) the conversation just a little bit, one of the things that your reports have found are that other outside investigators have found is that some 60 percent of these women have been gang raped by armed men. In some cases, they have literally been – their bodies have been torn apart by things being forced into their bodies just to give us a sense.

But one of the things you have talked about repeatedly in your testimony to various bodies is that there’s a part of us that accepts this, rape as a tool of war. People say, well, that’s just, you know, going back to the Trojan War. So the question I have for you is where do you even start to change that mentality, that this is something inevitable, that it cannot be stopped?

Ms. WALLSTROM: Well, maybe we should start by noticing progress that actually today the United Nations has brought together 13 agencies. They work as one to fight this problem, address this problem. The security council has put it on top of their agenda. They have decided that this is all about peace, women and security. It’s a security issue. And it can be either commanded, condoned or condemned in war and on groups and armies. And that is very important to realize.

So they’ve decided that this is something that we have to address at the international level. And I’m happy to report to the security council and work for the secretary general on this issue. We have to fight impunity because this is part of the problem.

We have to make sure that the political leaders take responsibility for this issue. We have to understand that this is a tactic or a consequence of war and conflict. And that it can be addressed. And we also have to bring together, to coordinate better all our efforts and we have to do more on prevention to understand also why how do their perpetrators think.

MARTIN: I have a delicate question to ask you. According to the information from the U.N. Stop Rape Now campaign, more than 40,000 women were raped during the Bosnia and Herzegovina war, but more than 10 times as many, up to half a million women were raped during the Rwanda genocides, some thousands during in Sierra Leone, many more thousands in Darfur. And I wonder if part of the problem in mobilizing attention for this issue is that it’s perceived to be an African problem and it doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of the world.

Ms. WALLSTROM: Yeah. It’s important to realize that it is not an African problem. It is not cultural, it’s criminal. And that’s where we start. And that is also why I will focus not only on African countries, but also look at other parts of the world and other countries where this is a scourge of war and conflict.

MARTIN: I heard you say where you feel that the top governmental leadership around the world is addressing this issue, particularly through the United Nations. But is there any sign that a change of attitude is taking place on the ground where these women are being brutalized even as we speak?

Ms. WALLSTROM: Well, I think, unfortunately, what we have to address is the fact that there is this wide gap in between what you can say a good legislation, a robust legislation in many countries, but the capacity on the ground to actually change things and the implementation of these great laws that have been introduced. So this is what we have to look at. Why is it that the political leadership, they adopt these great laws, but then nothing happens on the ground to change the situation for women.

MARTIN: And, finally, many of our listeners will say, this is horrible, what can I do? What can someone listening to us now do?

Ms. WALLSTROM: Well, they can actually look at the website of U.N. Action and Stop Rape Now campaign. They can raise it, they can discuss it and debate it in different forums. They can raise it with political leaders. They can ask them what they do. And I think that actually peer pressure as well among men. So we want to mobilize men as well. This is not a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue.

MARTIN: Margot Wallstrom is the United Nations’ special representative on sexual violence in conflict. She’s the first person to hold this position. And she was kind enough to stop by our Washington, D.C. studio during her day of meetings here. And we thank you so much for speaking with us.

Ms. WALLSTROM: Thank you.

USA :

Africa: Entrepreneurship, Infrastructure Vital to Continent’s Development
Charles W. Corey/America.gov (Washington, DC) /allafrica.com/30 April 2010

Just minutes after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton officially closed the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, the fourth annual U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference opened nearby on April 27.

Many of the 25 African entrepreneurs from 10 African countries who attended the entrepreneurship summit stayed on to attend the infrastructure conference sponsored by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).

At the opening reception, CCA President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hayes told America.gov that infrastructure is Africa’s biggest need, and that entrepreneurs are “absolutely vital” to Africa’s economic development and growth. “I think the entrepreneurship summit was something that was badly needed in terms of the emphasis it puts on entrepreneurs — there is probably not another thing more needed in Africa.”

Mima S. Nedelcovych, managing director of professional services company Schaffer Global Group and a former U.S. representative to the African Development Bank, agreed, telling America.gov that entrepreneurs are “absolutely critical” to business.

Nedelcovych, who has worked much of his career in the U.S.-Africa business environment, called entrepreneurs “the people who make things happen.”

“Today,” he said, “you have the second- and third-generation children of traders who made money in transactions and who are now schooled, saying ‘We really need to move things into proper business and industry'” formats.

Entrepreneurs need the right conditions — and predictable conditions — to flourish, he said. “If you only know the rules of the game are going to be good for a year or two, of course you are only going to do transactions and trading. You are not going to take a seven-year or 10-year loan to put up a factory. You have got to know that you have a steady environment that won’t disappear on you.” Entrepreneurs need assurances that their investments will be protected well into the future, he said.

Anthony Carroll, managing director of the Washington-based international business advisory company Manchester Trade Ltd., said Africa needs more mid-level entrepreneurs.

“I think where Africa has been constrained over the years is the missing middle of entrepreneurship. Those companies are made up of entrepreneurs who are above the microenterprise level but below the large level. Historically, in our economy and in other developed economies, the real engines for growth are those middle levels. … Those are the people we really want to reach out to. Those are the people who are going to be the engines of their economies” because they can create jobs and wealth, move economies forward, and be champions of good governance and transparency.

Kevin R. Boyd, director of the Africa program at the U.S. Department of Commerce, said President Obama’s entrepreneurship summit was critical because “while you can have governments creating the groundwork for entrepreneurship and economic growth, the key to it is to have the private sector doing things.”

When you look at job numbers, he said, it is often entrepreneurs who actually create jobs and stimulate economic growth across the continent.

Sola Adegbola, group managing director H.S. Petroleum Ltd. of Nigeria, said the entrepreneurship summit was an opportunity for American and African businesses and entrepreneurs to network — to see what opportunities are available. Africa, he said, is a “virgin economy” not only for foreign investors but for African entrepreneurs as well.

Entrepreneurs “are everything in Africa,” he said, because apart from entrepreneurs and businesses in Africa, all you have is governments. The rise of a new middle class is essential for Africa’s continued entrepreneur-sparked growth and development, he added.

One of the 25 African entrepreneurs who participated in the summit and attended the reception was Papa Yusupha Njie, chief executive officer of information and communications technology company Unique Solutions in The Gambia. Njie said the summit provided an opportunity for him to reconnect with banking colleagues he had known in the past, and that he expected to remain in touch and do business with them.

Unique Solutions is a wireless Internet provider developing a network for banks in Gambia. “Right now, we are building a platform for the central bank to allow real-time settlement and also partnering” with Nigeria to allow electronic payments in our part of the world, point of sales and [automated teller machine] cards.”

“I have always said entrepreneurship is not a destination; it is a journey. Coming to this summit has allowed me the chance to meet others on a similar journey,” he said.

Blacks Show New Trust In U.S. Government
by Cheryl Corley /www.npr.org/April 30, 2010

The number of African-Americans who say they trust the U.S. government is nearly twice the number of whites who say that. The finding, from a recent poll on trust in America, is a sharp turnaround from previous years.

Blacks have never trusted government in the same way whites have, though the ups and downs have normally tracked those of white Americans. But that’s no longer the case, according to a Pew Research Center study designed to gauge Americans’ trust in government.

African-Americans don’t have a monolithic view of government — but most blacks are Democrats, and trust in government usually increases when your party is in power. So in January 2009, confidence in government really spiked for African-Americans when Barack Obama was sworn in as president.

Seeing Hope In New Policies

One year in, the Obama administration gets credit for the new health care law. Judson Mitchell, a retired college administrator, says that’s a clear indication that the president wants to help people.

“That’s 30 million people that don’t have insurance. That’s what government can do for people,” Mitchell says, “is to ensure that those people have some coverage, because the current health system did not work.”

African-Americans’ trust in government has tripled from a low point of 12 percent in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, to 37 percent in the Pew Research study.

“It’s sort of the countertrend to what we’re seeing with a lot of the anti-government demonstrations,” says Pew Center Associate Director Carroll Doherty.

“It’s not that African-Americans are entirely content with government,” Doherty says, “but the way the trends are among whites, African-Americans stand out as having a less negative view of government currently than whites do certainly.”

MacArthur’s Restaurant on Chicago’s West Side is a popular spot — especially for the Sunday after-church dinner crowd.
Llou Johnson is just beginning to eat his meal. Big Llou , as he’s called, has an even bigger voice. He’s an actor and voice-over artist who says he trusts government.

“It has been government that has taken us from slavery to our situation that we’re currently in,” Johnson says, “where we can live and do what we want how we want — in most cases.”

But Mary Rabb, a registered nurse, has a decidedly different view.

“Black people don’t trust government,” she says.

Rabb says she likes President Obama but has more of a wait-and-see attitude about government in general.

“Local government will be all out in their neighborhoods and talking about what programs they have available,” Rabb says, “and when it’s all said and done, they don’t see any changes in their neighborhoods.”

Easing A Sense Of Distrust

While the Obama factor has caused an uptick in trust levels for blacks, it’s been an altogether different story historically, says Shayla Nunnally, a professor of political science and African-American studies at the University of Connecticut.

“Throughout time, we’ve generally seen that African-Americans have been less trusting than whites and other racial groups as far as political trust,” Nunnally says.

For that, you can blame slavery, Jim Crow laws, and events such as the Tuskegee experiments — the 40-year study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Department in which hundreds of black men were left untreated for syphilis.

When President Bill Clinton apologized in 1997, 94-year-old Herman Shaw, one of the last survivors, was present. At the time, he said, “The wounds that were inflicted on us cannot be undone.”

A turning point came in 1965, when after a long civil rights struggle, the Voting Rights Bill was signed. And then came an almost euphoric surge of confidence, with President Obama’s election. Even so, the Pew study reports that nearly half the African-Americans surveyed, 48 percent, said they are frustrated with government.

“The type of hope that was generated through the Obama campaign has been pretty much squandered,” says Michael Dawson, a University of Chicago political science professor who studies race and politics.

“From the majority of African-Americans’ perspective, its directly related to believing that the government hasn’t done all that it could, or all that was promised, in terms of improving the situation of all Americans — particularly those who are disadvantaged,” Dawson says.

That includes not doing enough to combat high levels of unemployment, and racial profiling.

A Black Agenda?

That analysis rings true for Carl West, 40, who recently attended a panel discussion on whether the Obama administration should have a “black agenda.”

Such an agenda, West says, would focus on “how a disgusted minority community are going to be taken care of — not taken care of in the sense of handouts — but how we’re going to see a situation that will make us have trust in our government. Because at the end of the day, he is our government.”

It’s really too early to say whether government has improved under President Obama, West says. But he and other African-Americans say the country’s problems didn’t happen overnight — they’re willing to give him more time to fix them.

North Africa: US Counter Terrorism Plan Hits a Snag
April 30 2010/www.moroccoboard.com

Washington / Morocco Board News Service – Is Algeria’s approach to counter terrorism hampering the American efforts to contain and eradicate terrorism in the North and West Africa? Few recent developments give the impression that the United States is not content with the Algerian government’s recent plans” to control” the security situation in the Sahara and Sahel regions. The Algerian military flawed plans to secure the Sahel region has more to do with portraying an image of Algeria as the regional power house in North West Africa than setting up an effective military and political entity capable of countering an ever menacing enemy that continues to strike at whim.
In fact, the politically motivated decision to exclude Morocco, the other major power house in the region, from last month meeting held in Algeria to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel has made the Algerian plans mute and infective. Case in point: the week following the Algiers meeting, Mauritanian security forces arrested a member of the Polisario front for the kidnapping of Spanish aid workers highlighting the short sighted Algerian approach to securing the region and the unavoidable role Morocco plays in the war against terrorism in North West Africa. European and American diplomats were left scratching their heads trying to understand Algiers political and strategic logic behind the exclusion of Rabat.

The more recent initiatives to establish a unified military security information centre in Tamanrasset, Algeria, and joint monitoring units to control the borders and crack down on terrorists, smugglers and drug traffickers between the different country of North and West Africa, with the exception of Morocco, runs against the American strategic view on how to secure this extremely volatile region. The United State government and military establishment consider Morocco a key player in the world community’s counter-terrorism efforts in North Africa and the Sahel, and thus Rabat should be included in any serious effort to counter terrorist threats in the region. The Algerian one man show for the sake of internal political glorification and regional hegemony does not sit well with the United State strategic approach of security cooperation efforts to promote stability in support of U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives.

The absence of potentially vital intelligence and military data that could be gathered on Moroccan territory, including the Mauritanian borders and the Moroccan Sahara, will make Tamanrasset centre intelligence analysis unreliable and untrustworthy. Furthermore, the Algerian diplomacy avoided dealing with several underlining political problems between the member countries( Algeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania) of the Tamanrasset centre , casting serious doubts about the effectiveness of the Algerian efforts: As of now, Algeria is suspicious of Mauritania’s close relations with Morocco, Mauritania recalled its ambassador from Mali, Algeria is unhappy with the ongoing French- Malian military manoeuvres, Algeria is not sure about the future of its relations with the new military government in Niger and Libya does not want to be part of any military “club”. This uncertain political and security climate in a dangerous region is a source of worries to the American diplomats and Military planners.

As Algeria was forcing an unrealistic military strategy, the United State Marines and the Moroccan Royal Forces were getting ready for their annual joint maneuvers. Dubbed AFRICAN LION, this annually-scheduled military exercise is intended to further solidify and improve “interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation’s tactics, techniques, and procedures.” The military exercises started yesterday and would last more than two months. According to the United States Marines “The maneuvers include using weapons, peacekeeping operations, low altitude flying, and supplying flying planes with fuel.” Beside their Military activities, members of the 23rd Marine Regiment of the US Marines will conduct humanitarian and medical missions in different regions of Morocco.

While the members of the 23rd Marine Regiment are conducting their annual drills with their Moroccan counterparts, a “maritime Interdiction Operations team from Morocco, along with U.S. Marines from Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company, and Spanish Marines are conducting trainings in preparation for Exercise Phoenix Express 2010 at Naval Station Rota, Spain April 27,” according to a US Navy website.

While Morocco have always adopted an open bilateral military relationship with the United States, the Moroccan forces have used their expertise to foster inter-regional military cooperation based on mutual interests and respect and without political undertones. Some Algerian officials are viewing the US-Moroccan military exercises as a rebuke to their “efforts” to keep the security of the Sahel in the locals’ hands. This misplaced “Algerian nationalist” notion is not conducive to explaining to the public the role and leadership the United States scan play in stopping terrorism, illicit activities and drug smuggling in the region. In fact, some Algerian officials have criticized Morocco’s openness to hosting the U.S. Africa Command headquarters, even as the Algerian diplomats like to boast their special relationship with Washington.

Yet, the most pressing issue currently hampering the efforts to secure the Sahel and Sahara region is the Western Sahara conflict. As the U.S. Africa Command works closely with the Unites States Department of State and U.S. embassies in North Africa to ensure that United States strategic and national security objectives are met, the chaotic borders between Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria remain a source of grave concerns to the Americans. The existence of the heavily militarized Polisario Front on Algerian soil and the lack of military and intelligence cooperation between Algeria and Morocco will continue to hinder the success of the war against lawlessness and terrorism in North and West Africa. Algeria’s efforts fall far short of their stated objectives and run against the American strategy.

Obama Eulogizes Civil Rights Leader Dorothy Height
Kent Klein | White House /www1.voanews.com/ 30 April 2010

President Barack Obama eulogized U.S. civil rights leader Dorothy Height on Thursday as a history-making figure in “a righteous cause.” The president spoke at the funeral for Height, who died last week at the age of 98.

He told hundreds of moruners who filled the the massive Washington National Cathedral that Height should be associated with other American civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and W.E.B. DuBois. “There are giants who fill our history books. Well, Dr. Dorothy Height deserves a place in this pantheon. She, too, deserves a place in our history books. She, too, deserves a place of honor in America’s memory,” he said.

As a young social worker, Dorothy Height helped New York City resolve the 1935 Harlem Riots, and she helped organize protests against lynching, the killing of African Americans, usually by white mobs.

Later, she worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders at the forefront of the civil rights movement, seeking equality for women as well as for African Americans.

Height led the National Council of Negro Women for more than 40 years, working on issues affecting African American women and families, such as health, education and economic matters, as well as basic civil rights.

She also campaigned for international human rights and humanitarian issues in Africa, India, the Caribbean and other areas.

At the memorial service, President Obama said Dorothy Height visited the White House 21 times since he took office in January 2009.

He said she was determined to attend a meeting of African American leaders on unemployment in February, even though she was in a wheelchair and a blizzard was approaching.

The president said Height told him she would not allow “just a bunch of men” to control the meeting. When she could not attend because cars could not reach her snowed-in home, Mr. Obama says she sent a message with her ideas.

“I tell that story, partly because it brings a smile to my face, and also because it captures the quiet, dogged, dignified persistence that all of us who loved Dr. Height came to know so well,” he said.

The president said Height’s perseverance advanced the cause of justice, and eventually made it possible for him and his wife, Michelle, to live in the White House.

Mrs. Obama was in the audience, as were Vice President Joe Biden and many top U.S. officials.

Some of the nation’s most prominent African Americans took part in the memorial, including poet Maya Angelou, opera singer Denyce Graves, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, and gospel singer BeBe Winans.

CANADA :

Canada alone on Abortion Issue
Apr 30, 2010/ Rupert Taylor /news.suite101.com

The Conservative government says it wants to make maternal and child health a major priority but it refuses to fund abortion services

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has put the health of women and children in the developing world at the top of the list of priorities to be discussed when leaders of the world’s richest nations meet in Canada in June 2010.

“But,” reports CTV News (April 28, 2010) “the Canadian government broke from other G8 countries, in particular the United States and Britain, by confirming earlier this week that Canada’s contribution to the plan will not include funding for abortions.”

Reproductive and Maternal Health in Africa

Africa is the epicentre of the problem because, in general, women there begin having pregnancies too early and then too frequently. In a mostly male-dominated society African females have little or no control over their own fertility.

The frequency of pregnancy causes many to take desperate measures; 5.5 million women undergo unsafe abortions every year in Africa.

The CBC radio program The Current (April 29, 2010) looked at how this plays out in one country – Ethiopia. The program interviewed Greta Peterson, the head of the Marie Stopes International clinic in Addis Ababa.

Ms. Peterson said that in Ethiopia about 380,000 abortions are carried out every year, but only a quarter of them are performed in a safe medical environment. The result is 7,000 women die annually because of botched abortions.

Also only seven percent of deliveries take place in clinics where medical help is available in case of complications. A consequence of the scarcity of trained assistance is that 22,000 Ethiopian women die from pregnancy-related causes every year.

Canada Declines to Fund Organizations that Provide Abortions

At a planning meeting of G8 foreign ministers in Halifax, Nova Scotia (April 28, 2010) International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda said “…family planning is a way of spacing your children, having ability to space your children and to make sure you have control over your family, and does not include abortion. So I just want to clarify: family planning does not include abortion.”

And, Ms. Oda reiterated the government statement of a few days earlier that Canada will not hand money to groups that provide abortion services as part of their package of maternal health assistance.

Other G8 Nations Fund Abortion
According to the World Health Organization, 13 percent of the 500,000 pregnancy-related deaths in poor countries are the result of unsafe abortions. And, while all experts agree that contraception is the most important element in dealing with maternal health issues, most say that access to medically supervised abortions should be part of the program.

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton criticized the Conservative government’s stance on abortion at a meeting in Gatineau, Quebec (March 29, 2010): “You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health,” she said, “and reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to safe, legal abortion.”

Canada’s other G8 partners take a similar view.

Abortion is Legal in Canada
The Canadian government funds medically supervised therapeutic abortions for Canadian women; such services have been legal in some circumstances since 1969. However, abortion remained in the Criminal Code until it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1988.

However, there is strong opposition to abortion among fundamentalist Christians in particular, many of whom form the political base of the Conservative Party.

Abortion Debate Reopened in Canada

Prime Minister Harper’s reluctance to extend abortion rights to women in poor countries has re-ignited the debate on early termination of pregnancies in his own country.

Writing for Canadian Press (April 27, 2010) Mike Blanchfield reported that “The Opposition blasted Harper for pandering to a socially conservative agenda that they said diminished Canada on the world stage and left it in lockstep with the values of the departed Republican administration of George W. Bush.”

And David Morley, President of Save the Children, sees problems in this. He told The Globe and Mail (April 28, 2010), “I’m worried that this important global initiative [maternal health] is going to get derailed by domestic Canadian politics. It’s driving me crazy that it’s turning into this debate.”

“Canada’s Abortion Politics Worries World Aid Groups.” Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail, April 28, 2010.

“Oda Firm on Abortion, Says G8 United on Family Planning.” CTV News, April 28, 2010.

“The Current.” CBC Radio, April 29, 2010.

“Clinton’s Tough Diplomacy Stings Ottawa.” Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail, March 30, 2010.

“Harper Defends Tories’ G8 Abortion Stand, Says Canada can Fund other Projects.”

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press, April 27, 2010.

AUSTRALIA :

EUROPE :

French warship sinks pirate mother ship off Somalia
30/04/2010/en.rian.ru

French warship has destroyed a pirate mother ship some 438 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, the EU Naval Force Public Affairs Office has said.

The Nivose light surveillance frigate “found, stopped and searched” a suspicious vessel and two supporting skiffs on Thursday afternoon. The search revealed that the vessel was a pirate mother ship.

A total of 11 suspected pirates were arrested and the mother ship was destroyed.

The EU anti-piracy operation, dubbed Atalanta, has been patrolling shipping routes off the Horn of Africa from Somali pirates since December 2008 to deal with pirates, who thrive off the coast of Somalia.

Naval warships and aircraft from the U.K., Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden have been involved in actively escorting commercial ships through the Gulf of Aden. The operation has been extended by the European Council until December 2010.

In a report to the UN Security Council issued last year, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said international anti-piracy operations off Somalia have led to a decline in the number of successful ship seizures in the region.

But many analysts believe that piracy will continue to be a problem until an effective government is established in Somalia. The east African nation has been without a fully functioning government since 1991.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirates attacked 217 vessels and seized 47 of them last year.

MOSCOW, April 30 (RIA Novosti)

CHINA :

INDIA :

Madagascar Leaders ‘Committed’ to Finding Solution to Crisis
April 30, 2010/By Franz Wild/Bloomberg

April 30 (Bloomberg) — Madagascar’s feuding political leaders are committed to finding a solution during talks aimed at ending an impasse on the Indian Ocean island nation, the main mediator said.

President Andry Rajoelina and his adversaries, former presidents Marc Ravalomanana, Albert Zafy and Didier Ratsiraka are in the South African capital, Pretoria, to discuss plans to form a unity government, hold elections and end more than a year of political uncertainty.

The leaders “have expressed disposition and commitment to work with the mediator with the support of President Zuma to enter into an agreement that would unblock the stalemate” and implement earlier accords signed in Ethiopia and Mozambique, former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who is mediating the talks, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

Rajoelina ousted Ravalomanana in March 2009 with support from the army after more than 100 people were killed in street protests in the country, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. The U.S. in December dropped Madagascar from the African Growth and Opportunities Act, which allows African goods into the U.S. at lower tariffs, after Rajoelina didn’t do enough to prove he was committed to a return to democracy.

The 35-year-old former disc-jockey in December scrapped the earlier accords aimed at ending the crisis, casting the country back into its deadlock. The current talks are unlikely to succeed, because the other protagonists are unwilling to accept Rajoelina’s proposals for a unity government, his adviser Rolly Mercia said in an interview yesterday.

–Editors: Paul Richardson, Alastair Reed.

India’s Stocks Advance on Earnings Momentum; Tata Motors Gains
April 30, 2010/By Rajhkumar K Shaaw/Bloomberg

April 30 (Bloomberg) — India’s stocks advanced for a second day, on course for a third monthly gain, on speculation growth in company earnings will attract investors.

Tata Motors Ltd., the nation’s biggest truckmaker, climbed to the highest in more than three years. Thomas Cook India Ltd., the local unit of Europe’s second-biggest tour operator, rose to a three-month high after profit more than quadrupled. The Greek crisis may favor capital inflows into India in the medium to long term, deputy chairman of the country’s Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said yesterday.

“The earnings tailwind is stronger than the global headwinds at the moment,” said Nitin Rakesh, chief executive officer of Motilal Oswal Asset Management Co. in Mumbai. “There is more upside potential in the stock markets than downside risk. We are in an earnings expansion cycle fueled by domestic consumption.”

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, gained 98.00, or 0.6 percent, to 17,601.47 at 11:09 a.m. in Mumbai, paring this week’s loss to 0.5 percent. The gauge is poised for a third monthly gain, its longest winning streak since the end of May. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange rose 0.5 percent to 5,278.75. The BSE 200 Index increased 0.6 percent to 2,231.03.

Earnings Growth

Tata Motors, the maker of the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, gained 2.7 percent to 865.6 rupees, poised for its highest close since Jan. 22, 2007.

Thomas Cook India soared 4 percent to 70.9 rupees after first-quarter net income jumped to 78.6 million rupees ($1.78 million). Lender ING Vysya Bank Ltd. advanced 2.1 percent to 311.55 rupees after its quarterly profit climbed 38 percent.

Rakesh expects earnings of Indian companies to grow 20 to 25 percent annually over the next four years. He advises investors to buy shares of financial services, capital goods, infrastructure, automakers and consumer companies, while declining to name any.

ICICI Bank Ltd., the second-biggest lender, rose 1.4 percent to 959.9 rupees, while larger rival State Bank of India gained 1.9 percent to 2,316 rupees.

DLF Ltd., India’s biggest developer, climbed 1.6 percent to 314.25 rupees. Reliance Infrastructure Ltd., the builder of a mass rapid transit system in Mumbai, advanced 2 percent to 1,148.2 rupees. Jaiprakash Associates Ltd., a builder of dams, roads and bridges, rose 1.3 percent to 149.65 rupees.

Foreign Funds

Stocks also gained after India’s lower house of Parliament yesterday approved Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s plan to reduce the biggest budget deficit in 19 years. Ratification of the plan, unveiled on Feb. 26, came two days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government defeated opposition motions seeking to roll back tax increases.

Foreign funds have been net buyers of stocks on all but two days since Mukherjee’s budget speech.

On April 19, the funds sold stocks after U.S. regulators filed a suit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc., spurring concern among investors the global financial crisis isn’t over. Overseas investors sold a net 313 million rupees ($7 million) of Indian stocks April 28 as European credit-rating cuts promoted investors to sell riskier assets.

So far this year foreign investors have purchased 292.2 billion rupees of equities, according to the nation’s market regulator.

Inflows from overseas reached a record 834.2 billion rupees in 2009, exceeding the high set two years earlier in domestic currency terms, as the biggest rally in 18 years lured foreign funds. They sold a record 529.9 billion rupees of shares in 2008, triggering a record annual decline.

The following were among the most active on the exchange:

Ashok Leyland Ltd. (AL IN) gained 6.7 percent to 58.65 rupees, the highest since at least January 1991. India’s second- biggest truckmaker plans to spend 12 billion rupees ($270 million) in capital expenditure and an additional 8 billion rupees for ventures in the next two years, according to an e- mailed statement from the company yesterday.

Separately, Prayesh Jain, an analyst at India Infoline Ltd., upgraded the stock to “buy” from “market performer,” citing growth in volumes in a note to investors today.

Hindustan National Glass & Industries Ltd. (HNGI IN) climbed 1.3 percent to 229.5 rupees. The maker of glass bottles and vials said its entered into a venture with Belgium’s OMCO International NV to set up a factory for designing, marketing and sale of moulds for glass packaging products.

Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. (KKB IN) rose 1.4 percent to 288.1 rupees. The machine tools and agricultural implements company bought a 90 percent stake in South Africa-based Braybar for 110 million rupees, according to its statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock rose 3.7 percent to 284.05 rupees.

–Editors: Margo Towie, Linus Chua

Nokia, Ford Power Demand Spurs Coal Purchase in India (Update1)
April 30, 2010/By Dinakar Sethuraman/Bloomberg

April 30 (Bloomberg) — Electricity demand from investors such as Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and Nokia OYJ may boost coal demand in India as Tamil Nadu, the biggest wind power generator in the country, adds new coal-fired units.

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board may add three units of 600 megawatts each this year, which will boost the state utility’s coal consumption by about 9 million metric tons, said J.P.S. Amarnath, chief engineer for coal. The utility, which consumes 15 million tons annually, imports about 2 million tons.

“We are currently importing coal from Indonesia,” Amarnath said in an interview in Chennai. “We have tie-ups with Coal India to meet our additional needs.” The supply agreements may run as long as two decades and carry penalties for non- delivery, he said.

Tamil Nadu, India’s second-most industrialized state, plans to add 8,000 megawatts over the next four years to ease blackouts and power cuts of 6-9 hours a day, according to the state utility. Most of the additional capacity will be coal- fired, said C.P. Singh, the head of the utility, in Chennai. Hyundai, Ford and Nokia are among international companies to establish factories outside Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.

Domestic coal will be harder to procure as new mines, which are yet to be developed to meet growing demand, are located in “troubled” areas in Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, said S. Narayan, president of Centre for Asia Studies and a former bureaucrat who oversaw coal policy. Both states are witnessing armed conflict between Maoist rebels and the government.

Domestic Supplies

The state utility may keep coal imports unchanged as it’s confident of securing domestic coal from Coal India Ltd., which is of lower heating value compared to the imported variety, Amarnath said.

The turbines used in their power plants are compatible with domestic coal, which has a 4,000 gross calorific value. Better grades of imported steaming coal from Australia, South Africa and Indonesia whose heating value is more than 5,000 can only be used when blended with the domestic variety, he said.

Unlike utilities in neighboring Karnataka and Maharashtra states, the Tamil Nadu utility secures its imports through state MMTC Ltd., he said.

Power-station coal prices at Newcastle, an Asian benchmark, increased 1.9 percent last week, the globalCOAL NEWC Index shows. Prices rose to $100.18 a ton from $98.28 in the week to April 23.

India, the world’s second-most populous nation, will import 76 million tons of thermal coal and coking coal for steel-making in the 2010 fiscal year, according to mjunction Services Ltd., a Web-based trader backed by the country’s biggest steel producers, in January. That’s up from 59 million tons in the previous period. Imports will rise to 110 million tons in 2012.

–Editors: Clyde Russell, Ryan Woo.

Shashi Tharoor’s New India: Foreign Policy, Citizen Engagement and New Media
Friday, April 30, 2010 /www.orissadiary.com/By Kamala Kanta Dash

South Asia Masala*, Australia National University, 30 April 2010
(Source: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/blogs/southasiamasala/)

Thanks for all the support & good wishes. U folks are the New India. We will “be the change” we wish to see in our country. But not without pain! (Posted on Twitter, 16 April 2010, http://twitter.com/shashitharoor)
This message is from Dr Shashi’s Tharoor’s twitter after he got embroiled in a controversy over allegedly using his public office for private gain by possibly using his ‘good friend’ Ms. Sunanda Pushkar as a shadow bidder/shareholder for the Kochi (Kerala) team in the cash rich Twenty-20 cricket tournament of Indian Premier League (IPL)

Dr Tharoor is a former Junior Minister in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India a former UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information and a PhD from Fletcher School Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA.

In this (twitter) post he introduced his idea of New India, referring to his followers with whom he has built a strong relationship of sharing information on his official activities and personal opinion on many issues. Tharoor has, in the meantime, resigned from his post as a junior minister in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after requesting the Prime Minster to conduct a thorough enquiry to find out details of his involvement and other financial irregularities. Tharoor has defended his decision to support the Kochi (Kerala) team and has made it clear that he mentored the team and did not support for any personal monetary benefit. He defended his position in the parliament by saying ‘my conscience is clear and I have done nothing improper or unethical, less alone illegal.’ Many analysts in India and overseas feel that Tharoor has been made a sacrificial lamb in the IPL controversy.

Setting aside his alleged involvement in the IPL controversy and his subsequent resignation, this article analyses his contribution, if not legacy, to Indian politics and especially to Indian foreign policy and his idea of a New India.

Tharoor, an India-backed candidate for the position the United Nations Secretary General (who lost to Ban Ki Moon) and an accomplished author, joined Indian politics in 2009 and contested an election to become an MP from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the state of Kerala in South India, on a ticket from the Congress Party. He was inducted as a junior minister in the MEA after an impressive victory in the first ever parliamentary election of his life, with a margin of more than 100,000 votes. He was assigned to look after India’s engagement with the countries in the regions of the Middle East, Africa and Latin America – regions with which India’s engagement has been at least poor and at best unproductive. His fluency in the French language added to his ability to develop a rapport with Africa, especially Francophone Africa, the continent which is believed to be slowly emerging as a space for a strategic contest between India and China.

Since Tharoor took his oath in May 2009 he has remained in the news most of the time for the wrong reasons and interestingly by default has left strong political messages of reform. He courted controversy in saying that he will travel “cattle class in solidarity with the holy cows” against the backdrop of government’s austerity drive. This offended the civic sensibility of Indian politicians and especially his fellow Congress Party leaders. He was made to clarify to get a reprieve from the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the ruling coalition chief Ms Sonia Gandhi. But this can be seen as a reflection of hollowness in so-called serious Indian politics and in a large number of humourless politicians, both in the ruling and opposition parties, who are always ready to sell sound bytes to increase popular support but have been slow to understand or tolerate humour in politics. His stand on work culture – the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi should be a workday and not a public holiday, and his opinion that ‘strikes are social evils’ have been perhaps the most revolutionary ideas in recent years of political life in India.

Foreign policy and citizen engagement through twitter

Tharoor used the new media ‘twitter’ to reach out to the internet savvy young India, which he calls the New India, that represents the educated middle class who, ironically, have been uniquely apathetic and distrustful of political processes and development in the country. They are perhaps the first ones to demand their rights when anything affects them but the last to respond if there is a duty to perform for the common good. Against this backdrop Tharoor’s twitter can be seen as an effort to engage with the middle-class educated young of urban India. His twitter following has reached close to 750,000 – much more than that of Shah Rukh Khan, a Bollywood superstar, at 300,000.

He was the first minister to make public his disagreement on his department’s decision regarding the utility of visa restrictions against the backdrop of David Headley’s arrest. He was the first Indian delegate to visit the earthquake ravaged Haiti to promise his government’s support. He is the first person to eloquently argue in favour of India-Africa relations by employing ‘consultative’ and ‘non-intrusive support’ models of Indo-Africa engagement.

His summing up at a seminar presented by Lord Bhikhu Parekh at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi landed him in controversy when he was accused of portraying Nehru’s (Non-Alignment) foreign policy “as a moralistic running commentary”. It was unexpected for a minister to criticise the holy men of his own party: in this case Nehru. He, however, eloquently defended his point by invoking “the tradition of criticism as the hallmark of academia”. He brought a renewed focus “to the need for informed discussion of foreign policy issues in our democracy”.

All these initiatives and especially the controversies in one way or the other have challenged the orthodoxy in the Indian foreign policy establishment and have brought fresh air to the debates over citizen participation in public policy. If one can see beyond the IPL mess and de-link the controversy from his job as a foreign minister then Dr Tharoor has set lofty standards in the conduct of foreign policy in India.

In India an informed citizen in their private capacity does not get any chance to contribute to public policy: the bureaucracy implements policy and the politicians approve it to be implemented. There is virtually no culture of public debate in any policymaking. The government is reluctant to consult the academicians for policy formulation and feedback. Academia and bureaucracy share a high level of mutual indifference and distrust. It is a gross failure on the part of the Indian state that it has been unable to engage its citizens in public policy discourse. Interestingly, the foreign ministry has a division of public diplomacy that hardly provides any opportunity for the Indian public to play a role in policy consultation. When apathy of the educated for the political system seems to have got deeper and wider, Shashi Tharoor’s frank opinion-sharing on twitter attracted many to discuss their views on politics and foreign and security policy.

Conclusion

As evident in many recent elections, the rising middle class has been very sceptical about the political process and thinks that no change can take place through democracy, public participation and voting. However, Tharoor’s entry has brought a breath of fresh air into national politics. With charisma, promise of change and flamboyance he became a hero for the urban middle class. Whether he will be back in the government or not depends a lot on the ongoing investigations into the IPL and the subsequent clearing of his name. Moreover this will also depend on the willingness of the
ru
ling coalition to again accommodate him. However, the question that remains to be answered is whether his involvement in this controversy is going to undermine his genuine efforts and contribution to the idea of citizen participation in governance. If not, at least one thing is certain: the twitter will remain his legacy to his idea of New India.

He later elaborated his idea of New India in the speech he gave in parliament after his resignation from the Ministry of External Affairs.

“…I returned to India because I believed in an India of honesty and hard work and not of corruption and crookedness. I believed in an India of openness and straightforwardness and not of hypocrisy and double dealing. I believed in an India where opportunities are available to all and not just to a chosen few. I believed in an India of pluralism and diversity and not of religious bigotry and caste politics. I believed in an India that is secure in itself and confident of its place in the world, an India that is a proud example of tolerance, freedom and hope for the downtrodden. That India can be built by the sincere efforts of all of us in this august house and outside it”.

His vision for a New India has got its echo in the dreams of millions of young Indians who want to make a difference to their country. But the ‘old India’ remains powerful and strong to resist any change in the way the politics being played in the largest democracy of the world. Nevertheless, Tharoor and his followers remain hopeful of a New India.

Corruption concerns surface in Twenty20 game
Fri Apr 30, 2010/By John Mehaffey/Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – A police investigation into suspected “match irregularities” at Essex county cricket club has stirred unwelcome memories of the match-fixing scandal which rocked the sport a decade ago.

The investigation follows rumours of match-fixing in the second Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament staged in South Africa last year and was announced shortly before the third Twenty20 World Cup opens in the Caribbean on Friday.

Twenty20 cricket, the shortest form of the game, has quickly become the most popular. But because of its frenetic nature, with just 240 deliveries in around three hours, it is wide open to the insidious cancer of spot-fixing.

Spot-fixing involves seemingly trivial incidents within the match, such as a bowler delivering consecutive wides, which may have no ultimate influence on the result. But if done by pre-arrangement they could earn corrupt players and their allies a fortune in India’s illegal betting industry.

The sums involved are enormous. According to Wisden almanac editor Scyld Berry, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has estimated that around $1 billion was gambled in India on a match between India and Pakistan at the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

This year Tim May, the chief executive of the international players’ union FICA, said Twenty20 cricket was “just ripe for corruption” and opened up “great opportunities for the bookmakers to try and corrupt players”.

Speaking by telephone from his home in Austin, Texas, the former Australia off-spinner told Reuters he had not personally heard of any examples of corruption and that any concerns expressed by FICA members would be confidential.

“But I am concerned that there’s potential for corruption in Twenty20 cricket with the ball flying around everywhere,” he said.

CORRUPTION RUMOURS

Berry told Reuters there were plenty of rumours “of all sorts of goings-on”.

“There is a serious threat to the integrity of the game coming from such a proliferation of Twenty20 cricket. The more there is, the more the chance for mischief.

“If I had to put my house on it, I would have thought there was quite a bit of spot-fixing going on around the world. Not fixing the results of games but of details within the game.

“It’s the thin edge of the wedge, it’s something that’s only going to expand, not go away.”

During the game’s development in the 18th century cricket was steeped in gambling, with bookmakers openly setting up their stalls at Lord’s.

“For the most part the involvement of the gentry in the cricket games of their inferiors was a by-product of their penchant for gambling,” Derek Birley recorded in his “Social History of English Cricket”.

Cricket became respectable during the Victorian era and assumed its now outdated reputation as a force for moral good during Britain’s imperial expansion.

The ethos of fair play was still strong, though, when a match-fixing scandal erupted at the turn of the century and the outrage throughout the game was genuine.

Three international captains: Hansie Cronje (South Africa), Salim Malik (Pakistan) and Mohammed Azharuddin (India), were banned for life for involvement in match-fixing and a Pakistani judge recommended that Wasim Akram should not captain his country again.

In an example of spot-fixing, Cronje, who always denied actually fixing the result of a match, admitted paying two team mates to under-perform.

ICC CONCERN

Berry said he thought the ICC anti-corruption unit should include former professional cricketers as well as former policemen.

“There may be one or two former military men, but I think the officialdom needs to expand to include former cricketers who know exactly what to watch on the ground, to see the telltale signs,” he said.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the world governing body had spoken of the need to keep a balance between test cricket, 50-overs internationals and Twenty20 games.

“Because of the popularity of Twenty20, the proliferation has been beyond anybody’s expectations. And it is something we are considering at the chief executives’ committee at the ICC,” he told Reuters by telephone from the ICC’s Dubai headquarters.

“We have to be absolutely vigilant because the format of Twenty20 does lend itself much easier to that sort of behaviour.

“We were concerned with the sums of money that were available in the format and we have cautioned all of our members to be particularly vigilant around Twenty20 cricket.”

The need for eternal vigilance was emphasised during last year’s Ashes series when the ICC said its investigators had received a report from the Australian team management that a player had been approached by a suspected illegal bookmaker in their London hotel.

Lorgat said the ICC had a zero tolerance approach to any form of corruption.

“We certainly do not take lightly to any sort of corruption. If we were to pick up any of that sort of behaviour from any place, we would take serious action,” he said.

(Editing by Clare Fallon, To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

BRASIL:

EN BREF, CE 30 avril 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,30/04/2010