Catching Up on the News

Harakat Al-Shabab is a militant Islamic youth movement engaged in the Somali war. Yesterdaythey mortared the presidential palace in Omgadishu, setting off a fight killing 14 people.

A landslide caused by heavy rains and a flooding river on the slope of Nyiragongo killed over 50 people in the DR Congo.

A gay couple in Malawi has been sentenced to 14 years (max) at hard labo for "gross indecency and unnatural acts."

The judge said he wanted to protect the public from "people like you".

Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, have been in jail since they were arrested in December after holding an engagement ceremony.

The case has sparked international condemnation and a debate about homosexuality in the country.

The British government, Malawi's largest donor, expressed its "dismay" ...


Read the story here, be dismayed like the British Government.

The Freetown Hotel made iconic by Graham Greene (eg in: Journey Without Maps (Penguin Classics)) has been torn down.

The World Cup stadium has opened! Sales are said to be down, but I think that won't last long.

Ethiopian voting underway:

Polls have closed in Ethiopia's first election since a 2005 contest which was marred by protests that led to the deaths of 200 people.

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This morning we reported some hopeful news about the desperately poor country of Malawi, where childhood mortality is incredibly high but being slashed. It's still too high. Way, way too high.
The Lancet (Vol 371:9615, March 8, 2008 p. 784) notes that the government of Malawi is working on legislation to prevent traditional and religious healers from deceiving people about AIDS.
Yves Roumazeilles Jacks of Science
Gwenyth Paltrow has one. So does Angelina Jolie, U2's Bono, Meg Ryan, and Mia Farrow. Now Madonna wants one too. No, I'm not talking about the latest Dior sunglasses or Fendi purse (although I'm sure it would look fab on Bono)---the "in" accessory lately seems to be African orphans.