Charcoal and deforestation

In Somaliland in northern Somalia, people are trying to survive by cutting down trees and making charcoal.  This means of survival is solution that ultimately is going to create a bigger problem.  The rapid deforestation is turning the area into a desert, which will make it harder for plants, animals, humans to survive.  I would resolve to save the long-term forest in lieu of someones short-term financial gain.  In order to do so, it would only be proper to provide the man with some alternate source of income, which is another huge task.  Either way, someones life is going to be greatly affected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20413272

South African Rats

With an ever growing rat problem, South Africans have turned to cages and poisons, but none have worked.  Their next step is to release high numbers of owls.  Many people are superstitous towards this idea.   I also have a feeling that these owls make backfire.  I believe it is possible that these owls will throw off the ecosystem.  There is a two minute clip, just click on the link below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20330207

29 Kenyan Police, 3 attackers, and possibly more dead

  When something is stole or you are burglarized, most people automatically contact the authorities.  That's what happened when cattle in Kenya were stolen.  In this instance, the police were killed trying to retrieve the stolen cattle.  29 police officers were killed to be exact.  They were ambushed and only 3 of the attackers were killed in the process.  It is possible there were more deaths, but these are the numbers so far.  Conflict over cattle and grazing is common and apparently out of the authorities control.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20294747

Wow! Watch this crazy clip of a S. African group

    This is a side of South Africa I have never seen or expected.  The group Die Antwoord sings in English and Afrikaan, and are totally wild.  They apparently have even performed in the US at Coachella and have made waves around the world.  I could not find just the clip of the interview, only the whole episode.  The 5 minute clip is called "the vice guide to everything Zef." If you don't want to watch the whole vice guide episode (27 minutes or so), you can try to jump 17 mins into the clip to see the part I am posting about...  Just check it out.. you don't have to read any long article or anything.

http://vimeo.com/18754690

French Drones in Mali

   France is now focusing on Mali, as rebels in Africa are holding 6 french hostages.  They are turning their attention from Afghanistan to West Africa, more specifically northeast Mali to the Sahel region, planning to send drones.  Many are worried that the region will be the "next Afghanistan"; The area is likely to be used to train extremist groups for possible acts of terrorism.  The former colonial ruler in parts of that African region, France, is believed to be one of the prime targets for these terrorist groups.  France does not want to send in troops, but instead wants African troops to take out the Al-Qaida-linked groups. The French pledged intelligence, training, and support to the African troops to reclaim the northern part of Mali.  It is good that countries are getting involved in stepping on terrorist and their organizations, but don't want to appear as to aggressive, probably in fear of retaliation from these extremist.



http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ap-exclusive-france-sends-drones-mali-crisis-17535415#.UIXEQbT3C8o

South Africa: 19 Kids in a Teacher's Renault Clio

      In South Africa, a teacher was fined $170 for stuffing 19 preschoolers in a car the size of a Honda Fit.  The teacher was taking the preschoolers out for lunch at a local mall as a way to celebrate with the kids. The teacher was caught when people at the mall saw the kids coming out of the vehicle and called the police.  The teacher admitted to police that she already had dropped off about 12 kids, and was found with the 19 remaining kids in the car, totaling 31 students overall.  What was this lady thinking?  She is lucky that she was not in the US, she would have been facing some major consequences.  She is even more lucky that no one got hurt.  I hope they fire her, she is not fit to be responsible for those kids.

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/preschool-teacher-caught-hauling-19-kids-minicar-gets-163645531.html

Inheritance Equality for Women in Botswana

      In Botswana, Edith Mmusi and her 3 sisters (all over 65 years) were being evicted from their parents house by their nephew.  The son of the family was to inherit the property, but passed away and promised the property to his half-brother.  The half-brother's son (the nephew) had taken the women to court claiming the property as his own inheritance due to customary law.  Since women were not permitted to inherit property, they lost the court case.  After appealing the court decision, they lost the appeal as well.  It seemed gloomy, but they did not give up.  The next step the women took was civil court.  Luckily, the women actually won this case on the grounds that it was discriminatory.  The women won the case and kept their house, but still there was no changes in regards to the customary law.  The nephew complained that his country's culture disrespected and undermined.  There is no doubt in my mind that the women deserve the property.  It almost seems ridiculous that someone could think they could come in and just take the roof from right over your head, especially since that is Mmusi's parents house.  It's sickening how the nephew had no consideration for his aunts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19924723