SOMALIS RETURNING TO THE CAPITAL
Hundreds of Somalis, many in desperate conditions, have been returning to the capital, Mogadishu, since the end of the fiercest fighting seen in years. The BBC's Mohammed Moalimo said many returnees were very distressed and had no shelter and a shortage of food.
The first talks since Ethiopian forces and interim government troops defeated Islamists and Hawiye clan militia fighters took place on Sunday. The Somali president and Hawiye elders agreed to a ceasefire and more talks.
Our reporter said people were still suspicious that more conflict might erupt, despite appeals from President Abdullahi Yusuf for the hundreds of thousands who fled fighting in Mogadishu to return.
He says they have been returning in their hundreds, but not to the areas which saw the heaviest fighting. "We can't go back to where the troops are. There is some unexploded ordinance in my neighbourhood," Maryam Ali, a resident of the Towfiq neighbourhood, told Reuters news agency.
Our reporter says he saw one mother coming back into the capital on foot transporting some building materials while trying to carry three small children - one on her shoulders, one in her arms and holding the hand of a third. Another mother said she had just enough food for herself and her four children for two days, he said.
The United Nations, aid agencies and African Union peacekeepers have warned of a humanitarian crisis and the dangers of a cholera outbreak. "People are in dire need of everything from water to medicine to food to shelter," said AU commander Lieutenant Katumba Wamala. President Yusuf is not trusted in the capital.
"Unfortunately the international community has deserted Somalia and I want [to] make a call - this is not a time to desert the Somali community, this is the time when Somali people need more." He also said it was too early for the government to declare victory over the insurgents, saying they could still be a "force of instability".
Local human rights groups say at least 1,300 people have been killed over the past two months.
Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and former parliamentary speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden have issued a joint statement in Eritrea saying the insurgents had done a good job challenging "Ethiopian occupation forces" in Somalia. They called for continued resistance to both the Ethiopian troops and the African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu.
"We call on Somalis, wherever they are, to continue the resistance and never accept the yoke of the coloniser," the statement said.
Ethiopia has long accused Eritrea of backing Somalia's Islamists.
The interim government has moved to further cement their control in the capital, erecting three new roadblocks and appointing former warlords Mohamed Dheere as Mogadishu's mayor and Abdi Hassan "Qaybdiid" Awale as national police chief. Mr Awale was a member of the Anti-Terror Alliance driven out of Mogadishu by the Union of Islamic Courts last June.
The Islamists were in turn ousted last December by government troops backed up by the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians want to withdraw to be replaced by AU peacekeepers but only 1,200, of the planned 8,000, have arrived. Somalia has not had an effective national government for 16 years. Mr Yusuf was elected in 2004 but he is from the north and does not have a strong support base in the capital.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
DR CONGO COURT FREES BEMBA ALLY !
A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has freed a lawyer linked to opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba after four months in custody. The major who headed the court said there was not enough evidence against Marie-Therese Nlandu and nine others.
She was charged in relation to violence in November last year, when the Supreme Court was set on fire. She maintained that she was already in custody when the attack occurred during a protest by Mr Bemba's supporters.
Mrs Nlandu has reportedly been very ill during her time in prison, and has been repeatedly denied adequate medical treatment, according to campaign group Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Her family is working towards bringing her back to the UK, where she lives, as soon as possible.
Mrs Nlandu's husband, Professor Noel Mbala, said:
"Although I am saddened that Marie-Therese had to endure all of this alone and away from me and the children, I am very thankful to God and to all of those who helped us.
"This case demonstrates the good side of globalisation - people can now act internationally on something in a remote part of the world."
Human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have campaigned for her release.
Mrs Nlandu was a candidate in her own right in last year's presidential elections but was eliminated in the first round.
She then worked in Mr Bemba's team for the run-off, in which he was defeated by President Joseph Kabila.
Mr Bemba has now left DR Congo for Portugal, after being accused of treason following gun-battles in Kinshasa last month.
BBC NEWS REPORT
FIFA MAKES 2010 BACK-UP PLAN !
Football's governing body has contingency plans in case South Africa cannot host the World Cup in 2010, Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said. South Africa's preparations have been dogged by delays and there are fears its stadia will not be ready.
Blatter told BBC One's new Inside Sport programme: "Other countries are ready to organise the World Cup", although he said they would not be needed. Blatter cited a list of countries that could step in, including England. The others he mentioned were the United States, Mexico, Japan and Spain. "Definitely we have a possibility to go somewhere else if something happens," said Blatter. South Africa is refurbishing or building 10 stadia for the World Cup
"It was the same case in Germany. Something can happen. A natural catastrophe or whatever, a big change in society - everybody against football. "But then for the time being the plan B is South Africa and the plan C we definitely must have a possibility to go somewhere else, but it must be a natural catastrophe."
Last year, Blatter expressed misgivings about the lack of construction and renovation work on the 10 South African stadiums that are scheduled to host games in the World Cup. And in December South African President Thabo Mbeki rejected claims that the tournament could be held elsewhere, insisting the 2010 World Cup would be an "exceptional event".
The Football Association said they had not been involved with any plans for the tournament to move to England. "There have been no discussions with Fifa at this stage," a spokesman told BBC Sport. "We do believe we have some of the finest stadia and football infrastructure in the world but it's hypothetical as we understand South Africa are on course to stage the 2010 World Cup."
Blatter reiterated his view that the 2018 World Cup should go to Asia rather than Europe - the English FA is considering making a bid for the event. "I think we should maintain this rotation - at least with four continents. To take North and South America as one continent, Europe, Africa and Asia," he said. "This would mean that the next World Cup after 2014 would go to Asia."
And he gave his strongest backing yet to new Uefa president Michel Platini being his successor. "This is absolutely a possibility. There are other candidates, but I think this is a possibility," Blatter said.
"Because he now has a career as a footballer, he was co-president of the organising committee of the 1998 World Cup, he is a vice-president of French Football, he is on the executive of Fifa and Uefa, and now president of Uefa. I think it is something which has a certain logic going forward."
Inside Sport's interview with Sepp Blatter will be broadcast in Monday's show, which starts at 2305 BST on BBC ONE.
BBC SPORTS NEWS REPORT.
Cathy Buckle's weekly letter from Zimbabwe !
Subvu !
Dear Family and Friends,
Having spent three weeks in a civilized country south of Zimbabwe, I must admit
that there were many things that made me not want to come home. Food was one
thing - its existence, huge variety and consistent pricing. Money was another
thing - coins that are actually worth something, bank notes that don't have
expiry dates printed on them and money that keeps its value from one week to the
next.Then there was the freedom of the media with abundant newspaper and radio
stations with criticism and debate encouraged. There was the joy of petrol
stations that always had fuel and of being able to travel freely without
incessant road blocks and police checks. Even little things like public toilets
that were fit for use by human beings, water that was safe to drink from a tap,
street signs that haven't been stolen and dustbins being emptied - all were
cause for stares of amazement.
For three weeks my eyes were open wide and slowly it began to sink in just how
utterly shocking everything in Zimbabwe has become. We have all been so busy
trying to survive the horrors that not only have we forgotten how a country
should work but also how to demand that
officials paid with our taxes do our bidding and not their own.
Crossing the border back into Zimbabwe there were just three people in the
queue. On the other side of the counter at least 60 Zimbabweans were jostling to
get out of the country. I knew I was home within minutes of leaving the border
post. Deep potholes litter the highways; cows, donkeys and goats have right of
way and there are no roadside fences. Road markings have worn away, cat's eyes
in the tar have gone and sign posts have been stolen.
But it was good to be home and the scenery this time of year is exquisite.
Baobab trees in full leaf, crowds of yellow flowers in the dry bush and eagles
soaring in the skies. The names of dry, dusty places conjure up images that can
only be of Zimbabwe: Bubye, Nuanetsi, Sosonye, Mwenezi and Mount Guhudza. In the
middle of nowhere there are always bottle stores: The "Try Again Bottle Store"
caught my eye - a shabby little building, surrounded by red dust, women trying
to sell water melons and men sitting drinking beer in the middle of the morning.
This for sure is home!
Breaking the journey at one stage and in the middle of nowhere, two young
teenage girls appeared.
"Hello," I called out, "How are you?"
"Hello," they answered, " we are eating!"
One girl opened her hand to reveal a dozen shiny black berries. "Take them" she
said, "you are welcome." I thanked her and took two. She told me they were
called Subvu and I gave her some peppermints in exchange. We all clapped our
hands in thanks and the girls went away giggling. Instantly I was overcome with
emotion and patriotism. In a land where hunger is rampant, in a country with the
lowest life expectancy in the world, two young girls would offer me a mouthful
of their food. Where else could I be except at home and this is the Zimbabwe
that everyone knows and loves. Later I found that the berries are from the
Mutsubvu tree and also called Chocolate berries.
The grim reality of being back home came soon. On the bottom of the
electricity bill waiting for me when I got home were the words: "Tariff
increased by 350% effective 1 April ."
I thank the two young girls on the roadside for making me feel welcome , and my
mum for writing her letter 'from the diaspora' these past three weeks and
keeping the news current. Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy
Copyright cathy buckle 28 April 2007
http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books: "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:
orders@africabookcentre.com
REBELS KILLED IN CONGO OFFENSIVE !
The FDLR used to control much of eastern DR Congo. The army in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo says it has killed 22 Rwandan Hutu rebels during an operation to secure a road near the Ugandan border. The road links Goma, near the Rwandan border, to the small town of Ishasha near Uganda, and is crucial for trade.
Aid workers say the offensive has forced some 100,000 villagers to flee. Congolese officials say at least 6,000 Hutu rebels, who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, are still present in the east of the country. Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in the Rwandan genocide.
Gen Delphin Kayembe told the BBC that most of the Hutu rebels had fled and his soldiers were busy combing the area as further reinforcements are being deployed.
The BBC's Arnaud Zajtman in Kinshasa says the 120km road is a crucial trading route. It allows Congolese farmers to export their products to Uganda and Rwanda and allows manufactured products into DR Congo, he says. But it borders Virunga Park, where Hutu rebels and Mai Mai fighters have sought sanctuary in recent years.
The army units involved in the operation are believed to be made up of soldiers from the renegade Gen Laurent Nkunda's militia. They joined the national army earlier this year after Gen Nkunda, who said he was fighting for the rights of his minority Tutsi community, agreed to a peace deal.
United Nations aid worker Patrick Lavandhomme in Goma told the BBC that more than 100,000 civilians have fled their villages because of the offensive. As part of the road is now close by the army, many of them are beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance.
Our correspondent says the new military operation comes a few weeks after army chiefs of staff from DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda agreed to tackle the problem of the Hutu rebels who are still active in eastern DR Congo.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIA SEEK TO TRAIN IN KENYA !
Nigeria are top of Group Three with nine points. Nigeria are planning to set up a training camp in Kenya ahead of their decisive Nations Cup qualifier against Uganda in Kampala.
German coach Berti Vogts says he wants the Super Eagles to train in Nairobi before their Group Three clash on 2 June. A friendly game against either Kenya or Tanzania is also planned.
"We may have to camp in Nairobi for the match against Uganda so as to acclimatise," said Vogts. "We would camp for at least four days even though I would have wanted to have the players for a longer time." Vogts is expected to name a squad of mostly Europe-based players for the match.
Nigeria pipped Uganda 1-0 in March to consolidate their leadership of Group Three of the qualifying tournament. They have recorded nine points from three matches while Uganda are second in the standings with four points.
The other teams in the group are Lesotho and Niger with only the group winner assured of an automatic qualification for the biennial Nations Cup to be staged in Ghana in January.
BBC SPORTS NEWS REPORT.
POLYGAMOUS LESBIANS FLEE SHARIA !
A Nigerian lesbian who "married" four women last weekend in Kano State has gone into hiding from the Islamic police, with her partners. Under Sharia law, adopted in the state seven years ago, homosexuality and same-sex marriages are outlawed and considered very serious offences.
The theatre where the elaborate wedding celebration was held on Sunday has been demolished by Kano city's authorities. Lesbianism is also illegal under Nigeria's national penal code. Nigeria's parliament is considering tightening its laws on homosexuality.
Kano's Hisbah board, which uses volunteers to enforce Islamic law, told the BBC that the women's marriage was "unacceptable". The BBC's Bala Ibrahim in Kano says Aunty Maiduguri and her four "wives" are thought to have gone into hiding the day after they married.
All five women, who are believed to be film actresses in the local home-video industry, were born Muslims, otherwise they would not be covered by Sharia law.
Islam says a man can take up to four wives if he is able to support them. As defenders of the Sharia laws, we shall not allow this unhealthy development to take root in the state," the Hisbah's deputy commander Ustaz Abubakar Rabo told Nigeria's This Day newspaper.
Mr Rabo told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that if the women were found guilty of lesbianism they faced one of two punishments. For a married woman the offence would be considered adultery for which the punishment is death by stoning. A single woman would be caned.
Our correspondent says the theatre where the colourful wedding ceremony was held was flattened earlier this week. Several reasons were given for the demolition, including the discovery that it was built on wrongly allocated land.
Eyewitnesses say there was a large turnout for the marriage and guests were given leaflets as a souvenir showing Aunty Maiduguri surrounded by her "brides".
A Kano police spokesman told the BBC that his officers were not actively looking for the women, but would arrest them if need be.
The Hisbah group, which is run separately from the police, receives state government support.
Two years ago, a Sharia court sentenced a man to six months in prison and fined him $38 for living as a woman for seven years in Kano.
Eleven other states in mostly Muslim northern Nigeria have adopted Sharia law.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
WANTED NIGERIA GOVERNOR WINS CASE !
Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye skipped bail in the UK. Nigeria's Supreme Court has ruled that impeached Plateau State governor Joshua Dariye be reinstated immediately. His impeachment last November by eight of Plateau's 24-member state house of assembly was illegal, the court said.
The judgement has sparked rejoicing in Jos among supporters of Mr Dariye, who has been on the run since last year. Mr Dariye skipped UK bail three years ago, after money-laundering claims. He was accused of embezzling nearly $9m of public funds.
It is not clear when Mr Dariye will return to Plateau State capital, Jos. But his spokesman Yakubu Datti told the BBC's News website that Mr Dariye "is ready to return to Jos as soon as his security aides are restored."
Mr Dariye was first suspended from office for six months in 2004 after President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in the state.
Mr Obasanjo said the governor had failed to contain religious and ethnic clashes that claimed some 1,000 lives. Although he was later reinstalled as governor, Mr Dariye got into fresh trouble in September 2004 when the London Metropolitan Police arrested him for alleged money laundering.
Mr Dariye skipped UK bail and returned to Nigeria where legislators impeached him for the same charges in November last year.
A high court later nullified his sacking and ordered his reinstament. But his deputy Michael Botmang, who succeeded him, appealed against the decision of the court and lost. Unhappy with the outcome of the appeal, Mr Botmang headed for the Supreme Court which also ruled that Mr Dariye should be reinstated.
"We are a law-abiding government. We won't stay a day longer than necessary," said Mr Botmang's spokesman.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIA VP LOSES OFFICIAL MANSION !
Nigerian Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has been asked to leave his official residence ahead of planned renovations. Mr. Abubakar will not return to the residence after the repairs as it is to be occupied by Nigeria's chief justice.
Mr Abubakar has fallen out with President Olusegun Obasanjo and contested last Saturday's presidential elections as an opposition candidate. But the Supreme Court last week ruled that he remained vice-president until the new government takes over in May. "The current residence of the vice-president was designed to be that of the Chief Justice of Nigeria," minister for the capital Nasir el-Rufai told reporters in Abuja.
But Mr Abubakar's spokesman says the vice-president is being victimised. "What renovation are they talking about? They are not being honest, I tell you. They are giving us 'a quit notice' without really coming out to say so," Garba Shehu told the BBC's News website. "They started by sacking all the domestic staff of vice-president. How can you live in a house where there are no cooks, no cleaners, nothing? "As far as we can see, we have are being evicted without anyone really coming out to say so." Mr Shehu says his boss will stay with one of his wives in a private residence in Abuja.
Following Mr Abubakar's defection to the opposition Action Congress last December, President Obasanjo declared his office vacant and asked the ruling PDP to find a replacement. Mr Obasanjo also withdrew his deputy's official cars, police guards and denied him use of aircraft in the presidential fleet. But after a court of appeal judgement that said Mr Abubakar could not removed from office, his perks were restored.
Mr Abubakar came third in the presidential elections but claims widespread fraud. He was originally disqualified on corruption charges but five days before polling day, the court ruled he should be allowed to stand.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE INFLATION REACHES 2,200% !!!
Zimbabwe's once prosperous economy has been destroyed. Inflation in Zimbabwe reached a record 2,200% in March amid a deepening economic and political crisis in the southern African country. Both food and non-food contributed to the year-on-year inflation rate, said central bank Governor Gideon Gono.
The March data had been due for release earlier this month but had been delayed, fanning fears of further crippling price rises. Mr Gono said secured interest rates would rise to 600%, up from 500%. He said the Zimbabwean currency would remain at the existing exchange rate of 250 to the US dollar but offered a new rate for central bank purchases of foreign currency to help build a new "drought stabilisation fund".
Exporters claim their businesses have been devastated by this skewed exchange rate.
Inflation hit 1,730% in February, the highest in the world.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
CLANS DIVISIONS BEHIND SOMALI VIOLENCE !
Clans divisions behind Somali violence
By Noel Mwakugu - BBC News website, Nairobi.
Mogadishu is turning to rubble in the offensive against insurgents.Weeks of indiscriminate shelling in Somalia have reduced the capital Mogadishu, once a thriving commercial hub, to rubble. Bakara market - which was the city's centre of commerce - has almost been flattened.
Businessmen are counting their losses at a distance, as most of them are among the nearly 340,000 residents who have fled the violence since February. Bodies of those killed in the crossfire are rotting on the streets while many who survived the carnage are nursing serious wounds in hospital. But the private Medina hospital lacks adequate medical supplies to attend to the rising numbers of casualties - only those with complicated injuries are being treated.
Despite the mayhem, most world governments are watching in silence.
Ethiopia is looking for a partner so it can contain separatist forces in the Ogaden and the interim administration is the most likely choice - Analyst Ali Abdullahi.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been one of the few to call for an end to the violence.
Somalia's transitional government insists its offensive against the insurgents is needed to restore order to a country that has lacked a functional administration for the past 16 years. But since President Abdullahi Yusuf's interim government was set up in 2004 it has not enjoyed popular support among Somalis.
BBC Somali affairs analyst Daud Aweis say the administration is divided and only strong international backing has enabled it to survive. President Yusuf is not trusted in the capital. "The cabinet is largely a benchmark that has been used to gauge how influential a certain clan is in the government going by the portfolio being held by a clan representative," he says.
It is this feeling that has driven members of Mogadishu's dominant Hawiye clan to take up arms and resist the transitional government.
President Yusuf has been accused of favouring his Darod clan when appointing government officials; the suspicion among Hawiyes is that his administration is only aimed at ending their traditional dominance.
"These clan fighters also make up a large part of the insurgents because many are sympathisers of the ousted Islamists," our analyst says.
There have also been reports of foreign fighters being linked to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) - the Islamic group which controlled large parts of southern Somalia until it was ousted last December with Ethiopian help. Although exact numbers of these foreigners are unknown, the Somali government believes them to be behind many of the attacks on Ethiopian and government bases in Mogadishu.
Ethiopia has said that it has begun to withdraw its troops from Somalia but to many observers this seems unlikely. With the stakes so high and unrest in its own Somali region - known as the Ogaden - Ethiopia will not want to loosen its grip on its neighbour.
Somali analyst Ali Abdullahi says when the Islamists were in control in Mogadishu, their influence stretched to the Ogaden, providing cultural and ideological succour to separatist rebels there.
Earlier this week, Ogaden rebels attacked an oilfield killing Chinese and Ethiopian workers. "Ethiopia is looking for a partner so that it can contain separatist forces in the Ogaden region and the interim administration is the most likely choice," Mr Abdullahi says. "The zeal with which Ethiopia is carrying out the operation against the insurgents and clan fighters [in Mogadishu] is a clear indication that crippling their military power and influence is another way of countering rebels in Ogaden region," he says.
But while Ethiopia's intervention precipitated violence in Mogadishu, the UIC was far from a united front, he argues. "This was just a group of businessmen and members of the Hawiye clan, whose goal was to get power and shield their interests through Islam." It was only a matter of time before their agenda was exposed, he says, and fighting would have resumed in the city even under their rule.
Analysts argue that unless the interim administration embraces the business community in Somalia and the country's intellectuals in the diaspora, it will fail to win backing at home.
The Islamic courts' militia were mainly from the Hawiye clan.But the BBC's Daud Aweis says the likelihood of Somalis moving beyond their clan outlook and uniting behind one leader is slim. He says sincere peace talks with all parties involved in the conflict are needed.
However, as Somalia's neighbours and the wider international community are exploiting clan divisions to their own ends, a real resolution to the crisis is unlikely. "Everyone's agenda comes down to clan in the end. At this rate thousands of Somali people will continue to die over the same problems that have plagued the country since President Siad Barre's fall in 1991," our analyst says.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
LA SCALA BRINGS BEETHOVEN TO GHANA !
La Scala brings Beethoven to Ghana.
By David Willey - BBC Rome correspondent, in Ghana.
The prestigious orchestra were flown over from Milan. Italy's famous La Scala orchestra has played in sub-Saharan Africa for the first time. The venue: Accra's 1,400 seat ultra-modern National Theatre. The occasion: celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence. The cast: Daniel Barenboim and 160 members of the orchestra and chorus of Milan's La Scala. The programme: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the Choral, whose Ode to Joy has become the official anthem of the European Union.
The evening began in an unusual way, with the beating of a traditional tribal drum, a traditional Ghanaian welcome. It ended with a standing ovation for the prestigious orchestra and their equally famous conductor.
A member of the Ghanaian organising committee told me he remembered having music appreciation lessons at school 50 years ago, when Ghana was still a British colony, but he could not remember any similar event in his lifetime.
La Scala orchestra and chorus were given a warm welcome. Most of the audience were invited to attend, with the few hundred tickets actually put on sale costing betweeen US $30-50, well beyond the reach of the pockets of the average Ghanaian.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 per cent of people live on less than two US dollars per day. So, unsurprisingly, the auditorium was packed with local officials and diplomats. A quick trawl around Accra's teeming markets confirmed earlier suspicions - that the Ghanaian capital completely lacks CD shops selling classical music.
While African faces on the crowded stage were limited to two, one the African-American bass-baritone Kevin Deas, and the other, the soprano Measha Brueggergosman, a Canadian national. The impact of the music on those lucky enough to be present was, however, electric.
Daniel Barenboim, the musicians and the four soloists (who included La Scala newcomer and rising British star, tenor Ian Storey) gave their all. They had time for only a single reahearsal, but their performance was impeccable. Barenboim's became La Scala's principal conductor last year.Barenboim told me during rehearsal: "The problem is, you cannot articulate the content of music in words. This can only be expressed through sound. This is what I hope we are bringing to them."
This extraordinary event was the result of a casual invitation to Daniel Barenboim in New York last December by Ghana's highest-profile international figure, Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General and a friend of La Scala's new 'maestro' conductor.
The president of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, and the Mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, also helped to make Kofi Annan's dream come true. Annan was beaming afterwards at the Ghanaian President's post-concert party in Accra's State Banqueting Hall. "In international affairs, you have to learn how to create pillars and foundations in order to realise dreams," he said. At the post-concert party some of La Scala's violin players playfully took over from a local Accra orchestra, giving a spirited rendition of Guantanamara.
Classical music is not easily found in the streets of Accra. But was it really worth the vast expense ($500,000) to charter an Airbus and fly this huge and talented company 6,000 miles across the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert to Ghana, and back, for a single Beethoven performance?
Barenboim says emphatically 'yes'. He would like to return to Africa, either with La Scala or to give a series of solo piano recitals in various African countries. The former child prodigy, who has replaced Riccardo Muti as conductor at La Scala, and who built up the now famous West-East Divan orchestra of Israeli and Palestinian musicians, believes music may hold the key to bridging the North-South cultural, and even economic, divide. "You have to listen to the other players if you want to play in an orchestra," he said.
Ghana marked a dramatic change of scene for La Scala's musicians.. But as one of the first violins in the orchestra whispered to me as we were flying back high over the Sahara desert, while she had enjoyed this unique experience, she was not so sure that a charity concert in Milan to raise money for Ghana might not have been preferable. The audience shouted for more after the Accra concert, but a performance of this quality of Beethoven's Ninth hardly lends itself to an encore.
Now we shall have to see whether Daniel Barenboim's ambitious dream of stimulating a demand for classical music in Africa is going to be fulfilled. It will require a lot of money, and a lot of politics. The encore is not yet assured.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ATTACKS INCREASE IN IVORY COAST !
Attacks increase in Ivory Coast
By James Copnall - BBC IVORY COAST.
There has been a sharp increase in attacks on civilians since a five year old buffer zone dividing Ivory Coast was taken down, an aid group says. UN and French soldiers who patrolled the zone began withdrawing last week after a peace deal between the president and former rebel leader. Rebel leader Guillaume Soro is now prime minister under the agreement.
Medecins San Frontieres (MSF) says there are now almost daily attacks around the western town of Bangolo. The region has been the site of several human rights abuses in recent years.
Bangolo is part of what has been termed the triangle of death. It is not far from the border with Liberia and used to be in the confidence zone. Before the buffer zone was removed, UN and French peacekeepers were unable to stop human rights abuses there. Now the area they once patrolled is under the control of the loyalist armed forces and the New Forces rebels.
When the confidence zone was removed, joint brigades of loyalists, rebels and foreign peacekeepers were created. But their exact responsibilities remain unclear. The UN and French peacekeepers have withdrawn to a number of observation posts and no longer patrol the wide band of territory that was the confidence zone.
According to MSF, armed bandits are multiplying their attacks around Bangolo, and the group says they are imposing a law of fear. The road between the town of Duekoue, in the government-controlled south, and Man, which is in the hands of the New Forces, is considered to be particularly dangerous. In recent years there have been clashes over land or ethnic rivalry, while others are simply banditry.
But the removal of the confidence zone means many people are worried that the problem may worsen considerably. If the loyalist and rebel troops cannot provide security for citizens on their territory, the value of some of the recent steps taken in the peace process will be called into question.
But the west of Ivory Coast is such a troubled region that it will almost certainly remain dangerous long after the civil war is over.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SUDAN U-TURN ON 'GM' FOOD AID !
Sudan reportedly wants less imported food aid. Sudan has agreed to let in a shipment of food for Darfur, after blocking it on the basis it was genetically modified, the UN food agency says. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed the decision to accept the 100,000 tonnes of US sorghum.
WFP spokeswoman Caroline Hurford had said the food had been tested to show it was not genetically modified, adding GM sorghum did not even exist.
Aid agencies are feeding 2.4m people who have fled the Darfur conflict. Some aid workers believe that Sudan wants more food aid to be purchased in the country, reports Reuters news agency.
"We do intend to buy some amount of food from Sudan as they had a bumper harvest but there are limits to how much we can purchase because of funding. Most food aid is given to us in kind, as is the case with the US sorghum," Ms Hurford said.
Meanwhile, African Union (AU) peacekeepers say that pro-government militias continue to kill and pillage with impunity in Darfur.
The Sudanese government says security is improving in Darfur and has repeatedly pledged to disarm the Arab Janjaweed militias. Last week, Sudan agreed to let 3,000 UN peacekeepers with helicopter gunships into Darfur to help AU troops.
But the US wants more than 10,000 UN soldiers to be sent and has threatened to increase sanctions. At least 200,000 people are estimated to have died in Darfur since rebels took up arms four years. The US says a genocide is being committed against the region's black African population.
Sudan says the problems are being exaggerated for political reasons.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SHELLS HIT HOSPITAL IN MOGADISHU
Many civilians have been caught up in the fighting. A hospital has been hit in Somalia's capital in fighting between insurgents and pro-government Ethiopian forces. Relatives and medical staff ran from the SOS hospital after at least four missiles hit. Casualties are unclear.
The BBC's Mohammed Ibrahim Moalimo says many of the patients have been transferred to another hospital.
Other Mogadishu hospitals have already been hit by shells during the week-long Ethiopian advance and are struggling to cope with the casualties. An estimated 340,000 people have left Mogadishu since February, the UN says. This is the eighth consecutive day of clashes between Ethiopian troops backing the interim government and insurgents and fighters from the city's dominant Hawiye clan.
Ethiopia's prime minister says he hopes to have routed the insurgents within a fortnight. The interim government is being accused by diplomats of preventing aid from reaching people fleeing the clashes. Western diplomats say demands to inspect all aid shipments was adding to the misery, AP news agency reports.
Earlier, the UN humanitarian chief said insecurity, checkpoint harassment and new administrative directives have all obstructed humanitarian efforts. UN, EU and US diplomats in the region have all appealed to the government to stop complicating aid delivery.
"The efforts of international agencies to come to the aid of these stricken people are being thwarted on the one hand by militia looting relief supplies, demanding 'taxes' and violently threatening aid workers, and on the other by administrative obstacles imposed by the transitional federal government," AP news agency quotes a letter written last week by the German ambassador to Kenya.
Earlier, US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger wrote that "these practices are unacceptable and undermine the legitimacy of your government". In a meeting with the government, the UN's humanitarian chief John Holmes received promises that things would change. "They have assured us of full support for humanitarian access and humanitarian workers," he said.
A doctor just outside Mogadishu told the BBC about the difficulties of running her own maternity clinic. The fighting has raged for seven days."Around my hospital there are 2,000 families, mostly children and women," Hawa Abdi told the BBC's Network Africa programme. "There is no food or shelter. We have a small quantity of water, but we aren't able to get water from the well. The UNHCR reached us and gave us small plastic shelters, but it is not enough." Dr Abdi said she is trying to care for all who come to the clinic, both those who come to give birth, and those wounded in the fighting.
Other medical staff have arrived from hospitals that have been damaged in the fighting in the centre of the capital. "Some people are injured, and they are coming to my hospital. I am not practising clan-discrimination as others are. If there is land where they can live, I will give them my land, and water free. Also medical tests I do free," she said. "Other doctors are coming from Mogadishu where there was heavy shelling of the Hayat hospital, and also from the Arafat hospital they are coming to help me."
Somalia has not had a functional government since 1991. A transitional government was formed in 2004, but has so far failed to take full control of the country.
Ethiopian troops announced they had begun to withdraw, to be replaced by an African Union peacekeeping force, but only 1,200 of the 8,000 troops the AU says it needs have been deployed.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
DIP IN GLOBAL PIRATE SHIP ATTACKS !
Indonesian waters are notorious for pirate attacks.Pirates attacked 41 vessels in the first three months of 2007, down sharply from the same period a year earlier, a global watchdog has said. The International Maritime Bureau said the number of attacks between January and March was the lowest since 1998.
It said improved vigilance and security measures had helped reduce them.
Indonesian waters remain the most dangerous for seafarers, with nine attacks. Nigeria comes close behind, with attacks climbing from four to six.
"Although it continues to top the table, Indonesia should be applauded for the proactive efforts it has taken to tackle the problem," said the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
Indonesia's decision to bolster the number of sea patrols in its notoriously risky waters resulted in the number of attacks halving since the first quarter of 2006.
But the IMB said it was worried by the increasing number of attacks off the coast of Africa. Referring to Nigeria, the IMB said: "These have included a number of violent attacks against vessels and crew working in offshore oil installations where crews have been assaulted and abducted."
The body also recommended that ships sail at least 75 nautical miles from the Somali coast, where it said attacks continued in "a worrying trend".
BBC NEWS REPORT.
AFRICA AID TARGET 'MAY BE MISSED' !
Poverty in Africa is still widespread. Aid targets for Africa "will be missed" unless more is done, former United Nations chief Kofi Annan has warned. "Unless we step up our efforts we will not make the target," he said. Mr Annan, who set up a panel to assess the West's aid pledges to Africa, made his comments at a high-level meeting in Berlin to discuss the matter.
In 2005, rich nations pledged to increase aid for developing countries by $50bn (£24.9bn), and eliminate debt of the 18 poorest nations in Africa.
U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was among those attending the meeting, said that while debt relief goals had mainly been reached aid targets were far from being achieved. "There has been significant, though not enough, increase in the aid money that has been given," said Mr Blair. Mr. Blair warned that failure to help Africa would mean places like Germany and the UK "would be damaged as a result of the poverty, the conflict, the mass migration, the spread of terrorism and so on".
Meanwhile, according to figures released on Tuesday, the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) said the UK was on target in terms of its aid levels.
The European Union (EU) set a target for its 15 established members to give 0.51% of Gross National Income (GNI) in aid by 2010 and 0.7% by 2013.
In 2006 the UK provided £6.85bn in aid which amounts to 0.52% of Gross National Income.
The African Progress Panel is set to meet again later on this year to track progress.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ETHIOPIA LAUNCHES RESCUE MISSION !
The government of Ethiopia is sending a rescue mission to the remote Somali region where seven Chinese oil workers were kidnapped on Tuesday. China has strongly condemned the separatist rebel attack against its interests in Ethiopia, in which nine Chinese and 65 Ethiopian workers died.
The workers were abducted by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) during an attack on a Chinese-owned oil field. The Ethiopian leader denounced the attack as "cold-blooded murder". Ethiopia has accused neighbouring Eritrea of sponsoring the ONLF, an ethnic Somali rebel group. Eritrea has denied the accusation, saying Ethiopia is trying to trigger a war.
Beijing urged the government in Addis Ababa to ensure the safety of Chinese expatriates after the "atrocious" act. The clashes took place at an oil field in Abole, a small town about 120km (75 miles) from the regional capital, Jijiga.
"It is an outrage," Ethiopian Prime Minster Meles Zenawi said at a news conference. "I can assure you that those responsible for this act will pay in full for what they did." The bodies of the nine Chinese oil workers are due back in the Ethiopian capital within hours. A government official said the bodies of the Ethiopians who were also killed on Tuesday morning will be returned to their families.
The ONLF has been waging a low-level insurgency with the aim of breaking away from Ethiopia.
OGADEN NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (ONLF)
Want Somali-speaking region to break away from Ethiopia
Founded in 1984
Has been accused of bomb attacks in Somali region and the capital, Addis Ababa
Fought major battles with Ethiopian government in 2006
An ONLF spokesman in London, Abdirahman Mahdihe, insisted in a BBC interview that the raid had been a justified reaction to Ethiopian oppression. "We have warned the Chinese government and the Ethiopian government that... they don't have a right to drill there," Mr Mahdihe told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "Unfortunately nobody heeds our warning and we have to defend our territorial integrity," he said.
The ONLF has in the past made threats against foreign companies working with the Ethiopian government to exploit the region's natural resources.
A Chinese oil worker said about 200 gunmen attacked the field, where the Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau is searching for oil. Gunmen briefly took control of the field after a 50-minute fire fight with soldiers protecting it, Xu Shuang, a manager for the oil group, said. China has been working to increase its influence and investment in Africa in recent years as it looks to secure energy supplies for the future.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MOSQUITO NETS CUT BIRTH PROBLEMS !
Mosquito nets cut birth problems
Jill McGivering - BBC News.
Malaria, which mosquitoes pass on, kills a million people every year. Pregnant women in Africa can reduce their risk of miscarriage or still birth by up to a third by sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets.
The UK scientific research is likely to bolster calls for treated mosquito nets to be made more widely available to pregnant women and children in Africa.
Malaria is a preventable disease that kills more than 1m people a year, 90% of them in Africa - mostly children. A treated net costs about $4 - simply too much for many African families. This latest study drew on the results of four earlier trials in Kenya and Ghana involving more than 6,000 women.
The use of mosquito nets, treated with insecticide, it suggests, makes a big difference to the health of pregnant women and their newborn babies. When they were used, the number of miscarriages and still-births fell by almost a third. The number of babies born with a low weight also fell - by about a quarter.
MALARIA
Parasites that cause malaria are carried from human to human by mosquito
Kills more than a million people a year
90% of malaria deaths are in Africa
Malaria is Africa's leading cause of death for children under five
Earlier studies have focussed on the health impact on young children - but this is thought to be one of the first to show evidence of the impact on pregnant women.
A senior author of the report, Feiko Ter Kuile, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine says the scale of these studies was crucial. "We know that malaria itself is detrimental to many women who are pregnant and results in severe maternal anaemia and reduced birth weight in children," she said. "But we simply didn't have the definitive answers because a lot of the clinical trials themselves were not large enough to be able to answer this question."
Global programmes to reduce malaria are trying to increase the use of nets - making them more available and more affordable.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZAMBIA PAYS 'VULTURE FUND' $15m !
Zambia took out the loan in the 1970s, mainly to pay for farming equipment.Zambia is to pay $15.5m (£7.7m) to a British Virgin Isles-registered firm to settle a case at London's High Court. Donegal International - described by critics as a "vulture fund" - had taken the country to court seeking payment of a debt, and late payment penalties.
The firm had been seeking $55m in total - after buying a debt of $3.2m that Zambia originally owed to Romania. The High Court had already ruled Zambia owed the firm $15m. But the decision has angered anti-debt campaigners.
It emerged in court that the two sides had agreed a sum of aproximately $15.5m after allowing for interest and payments already made - significantly lower than Donegal had wanted, but still a substantial profit for the firm. The original debt arose from a $15m loan made by Romania in 1979, mainly for Zambia to buy farming equipment.
However, Zambia's economy ran into trouble and the country fell behind with payments. The outstanding debt was bought by Donegal in 1999 at a deeply discounted price and it later sued to recoup the full amount plus penalties. Campaigners claim the High Court's decision will undermine Zambia's plans for poverty reduction.
There have been a number of court cases involving so-called "vulture funds". The International Monetary Fund describes "vulture funds" as companies which buy up the debts of poor nations cheaply as they are about to be liquidated, and then sue for the full value, plus interest. Anti-poverty campaigners say such companies are unethical; and divert resources away from badly needed spending on health and education in very poor countries.
They also say that governments of the rich world should take action to prevent such cases. Some international finance officials have also voiced fears that recent official debt relief for the poorest countries might encourage more legal claims as countries that no longer have to repay the World Bank, for example, may be more able to pay private creditors who go to court.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
