Food and water shortage ravage Somalia - 400.000 lives at stake

By Miriam Mannak According to Somalian authorities, the drought in its Puntland region has become so severe that almost half a million lives are in direct danger. These reports have been confirmed by the United...

South Africa urged to give way for co-treatment TB and HIV

By Miriam Mannak / for Inter Press ServiceDespite repeated calls for integrated HIV and tuberculosis (TB) health services from medical experts and AIDS activists, most of South Africa’s public health facilities...

Fire Table Mountain Under Control - For Now

By Miriam Mannak The blaze that ate itself a way over and along Devil's Peak, Table Mountain's left shoulder has been brought under control, yet firefighters continued monitored the area all through the day. ...

Fire breaks out on Table Mountain

By Miriam MannakThe massive fire that broke out on Devil's Peak, the left shoulder of Table Mountain, in the evening of March 17, 2009 kept hundreds of firefighters busy all through the night.  As...

South African serial rapist found guilty on 70 charges

Tsediso Letsoenya (37) is finally behind bars after he was found guilty of no less then 70 cases of rape, attempted rape, assault and robbery. His sentence is yet to be decided upon. According to Cape Town's High...

Bloodshed in the Congo far from over

Even with notorious rebel leader Laurent Nkunda arrested, the chance of peace returning to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains rather slim,  especially now the Lord's Resistance Army is firing up...

Malawi first recipient of IMF's 'emergency fund'

Being one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi has not had a lot of luck lately. the nation in southern Africa was hit hard by high fuel and fertiliser costs, and with persisting droughts and failed...

Disasters 2008: Over 211 million people affected & 325 000 killed

The year 2008 was a dramatic year for many. According to the Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), a Belgium based organisation, 321 disasters killed 235 816 people, affected 211 million others,...

HUMAN RIGHTS: Uganda moves towards abolishing death penalty

It seems that Uganda, a country in central Africa, is one big step closer of banning capital punishment. On January 21, the Ugandan Supreme Court ruled that death sentences will be turned into life imprisonment...

Toxic paracetamol syrup kills dozens of Nigerian babies

Nigeria's health authorities are warming citizens of a toxic paracetamol syrup which has killed dozens of children two months after they started teething. It is yet to be determined which ingredient of the syrup...

Army worms causes havoc in Liberia - Over 19 villages invaded

Over 19 towns and villages in the African country of Liberia have been attacked by  legions of hundreds of thousands of army worms, which have destroyed a significant quantity of crops - leaving the grounds...

Zimbabwe cholera: Over 2200 fatalities and 42600 infections

While all eyes are focused on the shower of violence and despair drenching the Gaza strip, the inauguration of America's first black American, and the crumbling global economy, the Zimbabwean fight against cholera...

While Zimbabwe suffers, the Mugabes go on holiday

By Miriam Mannak While ten-thousands of Zimbabwean people are battling cholera, while the country's political opponents are being subjected to torture and the economy has plunged into a dark pool of no return,...

Eight years behind Senegalese bars - for loving men, not women

By Miriam Mannak In Senegal, nine men have received a nine-year jail sentence. Not because they killed, stole, pillaged, raped, abused, hijacked, hurt, stabbed, shot, assaulted or robbed - they were punished...

Malawi's looming famine - Millions at risk

By Miriam Mannak While Zimbabwe has fallen victim to a cholera outbreak of note and Mozambicans are fleeing the floods, another crisis looms in Southern Africa. It is an old, forgotten and silent crisis – which...