March 18, 2015
Peter Singhatey
African Center for Strategic Studies
Africa, Development, MDGs, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, UNDP
How to Make the Sustainable Development Goals Work | Foreign Policy.
“The two of us met for the first time more than a decade ago, in 2003, in the small rural village of Momemo, an hour’s drive and a world away from the urban bustle of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital and largest city. We were there to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of malaria on the lives of villagers in areas particularly hard hit by the disease.
But as we sat outdoors talking with a small group of villagers, the conversation covered a range of issues about the health and well-being of women and children in the village. How early did women marry here? How many children did they have? How many children had they lost to illness? Could they work and care for children severely sick with malaria?
Although the two of us came to that conversation with very different life experiences, we were drawn together by a common mission: enabling a healthier and more productive life for women and children in the poorest countries. Now we’re coming together again — this time to carry the voices of women like those we met in Momemo to a different conversation, one that will affect women everywhere for a generation to come.
As you read this, world leaders are engaged in discussions about a new global development plan that will succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire at the end of 2015…”
March 18, 2015
Peter Singhatey
Aviation
Africa, Aviation, Helicopter Crash, Mail, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey
BBC News – Mali helicopter crash: Two Dutch UN peacekeepers die.
A Dutch UN helicopter has crashed near Gao in northern Mali, killing its two crew members, the Dutch defence ministry has said.
The Apache helicopter made a forced landing during a military exercise, the UN force in Mali said in a statement.
The Dutch armed forces chief, Gen Tom Middendorp, said: “Everything points to this being an accident.”
The aircraft was from the Minusma mission charged with peacekeeping since Islamist fighters were forced out.
One crew member survived the crash but died later of his injuries at a French field hospital, Gen Middendorp told a news conference in The Hague.
Gen Middendorp said an investigation into the cause of the crash was under way…
March 6, 2015
Peter Singhatey
Uncategorized
Africa, BBC, Ethiopia, Evolution, First Human, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey
BBC News – ‘First human’ discovered in Ethiopia.
Scientists have unearthed the jawbone of what they claim is one of the very first humans.
The 2.8 million-year-old specimen is 400,000 years older than researchers thought that our kind first emerged.
The discovery in Ethiopia suggests climate change spurred the transition from tree dweller to upright walker.
The head of the research team told BBC News that the find gives the first insight into “the most important transitions in human evolution”…
March 6, 2015
Peter Singhatey
African Center for Strategic Studies
Africa, Gambia, Hezbollah, International Security, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, Senegal
Hezbollah’s operations in west Africa – Blogs – Jerusalem Post.
Last Thursday, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on three Lebanese individuals – Mustapha Fawaz, Fouzi Fawaz and Abdallah Tahini –accusing them of running a significant Hezbollah supply network in west Africa. The trio, all Lebanese-born but now residing in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, have a history of alleged links to Hezbollah.
According to the Treasury Department, Mustapha Fawaz has had ties with the group since the 1990s, organizing a network of hidden cameras to monitor the movement of Israelis. Fawaz is also rumored to have provided Hezbollah with a report of his visit to the US Embassy in Abuja. In May 2013, the Nigerian authorities detained him, whereupon he gave up crucial intelligence on Hezbollah’s activities throughout the country. Fawaz’s confession led the Nigerian security services to an unremarkable property in the Nigerian city of Kano, where they uncovered a veritable armory housing weapons to be used against Israeli targets across West Africa. Following this discovery, Mustapha’s brother – Fouzi Fawaz – along with Abdallah Tahini were apprehended by the Nigerian security forces and charged with supporting Hezbollah operations in the country. All three men have since been released.
Thursday’s sanctions were not the first time the Treasury Department has targeted individuals connected to Hezbollah in west Africa. In June of 2013, the United States blacklisted four Lebanese men – Ali Ibrahim al-Wafta, Abbas Loutfe Fawaz, Ali Ahmad Chehade and Hicham Nmer Khanafer – after they were accused of masterminding Hezbollah’s fundraising campaigns in Sierra Leone, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and the Gambia…
February 23, 2015
Peter Singhatey
Articles on Africa
Africa, corruption, Inequality, People & Society, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, Secret Bank Accounts
The Hidden Billions Behind Economic Inequality in Africa.
Reports this year of illicit moneys from African countries stashed in a Swiss bank – indicating that corruption lies behind much of the income inequality that affects the continent – have grabbed international news headlines.
Secret bank accounts in the HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm unearthed this year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) were said to hold over 100 billion dollars, some of which came from Africa, including some of the poorest nations on the continent.
When these funds leave the region, they deny the very nations that need them most…
February 22, 2015
Peter Singhatey
Uncategorized
Africa, Boko Haram, Conflict, International Security, People & Society, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey
‘Small girl’ with explosives strapped to her kills five.
A young girl with explosives strapped to her killed five people and wounded dozens at a security checkpoint outside a market in the northeast Nigerian town of Potiskum on Sunday, witnesses said.
“(She) refused to be checked at the gate to the market and an argument ensued,” witness Ibrahim Maishago said. “She let off the bomb, killing herself and five others, while many were injured.”
No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, which bore the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram. The insurgents have suffered a string of defeats in a military offensive by Nigeria and neighbours Cameroon, Niger and Chad…
February 2, 2015
Peter Singhatey
Uncategorized
Addiction, Compulsive Disorders, Facebook, Peter Singhatey, Research, Smartphone addition
Smartphone addiction time-bomb ‘ready to explode’ – Independent.ie.
A third of internet users now access online content on mobile phones – up from just 10pc two years ago – and internet users are expected to surpass PC users by next year, according to the latest research by Dublin-based Statcounter.
Counsellors now fear internet addiction, fuelled by 24/7 access via mobile phones, will be the next wave of compulsive disorders that they will be treating.
Gerry Cooney, an addiction counsellor at the Rutland Centre, said they are already seeing a massive surge in the number of people – typically young men under the age of 30 – who are seeking treatment for online gambling and pornography addiction, which is exacerbated by 24-hour access through smartphones and other mobile devices.
And while the people he is currently treating at the centre’s residential treatment programme have sought help for gambling and other impulse control disorders, he believes smartphone addiction will be the next wave of illness due to the “mood-altering and compulsive” nature of social media, gaming and other forms of online entertainment.
“It’s not necessarily a young person’s issue,” Mr Cooney told the Sunday Independent.
“Facebook is something that a lot of people are now struggling with, the constant need to stay in touch.”…
February 2, 2015
Peter Singhatey
Articles on Africa
Africa, corruption, Money Laundering, Organised Crime, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey
Fraud, organized crime costing Africa billions per year: study – Al Arabiya News.4
Africa loses at least $50 billion a year to illicit practices like tax fraud, corruption and organized crime, a worrying situation that is hurting the continent’s economies, a UN-mandated study group warned Sunday.
Illicit financial flows — which range from international corporations dodging taxes to the trafficking of weapons and minerals — are a barrier to creating jobs on the world’s poorest continent, according to the group headed by ex-South African president Thabo Mbeki.
“Large commercial corporations are by far the biggest culprits of illicit outflows, followed by organized crime,” said Mbeki in the report commissioned by the United Nations and African Union to study illicit cash flows.
“We are also convinced that corrupt practices in Africa are facilitating these outflows.”…
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