MADAGASCAR - Outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar has claimed 47 victims - and is spreading to island's capital

Outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar has claimed 47 victims - and is spreading to island's capital

• 138 suspected cases this year - and death toll is expected to rise
• Two people infected in capital of Antananarivo, one of them dying
• Health workers mount pest control campaign through slum areas
• Plague mostly affects rats, but humans can contract it from fleas
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By MARK DUELL and SAM MATTHEW FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 19:41 GMT, 25 November 2014 | UPDATED: 19:53 GMT, 25 November 2014

An outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar has now claimed almost 50 victims and is spreading to the island's capital, officials warned today.

There have been 138 suspected cases of the disease - similar to the Black Death in medieval Europe - since the start of the year, with the death toll of 47 expected to rise in the coming months.

Two people have been infected in the capital of Antananarivo, one of them dying, and health workers have mounted a pest control campaign through slum areas around the city.

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Warnings: Two people have been infected in the capital of Antananarivo (file picture), one of them dying

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Response: Health officials have mounted a pest control campaign through slum areas around the city (file)

The health ministry said 200 households had been ‘disinfected’ this month, adding that those who had contact with the infected had been given antibiotics in a bid to arrest the spread the disease.

The World Health Organization last week said 40 people had died as a result of plague, which was first identified in August.

Plague is spread by fleas and mostly affects rats, but humans can also contract the disease if they are bitten by a disease-carrying flea.

The bubonic form prompts swelling of the lymph node, but can be treated with antibiotics.

Bubonic plague in Madagascar kills 40 people

The pneumonic version, affecting the lungs, can be spread from person to person through coughing and can kill within 24 hours.

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Map: An outbreak of bubonic plague has killed almost 50 people in Madagascar, Africa

The situation in Madagascar is all the more worrying because of a high level of resistance to insecticides targeting fleas, the United Nations health agency said.

In Ankasina, a slum outside Antananarivo, the family of the young woman who died from the plague said they have been stigmatised by the community.

According to Bernadette Rasoarimanana, the mother of the deceased woman, community members have been giving them ‘dirty looks’ since the death of her daughter.

Residents of the poor and overcrowded slum speak of squalid conditions, infested with rats, increasing the risk of infection.

‘Our neighbourhood is really dirty and has been neglected by the state for a long time,’ she said.

Plague often breaks out in the vast island nation, and is usually at its worst between October and March.

The last case of plague in the capital was ten years ago, said Christophe Rogier, of the island's Institut Pasteur.

‘It is possible that the plague continued to survive in 

Antananarivo for ten years without touching humans,’ with the virus restricted to its rat population, he said.

‘Rats are a natural reservoir of the plague, and they also survive the plague.’

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the country has recorded on average 500 cases of plague every year since 2009.

The Black Death, otherwise known as the bubonic plague, is estimated to have killed some 25million people across Europe in the Middle Ages. 

BUBONIC PLAGUE: WIPED OUT A THIRD OF EUROPE IN THE 14TH CENTURY

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Troubled times: A town crier calls for the dead to be bought out in this drawing of London from 1665

Bubonic plague killed around 100million people during the 14th century and was known as the 'Black Death'. 

Drawings and paintings from the outbreak, which wiped out about a third of the European population, depict town criers saying 'bring out your dead' while dragging trailers piled with infected corpses.

It is caused by a bacterium known as Yersinia pestis, which uses the flea as a host and is usually transmitted to humans via rats.

The disease causes grotesque symptoms such as gangrene and the appearance of large swellings on the groin, armpits or neck, known as 'buboes'.

It kills up to two thirds of sufferers within just four days if it is not treated, although if antibiotics are administered within 24 hours of infection patients are highly likely to survive.

After the Black Death arrived in 1347, plague became a common phenomenon in Europe, with outbreaks recurring regularly until the 18th century.

Bubonic plague has almost completely vanished from the developed world, with 90 per cent of all cases now found in Africa.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2849316/Outbreak-bubonic-plague-Madagascar-claimed-47-victims-spreading-island-s-capital.html#ixzz3K7Wqh698 

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AFRICA - Ugandans baffled by sleeping ministers

Ugandans baffled by sleeping ministers

Ministers and MPs caught on camera sleeping through important speeches have sparked criticism that they are not working. Eriasa Mukiibi SserunjogiLast updated: 06 Aug 2014 07:52 Second Deputy Prime Minister Moses Ali, middle, listens to the state-of-the-nation address [Mukiibi Sserunjogi] Kampala, Uganda - At the most recent state-of-the-nation address, Uganda's second deputy prime minister wore sunglasses too dark to enable anyone to see whether his eyes were open or closed.  Moses Ali, 74, is one of the cabinet ministers who seem to have improvised a way to escape the scrutiny of nosy media cameras that have on several occasions caught senior government officials and MPs dozing when the president is delivering his address and when the national budget is read.  It all started four years ago when a local tabloid splashed the pictures of sleeping ministers and MPs on its front page as President Yoweri Museveni delivered his address to the country. The paper's headline on the day was "Sleeping Nation".  The public has since come to covet these events as much as the politicians seem to dread them. TV cameras are always out for who is napping, and photographs of ministers and MPs sleeping though these important speeches - delivered annually in June - end up on social media, with many lampooning the politicians.  "When I served in Museveni's government things were exciting and one would have no reason to sleep," saidProfessor  Edward Kakonge, who served as the first minister of local government when Museveni became president in 1986. "What is happening now is a clear pointer that there is nothing exciting in there any more." Snoring away  Whether MPs and ministers simply sleep through these events has become a key focus for the media. Some commentators have said that if government officials can doze while attending important events they know are being covered live, they can do anything in the privacy of their offices.  "Sleeping is not a bad thing. Sleeping on the job is," Bernard Tabaire, a columnist for the Sunday Monitor, wrote.  "No one has yet done the count that I am aware of, but the number of our big men and women who snored away as the president delivered his annual state-of-the-nation speech ... was possibly the largest in five years."  A government spokesman said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was "meditating," not dozing [Al Jazeera] The media's prying eyes into the matter is creating problems for journalists.  Last month, NTV, a local broadcaster, beamed images that appeared to show the president himself dozing while listening to the budget speech, prompting a government spokesman to say he was "meditating".  The station's reporters who had been accredited to cover the president's press conference days later were turned away, sparking speculation as to whether the station was banned from covering events presided over by Museveni.  The NTV crew on June 30 was again unable to cover the president as he presided over an event at parliament.  Hellen Kaweesa, the parliament's spokeswoman, however, says that the reporters from the station missed the event because they arrived late.  "The reporters came to my office and I gave them footage. We have not banned anybody from covering [presidential events at parliament]," Kaweesa told Al Jazeera.  Officials at NTV station declined to comment on the incidents for this article.  Kaweesa came under fire from Museveni's spokesperson, who accused her of failing to "regulate" the media during parliamentary events.  "No one has yet done the count that I am aware of, but the number of our big men and women who snored away as the president delivered his annual state-of-the-nation speech ... was possibly the largest in five years." Tamale Mirundi, the president's spokesperson, said that the TV station was not banned from covering presidential events but that "it should stand warned".  "The president is the fountain of honour and he must be respected; under no circumstances can the president of the republic be depicted in such a manner," Mirundi said.  Government critics such as Betty Nambooze, an opposition legislator, say old age is taking its toll on the politicians.  "They are too old and their attention spans have been reduced," Nambooze, 45, told Al Jazeera.  Deputy prime minister Ali is one of the most senior members of cabinet, second only to Henry Kajura, 80, another deputy prime minister and minister of public service. Museveni, in power since 1986, will hit 70 this September.  However, the president has infused some youth into his cabinet. Presidency Minister Frank Tumwebaze, one of the most influential members of the cabinet, is 38.   In a further dig at the government, Nambooze said: "The president never has anything new to say and his colleagues know in advance that this is the case [so they doze off]."  She claims that what the politicians exhibit in public is not different from what they do in the comfort of their offices, negatively affecting the productivity of ministries.  "If the honourable ministers cannot attentively listen to their boss speaking in parliament, do you expect them to pay attention to briefs from technocrats in their ministries?" asked Nambooze.    Rose Namayanja, the government spokesperson, however, claims that Nambooze's statements are made "out of ignorance of how [the] government works".  "Those senior members of cabinet she is trying to disparage make tremendous contributions to the workings of government," said Namayanja.   She added that it is "natural that people will close their eyes to process" what is being said.  "Managing [the] government is a mental process and it must necessarily involve thinking," she adds. 'Regime of sleep'  Mathias Mpuuga, who shortly after Museveni's re-election in 2011 led protests against the government over the rising cost of living, is having a good laugh about the situation.  "President Museveni has never been delusional about it; he warned Ugandans early enough that his will be a regime of sleep and he has not disappointed," Mpuuga says.  In the earlier years when Museveni first competed for the presidency, after his government restored elections following the bush war, he bragged about pacifying the country and allowing Ugandans to sleep without worrying about violence.  When he took over power in 1986, the country had had six different administrations in a space of just six years since the overthrow of Idi Amin in 1979. He therefore turned the narrative about "restoring sleep" into a key campaign catchphrase.  Of the state-of-the-nation address and budget speech, Mpuuga said, "Museveni is supplying the sleep he promised Ugandans." Source: Al Jazeera

AKCHOUR - The Real Beauty of Morocco

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SOMALIA - Beauty Of Somalia And Its People

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AFRICA - Somalia profile

16 July 2014 Last updated at 12:16

Somalia profile

Somalia was without a formal parliament for more than two decades after the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991.

Years of anarchy followed the downfall of President Barre, and it was not until 2012, when a new internationally-backed government was installed, that the country began to enjoy a measure of stability once more.

The decades of fighting between rival warlords meant that the country was ill-equipped to deal with natural disasters such as drought, and around half a million people died in the Somali famines of 1992 and 2010-12.

Comprised of a former British protectorate and an Italian colony, Somalia was created in 1960 when the two territories merged. Since then its development has been slow. Relations with neighbours have been soured by its territorial claims on Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.

In 1970 Mr Barre proclaimed a socialist state, paving the way for close relations with the USSR. In 1977, with the help of Soviet arms, Somalia attempted to seize the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, but was defeated thanks to Soviet and Cuban backing for Ethiopia, which had turned Marxist.

In 1991 President Barre was overthrown by opposing clans. But they failed to agree on a replacement and plunged the country into lawlessness and clan warfare.

In 2000 clan elders and other senior figures appointed Abdulkassim Salat Hassan president at a conference in Djibouti. A transitional government was set up, with the aim of reconciling warring militias.

But as its mandate drew to a close, the administration had made little progress in uniting the country.

In 2004, after protracted talks in Kenya, the main warlords and politicians signed a deal to set up a new parliament, which later appointed a president.

The fledgling administration, the 14th attempt to establish a government since 1991, faced a formidable task in its efforts to bring reconciliation to a country divided into clan fiefdoms.

At a glance

• Scene of Africa's worst humanitarian crisis: the famine of 2010-12
• No effective government for more than two decades after 1991
• New internationally-backed government installed in 2012
• The self-proclaimed state of Somaliland and the region of Puntland run their own affairs

Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

Islamist insurgency

Its authority was further compromised in 2006 by the rise of Islamists who gained control of much of the south, including the capital, after their militias kicked out the warlords who had ruled the roost for 15 years.

With the backing of Ethiopian troops, forces loyal to the interim administration seized control from the Islamists at the end of 2006.

Islamist insurgents - including the Al-Shabab group, which later declared allegiance to al-Qaeda and in 2012 announced its merger with the global Islamist terrorist group - fought back against the government and Ethiopian forces, regaining control of most of southern Somalia by late 2008.

Ethiopia pulled its troops out in January 2009. Soon after, Al-Shabab fighters took control of Baidoa, formerly a key stronghold of the transitional government.

Somalia's parliament met in neighbouring Djibouti in late January and swore in 149 new members from the main opposition movement, the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.

The parliament also extended the mandate of the transitional federal government for another two years, and installed moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad as the new president.

However, the government's military position weakened further, and in May 2009 Islamist insurgents launched an attack on Mogadishu, prompting President Ahmad to appeal for help from abroad.

Al-Shabab consolidated its position as the most powerful insurgent group by driving its main rival, Hizbul Islam, out of the southern port city of Kismayo in October 2009.

But al-Shabab was wrongfooted by a series of government and African peacekeeper offensives and a Kenyan army incursion in 2011. They withdrew from Mogadishu in August 2011, the port of Baidoa in February, the key town of Afgoye in May and the port of Merca in August, and lost their last urban stronghold - the major southern port of Kismayo - in October 2012, along with the major inland town of Wanla Weyn.

In a sign of growing confidence, Somalia's first formal parliament in more than 20 years was sworn in at Mogadishu airport, marking an end to the eight-year transitional period.

Parliament chose Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, an academic and civic activist with little political experience, as president in September 2012. He in turn appointed an economist and businessman, Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid, prime minister with a brief to stamp out nepotism and clan rivalry.

Foreign intervention in Somalia

• 1992 - UN troops arrive to monitor ceasefire after fighting which followed fall of Siad Barre. US-led task force delivers aid
• 1993 - UN mission is dealt a fatal blow when US rangers are killed in incident made famous by Hollywood film Black Hawk Down
• 1995 - UN troops withdraw, leaving warlords to fight on. UN casualties number 150
• 2006 - Ethiopia sends troops to defend interim government
• 2007 - African peacekeeping force AMISOM deploys
• 2011 - Kenya enters Somalia in pursuit of al-Shabab militia

Piracy

The long-standing absence of authority in the country led to Somali pirates becoming a major threat to international shipping in the area, and prompted Nato to take the lead in an anti-piracy operation. International efforts were seen to bear fruit in 2012, when pirate attacks dropped sharply.

In 2011, the plight of the Somali people was exacerbated by the worst drought in six decades, which left millions of people on the verge of starvation and caused tens of thousands to flee to Kenya and Ethiopia in search of food.

After the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, the north-west part of Somalia unilaterally declared itself the independent Republic of Somaliland. The territory, whose independence is not recognised by international bodies, has enjoyed relative stability.

Mogadishu residents could enjoy the beach again in late 2012 after the withdrawal of extremists 

who banned such social gatherings of men and women

Source: http://www.bbc.com/

SOMALIA - 12 Killed as Army Repels Attack on Prison

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Aug 31, 2014, 12:11 PM ET

By ABDI GULED Associated Press

Somalia's government forces regained control of a high security prison in the capital that was attacked Sunday by seven heavily armed suspected Islamic militants who attempted to free other extremists held there, officials said.

All the attackers, three government soldiers and two civilians were killed, said Information Minister Mustafa Duhulow.

Duhulow denounced the extremists as "against the security improvements we are currently experiencing here in Mogadishu and all they want is for the world to believe that Mogadishu is not safe. However, loudly we say to them that these foiled attacks strengthen our forces and prove their bravery to the people of Somalia."

Mogadishu's Godka Jilacow prison, the scene of the Sunday morning attack, is a key interrogation center for Somalia's intelligence agency and many suspected militants are believed to be held in underground cells there.

Somali police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said the attackers were "trying to free terrorists held in the prison."

The Somali rebel group al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack that shattered a period of calm in Mogadishu, which is stabilizing after nearly 20 years of chaotic violence.

The attack started when a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate of the prison, followed by gunmen who fought their way into the prison. Guards fought the attackers who threw grenades to penetrate the prison's defenses, police said.

Soldiers in pick-up trucks rushed to the prison and troops took positions around the facility, residents said.

Mohamed Hassan, a resident who lives near the prison in the neighborhood of the presidential palace, said he heard gunfire and explosions as soldiers and militants fought for control of the notorious jail.

Another resident, Mohamed Abdullahi, described a terrifying scene with bullets "flying around." Ambulance sirens echoed across the capital as those wounded in the attack were taken into the hospital wards for treatment.

The attack on the Mogadishu prison came as government soldiers, backed by African Union troops, launched an assault on militant bases in the southern parts of this Horn of Africa nation.

On Saturday the southern town of Bulomarer, which is about 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Mogadishu, was seized from militants after hours of fighting.

Al-Shabab used Bulomarer to stage deadly attacks across Somalia, including in Mogadishu, say military officials. The military offensive dubbed "Indian Ocean" is planned to oust al-Shabab from one of its last major centers, said the officials. The loss of Bulomarer would leave al-Shabab's current key base of the coastal town of Barawe vulnerable to attacks.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/

AFRICA - Liberia Facts

Fast Facts

Population:

3,283,000

Capital:

Monrovia; 572,000

Area:

111,370 square kilometers (43,000 square miles)

Language:

English, 20 ethnic languages

Religion:

Indigenous beliefs, Christian, Muslim

Currency:

Liberian dollar

Life Expectancy:

49

GDP per Capita:

U.S. $1,000

Literacy Percent:

58

Freed American slaves began settling on the West African coast in 1820. In 1847 Liberia was declared an independent republic—Africa's first—under a constitution modeled on that of the U.S. In 1989 civil war erupted, ending seven years later with the Abuja Peace Accords. In 1999 the government of Charles Taylor was accused of supporting rebels in Sierra Leone, and it fought a border war with Guinea in 2000. Taylor was forced into exile in 2003, and the new government—under the leadership of Africa's first elected female president in 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—works to rebuild the nation.

ECONOMY

• Industry: Rubber processing, palm oil processing, timber, diamonds
• Agriculture: Rubber, coffee, cacao, rice; sheep; timber
• Exports: Rubber, timber, iron, diamonds, cacao

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

Source: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com

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UGANDA - Ten Interesting Facts about Uganda

1. Around 50% of Uganda’s population survives on less than
    one dollar a day.

2. There are still untapped large crude oil and natural gas
    reserves in Uganda.

3. Uganda is a conservative society; it is generally
    unacceptable for women to wear skimpy clothing.

4. In Uganda, “skimpy” is defined as “not reaching your
    ankles.”

5. The average church service in Uganda lasts between 4 to
    6 hours.

6. In Uganda, homosexuality is forbidden by law and is
    considered a punishable crime.

7. The Internet connection in Uganda is very slow, with many
    Internet cafes running only off mobile phones.

8. The main transportation vehicle in Uganda are bicycles.

9. Uganda is one of the top countries in the world when it
    comes to alcohol consumption.

10. Ugandans love meat stews, but the “meat” is not just the
     meat – it’s also the animal’s liver, stomach, intestines,
     tongue, etc. The Ugandan cook wastes nothing.

Source: http://www.travelingeast.com

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AFRICA - Democratic Republic of the Congo Facts

Fast Facts

Population:

60,764,000

Capital:

Kinshasa; 5,717,000

Area:

2,344,855 square kilometers (905,365 square miles)

Language:

French, Lingala, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba

Religion:

Roman Catholic, Protestant, Kimbanguist, Muslim, traditional

Currency:

Congolese franc

Life Expectancy:

48

GDP per Capita:

U.S. $600

Literacy Percent:

66

Democratic Republic of the Congo Facts Flag

Map

Straddling the Equator, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third largest country in Africa (after Sudan and Algeria). The mighty Congo River flows north and then south through a land rich in minerals, fertile farmlands, and rain forests. The country has a tiny coast on the Atlantic Ocean, just enough to accommodate the mouth of the Congo River. The forested Congo River basin occupies 60 percent of the nation's area, creating a central region that is a communication barrier between the capital, Kinshasa, in the west, the mountainous east, and the southern mineral-rich highlands. As many as 250 ethnic groups speaking some 700 local languages and dialects endure one of the world's lowest living standards. War, government corruption, neglected public services, and depressed copper and coffee markets are contributing factors.

In 1960 the Belgian Congo became independent as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gen. Joseph Mobutu came to power in a coup in 1965; he changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko and the country's name to the Republic of Zaire. Mobutu's corruption-ridden government continued in power until 1997 when rebel forces led by Laurent Kabila—supported by Rwanda and Uganda—took Kinshasa and changed the country's name back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A rift between Kabila and his former allies caused a new rebellion in 1998, backed by Rwanda and Uganda. What became known as "Africa's world war" started as Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, and Chad sent troops to support Kabila. The war claimed some three million lives, with all sides plundering the country's natural resources—especially diamonds from south-central Congo. A UN-supported peace agreement in 2002 and the formation of a transitional government in 2003 brought an end to the five-year conflict.

In 2005, voters approved a new constitution by referendum, and general elections in 2006 gave the presidency to Joseph Kabila, son of Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated in 2001. There has been relative stability in the country since the elections, but violent flare-ups between government and rebel militias have continued, particularly in border regions.

ECONOMY

• Industry: Mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products
• Agriculture: Coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; wood products
• Exports: Diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, cobalt

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

Source: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com