WASHINGTON (AP)—The U.S. military mobilization in support of Haitian earthquake relief and recovery efforts is winding down and will be concluded for the most...
by Rukmini CallimachiAssociated Press Writer THIES, Senegal (AP)—Even death cannot stop the violence against gays in this corner of the world any more. Madieye Diallo’s body had only been in the ground for a few hours when the mob descended on the weedy cemetery with shovels. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents. The scene of May 2, 2009 was filmed on a cell phone and the video sold at the market. It passed from phone to phone, sowing panic among gay men who say they now feel like hunted animals. HOMOPHOBIA IN AFRICA—This Feb. 5, photo shows Ousmane Diallo holding a picture of Madieye Diallo at his shop in Thies, Senegal. A wave of intense homophobia is washing across Africa, where homosexuality is already illegal in at least 37 countries.
by Jason Straziuso JINJA, Uganda (AP)—Caroline Aya was playing in front of her house in January when a neighbor put a cloth over her mouth and fled with her. ABDUCTED AND SLAIN— In this Feb. 11 photo, Balluonzima Christ, left, and Rose Ajiba hold a photograph of their child Caroline Aya, allegedly killed for a sacrificial ceremony in Jinja, Uganda. A couple of days later, the 8-year-old’s body was found a short walk away—with her tongue cut out. Police believe she was offered up as a human sacrifice in a ritual killing, thought to bring wealth or health. “If it is a sickness you try to treat it, and if they die that is one thing,” said Caroline’s father, Balluonzima Christ. “But when you slaughter a person like a goat, that is not easy.”
by Anita PowellAssociated Press Writer JOHANNESBURG (AP)—A song that advocates the killing of White farmers has ignited debate about race and free speech and raised questions about the sticking power of efforts toward achieving racial reconciliation. After Johannesburg’s South Gauteng High Court ruled last week that the song violates hate-speech laws, the ruling African National Congress—which for decades led the fight against the brutal and racist system of apartheid—said it would appeal in court for the right to sing what it called an important anti-apartheid anthem. JULIUS MALEMA
by Will Weissert HAVANA (AP)—A U.S. replica of the 19th century Cuban slave ship Amistad glided into the millpond-calm waters of Havana Bay and docked March 25, a reminder of the countries’ intertwined past and perhaps a small gesture toward a brighter shared future. HISTORIC SHIP— U.S.-flagged vessel Amistad arrives to the port of Havana, March 25. The ship is in Cuba to observe its 10th anniversary and commemorate the day in 1807 when the British Parliament outlawed slave trade. Built in Connecticut, the black-hulled, two-masted re-creation of the schooner, whose name means “Friendship,” flew the flags of the United States, Cuba and United Nations. It was one of the few times a ship under Cuba’s flag and the Stars and Stripes has called on the island in 51 years of estrangement since Fidel Castro took power.
by Donna Bryson JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife has bitterly criticized the 92-year-old anti-apartheid icon as having “let us down,” prompting outrage March 10 in South Africa. CRITICISM SPARKS OUTRAGE—In this Feb. 11 photo, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, left, alongside her former husband former President Nelson Mandela, center, and his current wife, Graca Machel, attend the opening of Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said she could not forgive him for accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 alongside F.W. de Klerk, according to March 9’s Evening Standard, a British newspaper. The White president released Mandela and went on to participate in negotiations that ended apartheid.
by Herb BoydFor New Pittsburgh Courier PORT-au-PRINCE, Haiti (NNPA)—Hurricane-ravaged Port-au-Prince continues to rebound even as the rainy season approaches the island of Haiti. This week, U.S. officials are scurrying to deliver portable toilets, hurricane-resistant tents and plastic tarps that Haitian Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour has said he prefers for the coming torrential rains, possible hurricanes and mudslides. Already eight people were killed over the weekend in flooding after a downpour—and the rainy season has not fully started in earnest. RECOVERY CONTINUES—Haitian workers continue to press for normalcy as the people prepare for the rainy season.
(NNPA/GIN)—Top U.S. officials made an unannounced visit to Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, a former military dictator, during their recent trip to the oil-producing African nation—a move that raised fears of U.S. support for a possible run by Babangida for the presidency in next year’s elections. “At the very least, the parley suggests that Obama’s team regards the retired general as an instrument for solving Nigeria’s myriad and deep political crises,” wrote columnist Okey Ndibe on the anti-corruption website SaharaReporters.
SYDNEY (AP)—An Australian government program imposing radical restrictions on Aborigines in a crackdown on child abuse is inherently racist, breaches international human rights obligations and must be changed immediately, a U.N. official said Feb 24. In a report to be released this week, the United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous human rights, James Anaya, expressed serious concerns over the controversial initiative known as “the intervention.”
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (NNPA)—A traffic jam in the streets of Downtown Port-au-Prince makes it barely impossible to navigate the van from block to block. People walk along the edges of the streets, seemingly defying the moving vehicles only inches away. Some sit on chairs or upside down buckets on the sidewalk, selling goods or cooking in large pots.
