KINSHASA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Belgian air transport company, Bruxels Airlines, will form a new aerial company in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) called "Korongo", declared Sven Marinus, the general director of this company, on Tuesday during a press conference.

The new company, Korongo, whose feasibility studies are still on-going, will have it's registered office in Lubumbashi, the second biggest town in DRC and the main town of Katanga province, Marinus added.

He justified the choice of Lubumbashi to host the new company because of it's economic importance since it's a mining province with more than ten mining companies and also it's geographical position because as he indicated, "From Lubumbashi, we can fly to whichever direction."

Korongo will therefore have flights to different airports both national and international, he added, without giving more details on either the cost of the project, types of aeroplanes to be used or when the operations will begin.

20091216
afrik.com

The indictment by the International Criminal Court of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by government forces in Darfur has provoked a crisis in relations between the court and the African Union (AU). It has added further heat to an often angry debate about the court’s role in Africa. Simmering unhappiness with the ICC flared into a public break on 14 July, when the AU announced that it would not cooperate with the ICC warrant for Mr. Bashir’s arrest. The African leaders said they were unhappy with the “manner in which the prosecution against President Bashir has been conducted, the publicity-seeking approach of the ICC prosecutor” and the UN Security Council’s refusal of the AU request to defer the indictment while peace efforts continued.

The indictment is the latest evidence, critics argue, that the ICC, which to date has brought cases solely against Africans, is placing undue emphasis on the continent. Supporters of the ICC worry that such arguments diminish the seriousness of the charges and point out that some of the loudest critics are other African leaders who fear they might one day face similar charges.

The dispute is a far cry from the welcome the court received when it was established. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, head of the Africa justice programme of the non-governmental Open Society Institute, explains why many Africans initially embraced the court. “Most people in our continent are, like me, children of war, want and deprivation, caused mostly by bad government,” he noted in an article posted online by the African publisher Pambazuka. “This is why most of us supported the establishment of the ICC. We believed the court would help to end high-level impunity for mass atrocities.”

(Xinhua) -- The Kenya police said Tuesday 12 Eritrean national soccer players who disappeared after their team was bundled out of the Orange Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup are hiding in Eastleigh, east Nairobi.

The police said they have already launched an elaborate search to track down these players, but it will be a long shot for police to trace down their target in a residential estate full of illegal immigrants especially from Somalia.

Cecafa secretary Nicholas Musonye said he has handed all the names to the police and is not to blame for their disappearance.

The Eritreans were knocked out of the Cecafa competition for East and Central African nations last week. But when the team's plane landed back home, it was reportedly only carrying 10 players, a coach and an official.

However, Eritrea's Ambassador to Kenya Salih Omar said the number was exaggerated for political reasons in a bid to portray Asmara as an unstable place.

"We know who are behind this scam. It is pointless to name them, but I will tell them they will not succeed," Omar told journalists in Nairobi.

The ambassador extended an arm to the players to report to his embassy so he may help them secure the right documents.

"Nobody will force them back home. Maybe they need to taste life outside home to realize home is best. My government is doing everything possible to see that the needed infrastructure is available to support the youths. There is no point running away from home," said the ambassador.

The Eritrean government, according to Omar, will dig to the root cause and tackle the problem.

"Last year, we had another four disappearing. But the numbers are always blown up. They are trooping back home after realizing their mistakes. Those involved take advantage of the adventure and their young mind to confuse them," said Omar.

Musonye, who is helping the police with the search, remained skeptic that most of the players are hiding in the populous Eastleigh Estate.

"I am certain they are hiding in Eastleigh. We have so many Eritreans there. It is unfortunate, and puts Cecafa and Eritrea Football in ambiguous situation," Musonye said. "Eritrean FA did work extra hard to get them take part in the competition, unfortunately these boys had other ideas."

Many Eritreans live in Nairobi and it will be hard for the police to pin point the culprits.

modernghana

Since James Bonsack invented the first cigarette rolling machine in 1881 global cigarette consumption has been rising steadily. There has also been a rise in the devastating effects of smoking. According to the third edition of Tobacco Atlas, all forms of tobacco are addictive and lethal. Scientific evidence also confirms that smokers face a very high risk of death from many cancers, respiratory diseases, stroke and many other fatal infections. Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases. Out of this number, about sixty of such chemicals cause or are suspected to cause cancer.

According to researchers, if the current smoking trend continues, six million people worldwide will be dying from tobacco related diseases annually by the year 2010. This means that China will lead the death chart. About 350 million of China's population smoke. For every three cigarettes lit worldwide, one is smoked in China. Almost 25% of the Chinese smoke. When you visit construction sites, they smoke a puff out clouds of smoke on the miserable young men seeking their daily bread. The end effect is lungs infections which their meager earnings cannot treat.

What are we doing about it?
Many countries around the world have enacted legislations to curb deaths resulting from smoking but many developing countries, especially those in Africa, are yet to take any meaningful measures to protect their citizens against this deadly trend. A report published by the Global Smoke-Free Partnership and launched in Tanzania last month states that nearly 90% of Africans do not have any protection against second-hand smoking, a phenomenon many countries in the world are vigorously fighting. Second-hand smoking or passive smoking simply means inhaling other people's tobacco smoke.

Research has shown that in countries where there are enforceable ban on smoking in public places, cancers and other heart infections have significantly reduced. A research led by Dr James Lightwood of the University of California found that heart attack rates across Europe and North America start dropped by 36% three years after the implementation of anti-smoking laws. Another research also conducted in the United Kingdom revealed that heart attack rates in that country decreased by 10% a year after the ban on smoking in public places in 2007. Unfortunately in Ghana, all manner of persons, including children, are exposed to tobacco smoke because there are no laws prohibiting people from smoking anywhere they choose.

People smoke in drinking spots, restaurants, hotels, lorry stations, in vehicles and sometimes at work places.

In fact smokers think it is their constitutional right to smoke and where they choose to do that is no one's business provided the substance is not illegal. An attempt to challenge such smokers will either result in verbal assaults or a nasty and violent confrontation, in which the smoker usually becomes the victor.

This therefore calls for a national ban on smoking in public smoking. If this is done, it will not only reduce the number of tobacco related infections on second-hand smokers but it will drastically reduce the amount of cigarette consumed in the country. Research has proven wrong the assertion that the demand of tobacco is inelastic and no matter the price increase demand will remain the same. A study by the American Cancer Society researcher, Evan Blecher, indicates that if the price of cigarette is doubled by tax increment, it can reduce the consumption of the product by 60%. South Africa has been able to cut cigarette consumption by one-third since it started vigorous cigarette tax increment since 1993.

The tourism industries in countries where anti-public smoking laws have been passed have not suffered any significant setback so the fear of loss of revenues due to the ban on public smoking is out of the question.

Evidence on the benefits of prohibiting public smoking abounds and what is left now is the political will to introduce the ban in Ghana. In African countries like Kenya, Zambia and South Africa where the ban is in place, ant-public smoking laws have had to face very stiff opposition from the tobacco industry. But where there is a will there has always been a way.

Other countries are doing it. According to a BBC report, “Italy's anti-smoking laws are some of the toughest in Europe.

Businesses face a fine of up to 2,000 euros (£1,390) if they allow customers to smoke, while the smokers themselves could be slapped with a 275-euro fine for repeat offences.” Why do we then allow foreigners and local smokers alike to pollute our public places with clouds of smoke? Anytime I get to Yendi and Tamale lorry stations, I feel like throwing up. Complain and you'll be thought a good lesson.

The Northern Sector Command of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Services on Saturday destroyed 330,000 cartons of seized cigarettes. The cigarettes were destroyed because they were either smuggled goods or did not have the health warning: "Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.” For now, smokers do not seem to care about the Ministry of Health warning and will go ahead to smoke. It is their lives, their rights and their health. The question now is what about those who are forced to inhale cigarette smoke? What option do they have?

The ban on smoking at public places is long overdue and the government must choose between the health of the people and the so-called economic revenue from the tobacco industry.

And if there is the need to act, then the time is now.

independent

The uneasy peace that has kept the two disparate halves of Africa's biggest nation together is under threat

As Sudan approaches its fifth anniversary of peace, the fragile accord which has held the north and the south together is unravelling and Africa's biggest country is sliding back dangerously towards what was the continent's longest war. Momentous elections are due in a matter of months, a referendum on separation looms and Sudan's complex ceasefire is in open crisis.

All over the south there are soldiers in new uniforms; the army was paid for the first time in six months last week. Around 2,000 people have died in violence there this year and the government of southern Sudan says small arms are pouring across the border. In the north, which is led by Omar al-Bashir, the president wanted for war crimes, opposition leaders have been jailed after protests over democratic reforms and crisis talks in Khartoum have failed to halt public demonstrations.

"Now we're seeing the crunch," says Sudan analyst John Ashworth. The "endgame" of the historic Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has arrived, he explains, and the fact that "the north gave away more than it could afford" to get the ceasefire means new conflict is almost inevitable.

Tunguer Kueigong is among those who think that 2009 will be the last year of peace. In Bentiu, the dusty capital of Unity State, the paramount chief of the Nuer, southern Sudan's second largest tribe, holds court in his "office" under the shade of a mahogany tree. "You know the north will not just let the south separate like this," he says, matter-of-factly. "If it happens, the people must fight."

The traditional leader understands better than most that the biggest obstacle to peace is oil. Unity State produces half of Sudan's oil. His time as chief has coincided with the discovery of the first sign of Sudan's huge oil wealth, here in the state 33 years ago.

Tunguer's playful garb, sunglasses and a Manchester United cap pulled tight over his head, belie his status. Southerners from ministers to herders come to his "office". Gesturing occasionally to his unopened briefcase perched on a plastic stool, he explains the benefits that oil has brought to Unity State. "When we didn't know we had oil we built schools and clinics," he says. "Because of the oil there is nothing."

Since the discovery of crude, the preferred method of extraction has been to clear the local population by force and meet any opposition with overwhelming military power. For much of the last three decades this has meant war. The fighting in Unity State, Tunguer recounts, has seen people being bombed in their villages, burnt alive in their huts and children rounded up and marched north to become slaves. "When we tried to fight them we had only small guns; they had bombs," he says.

The reality of Unity State sits uncomfortably with its name. A super-hot expanse on the western fringe of the great Sudd Swamp, it sits on the northern border of what may become South Sudan under the terms of the deal that ended the civil war. For now it looks politically to the south but its economic wealth is pumped north to the Arab-led government in Khartoum.

Its oil fields are guarded by army units dominated by northern security forces, with two of them outright occupied by the northern-controlled Sudan Army. The state infrastructure has been built in spite of its people for the purpose of extraction, not development. Its countless miles of straight roads were built to transport oil, not to connect communities.

Unity is home to the cattle-herding Nuer and Dinka, southern Sudan's two largest tribes. With its rich resources, impoverished people, tribal tensions, history of violence and predatory extractive industries, the state is a microcosm of this troubled country.

While the Darfur crisis in the west of Sudan dominated world headlines, the tortuous negotiations that led to the CPA, which marks its fifth anniversary next month, commanded greater interest in the country itself. The deal ended a conflict that claimed 2 million lives and left Sudan with a generation born into war. The fighting, which pitched the primarily Christian and animist south in a guerrilla campaign against the Arab-led north, registered strongly in the US where the Christian lobby led by Billy Graham pushed Washington to take sides.

Diplomats are concerned that a new round of fighting could see a proxy conflict between Khartoum's main sponsor, China, and the Western allies of the south, including the US. Under the terms of the ceasefire between the military government of President Bashir and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the south has governed itself for an interim period before nationwide elections are held in 2010, followed by a southern referendum on self-determination in 2011.

With the country's first national poll in a quarter of a century coming, the south is wracked by violence. Medical group Doctors Without Borders said this week that 2,000 people had been killed and another 250,000 displaced during 2009. Legislation supposed to define how April's elections and then the 2011 referendum would work remains unsigned in Khartoum ahead of next week's deadline. A partial deal on Sunday was hailed by both sides as a "breakthrough" but many in the south remain sceptical about whether elections will be held at all.

The question of who would control Sudan's oil revenues after a potential split in to two countries is completely absent from the CPA. A newly created South Sudan would contain as much as 87 per cent of Sudanese oil, much of it in Unity State, Upper Nile, Jonglei and the contested Abyei area, which is also due to vote on joining the south. "These are the states the north cannot afford to lose," says Mr Ashworth, an analyst with the Dutch-based Pax Christi peace institute.

For the vast majority of southerners long-cherished independence is on the horizon and with it, freedom from decades of misrule and the imposition of unwanted Sharia law. For the north, there is the prospect of losing half the country and two-thirds of its income.

Khartoum points to the mounting death toll as evidence that the south is ungovernable. President Bashir's opponents accuse the government of funnelling arms and money into the south to destabilise it and delay a vote on separation. "The north relies on the principle of divide and rule," says Taban Deng Gai, governor of Unity State. "They will not allow the south to be a feasible state." He accuses Khartoum of recruiting militias again, a tactic which was used to devastating effect during the civil war.

In the last four years of the 22-year war, Unity State saw a reign of terror led by the militia of Paulino Matip, a Nuer warlord who defected to the northern camp. President Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity after using similar militia tactics in Darfur.

There is disagreement over the origins of violence in the south but the prolonged civil war undoubtedly incubated rivalries between major ethnic groups. Much of this year's fighting, however, has broken the mould of previous cattle raids and skirmishes with large-scale massacres occurring.

Even on the political level there are deep divisions. The SPLM is dominated by the Dinka and led by Salva Kiir Maryadit, the president of southern Sudan. Power struggles between the president and his Nuer vice-president, Riek Machar, have almost paralysed the movement, which would rather skip the April elections and move straight to a vote on secession from the north.

In the meantime, much of the meagre oil revenues that have gone south have been absorbed by corruption – a fact acknowledged by Washington which recently cut aid to the administration in the south's capital, Juba.

While President Bashir denies interfering in the south, analysts suspect that Khartoum will seek to contrast a peaceful vote in the north in April with predicted unrest in the south. This could then be used with the international community to argue for a delay in holding a referendum. However, any stalling over a vote on secession could also see the south declare independence unilaterally.

If the referendum bill is not agreed before parliament is dissolved on 23 December "then war is imminent", said a senior foreign intelligence source. He added that any attempts to delay the historic referendum, pencilled in for 9 January 2011, would provoke a violent response from the south: "On the 9th expect a referendum or a bloodbath."

independent

A woman in Sierra Leone barred from running for chief of her district because of her gender has appealed for a new election and a place on the ballot.

Elizabeth Kumba Simbiqa Torto, a nurse in her sixties, was prevented from taking part in the December ballot in Kono District. "I will not allow myself to be discriminated against and humiliated because of culture and tradition, which should not interfere with my right," she said, adding that she had been harassed by officials and residents.

Out of nine male candidates her nephew was elected to the post.

independent

Britain and France back tax on financial transactions to support poor countries while Ethiopian plan would also impose levies on airline and shipping industries

Ethiopia, one of Africa's poorest countries, last night put forward a radical multibillion-dollar plan to break the continuing deadlock at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen – which was immediately taken up by Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy.

The proposal, from Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's long-standing ruler who is now one of Africa's elder statesmen, concerned one of the crucial sticking points in the negotiations for a new treaty to fight global warming, which have to end on Friday – the financial deal which must be a key part of any new climate agreement.

Rich countries have agreed in principle that they will create a massive new international Climate Fund to help poor countries cut their carbon emissions and adapt to the damage likely to be caused by climate change but negotiations are stuck on who should contribute and how much.

Mr Zenawi, who arrived in Copenhagen last night to represent the 53 member states of the African Union at the talks, suggested that much of the money could be raised by new taxes on aviation and shipping and an innovative global tax on all financial transactions – known as a "Tobin tax". Research has suggested that such a tax could raise up to $100bn a year.

Mr Zenawi also wants a commitment to long-term finance, to 2020, above and beyond the $30bn "fast start" money for the next three years which the conference is likely to approve, and a further commitment to "additionality" – a guarantee that any promised climate cash will not come out of existing aid budgets.

Mr Brown, who worked with Mr Zenawi when he was Chancellor on the Commission for Africa, accepted the plan with alacrity and issued a statement supporting it just before he left for Copenhagen himself, where he is to have talks with other world leaders over the next three days.

"I believe these proposals offer a basis for agreement in Copenhagen on the difficult financing question which lies at the heart of the talks," he said.

"Prime Minister Meles and I will therefore... take forward these common proposals with both developed and developing countries. We will be working together with fellow leaders to build support for a climate financing agreement which can meet the needs of the world's people."

Mr Brown added that as far as long-term finance is concerned, he himself had argued "for this to reach €100bn annually by 2020."

President Sarkozy, who also was presented with the plan by Mr Zenawi, also accepted it at once. In a joint statement, the French and Ethiopian leaders officially backed targets to limit the rise in global temperatures to C and to offer financial aid to help poor countries adapt. "Such stakes for the planet are so important that an alliance between Africa and Europe is absolutely crucial, and that is the message I will give to [the US President] Barack Obama," Mr Sarkozy said.

The point about the Europe-Africa alliance may be even more important in the context of the conference than the actual details of the financial plan. The talks in the Danish capital, whose Friday finale will be attended by 130 world leaders from Mr Obama down, have been strongly characterised by mistrust and animosity between developed and developing countries, with the African nations in particular very ready to suspect a double-cross by the rich world.

On Monday, a protest by the African countries about the shape the talks were talking led to them being suspended for five hours of precious negotiating time. However, a deal publicly endorsed on the one side by one of Africa's most important political figures, and on the other by two of Europe's key leaders, has the potential to alter the mood music of the conference and dispel some of the distrust. Mr Brown has a long personal record of engagement with Africa's poverty and other pressing problems and is seen by many African leaders as someone they can do business with.

Today the conference moves officially into its ministerial session, with Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Secretary, leading for Britain. Mr Miliband spent much of yesterday in a consultative group with his counterpart, the Ghanaian Environment Minister Hani Sherry Ayittey, working on the finance issue. Today a new proposed text for the treaty will be published, which may take the talks nearer to a deal.

*Thousands of protesters who have travelled from all over the world are expected to take part in an event dubbed Reclaim Power Day today. So far 1,500 people have been arrested in Copenhagen, including the high-profile activist Tadzio Mueller, a spokesman for Climate Justice Action, who was detained by plain-clothes police as he left the Bella Centre yesterday. He will appear in court today although police would not say last night what charges would be brought.

Stumbling blocks: Issues still dividing the summit

Targets

Does the whole world agree on trying to limit global warming to C above pre-industrial levels, or to 1.5C? In either case, which countries should do what? Who cuts their carbon dioxide emissions, and by how much? How much by 2020? How much by 2050?

Finance

Rich countries know they will have to pay developing countries to move to a low-carbon future, but developing countries are asking for far more than the €100bn a year offered by the EU. How much should be paid? And who should control such vast sums?

Monitoring

Many nations insist on the need for emission cuts and finances to be monitored, reported and verified. But countries like China and India do not want to be certified by foreign inspectors. So how can their emission cuts be accurately measured?

One treaty or two?

Should there be a new climate treaty, or should the Kyoto protocol be continued, with new emission-cutting commitments? Most rich countries want a new deal, but developing countries want to stick with Kyoto as it legally binds only the rich signatories.

20091215

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The African Union on Tuesday estimated that the Copenhagen summit on climate change could lead to the "death warrant for the Kyoto Protocol," the only instrument currently regulating emission of greenhouse gases.

"Representatives of the continent have unanimously made known their absolute and determined refusal to pursue consultations that would sign the death warrant for the Kyoto Protocol," said a statement sent to AFP.

"The UN Framework Convention of Climate Change sets out general principles with no binding clauses, while the Kyoto Protocol, for its part, is a judicial instrument for commitments to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases."

For the 53-member African Union, which is to be represented in Copenhagen by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi as negotiator in chief, "the death of the Kyoto Protocol would be the death of Africa."

On Monday, the African nations walked out of working group sessions in the Danish capital to demand a plenary session on the future of the protocol, then they resumed conference activity in the afternoon.

"Everything leads us to believe ... that a far less stringent climatic regime is being prepared by the developing countries," the pan-African body's statement said.

"The consequences of the disappearance of the Kyoto Protocol for Africa are principally famine, population displacements, floods, drought, social conflicts, diseases and decisively the worsening of poverty."

The AU said that the main result expected from the Copenhagen summit "is the obtaining of ambitious commitments on the part of the developed nations, those mainly responsible for global warming with its dramatic consequences for Africa. To set the protocol aside would reduce hope to nothing."

Last Friday, Meles said that a "failure of the Copenhagen summit would be a failure for Africa," the continent the most affected by global warming, though it produces less than four percent of the planet's greenhouse gases.

"My feeling is that people are prepared to ignore Africa's plea, which is morally unacceptable but rationally understandable," Meles said, adding that Africa would seek alliances with countries such as China and India.

"I have been assured of China's support and India will probably take the same position. I suppose therefore that if there is no accord that Africa can sign, there will be no accord," he warned.

Meles met Tuesday in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy as part of a joint Europe-Africa push to reach a global deal at the talks in Copenhagen due to end on Friday.

France and African states drew up a joint statement backing targets to limit the rise in global temperatures to two degrees Celsius and to offer financial aid to help poor countries adapt.

"Such stakes for the planet are so important that an alliance between Africa and Europe is absolutely crucial, and that is the message I will give to (US President) Barack Obama," Sarkozy said.

20091215
redorbit

Influenza is circulating in Africa, but virtually no information or attention is evident, says a new essay in this week's PLoS Medicine. Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Peter Kremsner argue that the lack of adequate surveillance means that the burden of influenza in Africa is incorrectly believed to be negligible. But sporadic reports from various regions in Africa indicate that influenza is circulating and may be regularly causing epidemics.

Whereas in temperate areas influenza activity displays a seasonal pattern with marked peaks in the winter, influenza is present all year round throughout the tropics. The authors say that the well-established surveillance network WHO Flu Net in place in Europe and North America, provides continuous data on influenza burden and the spread of viral types and subtypes. Recent threats of pandemic influenza have prompted similar active monitoring in parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America. But the prevalence and incidence of influenza in most tropical countries especially in Africa are largely unknown, say the authors, and improved surveillance is needed.

For example, the authors state, the WHO H1N1 swine flu update of May 2009 contained reports of infected patients in many countries, but none in Africa, whereas two reports in October 2009 confirmed swine flu cases from South Africa and Kenya. This indicates that "that the virus was circulating in Africa, but because of the lack of a rigorous surveillance system, it was not reported as readily."

20091215
redorbit

A recent comparison of proposed national alcohol policies in Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda, and Botswana shows that the drinks industry has assumed a significant and detrimental role in designing national alcohol policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The policy drafts point to the alcohol industry's preferred version of a national alcohol policy, which includes letting the industry regulate its own marketing activities.

In a study published in the January issue of the journal Addiction, researchers Øystein Bakke and Dag Endal found that that alcohol policy documents from the four African countries were almost identical, and were likely based on a single source document that reflects alcohol industry interests. That source document originates from a series of alcohol policy initiatives in Sub-Saharan countries sponsored by multinational brewer SABMiller and the International Center on Alcohol Policies (ICAP), an alcohol industry-funded organization.

The proposed national alcohol policies emphasize the economic benefits of the alcohol trade and the positive health impacts from alcohol consumption. Three of the drafts cite "self-regulation by the alcohol beverage industry as the most suitable way to manage marketing and promotions." All four proposed policies prescribe "active participation of all levels of the beverage alcohol industry as a key partner in the policy formulation and implementation process."

When approached for comment, SABMiller said that workshops which took place prior to the policies being drafted included significant discussion about population-based measures and references to relevant World Health Organisation (WHO) sponsored research. However, the draft policies contain few of the best-practice policy recommendations developed by independent researchers working on behalf of the WHO. They also fail to address alcohol's role in key development issues such as HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, child rights, and social and economic deprivation.

The authors observe that the timing of the policy initiative suggests that it was spurred by the 2005 WHO alcohol initiative, and may represent an attempt to establish policies in Africa before WHO recommendations have a chance to influence their content.

Authors Bakke and Endal state: "Few, if any, would accept Philip Morris as the designer of the tobacco policy for a national government. The alcohol industry's current policy proposals in several Southern African states can hardly be viewed any differently."

20091215
allafrica

Oceanic Bank International Plc received commendations from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)'s Clearing House for Error Free Transmission and Punctuality at the Lagos Bankers Clearing House Representatives awards for exceptional conducts in the year 2009.

The Bankers Clearing House comprises of representatives of the 24 banks and the CBN.

The bank bagged merit awards in error free transmission and punctuality categories while the MD\CEO, John Aboh, bagged a merit award for his unflinching support for clearing house activities.

According to Chairman, Lagos Bankers Clearing House Representatives, Omotayo Emmanuel, Oceanic Bank came 6th out of the 24 banks in the error free transmission category.

He said that ranking in the category was done by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) through which all transactions in the banking system were conducted.

He said that after collation of the reports on transactions, Oceanic Bank ranked 6th in error free transactions implying that the bank pays detailed attention to her transactions before coming to the clearing house.

He added that the recognition is a big plus for the bank's efforts at repositioning its service delivery system to become the best in Nigeria.

The bank was rated 3rd in terms of punctuality at the clearing house. The rating was done for the 24 banks by the CBN which keeps register of attendance at the clearing house.

Omotayo opined that timeliness of presentation of clearing instruments by Oceanic Bank has resulted in prompt processing of such instruments.

The Chief Executive of the bank also bagged an award for his immense support to the Lagos Bankers Clearing House.

20091215
redorbit

The urban poor in sub-Saharan Africa are the latest victims of the obesity epidemic. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health claim that overweight and obesity are on the increase among this group.

Abdhalah Ziraba worked with a team of researchers from the African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya, who used data from seven African countries to investigate changes in body mass index (BMI) between early 1990s and early 2000s. He said, "Despite being the least urbanized continent, Africa's population is becoming increasingly urban and its cities are growing at unprecedented rates. In spite of rampant poverty in urban areas, access to cheap foods with a high content of fat and sugar is commonplace".

The researchers found that the number of people overweight/obese increased by nearly 35% during the study period. Those of higher socio-economic status were more likely to be overweight or obese, but the rate of increase in obesity was higher in the poor group. According to Ziraba, "Given the chronic nature of most diseases associated with obesity and by extension the huge cost of treatment, the prospects look grim for the already under-funded and ill-equipped African health care systems unless urgent action is taken".

20091215

KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwandan opposition presidential candidate Bernard Ntaganda denied that he was peddling genocide ideology and ethnic "divisionism" at a senate committee inquiry late on Monday.

Ntaganda, head of recently formed Social Party Imberakuri (PS-Imberakuri), said the accusations were baseless and may be politically motivated. The committee said the constitution obliged it to investigate all accusations against political parties.

Ntaganda was summoned to answer charges based on Rwanda's 2008 genocide ideology law, which officials say is necessary to prevent future violence.

Analysts say critics of the government, including journalists, civil society groups, political leaders, clergy and teachers, are frequently targeted by the law. One analyst said it was likely Ntaganda had been called in because he is the only registered presidential rival to President Paul Kagame.

"According to that law, it says you must provide proof, some speech, a written public letter, to write (something) in a newspaper," Ntaganda told Reuters. "They have no proof. I deny the charge."

The law is a highly sensitive issue in a country which has been completely rebuilt since the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus died.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says it is broad, ill-defined and frequently used to serve political or personal interest. HRW says authorities have used it to eliminate certain views they deem inappropriate.

"What they accuse me of is based on rumours. There are no facts, no evidence... this is a clear testimony that they have no proof about those accusations," Ntaganda said.

20091215

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he would ask the U.N. mediator on Western Sahara to try to hasten a new round of talks as part of a bid to save the life of a Sahara hunger striker in Spain.

Aminatou Haidar, a Sahara independence activist, has been fasting at Lanzarote airport in Spain's Canary Islands for nearly a month, since Moroccan authorities put her back on a plane when she returned home after a trip to New York.

Ban plunged into the dispute last week, holding telephone talks with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos on Thursday and meeting Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri in New York on Friday.

Haidar is seeking to return to Western Sahara, but Morocco refuses to let her back unless she swears loyalty to its head of state, King Mohammed, whose father took control of most of the territory in 1975 after Spanish colonial forces withdrew.

The hunger strike by Haidar, 43, has strained relations between Spain and Morocco. The future of the phosphate-rich territory is the subject of deadlocked U.N.-led negotiations between Morocco and Sahara's Polisario independence group.

At a regular news conference, Ban linked the two issues, saying that tackling the Haidar crisis "really requires that the United Nations needs to do more on this political negotiation."

He said he would discuss with his Sahara envoy, former U.S. diplomat Christopher Ross, how "to expedite this political process."

20091215

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed three soldiers and injured nine others in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, an eyewitness said on Tuesday.

The bomb hit a vehicle carrying troops on a routine patrol on Monday night on the main street of Bossaso, a port in the northern region.

"The vehicle was totally destroyed ... blood was on the ground. Three soldiers died on the spot," eyewitness Abdiqadir Farah told Reuters.

Puntland has been relatively stable compared with the rest of Somalia. However, violence and insecurity have risen in recent months and the region is also a major base for pirates who have been causing havoc to shipping off the Horn of Africa.

The soldiers take orders from Puntland authorities rather than from the Somali government which controls only part of the capital, Mogadishu. Puntland officials could not be reached for comment on Monday's incident.

Experts say Puntland is also home to organised criminals, including money counterfeiters and human traffickers.

Last month unidentified gunmen shot dead a judge who had jailed pirates and members of a hardline rebel group. A local member of parliament was also killed in a separate attack.

20091215

LONDON (Reuters) - Obesity is becoming more common among poor city dwellers in Africa because of easier access to cheap, high fat, high sugar foods, scientists said on Tuesday.

Researchers looking at data from seven African countries found the number of people overweight or obese increased by nearly 35 percent between the early 1990s and early 2000s and the rate of increase in obesity was higher among poor people.

"Given the chronic nature of most diseases associated with obesity and by extension the huge cost of treatment, the prospects look grim for the already under-funded and ill-equipped African health care systems unless urgent action is taken," said Abdhalah Ziraba, who worked on the research with the African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi.

The study, published in the BioMed Central Public Health journal, found that while rich people in urban areas of Africa were more likely to be overweight or obese than others, the rate of increase in obesity was higher among the poor.

The data chimes with findings from the World Health Organisation, which said in October that being overweight has now overtaken being underweight among the world's leading causes of death.

"Despite being the least urbanised continent, Africa's population is becoming increasingly urban and its cities are growing at unprecedented rates," Ziraba said in the study.

"In spite of rampant poverty in urban areas, access to cheap foods with a high content of fat and sugar is commonplace."

Obesity levels are rising across the world and threatening to overwhelm health care systems and government health budgets with the costs of handling the high number of cases of diabetes, heart disease and cancer that being overweight can cause.

20091215

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has begun making its national archives digitally available on the Internet in Arabic, having last month registered the world's first domain name in Arabic script.

The initiative to boost use of Arabic on the Web was launched on Monday following the domain name registration, which opened the Internet to millions of Arabic speakers put off by a language barrier.

Analysts say Arabic is just 1 per cent of Web content.

Egypt, the first of nine Arab countries to have registered so far, has adopted the domain name .misr -- the Arabic word for Egypt and which will be spelt in Arabic script.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said both initiatives are part of the country's push to boost Arabic e-content and broaden access to Arabic speakers.

"In the future this (digital processing of Egypt's National Archives) will be very useful when we have the Arabic domain really operational," Communications and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel told Reuters.

"We are now preparing the content in Arabic that really reflects the long history of Egypt in digital form," he added.

Internet regulator ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, says the new Arabic domains are expected to start working during 2010.

20091215

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Government troops have retaken the stronghold of a local uprising in western Congo that has prompted around 145,000 people to flee their homes, a spokesman said on Monday.

The little-understood conflict in Equateur province is not linked to the violence in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo and has escalated in recent weeks from its origin as a fight over fishing rights between local communities.

"Our forces arrived in Dongo yesterday (Sunday) afternoon," said Information Minister Lambert Mende, naming the town that has been the stronghold of the local rebel fighters.

"Many of them (local fighters) were killed during clashes, and we are now in complete control of the town. Some of them were arrested, while others have disappeared into the bush where we are pursuing them," he added, without giving details.

An official in the U.N. peacekeeping mission, which has sent hundreds of soldiers to the region, confirmed that Congolese troops were in Dongo.

"Thanks to a rapid deployment of peacekeepers to the area and the logistical assistance they gave, the government forces were able to advance quickly," said the U.N. official.

The conflict started in October as a dispute over fishing rights between the Enyele and Monzaya communities. Since then, a number of shadowy groups have posted statements on the Internet saying they were launching a rebellion from Equateur against President Joseph Kabila's government in Kinshasa.

Equateur was the home province of the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. It also spawned a rebellion by Jean-Pierre Bemba, who fought against the Kinshasa government during the 1998-2003 war.

20091215

ABUJA (Reuters) - The new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) used his first official foreign trip on Monday to spotlight Nigeria's nuclear energy ambitions, keeping quiet on other international issues.

Yukiya Amano met Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to discuss Nigerian plans to develop its first nuclear power plant, which could provide much needed electricity to sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy.

Amano also discuss cooperation with Nigeria on cancer therapy but did not publicly comment on any international matters.

Diplomats and analysts say the trip is the first stage of Amano's efforts to heal differences between mainly Western industrialised countries and developing nations, a split which has hampered a united response to Iran's nuclear programme.

"I made Nigeria my first port of call because Nigeria is a very important country in Africa," Amano told reporters after meeting briefly with Jonathan in the capital Abuja.

"We discussed the future co-operation between your country and IAEA, especially on the infrastructure support for Nigeria's nuclear power programme. We also discussed co-operation in cancer therapy," he said.

Amano will visit a nuclear technology centre and hospital around Abuja on Tuesday to highlight peaceful uses of the atom.

Although the country is Africa's biggest energy producer, most Nigerians go without mains electricity for weeks, leaving neighbourhoods without private generators in darkness every night and heightening frustration among its 140 million people.

The world's eighth largest oil exporter has spent billions of dollars over the past decade to resolve its power crisis, but residents have seen little improvement due to mismanagement and corruption.

20091215

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Two freed peacekeepers on Monday described how they survived 107 days held by kidnappers without shelter in remote mountains in Sudan's Darfur region.

Pamela Ncube from Zimbabwe and Patrick Winful from Nigeria, looking frail but cheerful, received an emotional welcome at Khartoum airport a day after they were freed in Darfur.

The civilian workers for Darfur's joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force were abducted at gunpoint from their base in the west Darfur town of Zalingei in August in one of a new wave of kidnappings.

"There was no shelter at all. We were under the sun, under the moon," Winful told Reuters at the airport.

Winful said they were treated "quite well" by their captors but exposed to harsh conditions in Darfur's central Jabel Marra mountains.

"We were in the mountains throughout. There was the harmattan (a dust storm). There were the rains."

The UNAMID security officer said they worked hard to keep each other cheerful. "Without that we wouldn't have made it out. We just took a day at a time."

Both said they were too exhausted to talk longer and thanked Sudan's government for keeping up pressure on their captors. They were given medical checks at the airport.