West Africa : News

News : West Africa : News

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday visited Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State in what is his first visit to the Niger Delta region since he was sworn in as president of the federal republic. (AllAfrica)

You've heard of solar power, and also wind power. Now, you might start hearing about soil power as well. (AllAfrica)

JOHANNESBURG, Apr 15 (IPS) - The results of a painstaking examination of global agriculture are being formally presented Tuesday with the release of the final report for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). (IspNews.net)

JOHANNESBURG, Apr 15 (IPS) - Over the past few years, Robert Watson has had what must qualify as one of the world's tougher assignments: heading an initiative to help agriculture cope with the substantial challenges it faces presently, and the even bigger hurdles ahead. (IspNews.net)

INSPECTOR General of Police, Mike Okiro, alerted the nation yesterday that Al-Quaeda terrorists network plans to send time bombs to Nigeria and destroy the nation's economic and infrastructural concerns. (AllAfrica)

What would have resulted to a bloody political clash between members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was on Wednesday averted by the police in Ibadan. (AllAfrica)

NAIROBI Wednesday, May 07, 2008 (IRIN) - More than six million children could be saved from death every year if funding were increased to improve community-level health services in the developing world, where 99 percent of child deaths occur, according to a report by Save the Children-USA. (IRIN)

MONROVIA Wednesday, May 07, 2008 (IRIN) - The current police force in the Liberian capital Monrovia is unable to combat an increase in violent crime, according to a recent independent report and many of the city's residents have created their own civil defence groups. (IRIN)

DAKAR Monday, April 28, 2008 (IRIN) - Discontent in Senegal’s capital Dakar, where millions depend on imported rice and foodstuffs, has increased in lockstep with rising global food and utility prices. The government has touted a “self-sufficiency� rice growing campaign as its answer to people’s problems, but experts say the scheme is flawed. (IRIN)

Nigeria's security services were on high alert after a warning from the police chief. (Iol)

ACCRA, May 10 (IPS) - You've heard of solar power, and also wind power. Now, you might start hearing about soil power as well. (IspNews.net)

NAIROBI, Apr 27 (IPS) - At a time of international concern about the future of the world's food supply, it's a comment that gives pause for thought: "I teach university students agriculture and extension but many of them opt for other professions, especially in ICTs, because agriculture is 'for those who haven't gone to school'." (IspNews.net)

NAIROBI, Apr 20 (IPS) - Accounting for about a third of the gross domestic product in sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture clearly plays a significant role on the continent. But, figures only tell part of the story. A review of Africa produced under the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) notes that agriculture is also "woven into the fabric of most societies and cultures in the region." (IspNews.net)

CAPE TOWN, Apr 16 (IPS) - A new report by the Geneva-based Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) has shown that women are changing the priorities and sometimes the tone of legislatures around the world. But, it also highlights the slow pace at which the number of parliamentary seats held by women is increasing. (IspNews.net)

Q&A: "A Collective Ignorance About How Agriculture Interacts With Natural Systems" (IspNews.net)

JOHANNESBURG, Apr 6 (IPS) - As food prices soar and hundreds of millions go hungry, experts from around the world will this week present a new approach for ensuring food security, at the intergovernmental plenary for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The Apr. 7-12 conference is taking place in South Africa's commercial hub, Johannesburg, and will be attended by representatives of an estimated 60 governments. (IspNews.net)

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 31 (IPS) - As the United Nations plans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its landmark Convention on the Rights of the Child next year, the world's 2.2 billion children continue to suffer the consequences of growing poverty, rising illiteracy, increasing sexual abuse and widespread military conscription in conflicts worldwide. (IspNews.net)

OUAGADOUGOU, Mar 25 (IPS) - "Water is the origin of life…I come from Central Africa where we have a lot of water, but it was when I came here that I really understood the meaning of this expression," says Antoinette Dinga Dzongo, the African Development Bank's representative in Burkina Faso, in reference to the need for improved water provision in this West African country. (IspNews.net)

ACCRA, Mar 20 (IPS) - ''Give It To God''. These are the words inscribed on the front of the huge truck that goods transporter David Agbalanyo drives between the Ghanaian capital Accra and its northern neighbour, Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. (IspNews.net)

Militants in the Niger Delta say they would only participate in the proposed Niger Delta summit if the Federal Government promises to implement its outcome. (AllAfrica)

After years of delays linked to instability in strife-torn Casamance, the government finally launched a landmine clearance programme in the region in February 2008, but lack of adherence to the 2004 peace accord is hampering progress. (AllAfrica)

Following an hour of heated debate at the joint Chamber of the National Legislature, the House of Representatives Thursday passed into law an act seeking to establish The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC). But Maryland County Representative Boffa Chambers has filed a motion of reconciliation. (AllAfrica)

As retired army general Charles Julu and Col. Andrew Dorbor go with a not guilty verdict on treason charges, a pro-democracy campaigner has called on the two men to file a lawsuit against the government of Liberia for damages. (AllAfrica)

THE Senate, yesterday, turned down the National Health Bill facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Health with funds from the N300 million unspent 2007 budget of the Ministry. (AllAfrica)

Less than 48 hours to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag off of the governorship campaign of Chief Timipre Sylva in the ordered re-run election in Bayelsa State, the state secretariat was in the early hours of yesterday attacked with explosives suspected to be dynamites. (AllAfrica)

Calls for the trial of former President Olusegun Obasanjo over alleged corrupt practices swelled across the nation yesterday as different rallies were organised in Abuja and Kaduna by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Coalition of Northern Nigeria Civil Society Organisations, calling on President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to prosecute Obasanjo and his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello. (AllAfrica)

Since the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement in March 2007, Côte d'Ivoire has been healing the wounds of a civil war that divided the country for more than four years. Major challenges remain in reconciling different political and ethnic groups and in reviving the confidence of a vibrant business sector that once made the country one of West Africa's economic powerhouses. (AllAfrica)

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf left the country more than a fortnight ago to attend a commissioning ceremony of the Africa Commission in Denmark and then move on to the US to undergo medical checkup, amongst a long itinerary of activities. (AllAfrica)

Liberians may be proud of their sovereignty and its position as the oldest on the Continent of Africa and may want to keep it inviolate. But they, however, are unanimous that the assistance and political and economic guidance of the United States are pivotal to their country's recovery from years of warfare and dysfunctional economy. (AllAfrica)

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf arrived in the country from the U.S., Monday this week, where she underwent medical check-ups, held talks with U.S. business executives, and picked up a number of university degrees and laurels for her work. (AllAfrica)

Stéphanie Malak was injured by a landmine in 1998 when her village, was attacked, allegedly by rebels from the Movement for Democratic Change (MFDC), and then mined. She fled with her family to Ziguinchor where she is trying to make ends meet. She told IRIN her story. (AllAfrica)