News from Africa

“Common sense could not understand that it was possible to exterminate tens and hundreds of thousands of Jews,” — Yitzhak Zuckerman, a leader of the Jewish resistance in Warsaw Propaganda was as an important tool to win over the majority of the German public who had not supported Adolf Hitler. It served to push forward the Nazis' radical program, which required the acquiescence, support, or participation of broad sectors of the population. Combined with terror to intimidate those who did not comply, a new state propaganda apparatus headed by Joseph Goebbels manipulated and deceived the German population and the outside world. Propagandists preached an appealing message of national unity and a utopian future that resonated with millions of Germans. They also waged campaigns that facilitated the persecution of Jews and others excluded from the Nazi vision of the “National Community.” Propaganda, Foreign Policy, and Conspiring to Wage War Rearmament was a key element of German...

Back in the old days, when people got their news mainly from papers , magazines, radio and television , it was generally easy to figure out when someone was pulling your leg. Pretty much anything in the National Enquirer was suspect, for example. That tabloid often featured stories with outrageous headlines, such as, "Woman Gives Birth to Alien." We may laugh at such titles, but what's not so funny is that in the last decade or two, with the growth of the Internet and social media, fake news stories and entire fake news sites have proliferated. Some sites intentionally write false, humorous stories under the satire genre.A prime example is The Onion. Many people realize The Onion is a satirical publication. But if there's any doubt, it's pretty clear if you click on the site's " About Us " tab. The information there says, among other humorous bits, "The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most pow...

Ethiopia's governing coalition has announced it will fully accept and implement the peace deal that ended its border war with Eritrea. It says it will accept the outcome of a 2002 border commission ruling, which awarded disputed territories, including the town of Badme, to Eritrea. This will end a dispute with Eritrea that sparked Africa's deadliest border war in 1998. Tens of thousands of people were killed in two years of fighting. The two sides have remained on a war footing as Ethiopia had, until now, refused to accept the ruling of the border commission, which was set up as part of a peace deal. As a result, Ethiopia had refused to withdraw its troops out of the disputed areas - leading Eritrea to accuse Ethiopia of forcefully occupying its territory. "The Eritrean government should take the same stand without any prerequisite and accept our call to bring back the long-lost peace of the two brother nations as it was before," the ruling Ethiopi...

In The News Media, Civil War, and Humanitarian Action , authors Larry Minear, Colin Scott, and Thomas Weiss refer to the influence of media as “ The Crisis Triangle, ” involving governments, news media, and humanitarian organizations (Minear 2).   These three points determine whether there will be a response to an international crisis, the rapidity of the response, and the level of response.   Humanitarian agencies and human rights groups utilize the media ’ s effectiveness of reaching the people as a valuable instrument to encourage Congress to act.   One example of this interconnectedness is apparent in the 1991 Northern Iraq operation.   U.S. involvement of “ coalition troops to create ‘ safe havens ’ for Kurds was viewed at the time as heralding a new era of humanitarian intervention, with television leading the charge ” (Minear 50).   Television and newspapers across the nation portrayed the Kurds as starving and freezing victims, espousing the average ...

The Parliamentary Forum For Road Safety with support from the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility and in partnership with the Ministry of Work and Transport and Safe Way Right Way today launched the implementation of the road safety legislative action plan as an effort to address legislative issues regarding the institutionalized management of road safety, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles and road users, and post-crash response In Uganda, fatal crashes rose from 500 in 1991 to 3,503 in 2016, representing a seven-fold increment over period of 25 years. a new World Bank study finds that reducing road traffic deaths and injuries could result in substantial long-term income gains for low- and middle-income countries. Using detailed data on deaths and economic indicators from 135 countries, the study estimates that, on average, a 10% reduction in road traffic deaths raises per capita real GDP by 3.6% over a 24-year horizon. The study finds that countries that do not invest in...

NAMUGONGO - All pilgrims arriving from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are undergoing screening for Ebola, according to a statement from the ministry of health.   The screening is taking place at both the border districts and in Namugongo before entrance into the shrines.   This comes after the Health Ministry in the DRC the declared the ninth outbreak of Ebola virus in the country, in early May.   According to the World Health Organisation, as of May 21, 2018, a cumulative total of 58 cases, including 27 deaths had been reported from three health zones in Equateur Province.   The ministry of health in Uganda has set up an isolation unit at the China-Uganda Friendship hospital, Naguru.   “An expert team of 10 medical personnel will conduct screening of Ebola Viral Hemorrhagic fevers at Namugongo,” reads the statement.   Additionally, the ministry has designated 150 workers, led by Tororo diocese at the Catholic shrine while 60 he...