WARRI, Nigeria — It takes two hours by boat to get to Deibu, an isolated outpost of about 17,000 people in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. The town is cut off from civilization by the River Nun and a thick mangrove forest, and first-time visitors who make the journey are struck by the poverty they find — a stretch of rickety mud houses, with canoes lying by the riverside. Deibu is trapped in another age. Children and adults bath naked in the Nun. There is no electricity service or plumbing. The village’s only sign of modernity is a battered health center, a [...]
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — In a bid to quash growing dissent amidst a worsening economic and political situation, Zimbabwe´s Robert Mugabe has ordered the creation of a reserve army made up of war veterans that took part in the country’s liberation struggle in the 1970s. The move comes after thousands of junior soldiers and police deserted or resigned from the government’s security forces over the past few years, disgruntled by poor pay and working conditions, leaving Mugabe short of the manpower that is essential to the maintenance of his oppressive regime. Many have left to seek better paying jobs as private [...]
WASHINGTON — The United States is moving forward on plans to establish an Africa Command that will anchor military operations across a continent seen to be of increasing strategic importance and threatened by transnational terrorists. But critics argue the initiative could backfire and fuel radicalism in areas where it is not yet a problem. The new force, known informally as AFRICOM, will preside over all countries on the continent except Egypt and is expected to be operational by the fall, according to Pentagon officials, who say it is needed to secure vast, lawless areas where terrorists have sought safe haven [...]
