(GIN) – In an apparent reprise of the Bush administation’s foray into the Horn of Africa, the Obama  administration is looking to increase “development assistance” to its ally Ethiopia despite concerns about the country's slide toward authoritarianism.
 
Ethiopia supported a U.S. initiative to unseat the Somali government in 2006. It sent troops to Mogadishu, but pulled them out earlier this year, when the world communty switched sides and backed the Islamic Courts Union it had just overthrown.
 

Citizen journalist websites on both sides of the Atlantic have turned furiously on Harvard University after it was revealed that the scholarly institution recruited Nigerian governors from 36 states for an ivy-league training - at their own expense - in leadership, good governance and education policy.
 

On a recent run to the public library, I experienced an “awww!” moment.

By Rita Apaloo

A good-looking “brother,” dressed in a pair of blue faded jeans, short sleeves cotton shirt with the top 2 buttons undone showing the neckline of an undershirt, shirttail hanging out, and a pair of sandals on bare feet (that totally gave away his African-ness, in addition to other features), helped a little boy (about 6-8 yrs) get out of a Toyota sedan. He clutched the little boy’s hand and walked around the vehicle to open the door directly behind the driver’s seat. He opened the car door and reached in to unbuckle a toddler out of her car seat. Next, he sat the toddler on the hood of the car, pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiped her nose, face, and straightened her braids. Finally, he picked her up, bracing her with one arm while she clung onto him. Reaching for the little boy’s hand, he warned him of an approaching vehicle. Once the coast was cleared, he led them into the building.
Okay, now you can say it with me…awww!

Washington, D.C. — Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will fight a historic exhibition match in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on July 25. Holyfield’s opponent will be Sammy Retta, an Ethiopian-born American who moved from Addis to Washington D.C. when he was 16.   

By Swallehe Msuya

When Nangah Tabah was crowned Minnesota’s Cameroonian beauty queen in a beauty contest a couple of years ago, some people believed that she had just the good looks! This past May, however - she asserted herself as a career woman when she got her second degree from Iowa Law School.

Nangah Tabah obtained her first degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in May 2005. Her parents stood by her side on graduation day as she made another milestone in her life by acquiring a Law Degree from Iowa Law School this May.

Calling Badal Omar an underachiever would be quite the understatement. His come-from-behind story is one that inspires people from all walks of life to reach for the stars, even through the toughest adversity.

By: Wynfred Russell
 
Having endured life in a war-torn country as a young child and witnessed atrocities firsthand in his own family, coupled with caring for his ailing father and young siblings both physically and financially, Badal, 22, has more on his plate than the average college student.
 
Through it all, though, he has managed to hold down three jobs while taking well-beyond a full course load… and earning excellent grades in the process. As he plans to transition to Mayo Medical School’s Respiratory Therapy program this fall, he still has his eye on the prize.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) today announced that a Twin Cities area child who was infected with the H1N1 novel influenza virus has died. The child, who had underlying medical conditions, was briefly hospitalized and died late last week. Laboratory tests subsequently determined that the child had the H1N1 novel influenza.

“After my assignment at the United Nations my husband begged me to stay with him and promised to change my status from a work visa as a journalist to a spousal visa” Bukola Oriola told ANJ

32 years old Bukola Oriala from Nigeria, an international human trafficking victim, rescued and restored in Minnesota, by Civil Society, spoke emotionally in her ordeal at a press conference held recently at the State Capitol.

By Bashe Said

Early last month Gov. Martin O’Malley created a new commission to help African immigrant businesses and community development. O’Malley signed an executive order creating the African Affairs Commission and swore in 21 members of the commission. Valentina Ukwuoma, who heads the Bureau of Solid Waste for the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, has been appointed to chair this historic commission.

The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has launched Formal Investigations into the Situations In Darfur, Congo, Uganda and Central African Republic.

The  only lawyer in the upper Midwest admitted to practice before the Hague based  the International Criminal Court (ICC) , John fossum, recently came back to Minnesota from Hague and shared some of the details about some of some actions taken by Court  with the African News Journal.
“ICC  is unique among the International tribunals for a number of reasons, first, that it is intended to be permanent, and second that it is establishing procedures to allow the participation of victims in the court proceedings.” Fossum Told African New Journal

 By NdzeNtuv Evaristus Tunka

In today’s world, sexual exploitation of children is a common phenomenon that has more and more become the number one issue plaguing third world nations, especially African and Asian nations. In 2008, a UNESCO research found out that over one thousand young African girls were exploited sexually annually. While this figure remains alarming, African leaders are doing nothing to address the issue of sexual exploitation among its youth across the globe.

New Business Initiative Seeks Entrepreneurial Ideas from U.S.-based African Diaspora to Spur Economic Opportunity in Homeland

DENVER, Colo., WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Western Union, a leading global payments network, are counting on innovative thinking and entrepreneurial ideas to help alleviate poverty in Africa. 

My Father’s Daughter: Hannah Pool’s journey to Africa to meet the birth father she thought was dead and 13 siblings she didn’t know existed

By James L. Stroud, Jr.

Are you curious about your family tree? Have you ever asked yourself … “What are my roots? ” Did you read the book roots by Alex Haley or see the TV movie version of the story? Did you grow up knowing your birth parents, your siblings and other relatives? Are you and your family close? Yes?  No? Maybe? Do you have heartfelt memories of being loved and nurtured, with a sense of belonging? 

(GIN) – Jaafar Nimeiri, a Sudanese president who halted one of Africa’s most brutal civil wars in the 1970s but restarted it a decade later by imposing Islamic law, has died in Khartoum after a long illness at the age of 79.
 
Once a left-wing admirer of Egypt's late president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nimeiri gradually shifted to the right and became a US ally, smashing insurrections by Muslim groups and leftists.
 

By Swallehe Msuya

Hon. Fatuma Ibrahim Ali, one of the nine commissioners serving in the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights visited Minnesota in May at the invitation of the International Leadership Institute (ILI) to share ideas with the African Diaspora on the human rights situation in Kenya.