(GIN) – In an historic referendum, Southern Sudanese are voting in large numbers for self-rule and an end to years of north-south struggle with its roots in British imperialism which played north against south, setting up a capital in Khartoum with Muslim leaders.

South Sudan, trapped in extreme poverty, is also hoping to win control of the oil within its borders that had been pumped and exported by those in the north.

Liberia's Nobel peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the oath of office for a second term in the presidency in a lavish $1.2-million ceremony attended by Vice President Hillary Clinton and hundreds of guests and dignitaries.

Thousands looked on from the grounds of the capitol building as the 73-year-old grandmother pledged to uphold the constitution. "We have earned our rightful place as a beacon of democracy, a country of hope and of opportunity," Sirleaf said. "The cleavages that led to decades of war still run deep but so too does the longing for reconciliation."

~MPS academic strategic plan supports families tocomplete applications for college admission and financial aid~

MINNEAPOLIS –U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on January 20 visited South High School to speak with the senior class and their parents about college affordability and the new simplified Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Al Franken and Mayor R.T. Rybak also addressed students.

Millions of acres of farm land are being leased to foreign investors for commercial export crops, under a nefarious plan that relocates indigenous villagers into “bantustans” lacking adequate food, farmland, healthcare or schools.
The lands are leased for pennies on the dollar and resemble “land grabs” that displace the county’s poorest citizens.

Influenza is an illness that affects people of all ages worldwide.  Symptoms range from mild to severe, and it is a major health issue around the world.  Everyone can help fight the spread of influenza each year by getting vaccinated. Vaccination is also one of the best ways to reduce your chance of getting ill.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel next week to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum, and then to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to participate in the summit of the African Union (AU). 

By Bukola Oriola

Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano has said that human trafficking can be prevented through specified trainings for key sector members and the general public.
 She made the statement recently in a release issued at the White House in Washington at the end of a round table to commemorate the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
She said: “If we all do our part to learn the signs of human trafficking and report them to authorities, we can better prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers,” adding, “at Department of Home land Security (DHS), we are committed to working with our partners and leveraging our wide range of expertise and resources to combat human trafficking,”

Cape Town - (ECA) - United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, said ECA will work with other regional organizations to harmonise the production and dissemination of economic statistics in Africa to promote regional integration.

First town hall meeting of U.S. Education Secretary concluded just few minutes ago and the second town hall meeting will be in three hours time at Irondale high in New Brighton, both town hall meeting will high light the Obama administration's college affordability and eduction reform.

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, hosted the Opportunity: Africa conference in Wilmington to connect Delawareans with some of the nation's leading authorities on sustainable development and trade with Africa.

CHANGING entrenched cultural values is never easy, whether it’s in your home country, or another. 
Faduma Salah Musse has been working tirelessly to prevent female genital mutilation, in both her home country of Somaliland and Greater Dandenong.

Last month, she was awarded the Victorian Multicultural Award of Excellence, Victorian Multicultural Commission Ambassador Award for her work.

(GIN) – As feared, Ghana’s oil facilities are being sold to the highest bidder following the discovery of the precious substance over the past decade. This week it was reported that a Floating Production Storage Offloading vessel – named Kwame Nkrumah – was sold to a consortium of oil dealers, mostly American.

 The ship is valued at $750 million, the news agency reported.

Tour kicks off second phase of successful initiative designed to create entrepreneurial solutions to economic and social challenges 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.  The Western Union Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the second African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM), an initiative which encourages sustainable economic growth and employment by supporting U.S.-based African diaspora entrepreneurs with ideas for start-up and established businesses in sub-Saharan Africa.

(GIN) – Fighters from more than four countries are pouring into Somalia supposedly to prop up its besieged government against militants from the Al Shabab Islamist group.
Neighboring Burundi has sent about 4,000 'peacekeeping' troops. Some 5,000 have come from Uganda. Other countries which have pledged or sent troops are Djibouti, Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia.

By Fungai Maboreke
 
(GIN) – The United States has captured the chair of the Kimberley process certification scheme, allowing Washington to have a major role in whether Zimbabwe may sell its diamonds on the world market starting in 2012.

The Kimberly Process is an international government certification scheme set up in 2003 to prevent the trade in so-called “blood diamonds” that fund conflicts.