(GIN) – A Washington Post editor and a professor at the University of North Carolina have completed a new book that erases any doubt that Western colonial powers sparked the AIDS epidemic and then fanned its rise.

Tinderbox, to be released Mar. 1, “overturns the conventional wisdom on the origins of this deadly pandemic,” notes the publisher’s release.

Reviewer Robert Dreyfuss in The Nation magazine, wrote: “Maybe it’s too much to say that imperialism caused AIDS.

Total events increased from 305 in 2010 to 316 in 2011; however, overall harm is down

The number of reportable adverse events in Minnesota hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and community behavioral health hospitals increased from 305 in 2010 to 316 in 2011, according to a report released today by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Despite the increase, the number of events resulting in serious injury or death to a patient decreased from 107 in 2010 to 89 in 2011. This is the lowest level of harm since 2007.

By Douglas McGill, TC Daily Planet

There is no wire connecting my mind to yours,”Abdikadir Adan Xiito informs me crisply. He’s explaining his philosophy for teaching math to children, in between sessions correcting the workbooks of two dozen young students in an afternoon homework class at the tutoring school here that bears his name, the Xiito Academy.
 

Lodon Conference:Communique

1. The London Conference on Somalia took place at Lancaster House on 23rd February 2012, attended by fifty-five delegations from Somalia and the international community.

By Thalif Deen

United Nations — The international community has failed to grapple with the real underlying political and economic issues facing the troubled East African nation of Somalia, which has been surviving without an effective government for over two decades, according to a new study released here.
 

By Mary Lou Garza 

African Global Roots is an arts promotions group with special focus on African art and artists living and working in Minnesota and the surrounding areas.

A Mauritius-based company announced today that it will provide access to low-cost solar energy for 33 million people in Africa and Asia for the next four years, as part of a United Nations-backed initiative to fight poverty.
 

The lure of quick cash before you get your tax refund will cost you big money through high fees and hefty interest rates.  Fortunately, a refund anticipation loan (RAL), which is a loan borrowed against and secured by a taxpayer’s expected tax return, may be a thing of the past after this year.  That’s because the last bank still funding RALs has agreed to stop after this tax season, under a settlement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

An Iowa school has backed out of a project that was regarded as a massive land grab in Tanzania. Over 160,000 small farmers would have been evicted under the plan.

 In its announcement on Feb. 10, Iowa State University said it was tired of defending its role in the African project and its partnership with AgriSol Energy, a U.S. company run by a major university donor.

A U.N. official allegedly aiding the opposition prior to important elections this November has left the country, cutting short his stay in the West African nation by a year.

Both the U.N. and Pres. Ernest Bai Koromo have denied that Michael van der Schulenburg was pushed out of his job. But in a leaked internal U.N. letter, van der Schulenburg complained that "…The decision by (President Koroma) to force my early departure will be seen - rightly or wrongly - by virtually every Sierra Leonean as an effort to remove a potential obstacle to Koroma’s  re-election and as opening the door to manipulating the election outcome in his favor."

The White House’s “Champions of Change, Winning the Future across America” initiative honored fourteen East African Leaders.

By Abdirahman Mukhtar
Contributing Writer

Washington D.C. - Every Week, the White house honors community leaders as “Champions of Change” For their community service. The theme for this event was Champions of Change: American Diaspora Community.

Swarms of dead fish continue to surface from waters in the oil-rich Niger Delta, made toxic by a Chevron Corp. natural gas leak more than two weeks after their rig caught fire.

The gushing gas leak is polluting waters in a region dependent on its marine life for survival. Villagers with skin irritations and stomach problems are swamping the services of a nearby clinic.

One night only- February 11, 2012 at 7:00 PM, The O’Shaughnessy, St. Catherine University

The zany and loveable Kevin Kling and his band of Cupid-inspired merrymakers join for a night of story and song on The O'Shaughnessy stage. Cold Feet, Warm Hearts: A Night of Song, Story, and Love premieres February 11th, 2012 at 7:00 PM.

Kling leads a talented tour-de-force of Minnesota favorites, including Dan Chouinard,  Bradley Greenwald, Prudence Johnson, Simone Perrin and Claudia Schmidt.

(GIN) – Members of American groups providing ‘pro-democracy’ trainings in Egypt are facing prosecution in Egypt for operating “without licenses, conducting research to send to the U.S., and supporting Egyptian candidates and parties to serve foreign interests,” the New York Times reported today.

The detention of 19 Americans puts a spotlight on the U.S.-backed organizations, several affiliated with the Republican and Democratic parties

Rachel Andersen

(Lakeville, MN) - When Stacey Ackerman of Lakeville, Minn., learned her third child was going to be a girl it was like a dream come true, but shortly after giving birth, that dream turned into a nightmare.  Ackerman fell victim to a devastating mental health issue that millions of women suffer from in silence every day – a severe perinatal mental health breakdown.