Born, like other comic book characters, out of an otherwise trivial but life-changing animal bite, the Rabid Librarian seeks out strange, useless facts, raves about real and perceived injustices, and seeks to meet her greatest challenge of all--her own life.
Elephant ivory is a key source for funding armed groups in Africa, such as the Lord's Resistance Army. In this fascinating interactive, follow the route of a hidden GPS tracker planted in the smuggling supply chain—orchestrated by journalist Bryan Christy—and find out where and how exactly ivory travels.How Killing Elephants Finances Terror in Africa
Armed groups help fund operations by smuggling elephant ivory. Can fake tusks with hidden GPS trackers thwart them?
"Only 25 percent remains of an ecosystem that once was a third larger than the continental United States," co-author Stuart Pimm, a Duke conservation ecology professor, said in a statement issued with the study.
"The situation in West Africa is particularly dire," the experts wrote, noting that human populations have doubled there over the last three decades. Fewer than 500 lions remain in West Africa, the study estimated.
The team and a panel of lion experts used the savannah data to refine estimates of lion populations, which had ranged between 20,000 and 40,000 across Africa. Their estimate: 32,000 lions remain, down from an estimated 100,000 in 1960.
Some HIV-positive patients in Swaziland are so poor they have resorted to eating cow dung before taking anti-retroviral drugs, Aids activists say.
The drugs do not work on an empty stomach, so patients have to use the dung - mixed with water - instead of food, the activists say.
Several hundred people protested in the capital, Mbabane, on Wednesday against the economic crisis in the kingdom.
King Mswati III's government has admitted it is running out of cash.
It has asked neighbouring South Africa for a bailout.
The son of Equatorial Guinea's dictator of 30 years commissioned plans to build a superyacht costing $380 million, nearly three times what the country spends on health and education each year, a corruption watchdog said Monday.
DNA analysis has shown that the Egyptian jackal, previously believed to be a subspecies of the golden jackal, is a relative of the grey wolf.
Genetic information shows that the species, Canis aureus lupaster, is more closely related to Indian and Himalayan wolves than golden jackals.
Writing in Plos One, researchers said the renamed "African wolf" was the only grey wolf species found in Africa.
They also called for an urgent assessment of its conservation status.
Police say the suspects tortured the woman, Ama Hemmah, until she confessed to being a witch, before dousing her with kerosene and setting her on fire.One of the suspects is believed to be a pastor. This is a horrible crime in the name of religion--even it it were a matter of exorcism rather than a witch killing. This woman was 72 years old. I wouldn't be surprised to find her marginalised in some way, something that was often the case in witchcraft accusations in Europe and America. The belief in witchcraft, and measures against it, long predate Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa, but with the coming of Christianity, there's a likely chance of witch killings as the new religion clashes with old beliefs.
She died from her injuries the following day.
According to reports, the suspects say that they poured anointing oil on the woman which caught fire as they were trying to drive out an evil spirit.
Our correspondent says newspaper pictures showing the woman's injuries have caused revulsion in Ghana, and the incident has been condemned by human rights and women's activists.
The BBC has seen a draft UN report that says crimes by the Rwandan army and allied rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo could be classified as genocide.I hate to think genocide can be contagious, but in this case it seems to have been. In Rwanda, the Tutsis were targeted; in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it was the Hutus, and not just those fleeing Rwanda, but those indigenous to the Congo. The Rwandan government is not happy with the report, priding itself on halting the Rwandan genocide, but the fact of the matter is the victims could be Tutsis, Hutus, or Star-belly Sneetches, and as long as they are targeted consistently for death, rape, and other horrors because of their ethnicity, it's genocide.
The report details how they targeted Rwandan Hutu refugees and Congolese Hutus in DR Congo, from 1993-2003.
It lists human rights violations committed by security forces from all countries involved in what has been called an "African world war".
The final report should be made public in the next few days.
The draft sheds light on 10 years of atrocities committed against civilians on the Congolese territory. The country was known as Zaire until 1997.
But more importantly, it brings details to the unresolved debate over the question of alleged genocide of ethnic Hutus between 1996 and 1998.
The UN has said everything possible must be done to prevent atrocities like the recent rape of more than 150 women and children in the DR Congo.I want everyone with a gun out of the pool, period. These people so need a break to live out their lives in the peace all humans crave.
In an emergency session of the Security Council, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Congolese authorities had to fully investigate what had happened.
The Council also said peacekeepers in the area should have done more to protect local people from rebels.
The peacekeepers say they were not told about the attacks until 10 days later.
The rapes happened after rebels occupied Luvungi town and surrounding villages, within miles of a UN peacekeeping base.
Some reports say nearly 200 women and some baby boys were attacked by the rebels over a four-day period, before they left. The UN has confirmed 154 cases.
Even death cannot stop the violence against gays in this corner of the world any more.
Madieye Diallo's body had only been in the ground for a few hours when the mob descended on the weedy cemetery with shovels. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents.
The scene of May 2, 2009 was filmed on a cell phone and the video sold at the market. It passed from phone to phone, sowing panic among gay men who say they now feel like hunted animals.
[Nicholas Muraguri, head of Kenya's Aids prevention programme Nascop] said the survey would involve gay men identifying each other, and officials carrying out HIV tests and providing along with information on safe sexual practice.There's something a little uncomfortable about basically having people rat out on each other, even if it's for a good cause. And as we know from history, the first step in eliminating a 'problem' element is quantifying it. Without registration, the Final Solution would have been much harder, for example. I'm not saying Kenya is planning on eliminating gays, I'm just saying I can understand fears of such. Still, for an African government to come out and say, yes, we acknowledge you exist and we want to help you, is amazing, given the cultural bias against homosexuality. Kenya has reduced its HIV rate by 4% in the last decade in a concerted effort to educate the populace. I wish them well at the endeavour.
'Kenyans cannot actually afford to say that the gay community are isolated somewhere in the corner - they are part of our lives," he said.
'This group must be reached with information and services so they know how to protect themselves from getting infected.'
Accused child witches Jane, left, and Mary, right, stand with other children accused of witchcraft at the Children's Rights and Rehabilitation Network in Eket, Nigeria, on Aug. 18, 2009. Jane's mother tried to saw off the top of her skull after a pastor denounced her and Mary, 15, is just beginning to think about boys and how they will look at the scar tissue on her face caused when her mother doused her in caustic soda.[Emphasis mine]
'I am not ashamed to show my face and publish my identity. The shame lies with those who broke me open and with the authorities who failed to protect me...If you don't hear me, see me, you will not understand why it is so important that we fight this together.'--Honorata Kizende
'We have ordered the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to completely Sudanese the voluntary work in Sudan within one year and after that we don't want international organizations to deal with Sudanese citizens with relief,' Bashir told the rally.