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Meet the Soweto Gospel Choir! The Soweto Gospel Choir melds traditional African music and movement with gospel and pop for a unique and energetic performance. Photos submitted The Soweto Gospel Choir is not like most choirs. Its members are not classically trained, and they don't read music. Yet they've performed with the likes of U2, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Josh Groban, while winning two Grammy awards and reaching No. 1 on Billboard's World Music Charts.
DC Entertainment Teams With Aid Groups to Raise $2 Million-Plus, Awareness for Hunger Crisis in Africa With the help of the DC superheroes of the Justice League and the slogan "We Can Be Heroes," the partners hope to put a spotlight on a problem that has "not gotten the consistent understanding and awareness that it deserves," Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said. NEW YORK - Time Warner said Monday it has partnered with aid organizations to combat the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa with the help of DC Entertainment superheroes and the slogan "We Can Be Heroes." TW chairman and CEO Jeffrey Bewkes promised at a press event at the entertainment conglomerate's headquarters here a "very forceful, multifaceted campaign" that will take advantage of all company units, including their story telling, brand and marketing capabilities, as well as their global reach, to raise awareness and funds as social responsibility "is in the DNA of the company." U.S. Drone Strike Kills Foreign Commander Fighting for Militants in Somalia A senior foreign commander fighting with Shabab Islamic militants was killed in an American drone strike a few miles south of the capital over the weekend, according to Shabab officials. The Shabab officials held a news conference to publicize the attack, identifying the commander as Bilal al-Barjawi, 27, a close associate of a Qaeda leader killed last year in Somalia. They said he was of Lebanese descent and had grown up in West London. British authorities denied that he was a British citizen. One witness said there were two strikes on Saturday afternoon in a Shabab-controlled area near the town of Elasha Biyaha, about eight miles south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, where the Shabab have a base. "One hit a car, which I believe held explosives," said the witness, who gave his name as Osman. Huge explosions were followed by clouds of flames and smoke, witnesses said, and Shabab militants sealed the area around the burning car. Within hours, a Shabab spokesman, Ali Mohamud Raghe, told reporters, "American drones carried out today's attack and killed our brother, Martyr Bilal al-Barjawi."
Libya Protests Spur Shake-Up in Interim Government Libya's post-Qaddafi transitional government faced a political crisis Sunday after protesters ransacked its offices in Benghazi, highlighting growing nationwide unease with its leadership and triggering a shake-up in which the governing council's No. 2 official resigned and several members were suspended. For months, youth groups with a range of complaints have been protesting against the Transitional National Council in Benghazi, the eastern city whose protests sparked the nine-month revolt and which once served as the rebel capital. Protests have cropped up elsewhere, too, including in Tripoli, the capital, where activists have erected a small tent city across from the prime minister's office. Protesters are demanding more transparency from the transitional council, which holds executive power and is tasked with overseeing the election of a constituent assembly to draft a new Constitution.
Zimbabwe Sliding Back into Chaos HAVING enjoyed relative peace for the past three years, Zimbabwe is slowly sliding back into political mayhem that existed just prior to the formation of the coalition government, political analysts have warned. Nigeria: City Prays for Peace After Attacks Nigerian officials and clerics gathered for peace prayers in Kano on Monday after a wave of attacks claimed by Islamists left more than 160 dead and raised fresh fears of civil unrest. Nigeria: Catholic Bishops Call for Cessation of Bombings, Killings Catholic Bishops of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province rose from their first annual plenary meeting at Maria Assumpta Pastoral Centre, Owerri, weekend, decrying what they described as "a climate of fear and mistrust" in the country. Sierra Leone: Religious Leaders Network to Fight Against Aids Religious bodies in the country comprising the Christian and Muslim denominations have come together to form a network to help fight against HIV/AIDS. Equatorial Guinea in Sensational Win At Inaugural Match Equatorial Guinea pulled off a sensational late win in the opening game of the African Nations Cup on Saturday, scoring three minutes from time to end the fairytale hopes of Libya with a 1-0 win in Bata. Nigeria: Goodluck Jonathan's Perfect Storm Nigeria could never be described as a quiet country, but terrorist group Boko Haram's bombing campaign combined with a national strike over a fuel price increase is quite unlike anything the country has ever faced before. Large-scale Israeli-US War Games Postponed The Israeli and U.S. militaries have postponed large-scale war games,
in part to avoid aggravating mounting tensions between the
international community and Iran over its disputed nuclear program, Israeli defense officials said Monday.The missile defense exercise, dubbed "Austere Challenge 12," was scheduled for April to improve defense systems and cooperation between U.S. and Israeli forces. The Israeli military confirmed in a one-line statement that the drill would be rescheduled for the second half of 2012, but did not disclose reasons for the postponement or any other details. Technology Hub Launches Businesses in Cameroon
Activspaces is a shared office space where designers, software
developers, artists and more can gather. "We've realized that many
enterprising techies work in isolation in Cameroon," said the space's
community manager, Al Banda. Iran Warns Gulf Arabs on Oil Iran warned Gulf Arab oil producers against boosting production to offset any potential drop in Tehran's crude exports in the event of an embargo affecting its oil sales, the latest salvo in the dispute between the West and the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.
Zanzibar Churches Torched; Christians Harassed Leaders of Christians in Zanzibar, Tanzania's semi-autonomous archipelago, have appealed for more religious freedom in the heavily Islamic region, after Muslim extremists allegedly destroyed at least two church buildings, while elsewhere believers were detained or harassed. Christians, Muslims Unite at Nigeria Protest A human wave of more than 20,000 surrounded the Muslim faithful as they prayed toward Mecca Friday, as anti-government demonstrations over spiraling fuel prices and corruption showed unity among protesters despite growing sectarian tensions in Africa's most populous nation. LINKS |
For the Week of January 23, 2012 thru January 29, 2012
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| News from the South Africa Times | News from the Daily Nation | News from the Nigerian Tribune |
Zinger Systems began as a business idea in the minds of a few
Cameroonian entrepreneurs. After they spent one year developing their
academic software and business model at Activspaces, a technology hub in
southwest of the country, they eventually launched their business and
now employ eight people.