Ocean Appears in Middle Of Africa

At the same time as Paraguay is drying up, Africa is ripping open, a slow process that will result in the emergence of a whole new ocean, according to Scientific American. The rip you see above can't be resewn — as Eitan Haddock's photographs document. Last year, scientists watched an 8 meter rip in the earth appear in only three weeks. Change is nothing new for this part of the world: researchers recently revealed that the Sahara was entirely covered in vegetation at many points during the last 120,000 years. Watch an ocean appear before your disbelieving eyes, after the jump.

Asteroid hits western Sudan

A small asteroid exploded over Africa this week following what astronomers said was the first firm prediction of an incoming space rock.

It did not strike Earth.

The asteroid was about the size of kitchen table, astronomers estimated, and they think the explosion (caused by the pressures of slamming into the atmosphere) left nothing but perhaps a few small bits to fall to the surface.

No photographs of the explosion have been reported, owing to the remote location of the object's path over Sudan. But the explosion was recorded by an infrasound array in Kenya. Peter Brown at the University of Western Ontario estimated, based on the infrasound data, that the asteroid exploded at 0243 UT with an energy of somewhere between 1.1 and 2.1 kilotons of TNT.

Nigeria: Shell to Face Trial in U.S. Over Saro-Wiwa

Oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum, will go on trial in the United States on February 9, 2009 for alleged complicity in human rights abuses in the Niger Delta, THISDAY has learnt.

The case entitled Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Shell and Wiwa v Anderson concerns the November 10, 1995 hangings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) known as "Ogoni Nine" and the shooting of a woman protesting the bulldozing of her farm by Shell in preparation for a pipeline project.

After several years of litigation, Judge Kimba Wood ruled that the trial would he held next year.

According to documents made available by EarthRights International, one of the counsel, Shell was engaged in "acts of oppression" against peaceful opposition to the company's environmental damage and human rights abuses in the Ogoni area.

THISDAY gathered that the plaintiff's action was brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO).



The defendants dismissed the complaints on grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction over Royal Dutch/Shell and lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

According to the defendants, ACTA did not apply to a corporation and the claim was precluded by the political questions and act of state doctrines as well as Nigerian law on corporate liability. They also argued that the case should be heard in the Netherlands or England.

Africa: Standby Force - AU Signs MOU for Training

The African Union (AU), yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Association of Peace Support Training Centre (APSTA), for the training of African military personnel.

This is as former Head of State and Patron of Association of Peace-keeping Trainers in Africa , General Abubakar Abbulsalami (rtd), has described as frustrating, the continued crisis in Darfur, adding that there is no longer a clear cut distinction between the actors.



Commandant of the Nigerian Defence College (NDC), Rear Admiral John Jonah, who is President of APSTA, said it was a pragmatic step aimed at realising its dream of having a stand-by force for peace-keeping operations in the continent.

Somali pirate Ready to "fight to the death"

NAIROBI, Kenya — Negotiations over the arms-laden freighter hijacked by Somali pirates intensified on Wednesday and several people close to the talks said the showdown had come down to price.
The pirates, who seized the ship last Thursday, initially demanded a $35 million ransom, then dropped it to $20 million and now it seems they are willing to settle for much less.

“It’s down to $5 million,” said Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator for the Seafarers’ Assistance Program in Kenya, which tracks pirate attacks and communicates with the families of crew members. “But this needs to be done quickly. The longer that ship stays in Somalia, the more people who are going to get involved and the greedier they’re going to get.”

Zimbabwe: 'West Must Respect Power-Sharing Deal'

Britain, the United States and their Western allies should respect the decision made by Zimbabwe's main political parties to work together in an all-inclusive Government and remove the illegal economic sanctions imposed on the country, the Minister of Information and Publicity, Cde Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, has said.

Addressing a media briefing yesterday, CDE Ndlovu said the power-sharing deal agreed by Zanu-PF, represented by its President and First Secretary, President Mugabe, MDC-T, headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC, led by Arthur Mutambara, was a landmark decision in the history of Zimbabwe and should be respected by all.

The three leaders will formally append their signatures to the agreement at a ceremony at the Harare International Conference Centre at 10am today.

"Britain and its allies should lift the illegal economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe so that we can attend to the economic turnaround for the good of the Zimbabwean people unimpeded."

Angola: Election Free And Fair, Sort Of

Angola's main opposition party, UNITA, has conceded defeat in last week's parliamentary elections, after initially demanding a fresh ballot over allegations of poll irregularities.

The former guerrilla movement said "it was not possible" to say the elections had been free and fair, as voting had been extended for an unscheduled second day after 320 centres across the country failed to open on time on 5 September, and in locations where there had been problems with the supply of ballot papers.

UNITA also alleged that people had been allowed to vote without proper identification.

But in a news conference on Monday, held shortly after the national electoral commission had dismissed its complaints, UNITA leader Isaías Samakuva said he accepted the outcome of the poll and praised the incumbent MPLA party, hoping it "governs in the interest of all Angolans".

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