Africa

WASHINGTON -- Republicans at a House subcommittee hearing this week objected to a 2010 law that targets conflict minerals from Central Africa, saying it places too many regulations on U.S. businesses and hasn't accomplished enough since it went into effect."Some of us may pat ourselves on the back and say, 'Well, we're making sure we're not using their minerals,' but we're only hurting the people of the Congo," said Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), who called the law "a massive paperwork burden on U.S. companies."More...

So off he goes again, for the fourth time this year, to the deserts of Arabia, the torn cities of Jerusalem and Ramallah and then to Africa. Our hero? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, embarking on yet another trip to the Middle East, where he has already been three times since assuming office at the end of January. Kerry lands in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Tuesday, and then moves on to Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday to discuss, again, the crisis in Syria. On Thursday and Friday, he will visit Jerusalem and Ramallah to attempt again a restart of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. British Foreign Secretary William Hague will join Kerry for this leg of the trip,the Guardian reports, amid some dire predictions from British officials that “there is no plan B” should the much-touted two-state solution fail. After leaving Israel on Saturday, Kerry will stop in Addis Ababa for two days to participate in theAfrican Union Summit, which will include a celebration of 50 years since the founding of the organization. Kerry will swing back into Amman for the World Economic Forum on Sunday before returning to Washington, D.C. Why is this trip different from all the others? Well, there’s some pretty high-stakes posturing on Russia’s part about Syria. Russia has been one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s staunchest allies from the start of the conflict in March 2011, and now Israeli officials say Russia is preparing to send a series of high-tech anti-aircraft missiles to the Syrian government, possibly to avert any potential no-fly zones that might be imposed. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the transfer of the advanced missiles is “an unfortunate decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering,” AP reports. Despite Russia’s position, much weight is being given by journalists and analysts to the U.S. making a bid for Russia’s cooperation to find a peaceful political solution to the Syrian conflict. Kerry, in fact, visited Moscow on a trip earlier in May, where he made pointed statements about how the U.S. and Russia “can accomplish great things together when the world needs it.” Not only is Russia reportedly sending high-grade military gear to the Assad regime, but questions are now circling as to what, if anything, U.S. President Barack Obama will do now that he is “gathering more evidence” of the use of chemical weapons on the Syrian battlefield. Obama has been mostly circumspect, speaking in broad diplomatic terms about the need for the “international community to apply pressure on Assad to go” and similarly lukewarm statements. There are no clear indications as to whether the U.S. is planning to assist the rebels in a manner similar to how Russia has been supporting government forces for the past two years -- that is, to supply lethal aid. Please follow Military & Defense on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »

By Neville Smith, ZwemZa JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 22. SPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula has announced has announced that his department will offer financial assistance to the cash strapped natio...

A lesbian reverend in South Africa is filing a lawsuit after being dismissed by her church after tying the knot with her partner.As ioL News points out, Reverend Ecclesia de Lange's 2010 dismissal from the Methodist Church of South Africa came after she wed her wife earlier that same year. The church was in cahoots about taking a stance on same-sex marriage when de Lange informed her congregation that she was planning to wed her partner in 2009, according to Buzzfeed.More...

A brazen, brutal attack in London which left one man dead and two suspects in hospital, appears to be terror-related, says British Prime Minister David Cameron.

by Gonzalo Yebra, Miguel de Mulder, África Holguín Background The HIV epidemic is increasing in Equatorial Guinea (GQ), West Central Africa, but few studies have reported its HIV molecular epidemiology. We aimed to describe the HIV-1 group M (HIV-1M) variants and drug-resistance mutations in GQ using sequences sampled in this country and in Spain, a frequent destination of Equatoguinean migrants. Methods We collected 195 HIV-1M pol sequences from Equatoguinean subjects attending Spanish clinics during 1997-2011, and 83 additional sequences sampled in GQ in 1997 and 2008 from GenBank. All (n?=?278) were re-classified using phylogeny and tested for drug-resistance mutations. To evaluate the origin of CRF02_AG in GQ, we analyzed 2,562 CRF02_AG sequences and applied Bayesian MCMC inference (BEAST program). Results Most Equatoguinean patients recruited in Spain were women (61.1%) or heterosexuals (87.7%). In the 278 sequences, the variants found were CRF02_AG (47.8%), A (13.7%), B (7.2%), C (5.8%), G (5.4%) and others (20.1%). We found 6 CRF02_AG clusters emerged from 1983.9 to 2002.5 with origin in GQ (5.5 sequences/cluster). Transmitted drug-resistance (TDR) rate among naïve patients attended in Spain (n?=?144) was 4.7%: 3.4% for PI (all with M46IL), 1.8% for NRTI (all with M184V) and 0.9% for NNRTI (Y188L). Among pre-treated patients, 9/31 (29%) presented any resistance, mainly affecting NNRTI (27.8%). Conclusions We report a low (

I fell in love with Lauryn Hill from the moment I first heard her voice on the The Fugees classic 1996 album, The Score. Her incredible singing was surpassed only by her bold and brilliant lyricism. Hill was a pioneer during a time when there were a diverse array of powerful women rappers in the media. Unfortunately, that time is long-gone. Talented women rappers are still in abundance if you know where to look. Emcees such as Eternia, Rapsody, Jean Grae and Janelle Monae carry the torch for lovers of hip hop—like Harriet Tubman—in the underground. Meanwhile many popular media outlets choose to ignore their genius. Unacceptable. Recently, I have found myself in a unique position as a creator of content for a significant media outlet at PBS. I have the freedom collaborate on music, beats, and stories of my choosing, and I would like to hear more women's voices in hip hop. So in March, I traveled to Dakar, Senegal to build a studio with an amazing group of women called GOTAL. GOTAL is a collective of Senegalese rappers, producers, singers and beat makers; who paired with a woman-led NGO called Speak Up Africa to write songs about global health issues in their communities. They made some incredible music, which I've been secretly banging in my iPod for two months. I'm proud to help unveil their work today. Stick around if you want to hear what Lauryn Hill would sound like if she spoke Wolof. Beat Making Lab builds studios in cultural centers around the world and trains youth musicians in the art of beat making. This post is part of a This Week in Beat Making, a weekly series on GOOD—follow our adventures with new episodes here every Wednesday. Help us find a community to bring our beats to. Click here to add this to your To-Do list.

More than three quarters of women polled said that superhero films such as The Avengers and The Dark Knight were ideal first date movies, according to a new survey.

The government report on the Gupta scandal damns suspended Chief of State Protocol Bruce Koloane, and exonerates President Jacob Zuma and his ministers, but opposition MPs dismissed the findings.

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