Topic: Top Story

Entrance into this building is highly restricted, not so the Musee International de la Croix et du Croissant Rouge, Geneve (French for Museum of the...

SAMBURU, 31 August 2010 (PlusNews) – In the remote and rural district of Samburu, northern Kenya, where paved roads are scarce and motorised transport hard to come by, reaching the mostly pastoralist and nomadic inhabitants with HIV/AIDS services requires an unusual approach. John Lokolale, 21, a Samburu Moran (warrior), said he did not know what the word condom meant until recently. “Now I know a condom because I have seen it,” he told IRIN/PlusNews. “These days, when I get a girl I tell her I will use a condom because I have a stock in my house. They brought it... Continue Reading

JOHANNESBURG, 1 September 2010 (IRIN)– A surplus production of maize, Malawi’s staple food, will not prevent at least one million people from being food insecure, a forecast that has not pleased President Bingu wa Mutharika. “I am disappointed that despite the ministry of agriculture and food security releasing crop estimates that Malawi has actually posted surpluses in the production of the staple crop, maize, some newspapers are reporting that over a million Malawians will require urgent food aid,” he reportedly said. Mutharika has threatened “to close down [local] newspapers that lie and tarnish my government’s image”, which has led to... Continue Reading

Workers were angry that the president has been out of the country during the strike. South Africa’s president has instructed ministers to return to the negotiating table to end a public sector strike that is about to enter its third week. Jacob Zuma’s decision comes as more workers in the water and tyre-making industries are expected to join. The strike over pay has closed schools and left hospitals relying on army medics to keep functioning. The main trade union federation has threatened a one-day general strike on Thursday, if its demands are not met. About one million civil servants are... Continue Reading

Two Russian pilots have been kidnapped in Sudan’s western Darfur region, the country’s state-run Suna news agency has reported. They work for Sudan’s Badr Airlines and were abducted in the town of Nyala on Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, the foreign ministry says a female US aid worker, held for more than 100 days in Darfur, has been freed unharmed and is now in Nyala. There has been a spate of abductions in the last year targeting foreigners. Correspondents say that most kidnappings appear to be for money. But the kidnappers said they had released the woman, who works for Samaritan’s Purse,... Continue Reading