Africa

By Benjamin Fox | EURACTIV.com | – – Nearly €340 ($403) billion of investment will be needed to achieve universal access to electricity across Africa by 2030, the World Energy Network forecasts. That is a tall order. The combined grid capacity of the 48 sub-Saharan African countries is around 70 gigawatts, roughly equivalent to that […]

Africa

Rick Perry has it Backwards: Oil causes Mass Rape

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Somehow Secretary of Energy Rick Perry managed to find Africa, and while he was there, he learned that a lot of people don’t have electricity. In a news conference this week, he expressed the opinion that fossil fuels would prevent sexual assault. Perry said, assaulting and […]

Geothermal

Kenya to become the sixth largest producer of geothermal power

contributors

KNT Keney | Video News Report | – – “Kenya is set to become the sixth largest producer of geothermal power in the world after it broke ground for the construction of the Olkaria 5 power plant. The new plant will add an additional 150 mw of power to the grid as well to ensure […]

Africa

Sen. Lindsey Graham surprised at US Troops in Niger? He could have read Nick Turse

Juan Cole

By Jon Queally, staff writer. | ( Commondreams.org) ” – – Graham Should Read More Nick Turse, TomDispatch, and Common Dreams. What U.S. Senators Don’t Know (and Neither Do You) About What the Pentagon Is Doing in Africa Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the Senate’s most outspoken military hawks and member of the powerful […]

Al-Shabab

Nearly 300 dead in Somalia Terrorist Attack (largely ignored by US TV News)

Juan Cole

TeleSur | – – “In our 10-year experience as first responders in Mogadishu, we haven’t seen anything like this,” the Aamin Ambulance service posted on Twitter. Somali officials say the death toll from Saturday’s truck bombing in Mogadishu has risen to 276, with another 300 people injured. Medical personnel in the Somali capital have described […]

Afghanistan

What if we Gave Seven Wars and No Americans Noticed?

contributors

By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Consider, if you will, these two indisputable facts. First, the United States is today more or less permanently engaged in hostilities in not one faraway place, but at least seven. Second, the vast majority of the American people could not care less. Nor can it be […]

Africa

The Dragon Arrives: 1st Chinese overseas Military Base in Djibouti

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – China has just inaugurated its first military base abroad, in the tiny Red Sea country of Djibouti. Beijing has a long way to go to catch up with the United States, which is estimated to have some 800 military bases around the world. In fact, you […]

Israel/ Palestine

S. Africa ruling party will downgrade ties with Israel over Illegal Occupation

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – PRETORIA (Ma’an) — The African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party of South Africa, voted on Tuesday in favor of downgrading South Africa’s diplomatic representation in Israel in protest of the occupation. The decision, made during ANC’s National Policy Conference, was hailed as a “major victory for human rights […]

Africa

Is the European Refugee Crisis being Driven by Drought and Climate Change?

contributors

By Baher Kamal | (Inter Press Service) | – – ROME (IPS) – Water–everybody talks about it, warns against its growing scarcity, excessive waste, the impact of climate change, the frequent severe droughts and so on. Now, a global action network with over 3,000 partner organisations in 183 countries comes to unveil the dangerous nexus […]