"If you were surprised to learn the U.S. has nearly a thousand troops in Niger, you’re not alone. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who serves on the Armed Forces Committee, told NBC he 'had no idea.' Neither did Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat. Well, the surprises may keep coming."
"A radicalized Libyan whose family fled Gaddafi's secular Libya, and later trained to be an armed 'rebel' in Syria, fighting for the US and UK 'regime change' policy toward the secular Assad government, Salman Abedi was the direct product of US and UK interventions in the greater Middle East." Continue reading →
"One famous answer to the riddle of fiat money is that governments use force to ensure that fiat money is valued. But this can't be the case in Somalia: it hasn't had a government since 1991, yet shillings continue to be accepted." Continue reading →
"Sudan's economy has been in turmoil since South Sudan's secession in 2011 took away of three-quarters of oil production. Oil was the driver of the economy and source for dollars needed for food and other essential imports. The central bank has been trying to bridge a ballooning gap with the black market rate where one dollar costs 7.8 pounds as import firms struggle to get their hand on hard currency. The black market rate has become the benchmark for banks and firms. The secretive central bank tends not to announce devaluations, which are embarrassing for the government, which denies there is a shortage of hard currency." Continue reading →
"A variant of malware – short for malicious software – called Dexter, inserted into point-of-sale (POS) devices at South African fast-food outlets, has cost local banks tens of millions of rand in what is being described as one of the worst breaches of customer card data in the country's history. South Africa's banks have suffered tens of millions of rand in losses due to a major breach of customer card data by criminal syndicates that infected electronic POS devices using a variant of malicious software called Dexter. It's not known exactly how many POS devices were infected by the malware, but the problem is believed to have been widespread in the fast-food industry." Continue reading →
"Consider the attack at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya, blowblack for Kenya's interference in putting down militants against the Somalian government. Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based cell of the militant Islamist, has targeted Kenya after the Kenyan government sent thousands of troops into Somalia in 2011. The US clearly has been an instigator, coaxing Kenya to send troops into Somalia. An NYT slideshow of the attack is here. Note to conspiracy theorists: The NYT photographer just happened to be near the Nairobi mall at the time of the attack." Continue reading →
"Yesterday Kenya’s parliament voted to pull out of the ICC – the first African country to do so. That decision comes shortly before the ICC starts trials of Kenya's president and vice president. So far both men have said they will appear at The Hague, but speculation has begun that the vote may be the first step toward cutting off cooperation. President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto were indicted for mass violence and deaths after the 2007 elections. This summer ICC officials hinted that they might allow parts of Ruto’s trial to take place in Kenya or Tanzania. But today, less than 24 hours after Kenyan lawmakers in a raucous session voted to leave the ICC, the possibility was ended." Continue reading →
"At least 39 people were killed when masked gunmen stormed an upscale Nairobi mall, Kenya’s president said on Saturday. Al Shabaab militants said the attack was retaliation for Kenya’s involvement fighting Islamists in neighbouring Somalia. Masked gunmen killed 39 people when they stormed an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address on Saturday, adding that he lost family members in the attack claimed by Somalia’s al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab rebels. The Islamist rebels said the massacre was in direct retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia, where African Union troops are battling the Islamists." Continue reading →
"UNESCO and the Kenya Government today announce the discovery of one of the worlds largest underground water aquifers in the desert north of Turkana, an area best known for fossils, famine and poverty. The finding by Radar Technologies International (RTI) was made using space based exploration technology called WATEX system. The largest aquifer at 250 billion cubic meters of water which is equivalent in volume to Lake Turkana one of the largest lakes in the Great Rift Valley, and 25 times greater than Loch Ness. More importantly the annual recharge rate, the amount of water that can be sustainably exploited per year, is estimated to 3.4 billion cubic meters." Continue reading →
"By 2050, many African states will likely more than double in population. Kenya will rise from 44 million to 97 million people, and Nigeria from 174 million to 440 million. Some nations will nearly triple their growth, the reports finds. Somalia will have 27 million people in 2050, up from an estimated 10 million today; the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 71 million population is predicted to rise to 182 million. The total number of people on the continent is predicted to rise from 1.1 billion to 2.4 billion. India, currently the second most populous country in the world, will overtake China to become the most populous by 2030. The US population was estimated to rise from 316 million to 400 million." Continue reading →