How will oil affect Madagascar's environmental riches?

Amid the hills of western Madagascar, villagers have long been aware of a thick sticky substance naturally seeping out of the ground.

But it is only recently that these unconventional oil deposits in the region of Melaky have attracted the attention of investors.
The rising prices of oil on world markets, coupled with new technologies aim to turn the Indian Ocean island - famous for its unique habitat and wildlife - into a significant oil producer.

Viewpoint: How tribalism stunts African democracy

Political violence soon took on an ethnic dimension after Kenya's disputed 2007 elections

Africa's democratic transition is back in the spotlight. The concern is no longer the stranglehold of autocrats, but the hijacking of the democratic process by tribal politics.

Kenya's 2007-08 post-election violence revealed the extent to which tribal forces could quickly bring a country to the brink of civil war.
The challenge to democracy in Africa is not the prevalence of ethnic diversity, but the use of identity politics to promote narrow tribal interests. It is tribalism.

Deporting Piers Morgan Not The Answer

 

The same kind of animus has been directed at CNN's Piers Morgan, an outspoken advocate of gun control. For no other reason than that they don't like his views, more than 90,000 people have signed a petition calling for the British journalist to be deported.

The petition is meaningless, except in this respect: as a demonstration that so many people would support kicking someone out of the country for purely political reasons, without even the fig leaf of a technical offense.

Suspect held in fatal shooting at California fireworks show

A 22-year-old man was in custody as a suspect in a shooting during a New Year's Eve fireworks show in Sacramento, California, where two people were fatally shot and three were wounded, police said Tuesday.

The suspect, whose name wasn't released, is being treated at a Sacramento hospital, police said.

The shooting occurred in Old Sacramento, where 40,000 people, including families with young children, had gathered for the 9 p.m. fireworks show, CNN affiliate KOVR reported. Witnesses reported hearing the shots and running for cover.

Police canceled the next fireworks show, which was scheduled for midnight.

End Culture of Rape in 2013

Indian women take part in the Women's Dignity March in New Delhi on Wednesday, January 2. Several hundred people participated in the solidarity march organized by the government, which ended at Rajghat, the memorial for Mohandas Gandhi. A gang of rapists who assaulted a woman on a bus in New Delhi tried to run her over after the fatal attack, reports said January 2, citing a police account.

On December 16, a young medical student in one of India's major cities was gang-raped, her body destroyed by the bodies of the men who allegedly assaulted her and also by the rusting metal bar doctors say they used to penetrate her. The bar removed part of her intestines. The rest were removed in a hospital far from home where she struggled for her life for just a few days.

Demba Ba: Chelsea trigger Newcastle striker's release clause

Chelsea have triggered the release clause in Newcastle forward Demba Ba's contract.

Ba, 27, has been given permission to speak to Chelsea and will miss Wednesday's game against Everton.
It is believed his contract contains a clause which allows him to speak to other clubs in the event of a £7m bid.

Jordanian UN hostages freed in Darfur after four months

 

There are more than 16,000 peacekeeping troops in stationed in Darfur. Two Jordanian UN peacekeepers have been released in Sudan's Darfur region after more than four months in captivity.

The men went missing in August during a supplies shopping trip to a market near Kabkabiya. It is still unclear who abducted them.
The joint UN-African Union mission said the hostages were on their way to the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

JTF KILLS 13 BOKO HARAM MILITANTS

 

Islamist militants in Nigeria's restive north have taken the lives of 34 people since Christmas, including 27 Christians attending church services.

On Tuesday, the country's military took the fight to Boko Haram's stronghold, killing 13 suspected combatants.

Joint Task Force Operation Restore Order lost one soldier during the afternoon gunfight in the isolated town of Maiduguri in Nigeria's far northwest corner, said spokesman Sagir Musa.

The 2012 Prophesies (1)

Edifying Elucidations By Okey Ikechukwu. Email, okey.ikechukwu@thisdaylive.com

It is a new year, isn’t it? Following the feared end of the world last December, people may have mentally put their ancestors on notice about the possibility of turning up on the other side. But they sauntered into 2013, some on all fours emotionally and financially. Those who were hysterically attentive to the widely circulated prophesies about 2012 global cataclysm, particularly on a given date in December, are probably now still celebrating. What are they celebrating? The fact that they are still alive – even if they are living totally purposeless lives. There is uneasiness beneath the boisterous air of élan, because science and religion are grappling with facts that suggest a possible sudden end to the life we know on earth today. The scientific evidence points to a coming cascade of calamities, while ancient prophesies sound bolder and surer because of the unfolding chain of cosmic events that are uncannily close to their pronouncements.

IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU: Our President, Jonny Go-slow

BEHIND THE FIGURES by Ijeoma Nwogwugwu; ijeoma.nwogwugwu@thisdaylive.com

On Christmas Day, President Goodluck Jonathan, for the second time in six months, admitted that his administration is slow as far as the decision making process is concerned. His excuse for the administration’s tardiness stemmed from the need to think through policies in order to avoid costly mistakes that may be difficult to reverse. In July, the same president blamed the Boko Haram insurgency for the slow pace of his administration.

Given his penchant for moving at a snail’s pace, we shall give him the sobriquet, Jonny Go-Slow. It’s a throwback to a similar nickname, Baba Go-Slow, coined for Mr. Michael Otedola, who as governor of Lagos State in the 1990s, was also known for his slow pace of governance.

FULL TEXT OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN'S NEW YEAR SPEECH

NEW YEAR MESSAGE TO THE NATION FROM PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR

Fellow Nigerians,
1. I greet and rejoice with you all as we celebrate the advent of a new year.
2. I join you all in giving thanks to God Almighty for bringing us and our beloved nation safely through the past year to the beginning of 2013 which, by His Grace, will be a much better year for us and our country.
3. In keeping with tradition, it is usual for individuals, institutions and organizations to make resolutions and set agenda as a new year begins, to guide their actions in the coming months.

3-Day National Mourning for New Year StampedeVictims in Ivory Coast

 

Ivory Coast has declared a three-day national mourning after a New Year’s Eve stampede killed at least 61 people in Abidjan. 

 Many victims were said to be 15 or younger. The government said 60 people with an average age of 18 had died. According to BBC, hundreds of people leaving a fireworks display at a stadium in the Plateau district were jammed into a tiny street in the early hours of Tuesday: many were crushed; others suffocated.

THISDAY Awards 2013 to Celebrate Teachers

THISDAY LOGO

In recognition of the critical role that they play in human capital development and the socio-cultural and economic advancement of the country, the 18th edition of the THISDAY Annual Awards will be honouring Nigerian teachers.

Arriving at the decision Tuesday to recognise and honour teachers at the primary, secondary and university levels, the THISDAY Editorial Board chose to dedicate the 18th THISDAY Annual Awards to teachers because of the central role they play in imparting knowledge through education.

2013 THROUGH JONATHAN'S EYES

 

For most Nigerians, the year 2012 has been a year of disappointment and unfulfilled promises from the leaders of the nation. However, in an attempt to regain the trust of Nigerians, President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday promised that his administration would move faster in the New Year to accede to the yearnings of the citizens. he said this during a New Year service at the All Saints’ Anglican Church, Zone 5, Wuse, Abuja.

WOW: Iwe-Irohin resuscitated after 140 years

Nigeria's first Newspaper, Iwe Irohin, has been resuscitated after 140 years of its demise. The newspaper was founded in 1859 by a missionary named Henry Townsend in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Iwe Irohin was published bi-weekly in Yoruba and English language and ran for about 8 years before its demise in 1867. It's been brought back by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, who launched it's first edition just last week.