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Wild at heart in South Africa's tea country
A simple vision: to light up Africa
Female migrants' isolation heightens HIV risk
Moralising fails to curb teen pregnancies
Make Poverty History 'Africanized' poverty
Zimbabwean women lose out in land reform
News: 2 September 2010
Mozambique: 4 dead in riots
At least four people were killed in violent riots triggered by rising food and fuel prices in Mozambique's capital Maputo on Wednesday, according to local authorities. But reports from local media based on police and hospital sources put the death toll as high as seven, including two children. Protesters reportedly continued to block roads and loot shops on Thursday amid sporadic gunfire. The government has declared the demonstrations illegal and claimed they were being organised through text messages and emails. The price of bread in Mozambique has increased by as much as 30 per cent in the past year, while fuel and water costs have also risen.
Diplomat claims Pakistani landlords diverted floodwater
A senior diplomat claims that rich landowners in Pakistan diverted water towards unprotected villages in order to protect their own crops during last month's devastating rains. United Nations ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon told the BBC on Thursday that there was evidence that some "powerful and rich" landowners had deliberately diverted the water, causing embankments to burst and flood villages. Haroon called on the government to investigate the claims. Meanwhile, the World Bank announced on Wednesday that it had increased funding by 100 million US dollars to finance Pakistan's immediate recovery needs. This brings the total to one billion US dollars. Heavy flooding in August killed more than 1,600 people and affected a further 17 million throughout the country.
S. Africa: strikers reject offer
More than one million public sector workers in South Africa are still on strike after the main trade union federation rejected an offer from the government on Wednesday to increase wages by 7.5 per cent. The unions are maintaining their demand for an 8.6 per cent pay hike. The strike, which is now in its third week, is costing South Africa around 150 million US dollars a day, according to a report by news agency Reuters. The workers' leaders were expected to meet government officials for further negotiation talks on Thursday.
Floods hit Sudan and Ethiopia
Health officials in south-western Sudan said on Wednesday that around 57,000 people have been displaced because of heavy flooding in the region in the past month. The BBC reported that rivers near the town of Aweil had overflowed, leaving most of the town under water. Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Monday that around 270,000 people could be affected by severe flooding expected this month in Ethiopia's Amhara region. At least 19 people have already been killed in mudslides and almost 12,000 others have been displaced by heavy rains, according to the OCHA. News agency Reuters reported that regional authorities have issued a 6.8 million US dollar contingency plan to respond to the emergency.
Global warming may cut China crop yields by 13% by 2050
Researchers warned on Thursday that rising temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions may cause yields in China to drop by 13 per cent by 2050. A warmer climate would inevitably reduce the amount of freshwater available for agriculture across the country, according to the researchers. Their findings indicate that China has already seen a temperature increase of 1.2 degrees Celsius since 1960. The study claimed that temperatures could continue to rise in China by another one to five degrees Celsius by the end of this century. The researchers said that this could cause rice yields to drop by 4 to 14 per cent and wheat by 2 to 20 per cent by 2050. The study led by Shilong Piao of the Center of Climate Research at Beijing University was published in the journal Nature.
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