Here is a recent update about the cleanup from the Probo Koala toxic waste scandal: ‘We do these kinds of operations all around the world, but this is big,’ Alwin Booij, managing director Tredi Internationale, the French firm contracted to handle the cleanup told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Thursday. So far, Booij said, his teams have […]

Can microbrewing save the world? In a recent article on Alternet, Chris O’Brien looks at the global and historical perspective of microbrewing: revolutionary America and the colonies’ dependence on porter from England; the rich variety of local brews of Africa and South America being replaced by imported mass-produced beer, and the rich brewing tradition in […]

The ship that was involved in the deadly toxic waste scandal in Ivory Coast has left the Baltic port of Tallinn, after unloading toxic waste similar to what turned up in sewers and municipal dumps in Abidjan a few months ago. According to the Baltic Times, the Probo Koala pumped 600 cubic meters to another […]

Thanks to intense activism by Greenpeace , the ship involved in the Abidjan toxic waste scandal, the Probo Koala, was impounded by Estonian police and a criminal investigation appears to be under way. For three days, the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise blocked the Probo Koala in the Estonian harbor of Paldiski. The activists painted the […]

The Probo Koala, infamous now for the deadly toxic waste it unloaded in Côte D’Ivoire, is now in Latvia, en route to Estonia, Deutsche Presse reports. The tanker’s arrival is causing some concern in Estonia: “The Probo Koala will be under very special treatment when it comes into (the Estonian port of) Paldiski,” Allan Gromov […]

Yet again, another genocide is under way. In Darfur, the Sudanese government has begun indiscriminate bombings of civilians and supposed rebels Human Rights Watch reports. The Sudanese government is committing these war crimes in blatant defiance of international law and plain human decency. And it very much looks like they are moving into what Bill […]

The BBC reports that the government of Côte D’Ivoire has resigned over the toxic waste scandal. The Ivorian Prime Minister, Charles Konan Banny has offered his government’s resignation after a scandal over toxic waste in Abidjan. Two people have died and several hundred are ill after inhaling fumes from toxic waste apparently dumped at sites […]

During the night of August 20, the Probo Koala, a tanker built in 1989 and owned by the Celtic Legend Shipping Inc., docked at the harbor of Abidjan. Its cargo – a volatile, toxic blend of a petroleum distillate and hydrogen sulphide was unloaded its onto 13 tanker trucks. Under cover of the night, these […]

What a week: Snow and Tornadoes in South Africa and a deadly heatwave in the US. In the US, the Midwest and East Coast were cooking – New York declared a heat emergency with temperatures of up to 38°C/101F and a heat index of up to 110F/43°C. Here in Bahama it was sweltering, too, with […]

According to the Global Crafts website, Volkswagen of America has backed off: Volkswagen of America have sent a letter of apology and revoked the Cease & Desist notice. Thank you for your support, I know many of you emailed Volkswagen on our behalf. They have also offered to work with us towards a license which […]

This is a great example of elephants with sledgehammers protecting a china store: VW of America’s lawyers have sent “cease and desist” orders to the Fair-Trade importers of toys made by the Teenage Mothers of Kenya crafts cooperative: Teenage Mothers and Girls Association of Kenya is an organization working for the rescue, rehabilitation and economic […]

Ah – hark the master of the moral high ground: the chief ethical executive from Royal Dutch Shell has spoken: Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s top marketer of biofuels, considers using food crops to make biofuels “morally inappropriate” as long as there are people in the world who are starving, an executive said on Thursday. […]

The BBC’s Newsnight published an interviw with Joseph Kony (left), the leader of the so-called “Lord’s Resistance Army” (LRA), which is responsible for the genocide on the Acholi people of Northern Uganda. This is the first-ever interview with Kony, who is wanted by a UN court for war crimes. The BBC also posted an interview […]

The picture says it all: the 2-0 loss of the Eperviers against Switzerland is no big shock to most, but nevertheless a big disappointment to many. It seems that the back-and-forth over the premiums, and the FIFA’s “play-or-else” order, left very little spunk in that team. Sadly, Togo’s first Worldcup appearance will not primarily be […]

Finally FIFA intervened and explained to the team from Togo that they will play … or else … after the Togolese Football bosses proved to be completely incapable of resolving this embarrassing dispute. The coach Otto Pfister appears to be sympathetic to the players’ grievances: “I understand the players, they are being promised things but […]

In one way Togo already lost the Worldcup. Sadly, this loss was not inflicted upon the team, and the country, in a fair sports competition in the stadium. Rather, the incompetence of the football (soccer) bosses of the Togolese Football Federation (FTF) bear full responsibility for the current, sad state of affairs. The lack of […]

Togo’s National Team arrived in the southern town of Wangen today, where they will be based for the duration of the 2006 World Cup: Otto Pfister, coach of the West African side, has admitted that the debutants have a tough task of putting up a credible showing at the finals. “We’re obviously underdogs,” said Pfister […]

Last night, Laura and I had the privilege and pleasure to see Mamadou Diabate at the Art Center in Carrboro. He was the star performer in a benefit show that highlighted the Publik Kreativity Drama Krew, a community theater troupe from the Alexandra township in Johannesburg. The kids from Jo’burg were great – authentic, a […]

For many citizens of Togo, this must be a bittersweet day. On April 27, 1960, the French administered UN Trusteeship and former French colony became an independent nation. But today also marks a year and a day since the ruling party, the RPT, declared victory in the so-called “election” of April 24, 2005. This rigged […]

Today is Africa Malaria Day and this year the focus is on the need to provide universal access to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). ACTs are the newest hope for making serious progress toward defeating the Queen of Diseases. African children are dying of malaria at the rate of one every 30 seconds. Take a minute […]