The president and CEO of the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa says that important stories about Africa continue to feature less prominently in mainstream American media outlets.
The Africa Society is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that strives to educate Americans about the richness and diversity of Africa, as well as the economic opportunities that the continent offers.
Bernadette Paolo said, despite the fact that the month of August featured many Africa-related events in Washington, those events did not make the mainstream American media.
She said there is a need to demand positive coverage of Africa by providing the media with information that contrasts with the usual negative stories.
When you ask students throughout the United States, the first four images that come to mind when they hear the word Africa is war, disease, starving children and animals. And, I think that the reporting in the media is primarily negative, she said.
Paolo said, although there are challenges facing African countries, Americans need to know the contributions the continent is making and the potential it holds.
When you think about it, many of the mineral resources in the entire world are from the continent of Africa, never mind the fact that the African diaspora in the United States is the highest educated among all immigrant populations. These are facts that never come to the fore through the media, Paolo said.
She said changes in U.S. foreign policy toward Africa over the years suggest that Africa is getting the attention it warrants from the U.S. government.
But, Paolo said much more needs to be done to improve the negative coverage of the continent in the mainstream U.S. media.
I think that, with journalists, you have to feed them with information and make them aware of these changes, of the economic development, of a country such as Botswana and others that are making great strides economically, of the number of democracies that are on the continent now, as opposed to 20 years ago, Paolo said.
Paolo said the responsibility of disseminating positive information about Africa is not solely that of the media, but also the duty of all Africanists through the use of modern technology.
I think its a combined effort of getting more information out there using social media, people who are Africanists, people from the African diaspora, putting things in newspapers, writing letters to the editors. So, the responsibility isnt solely journalists. Its all of ours, she said.
Paolo said she lamented the fact that millions of Americans did not get the chance to meet and see the young people from Africa who attended President Obamas Forum with African Youth Leaders.
We had heads of state. We had foreign ministers. In Africa, in August, we had the AGOA Forum. We had these youth leaders that President Obama had here, 115 extraordinary young people with contributions already in their lives that were just mind-boggling. All these things are missed opportunities to have a different picture of African leaders. And so, I think, we seldom have reporting on positive developments such as these, Paolo said.
North Korea is struggling with heavy rains and massive flooding that have washed out homes and ruined crops across the country. The worst flooding is in the north, on the Yalu River, which separates North Korea from China. Beijing has already offered help, and now the United States is, too.
Robert King interview with VOA Korean service: |
Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, told VOAs Korean service in an exclusive interview that Washington will send $750,000 in emergency aid to Pyongyang. He said the money will be given to three independent aid groups: Samaritans Purse, Global Resource Services and Mercy Corps.
Weve received reports of the seriousness of the flooding in North Korea, King said. The North Korean government reached out to these three non-government organizations that were working with and to another NGO and requested assistance.
King added the groups will use the money primarily for medical supplies and will fly the aid into Pyongyang beginning this week.
The aid comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding North Korea. Washington has imposed additional sanctions on Pyongyang in response to the deadly sinking of a South Korean war ship earlier this year. And former U.S. President Jimmy Carter recently traveled to North Korea to secure the release of an American jailed for illegally entering the country.
King dismissed speculation that the assistance is a political tool to lure North Korea back to international talks on its nuclear program.
Our humanitarian assistance is provided solely on the basis of the need and our ability to provide the assistance and to monitor that its being received by those in need, he said. This is not in response to ongoing talks or lack of talks. This is not in response to the humanitarian release of an American citizen.
Washingtons outreach is likely timed with major leadership changes taking place in North Korea, said Aidan Foster-Carter, a Korea expert and honorary research fellow with Leeds University in England.
I do think theres a sense in Washington and in Seoul of possibly missing out at a time when North Korea is probably going to be making a generational change, said Foster-Carter.
North Koreas ruling Workers Party is reportedly planning a major meeting next week to pick new leadership and possibly choose a successor to leader Kim Jong Il.
In the run-up to this meeting, Mr. Kim made his second visit to China in four months, coinciding with a visit to North Korea by the former U.S. president Carter.
Foster-Carter says by ignoring calls to return to the six-party talks, and working directly with China, North Korea is signaling it does not care to deal with its critics.
Presumably neither the U.S. nor South Korea wants to see North Korea shelter wholly under Chinas wing, which I think is certainly one option in the coming years to be honest, Foster-Carter said.
Chinas Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wu Dawei, met key U.S. diplomats in Washington this week to discuss North Korea. And South Koreas special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace is to hold his own meeting Friday with deputy U.S. Secretary of State James Steinberg.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has said it is up to North Korea to show it is willing to live up to international obligations, including abandoning its nuclear weapons program.
If North Koreas prepared to demonstrate a willingness to act more constructively, then we will respond appropriately and be prepared for further engagement, said Crowley.
In China last week, Kim Jong Il reportedly told Chinese President Hu Jintao that he wanted an early resumption of the nuclear talks.
The United States and South Korea both say the negotiations should not resume until North Korea apologizes for the sinking of the South Korean warship.
Top officials in Pakistan are urging majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslim communities in the country not to hold outdoor religious meetings. The appeal comes a day after suspected Sunni militants linked to al-Qaida and Taliban extremist networks attacked a Shiite religious procession in an eastern city, killing at least 35 mourners and wounding more than 200 others.
Security is tight around religious sites in Pakistan, especially in the countrys second-largest city of Lahore, where three back-to-back bombs Wednesday ripped through a big Shiite religious procession. Police said the deadly suicide blasts instantly killed about two dozen people, while others succumbed to injuries in hospitals.
Shiite leaders blamed the government for its alleged failure in tackling extremist forces in Pakistan.
The criticism prompted Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik to urge religious leaders to persuade their followers against holding public religious gatherings. He told reporters that religious processions at public places are soft targets for the extremist forces, and it is not possible for any law enforcement agency to provide foolproof security in such cases. Malik appealed for religious activities to be restricted to indoor or smaller places where the government can ensure the security.
The Pakistani minister said he believes militants linked to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan were behind the attacks on the Shiite procession as part of their campaign to fuel sectarian violence and destabilize the government.
While Pakistan has banned several Islamic militant groups in recent years, critics said some of the outfits have re-emerged with new names, and the governments reluctance to crack down on them is encouraging extremist forces in the country.
Tasneem Noorani is the former federal interior secretary and an expert on security affairs. They have to go to the root cause. They have to go to where these proscribed banned organizations are operating under different names. They have to have a zero tolerance for going to the source where these people are grouping, where these people are training. And unless they go for that I do not think they will be able to achieve the desired results, said Noorani.
The suicide attacks in Lahore took place a day after the United States charged the TTPs leadership in the plot that killed seven American intelligence officers at a U.S base across the border in Afghanistan.
Washington also added the Pakistani Taliban group to its list of foreign terrorist organizations. The United States also has offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the capture of the TTP chief, Hakeemullah Mehsud, and his deputy, Wali-ur-Rehman.
Critics of the Pakistani intelligence agencies have long accused them of having links to the militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban.
Interior Minister Malik repeatedly has dismissed the allegations, and said his country welcomes Washingtons decision to add the Pakistani Taliban to its terrorist group list and to restrict its leaders from international travel.
They are already working against Pakistan, said Malik. They are working against the people of Pakistan. The American friends know very well that we are suffering in their hands. So I do not think there is going to be anything [like more pressure] added, rather it is a help to us that they will not be able to move in the world.
Pakistani security forces have conducted major offensives against Taliban and al-Qaida militants believed to be hiding in the countrys northwestern tribal regions, which border Afghanistan. The militants have responded with major suicide and other terrorist attacks across the country killing thousands of people, including security forces.
The attacks in Lahore came at a time when Pakistan is trying to cope with the worst floods in the countrys history. Thousands of security officers are currently engaged in rescue and relief operations.
As U.S. combat troops are pulled out of Iraq, attention is turning to Afghanistan. President Barack Obama has pledged to begin pulling out troops there as well, starting next year. The Iraq withdrawal might have an effect on political and military calculations by officials in Washington and Kabul, particularly by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
In announcing the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, President Obama made it clear that Afghanistans turn is next.
Next August, we will begin a transition to Afghan responsibility, he said. The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground, and our support for Afghanistan will endure. But make no mistake - this transition will begin because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan peoples.
Analysts say the Iraq withdrawal has highlighted for leaders in Iran, Pakistan and other regional states that the United States intends to pull out its forces.
Larry Goodson of the U.S. Army War College says no one is considering the implications more than Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
All of the regional actors now alter their calculus a bit, but none more obviously and skittishly than Karzai because he is really the one whose neck is in the noose. He is the one who would literally be hanging from a lamppost within a month, let us say, if the U.S. and NATO forces withdrew today. Or at least that is what I think would happen.
Morale boost for the Taliban
President Karzai recently told a visiting U.S. congressional delegation that the withdrawal date is a morale boost for the Taliban.
Larry Goodson says Mr. Karzai might be looking for ways to keep U.S. troops around longer than President Obama and his advisors have planned.
I think he is looking for the, O.K., the U.S. is no longer here or maybe I can, through certain political moves and maneuvers, continue to play the United States and keep them here a bit longer or keep them engaged in some fashion a bit longer. I realize I attributed some Machiavellian sort of tendencies to Hamid Karzai. But I think that he has demonstrated that he has got some political skills, he said.
The U.S.-Karzai relationship has been through some rough patches, especially lately. President Karzai has been sharply critical of the United States, especially over civilian casualties, and U.S. officials continue to pressure the Afghan leader to clean up corruption in his government.
Analyst Brian Katulis of the Center for American Progress in Washington says the United States has been inconsistent in its approach to President Karzai.
We have wavered under President Bush and even under President Obama, he said. One moment it seems like we are reading him the riot act; the next moment we are rolling out the red carpet for him here in Washington, D.C. And none of it seems to work.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are radically different, but the overall strategy is similar - to build up indigenous forces to the point that they can handle security duties on their own, thus allowing U.S. troops to go home. But many analysts voice concern about when or if Afghan security forces will be capable to stand on their own.
The presence of Taliban sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan remains a nagging issue.
Analyst Brian Katulis says the handling of the matter of Pakistan has been what he terms a quiet success for the Obama administration. He says the U.S.-Pakistan relationship was hanging by a thread in 2007, but that Pakistan has since become more energetic about taking on the militants.
So there has been a much more aggressive counter-terrorism approach, said Katulis. There has been an outreach to a range of Pakistani leaders to take a different approach. They have changed.
They have not changed 100 percent, but they have moved in the right sort of direction. And I think what we need to see, and ultimately a key to Afghanistan and our ability to complete the mission there, is actually getting actors like Pakistan to play a more responsible role. And I think we have taken some modest steps in the right direction there, he added.
But Taliban fighters have not reduced their attacks on international forces, although the coming winter is expected to slow them down. Many analysts say the Taliban wants to keep up the pressure on the Karzai government until the United States and its allies leave and then try to strike a political deal with President Karzai, or whoever is in charge of the Afghan government at the time.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that nearly all of the American surge forces have arrived in Afghanistan to press the new strategy President Barack Obama announced in December. At a news conference in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Gates predicted more U.S. and Afghan casualties, but he said the strategy will work.
Secretary Gates said the U.S. and allied effort in Afghanistan finally has the right resources to begin delivering tangible, lasting results. He said, however, that progress will not come without cost.
As we expected and warned, coalition forces as well as Afghan Army and police are taking heavier casualties as we go into areas the Taliban has dominated for years. Having said that, our enemies are paying a very steep price and feeling more pressure than ever.
Gates said that pressure will intensify as coalition military operations expand. He said he believes it will lead to the reintegration of Taliban fighters and reconciliation with the groups senior leaders.
Gates noted that in addition to the 30,000 more U.S. troops, there are 7,000 fresh international troops - nearly three-quarters of their commitment - as well as triple the number of American diplomats and aid workers, and a substantial increase in the size and capability of the Afghan security forces.
The secretary also acknowledged that American aid money has contributed to corruption among Afghan officials. He said steps are being taken to change that, and he welcomed the Afghan governments anti-corruption efforts.
The U.S. must make sure that American dollars and other foreign assistance do not fuel corruption. [U.S.] Ambassador [Karl] Eikenberry and [U.S. Army] General [David] Petraeus are putting in place new procedures and controls to accomplish this objective. And we fully support the Afghan government in its own efforts to address corruption.
Gates also said he and Afghan President Karzai agreed that the anti-corruption effort must be Afghan-led. Mr. Karzai issued a passionate defense of his stance on corruption in the face of mounting international criticism. He blamed the press for painting an inaccurate picture of his efforts.
I hope you would do the job of conveying the concerns of the Afghan people and me as the president of this country to work toward building an Afghanistan, with the help of the United States and our other allies, that is a state based on proper laws and regulations that is a lawful state, not an abusive police state, said Gates.
The Afghan president accused foreign elements of involvement in the recent arrest and alleged mistreatment of a corruption suspect. He said that is why he intervened to get the man released.
Mr. Karzai also said that his decision to ban security contractors in four months, except on foreign compounds, is final. U.S. officials said the controversial decision will make it difficult for diplomats and aid workers to safely move around the country.
Nine years after the war in Afghanistan began, the government and its coalition allies are preparing for the day it will end. Part of that preparation is ensuring that Afghanistans medical community will be able to care for the population. U.S. Air Force personnel are working at the Kandahar Regional Military Hospital to help medical workers be ready. Improving the level of care also will help the Afghan military improve its reputation, and help it stabilize the region.
A wounded Afghan National Army soldier is carried through the emergency room.
He has severe head injuries, with shrapnel wounds to his face, his eyes covered in white bandages.
Just 12 months ago, all the seriously wounded went to a nearby NATO hospital for treatment by doctors from the international coalition.
Today he will be treated in the Kandahar Regional Military Hospital, the Afghan Armys main hospital in southern Afghanistan.
The United States Air Force has a team of mentors here to support local doctors and nurses. The goal is to increase their skills so they no longer need international help.
The program has been in place since the hospital opened in January 2008.
The U.S. staff provides advice on everything from bedside manners to surgery techniques. The team consists of doctors, anesthetists, nurses and administrative personnel, all vital to keeping a hospital running.
Captain Michael Hampton is a doctor who specializes in trauma care. He says the mentoring program is a tough challenge, with many problems to overcome, but he is impressed with how far the Afghans have come in so little time.
We have been partnering well, I think, to create a medical system that can continue on in the future, and allow us the chance to separate a little bit and allow the Afghans to run it more for themselves, he said.
Dr. Abdul Khabeir has worked at the Kandahar military hospital for three years, honing his skills with the Americans.
He says he wants to be a good doctor. And he wants there to be stability in his country so that people stop killing each other, and stop the turmoil, and he can improve his skills as an orthopedic surgeon.
The military hospital is an air-conditioned red brick building. The 50-bed facility provides free medical care to civilians as well. There are plans to expand the hospital so it can care for more patients.
Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Escher is the senior medical advisor to hospital.
He hopes the lessons learned here will spread through the fledgling medical system of this impoverished, war-torn country.
The things they learn here will be transferred to civilian health care so its all about building health-care capacity within Afghanistan, so they can manage more severe patients, more critical patients without anybody elses help. That is the goal, he said.
If that goal is reached, it will help U.S. and coalition forces eventually leave the country, knowing it can stand on its own.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday visited U.S. troops in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar,the spiritual homeland of the Taliban and the center of the latest U.S. efforts to oust Islamic militants.
Gates met with about 100 soldiers at a U.S. military base near Kandahar City, saying their success in the area will make a difference to NATOs campaign to secure the region. He offered condolences to the troops for the recent loss of eight comrades in insurgent attacks and warned there will be more tough days ahead.
One soldier asked Gates if the U.S. military will target insurgent safe havens in Pakistan used by fighters to launch attacks against in Afghanistan. The U.S. defense secretary responded that the likelihood of direct U.S. military engagement in Pakistan is very low.
Gates said Pakistan shares the U.S. objective to eliminate the safe havens. But, he said Islamabads current focus on tackling a nationwide flooding crisis will delay a Pakistani offensive against militants in the North Waziristan tribal region for some time.
Many militants have fled to North Waziristan in the past year to escape Pakistani offensives in other northwestern regions.
On Thursday, Gates held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. At a joint news conference, the two gave conflicting accounts about casualties from a NATO air strike on a convoy in the northern province of Takhar earlier that day.
Gates said the air strike killed a leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant group he said is responsible for attacks in Kabul and elsewhere. NATO said the air strike also killed at least seven other armed militants who were in the same vehicle as the leader.
Mr. Karzai disputes that account, saying the air strike killed 10 election workers traveling with a candidate for upcoming parliamentary elections, Abdul Wahid Khorasani.
Khorasani, who was wounded, told reporters by telephone from a Kabul hospital that NATO warplanes struck him and his supporters as they traveled in six vehicles draped with campaign posters.
Gates and NATO officials promised to investigate. Civilian casualties resulting from NATO operations have been a major source of tension between the alliance and the Afghan government.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has launched the first direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in nearly two years.
Both sides agreed to a second round of talks to be held in the Middle East later this month.
At a ceremony in the State Departments ornate Benjamin Franklin room, Secretary Clinton said the Obama administration is committed to forging a peace agreement within the next year.
She stressed the main work will have to be done by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. We believe, prime minister and president, that you can succeed and we understand that this is in the national security interest of the United States that you do so. But we cannot and we will not impose a solution, she said.
Sitting under sparkling chandeliers at a U-shaped table between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas, Clinton congratulated the leaders for agreeing to resume negotiations. But she warned of difficult days to come in the effort to create an independent Palestinian state and security for Israel. There undoubtedly will be obstacles and setbacks. Those who oppose the cause of peace will try in every way possible to sabotage this process as we have already seen this week, she said.
Violence, security
Violence has always threatened to derail peace efforts.
In recent days, a pair of attacks killed four Jewish settlers in the West Bank. The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and opposes peace talks with Israel, claimed responsibility.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said such attacks threaten the negotiations and highlight Israels need for security. They seek to kill our people, kill our state, kill our peace and so achieving security is a must. Security is the foundation of peace, he said.
Gideon Lichfield, deputy-editor for The Economist on-line, discusses the importance of Israel-Palestinian direct talks: |
Major challenge
A critical first test for the peace talks could come later this month. Israels 10-month moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank expires September 26.
Mr. Abbas has said the negotiations will be called off if Israel fails to extend the freeze.
In his remarks, the Palestinian president made his position clear. And we call on the Israeli government to move forward with its commitment to end all settlement activities and completely lift the embargo over the Gaza Strip, he said.
The negotiations are the first direct talks since the last effort broke down in December 2008. The Obama administration spent its first 20 months in office coaxing the two sides back to the bargaining table.
Despite the success in launching the talks, the gaps between the two sides are wide and distrust remains after years of violence and deadlock.
U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell called the first round of talks productive and he announced that the parties have decided to meet regularly to negotiate. They agreed to meet again on September 14 and 15 in the region and roughly two weeks thereafter, every two weeks thereafter, he said.
The Palestinians want a state in areas Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Mr. Netanyahu has accepted the idea of a Palestinian state, but with significant conditions and without East Jerusalem.