Reuters: Clashes over grazing land, water kill 48 in Kenya – Armed attackers killed 48 villagers and set houses ablaze in Kenya’s coastal region on Tuesday night in an attack over land and water. Cattle “rustling and clashes over grazing and farming land and water are relatively common among pastoralist communities in arid parches of east Africa” and can often escalated into revenge attacks. (Joseph Akwiri and George Obulutsa)
NYTimes: Ethiopian Leader’s Death Highlights Gap between U.S. Interests and Ideals – There was likely no leader in Africa who “exemplified the conflict between the American government’s interests and its highest ideals better than Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.” Meles, who died on Monday after more than 20 years in power, gained “prized intelligence, serious diplomatic support and millions of dollars in aid” from the US in exchange for his cooperation against militants in the Horn of Africa; an area of the utmost concern for Washington. While some are hoping that the US will use this opportunity to press for a stronger human rights stance in Ethiopia, the interest in “regional security” has not changed. (Jeffrey Gettleman)
AP: National Drought Policies Urged – Top officials at the United Nations World Meteorological Organization said Tuesday that “the world’s nations urgently need to adopt drought-management policies as farmers from Africa to India struggle with lack of rainfall” while the U.S. suffers from the worst drought in decades. The agency will convene next March in Geneva to “call for systematic measures toward less water consumption and more conservation.”
TIME: As South Africa Reels from Mine Shootings, Social Inequality Threatens to Undo the Post-Apartheid ‘Miracle’ – Last week’s killing of 34 striking miners in South Africa has “left the ANC government politically paralyzed,” only serving to fuel the anger of the miners and their supporters. While President Zuma has called for calm, he will know that the “Marikana shootings may yet prove to be the symbolic moment that signaled the unraveling of South Africa’s post-apartheid social contract.” (Tony Karon)
