WOMBLES - Africa

The South Africa World Cup: Invictus in Reverse

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:57:31 +0000

from mw, 10 March 2010: "You see it the moment you walk off the plane: a mammoth soccer ball hanging from the ceiling of Johannesburg International Airport festooned with yellow banners that read, "2010 Let's Go! WORLD CUP!" If you swivel your head, you see that every sponsor has joined the party - Coca Cola, Anheuser-Busch - all branded with the FIFA seal. It's when your head dips down that you see another, less sponsored, universe. Even inside this gleaming state-of-the-art airport, men ranging in age from 16-60 ask if they can shine your shoes, carry your bags, or even walk you to a cab. It's the informal economy fighting for breathing room amidst the smothering sponsorship..." more

Making the 2010 World Cup work for the poor and working class

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:10:21 +0000

from infoshop, 27 January 2010: "The following leaflet was distributed by members of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) and the Orlando West study circle on anarchism at a football tournament in an informal settlement in Soweto..." more

Newswires: Yemen

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:31:07 +0000

Updated daily: Articles from external newswires filtered for the keywords: Yemen... more

Sweeping the streets: Poor South Africans fall foul of 2010 soccer tournament preparations

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:28:49 +0000

from newint, 5 November 2009: "Ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Cape Town has begun an operation to clear the streets of the homeless, the visibly poor and informal street vendors. In early September, the city’s law enforcement officers and a private security company swooped on roadside street vendors, confiscating flags, rugby sweaters and mobile phone chargers..." more

Newswires: Lockerbie, Libya

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:12:39 +0000

Updated daily: Articles from external newswires filtered for the keywords: Lockerbie, Libya... more

Congo-Brazzaville: Return to Tarmageddon

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:08:04 +0000

from oilsandstruth, 28 August 2009: "An Italian company's plan to develop tar sands in the Congo has activists worried. You’ve likely heard about the tar sands in northern Alberta. There's less chance you've heard of the tar sands in the Republic of Congo (sometimes called Congo-Brazzaville)... Congolese activists gathered at a recent civil-society meeting in Italy around the G8 do know that Eni, an Italian oil company, has signed agreements with the scandal-ridden government of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso for tar sands development, as well as for a palm oil plantation with the intention to make biofuels... more

Newswires: Somalia

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:43:36 +0000

Updated daily: Articles from external newswires filtered for the following keywords: somalia, mogadishu, shabab, eritrea, puntland, africom, ethiopia... more

Newswires: Africa

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:03:02 +0000

Keywords: Africa, Congo, Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Zuma, Liberia, Africom, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Chad, Sudan, Johannesburg, Senegal, Buganda, African, Djibouti... more

Newswires: Migration

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:33:38 +0000

Updated daily: Articles imported from external newswires covering migrant / refugee issues, No Borders actions and solidarity against deportations.
Keywords: Migrant, Refugee, Immigration, Sandholm, Yarl, Colnebrook, Harmondsworth... more

Repression of Abahlali baseMjondolo continues in Durban: at least 15 beaten and 11 arrested at Pemary Ridge

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:55:43 +0000

from email, 14 November 2009: "The Sydenham police arrived at Pemary Ridge at around 8pm on Friday night in one private car. Three police officers first went to a woman's tuck shop. They found that the shop was closed, and proceeded to kick down the front door. The woman, hearing the police and fearing they would damage her shop, entered through the back door. When she entered, they arrested her for having bottles of beer in her shop..." more

South Africa: ZACF Statement on the armed attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo in Kennedy Road informal settlement

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:02:24 +0000

from ainfos, 29 September 2009: "A series of armed attacks took place at about 11h30 on the night of Saturday 26 September 2009 at the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement, and carried on with impunity for at least 23 hours. Although police are claiming two people died, it has been confirmed by Abahlali baseMjondolo that at least four people have been killed: three during the attacks and another died later in hospital. It is reported that the houses of around 30 AbM members were burnt or destroyed by a mob, shouting things like "The AmaMpondo are taking over Kennedy. Kennedy is for the AmaZulu" while carrying out the attacks..." more

"Talk to us, not about us" - Abahlali baseMjondolo movement in Hackney, 4-5 September 2009

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:39:51 +0000

from LCAP, updated 3 September 2009: "Fifteen years after the end of apartheid, poverty and inequality in South Africa have increased. Durban’s shack dwellers started to build a movement in 2005 and Abahlali baseMjondolo is now the largest social movement of the poor in post-apartheid South Africa. BENEFIT Fri 4 Sept 7.30pm-2am @ the Belgrade Social Centre, 2a Belgrade Rd, London N16. TALK Sat 5 Sept 3-5.30pm @ Navarino Mansions Community Hall, Dalston Lane, London E8..." more

Making the world's poor pay: the economic crisis and the global south

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:56:52 +0000

from various sources, 25 November 2008: "Throughout its history, capitalism has functioned through geographical displacement of crisis – attempting to offload the worst impacts onto those outside the core. This article presents a short survey of what this crisis might mean for the Global South..." more

Private navies: Blackwater gunboats will protect ships against pirates

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:50:32 +0000

from rinf, 24 November 2008: "The American security company Blackwater is planning to cash in on the rising threat of piracy on the high seas by launching a flotilla of gunboats for hire by the shipping companies. The firm, which gained international notoriety when its staff killed civilians in Iraq, has already equipped one vessel, called The McArthur, which will carry up to 40 armed guards and have a landing pad for an attack helicopter"... more

Water privatisation protest in Mali: one dead, five injured

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:16:07 +0000

from email, 15 November 2008: BAMAKO (AFP) — One person died and five were injured Monday when security forces opened fire on a protest over plans to privatise drinking water distribution in northwestern Mali, hospital and official sources said. Authorities intervened after hundreds of protesters ransacked city hall in the town of Lere and threw stones at the mayor and his deputy, injuring them and several other people, said a municipal official. more