One in five African's are Nigerian and it's an underestimate to say that it's a worrying time for the country. This morning, doctors in the city of Kano says the death toll from Friday's bomb attacks by Islamist militants is certain to rise further. 160 people have so far been confirmed dead but bodies are still arriving at the city's mortuaries. So as a reminder Boko Haram, which wants an Islamic state, says it launched theses attacks because the authorities refused to free a group of its members from jail.
Lawyers representing the families of thousands of people who died of cholera in Haiti are planning to sue the United Nations for wrongful death. The lawyers say U.N. peacekeeper troops inadvertently brought cholera to Haiti from Nepal after the 2010 earthquake that decimated the country. Since the cholera outbreak began in 2010, nearly 7,000 people have died and over 500,000 have been infected. The BBC's Mark Doyle has been in Haiti investigating the situation and filed this report.
As rebels in Libya continued their search for Col. Moammar Gadhafi yesterday, Algerian officials announced that Gadhafi's wife and three sons had crossed the border from Libya, and are now hiding out there. More countries are continuing to recognize the new Libyan government — except for Algeria, which remains the only North African neighbor not to address Libya as such.
American hedge funds are buying massive amounts of land—larger in size than the state of California—in Africa, often without proper contracts, according to the Oakland Institute, an independent policy think tank. The hedge funds say that it's an effort to uplift the economies of African nations, but some critics say it's a "land grab;" an opportunity to buy cheap land to grow food crops that will be exported to richer countries, ultimately depleting Africa's natural resources and raising global food prices.
Aid agency Oxfam Internation say that the United States' policy of subsidizing rice exported to Haiti is hampering the beleaguered nation's ability to be self-sufficient. Twenty years ago, Haiti produced nearly all of its own rice. Today, the country imports nearly 80 percent due to subsidization policies from wealth nations like the U.S. The BBC's Mark Doyle gives us the latest on the story.
The United Nations and the United States are hosting a conference today on paying for rebuilding in Haiti after the earthquake. Haitian President Rene Preval is expected to present a report on his country's needs, and the amount he's asking for may break records. Also on the table will be a vision for Haiti in the near future. The estimated cost over the next ten years? $11.5 billion.
The United Nations is reporting that the world is hungrier than ever. This year, the number of people going hungry will top 1 billion for the first time – not a milestone anyone wanted to reach. But a new report claims to have the solution: Give women more power. The BBC's Mark Doyle joins us with the story.
For more, download the International Food Policy Research Institute's Global Hunger Index for 2009 (PDF, 2.7 MB)
Check out the interactive world hunger map from the International Food Policy Research Institute to see how countries are faring:
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