HWC 14-15

More than 130 members of the terrorist organization Boko Haram have surrendered to Nigeria's military after their leader was killed. Over the past five years, the group has killed thousands of people in guerrilla attacks, including the kidnapping of about 200 schoolgirls. This article relates to our discussion because it talks of terrorism.

While the Millennium Development Goals target to halve the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015, access to water, improved sanitation and hygiene is a daily challenge for many Nigerians. This article relates because it describes the challenges of Nigeria.

Nigerian's Islamic extremists have freed one of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, but she is too traumatized to identify herself. Hundreds of girls, women and boys were kidnapped by the Boko Haram militants. The abduction of more than 270 schoolgirls from a school in the remote town of Chibok inspired a worldwide campaign for their freedom.

Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Chris Mushohwe argued that the few remaining white farmers should not be kicked out of Zimbabwe because their economy could not suffer that loss. This is contrary to President Mugabe's opinion. He has openly stated that he wants all whites to return to England and is entirely against western influence in his country. This relates to the land redistribution issue, as Zimbabwean politicians argue whether or not all whites should have their land taken from them.

The number of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo doubled over the past week to 62, the World Health Organization reported Thursday, and more than half the afflicted patients have died. In the DRC, Ebola has been tacked down to four villages in one county.

Recently, the number of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been increasing exponentially. It has over doubled since it first began. It has been reported that over half of the infected have died as a result to the disease. This year, more people have died from Ebola than ever before. The economy in these countries could decrease by as much as 3.5% due to disruptions in the industries such as mining.

70 people have died in the northern DRC from an outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis but the WHO state that it is not Ebola. It has many of the same symptoms but the death rate is not even close to the rate in West Africa as well as the DRC doesn't share any borders with the countries in West Africa.

It has been found out that the outbreak of ebola in the DRC is not connected to the outbreak in West Africa right now.

People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo would like to use the Great Inga Dam to power much of Africa. If successful, this would be the world's biggest hydropower project but many power are still very skeptical about it.

This article shows that the government of Zimbabwe is attempting to assist its citizens in at least some ways. The world class medicine lab will greatly increase the standard of medicine in the region. This relates to our discussion by showing that the country of Zimbabwe is close to destroyed economically, and is in need of medical training to support itself.

This article talks of how a person can have their military career furthered in Somalia by being violent and breaking international law. This relates to our discussion because the person in question uses fear to develop power.

This article shows how political disputes continue to ravage Zimbabwe. The person involved in this article has clashed with the authoritarian state for many years, but has never succeeded. At this rate, he may never get into the government.

In recent years you can see the spread of smartphones in many places that seem unlikely to have them. A survey was conducted in many countries including Zimbabwe. The survey asked people if they read more with a smartphone and 62% of people said that they felt they did.

The National Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has shown its refusal of all attempts to amendment Article 220 of the Constitution of 2006 that currently provides for repeated rotation in the presidency after two terms of office. The Church has gone further to eliminate its participation in a religious committee to follow up arrangements of elections called on priests to transmit the message of the conference to all Christians for them to stand up against all attempts to amend the Constitution.

This article shows that the religion of the people is a valuable asset fro propaganda. The church rejects all attempts to amend the constitution, specifically areas involving the rotation of presidents after 2 terms. The presidential majority in the country want to amend the constitution to allow their president to serve 3 terms. This article relates to our discussion by showing that authoritarian rulers tend to want to stay in power, and other will resist.

This article talks about protests against a constitutional amendment that would force leaders out of office after two terms. This has been a problem with Congo-Kinshasa in the past, and it is being put in the spot-light.

The article states the fearful effects of the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab and then explains its origins. The youthful group organized to implement fundamental Islamic rule. Among the smaller details mentioned in the article, the terrorist group is funded primarily by illegal taxation and it is able to survive due to the state of lawlessness and poverty that currently exists in Somalia. This directly relates to the content of the New York Times article. Al-Shabaab creates great business from its illegal activities, most notably taxation and fees, and it is able to maintain its power because there is nothing to stop the group in lawless Somalia.

This article talks about how Somalia could see another famine as the U.S. fights against the Shabab. This is directly connect to one of the issues in the activity because of how the U.S. can affect the civilians in Somalia. If the U.S. chose to not take action, the Shabab would be able to exploit the oil fields which would give them tremendous wealth and power.

Somalia is cancelling or renegotiating a series of high-profile contracts ranging from oil exploration to port operations. There are nine multi-million dollar contracts that are being cancelled or rewritten because of irregularities found in the contracts.

During a trip to the troubled region of Eastern DRC, British actor Jude Law called for more international attention to be given to the country. He was visiting the town of Goma with British charity Peace One Day and its founder, former actor Jeremy Gilley.

This article tells how cases of the Yellow Fever have occurred in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. There were six cases confirmed in a laboratory alone on March 12, 2014. Preliminary outbreak investigations were conducted and at least 116 suspected cases arose. A reactive mass vaccination campaign hopes to vaccinate everyone to minimize the virus.

A rebel group currently in control of a key city in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. They plan on liberating the entire country with their new power. The group makes plans on capturing important cities including Kinshasa. If success is reached, they would hold elections for new leaders to make decisions for the new government.

This article talks about activist in the DRC spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS. This relates to the issues in the activity because it's an example of what is being done to help the problem.