HWC 14-15

This article outlines the economy of Zimbabwe, mainly noting that it is quickly falling behind. One of the things noted is that farmers that lost land from the land reform should be compensated for their losses.

This article discusses the story of one man who was convicted for child rape and abuse by putting them into war. But, like in the articles that we read, he most likely bribed the judge for a less harsh sentence. Originally he was supposed to serve 12+ but instead he was partially forgiven and will serve slightly less than 6 years. My thought would be that he bribed the judge in order to receive a reduced sentence, which just goes to show how corrupt the system truly is that he can do such horrible things but weasel his way out of it with money. 

The National Railway of Zimbabwe's entire railway system has been ruined to a point where enginemen have to fall back on using cellphones to communicate. This system is becoming a hazard for travelers because there are no available signals for trains.

This article discusses the case of a white man who was forced out of his commercial farm by black squatters under government orders. This relates to the database article we read because it provides a modern example of land occupation under land reform.

A fig tree farmer had been evicted from his farm in Zimbabwe because of the land reform. The government had allowed native people to settle back on the land without telling the farmer. Now this farmer is stranded with no place to go. There are lawyers trying to settle this dispute. This refers to the article from Part E because of the unfair use of land reform.

This article is about a farmer who is not allowed to visit his farm due to Robert Mugabe's land reform.

This article relates to Somalia by giving an example of the famine that was declared there in 2011, and how it was quickly defeated. This gives an example of how quickly the media can be used to create awareness in country just like how the media created awareness about the terrorist groups in Somalia.

The strategy Obama plans to take against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria would be similar to the al-Qaida attacks. The airstrikes Obama has been sending have killed key militant leaders and are fewer than the al-Qaida ones. Somali security forces have combined with African Unions and have made advances against this terrorist group that has taken over territory in 2 countries. This relates to the terrorist group in Somalia that we read about in the first article.

On September 9, Somali refugees in Kenya are facing threats to their security and rights. Refugees International has called upon the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to enlarge its efforts to protect the Somali refugees. The UNHCR was called to increase its staff in Kenya in order to uphold its urban refugee policy, and on Kenya to sustain its obligations under the agreement between Kenya and Somali governments.

This article describes the war and rape going on in the DRC and states that people unknowingly support this when they use their cell phones. this directly links to this activity because it restates what "Commentary: Stop the 'Vampires' in the Congo" describes.

This article gives a description about a collapsed church which containted TB Joshua, a political opposition of the current Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe. This article also ends with an interesting part about a small plane circling over the building, which could mean it was an inside job by Robert Mugabe to eliminate pressure for him to win another election. This may or may not be true, just my thoughts. 

On September 18, an international conference directed at renovating Somali National army and improving security in Somalia is being held in London. Prime Minister Abdiweli is supplying details of security expansions including the successes of government forces in seizing areas from Al-Shabaab and the need to build strong Somali forces capable of taking over security from the more than 20,000 military forces. Somalia's government will outline its vision for the development of the national army and the pathways for alliance of regional militias, adherence with the arms embargo, economic planning and human rights agreement.

This article announced Zimbabwe's bid to host an African soccer tournament called the Nations Cup in 2017. The ability of Zimbabwe to hold such a tournament shows how much the country has advanced economically since its early independence days. This relates to our studies about Africa, because it shows Zimbabwe's progress until the now.

This article is about how Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe plan to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. Zimbabwe is considering using finances from Zambia or another South African nation. This article relates to our reading because it shows how Robert Mugabe is using finances incorrectly and also tells about another failure of Zimbabwe which was about the 2000 Nations Cup which failed in Zimbabwe because they failed to follow schedule. 

This article shares information about the first lady of Zimbabwe and information about her degree. But, other than that, this article delves into the corruption of Robert Mugabe and how he has been accused of rigging elections to maintain power and how his wife has overspent. This relates to our activity because it talks about Robert Mugabe and his wife, who were in the article.

This article describes how legislation that was meant to keep companies from buying minerals from armed groups actually harms honest miners. The legislation requires that companies track where their supply chains get their minerals to ensure that business is not going to armed groups. However, since small-business miners are hard to track, most companies now do not support these miners. What happens instead is that armed groups smuggle the minerals out of the Congo and sell it to those companies anyway, so this legislation actually helps them more than it hurts them. This relates to Part F since it discusses the armed groups' control over the minerals in the Congo.

This article discusses new legislation in the DRC saying that mining firms need to track their supply chain. It discusses the flaws in this law because not only does it hurt small mining firms, but also creates a source of funding for rebel groups. This relates to the activity because it discusses the presence of rebel groups around mining area since the start of the civil war.

U.S. airstrikes in Somalia in the week of September 3rd were targeted at the group that claimed responsibility for many bombings in Somalia like the Kenya Westgate mall. These missiles hit their intended target, Ahmen Godane, the leader of the Islamist group al-Shabaab.

This article is about the trial of an army officer who lead attacks on many villages in the DRC. He is accused of leading mass murder, rape, kidnapping and sexual violence. This relates to the activity because it shows rape being used as a weapon of war.

Joseph Kabila has named to a top army post a general accused by U.N. experts of selling weapons to rebel groups responsible for massacring civilians in East DRC. This also refers to the first article from Part F, where the government was violent towards innocent people. These actions from Kabila have been going on since a known period in 2012.

This article tells of celebrity Jude Law's experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The article describes displaced families, lack of resources, lack of funds, and hostile environments. All of the things that Law witnessed are due to the war that is currently taking place in the DRC, which relates to our studies because we studied how the war has effected the DRC by listening to an NPR recording that detailed conditions much the same to Law's descriptions.

Up to 5 million people have died in DRC during two decades of violence which followed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Now people are fleeing from the DRC to get to safety. A large part of this is because the government is very corrupt. This is like the first article from Part F because the DRC was usually a violent place.

Dutch farmers are suing the government of Zimbabwe because they say that they were illegally evicted from their land. After Zimbabwe took control of this land they found a lot of diamonds and other minerals on the farm land. The Dutch farmers think that they should get the diamonds and money because the Zimbabwean government took away their land. This refers to the article from Part E because people were evicted from their homes unfairly.

This article discusses how Jean-Bertrand Ewanga was sentenced to one year in jail after offending Joseph Kabila, the President of the DRC. Kabila, whose father was Laurent Kabila, was elected president, but many people who oppose him belief that the poll was rigged. Ewnaga insulted the president and the government during a rally against amending the constitution to allow Kabila to stay in office past his two-term limit. This relates to Laurent Kabila, who ruled through dictatorship, since Joseph too seems to be corrupt, attempting to extend his presidency and throwing a man in jail for speaking against him.

This article describes the return of 500 Angolans from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Angolans arrived in the DRC as refugees of civil war in their home country, which was also described in the NPR recording that we listened to in our study of the DRC.