Africa

Sudan Leader's Visa Request Puts U.S. In Diplomatic Bind

6:10am September 20, 2013

The president of Sudan wants to travel to New York next week to attend the United Nations General Assembly. But the U.S. doesn't want to grant that visa because he is accused of genocide. Renee Montagne talks to Colum Lynch, a reporter for The Washington Post and Foreign Policy magazine, about why this diplomatic issue.

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South Sudanese pan for gold in Nanakanak, in the eastern part of the impoverished country. Tens of thousands of informal miners are looking for gold, and the government is trying to attract international mining companies to carry out the search on an indu

World News

Panning For Gold In South Sudan, A Gram At A Time

7:08pm September 15, 2013

by Hannah McNeish

In the desperately poor country, some 60,000 informal miners are working by hand to unearth an estimated $660 million worth of gold each year. The government is hoping to lure international mining companies to carry out the search on an industrial scale.

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The protesters who opposed Hosni Mubarak two years ago, like these demonstrators in Cario's Tahrir Square on Feb. 8, 2011, have been pushed to the sidelines in the current confrontation.

World News

In Egypt's Political Turmoil, Middle Ground Is The Loneliest

7:01pm August 30, 2013

by Leila Fadel

The young, secular revolutionaries who led the 2011 uprising against the Hosni Mubarak regime have been pushed to the margins of the current confrontation in Egypt. They also feel they are battling two sets of authoritarian forces — the military and the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Why Syria Is More Complicated Than Libya

7:23pm August 29, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

To start with, unlike Moammar Gadhafi's regime when the U.S. intervened in Libya in 2011, the Syrian government still has international allies. As the U.S. considers a strike on Syria, here's a look at some of the key differences between the two situations.

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A prostitute in Johannesburg waits for a client on a street corner. An estimated two-thirds of sex workers in South Africa are HIV positive.

In South Africa, A Clinic Focuses On Prostitutes To Fight HIV

9:25pm August 28, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

Treating sex workers infected with HIV can save their lives and reduce the odds that they will spread HIV to clients. To make it easier for prostitutes to get care, a university-run clinic in Johannesburg is located in a neighborhood where they work.

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A nurse takes a blood sample from Nkosi Minenhle, 15, in a mobile clinic set up to test students for HIV at Madwaleni High School in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

After Missteps In HIV Care, South Africa Finds Its Way

4:39pm August 28, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

The nation with the worst HIV epidemic on the planet is finally turning the corner on the disease. South Africa is simplifying AIDS care and giving antiviral drugs to nearly 2 million people every day.

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Jan Scannell, former accountant, has taken on a new identity as "Jan Braai," a South African TV show host and media personality promoting the idea of National Braai (barbecuing) Day, celebrated each year on Sept. 24.

'Braai Day' Aims To Bring S. Africans Together Over Barbecue

5:30pm August 27, 2013

by Gregory Warner

Jan Scannell is a 32-year-old former accountant with a dream: to establish a national holiday in South Africa like July 4 called Braai Day. Braai is a South African barbecue of meat or vegetables over wood embers.

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Woman In Kenya To Marry 2 Men

7:14am August 27, 2013

Polygamy is fairly common in Kenya but one forthcoming marriage is turning that custom on its head. A Kenyan woman not wanting to choose between the two men she loves, decided she will marry both of them. The men have agreed, and the trio even signed a contract to "set boundaries and keep the peace."

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Bernard Omondi got $1,000 from GiveDirectly.

The Charity That Just Gives Money To Poor People

1:41pm August 23, 2013

There are no strings attached. People can spend the money on whatever they want, and they never have to pay it back.

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World News

Gunfire Exchanged In Standoff At Cairo Mosque

7:35am August 18, 2013

A deadly standoff continues between Egyptian security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who are holed up inside a Cairo mosque. Host Scott Simon gets the latest from reporter Sharif Abdel Kouddous.

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