'Africa' - tagged features

Will last weekend go down in the history books? The landmark summit between the European Union and Africa was supposed to bring the two continents closer together. Some 80 leaders gathered in Lisbon, Portugal to forge closer ties and find new ways to cooperate on areas like poverty, migration and climate change. But disagreements over human rights and trade, sidelined talks of new partnerships. So was it all watered down or will it go down as a watershed in Afro-European relations? Vanessa Mock was our reporter on the spot. 

Congolese victims can now take their Congolese torturers to court in France. This week the French Supreme Court overturned a stay on the case of the "disappeared of the Beach". In 1999, 350 refugees returning home to Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo, were taken away by public authorities and "disappeared". Families of the victims, along with two survivors, started proceedings in French courts against some of the Congolese officials involved. The French Supreme Court's decision to allow the investigation to continue, affirms the concept of Universal jurisdiction. This means that for crimes involving torture, individuals can file a case in a foreign country for crimes committed abroad. 

The Swedish temperance movement has been increasingly concerned, with Western liquor companies and their clever PR advertisements, aiming at new markets in developing countries -- the growing middle class and especially women. In Sweden a new campaign called "Freedom Spirits" aims at reaching both Swedes and consumers abroad, about the dangers of alcohol consumption. ragic observations in many developing countries have noted those armies of poverty-stricken men in the sprawling city slums and in the countryside - spending all of their meagre wages on the local alcoholic brew - instead of on food for the family, badly-needed medicine or school books. But a more recent spotlight has focused on those Western-influenced ad campaigns on highway billboards and in magazines in Africa, Asia and Latin America - designed to capture new consumers with luxury scenes of the rising middle class enjoying expensive, imported spirits -- ads often for the first time including women. As a counter measure, the Swedish temperance movement has been using sophisticated-looking leaflets, brochures and even exhibitions offering free drinks from glamorous bottles of a brand called "Freedom Spirits" - containing no alcohol at all. 

The French capital always draws hordes of tourists from all over the world, particularly around Christmas. And there are several reasons for that. First, buying Christmas presents in the capital of Haute Couture is the ultimate chic. Paris is also referred to as "the city of lights", and the Christmas decorations only enhance the capital's reputation - especially the Eiffel tower with its special Christmas coat. Nearby the new Quai Branly Museum for indigenous art is organising special events during the festive season. As RFI reports the museum has drawn upon its outstanding indigenous artwork collections to present "African Christmas". 

For years, the world seemed to ignore Somalia’s military and political battles. When the United States tried military intervention, it ended with a hasty retreat as clan warlords ordered dead American troops be dragged through the streets. Now there is renewed interest in trying to find a settlement and see the creation of a viable government. It’s fuelled by fears of a country without a real government becoming the perfect hiding place for terrorists and fanatics. Then there are worries over the conflict spreading beyond Somalia's borders - and the river of illegal arms flowing into the country, despite a UN weapons embargo. 

Well, having to sleep outside could also become a problem in Southern Europe. Every summer, hundreds of thousands of North Africans living all over Europe head back south to spend their month-long European vacations in their native countries. Many go by car, which creates an enormous logistical problem when they arrive on the Straits of Gibraltar.