United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

28 September 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

Whose helicopter? Attack on Somali coast reported (Associated Press)

(Somalia) U.S. military officials and the European Union Naval Force denied on
Monday that one of their helicopters was involved in an exchange of fire reported by
residents of a coastal town in Somalia.

13 drown, 8 missing after skiff getting Navy aid capsizes (CNN)

(East Africa) Thirteen people drowned and eight are missing after a small skiff packed
with more than seven dozen people capsized while getting aid from a U.S. Navy vessel
in the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. military said Monday.

Wal-Mart sets sights on Africa in £2.9bn bid for Massmart (The Guardian)
(South Africa) The world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, wants to introduce its price-
slashing, cost-cutting style of business to sub-Saharan Africa through an R32bn (£2.9bn)
takeover proposal for Massmart, a Johannesburg-based chain of discount superstores.

Nations mull expansion of Somalia peacekeeping force (AFP)

(Somalia) Representatives of 45 nations and international bodies met in Madrid on
Monday to consider plans to strengthen an African Union peacekeeping force in war-
torn Somalia.

UN relief as Rwanda 'drops Darfur peacekeeper threat' (BBC)

(Sudan/Rwanda) Rwanda has some 3,500 peacekeepers in Sudan. UN chief Ban Ki-
moon has thanked Rwanda for dropping its threat to withdraw peacekeepers from
Darfur.

France Seeks Talks With al-Qaeda-Linked Kidnappers in Niger, Morin Says

(Bloomberg)
(Niger) France is ready to negotiate with the al-Qaeda-linked group that holds seven
hostages in the Sahara desert, Defense Minister Herve Morin said.
Nigerian legislators say ready to postpone elections (AFP)
(Nigeria) A key Nigerian lawmaker said Monday parliament was willing to amend the
constitution to postpone presidential elections scheduled for January over concerns
there was not enough time to prepare.

Liberia's only woman newspaper editor packs a 'Punch' (Christian Science Monitor)
(Liberia) Ora Garway is Liberia's only female newspaper editor – and a crusader in
reporting on major issues in this fragile nation.

A Pioneer Looks to Africa (Newsweek)

(Zimbabwe) Billionaire Richard Branson, an extreme-sports fanatic, is taking another
big risk—this time with his latest venture, Enterprise Zimbabwe. The nonprofit seeks to
encourage the return of investment to Zimbabwe, which is reeling from the disastrous
political strife and record hyperinflation of 2008.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
Coordinated effort needed against piracy, Tanzania urges at UN debate
Burundi calls on UN to continue supporting its economic development
Somalia deserves no less than support given to Iraq, Afghanistan – UN envoy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 6, Noon; Cato Institute

WHAT: Why Africa Is Poor and What Africans Can Do about It
WHO: Greg Mills, Director, Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa; Marian L. Tupy,
Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute; moderated by
Ian Vásquez, Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute
Info: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7401

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, October 7, 9:00 a.m.; Center for Strategic and International
Studies
WHAT: Next Steps on Sudan: Has the Comprehensive Peace Agreement Paved the
Way to Peace?
WHO: Lieutenant General Lazaro K. Sumbeiywo, former Kenyan Special Envoy and
Lead Mediator of the Sudanese Peace Process
Info: http://csis.org/events
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Whose helicopter? Attack on Somali coast reported (Associated Press)

MOGADISHU, Somalia — U.S. military officials and the European Union Naval Force
denied on Monday that one of their helicopters was involved in an exchange of fire
reported by residents of a coastal town in Somalia.

Residents of the coastal town of Merca, about 50 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of
Mogadishu, said a military helicopter flew over the town on Sunday and that militants
fired on it. Some residents said the helicopter fired back but caused no major damage.

But no one seems to know who the helicopter belongs to.

The U.S. military's Special Operations Command Africa and its conventional
counterpart, U.S. Africa Command, said they had no involvement, as did a spokesman
for the EU Naval Force, an anti-piracy unit that has military forces off the east coast of
Somalia. African Union troops also said they weren't behind the exchange.

"I can tell you we don't have any troops in that vicinity at all. We are surprised as you to
be honest," said Maj. Bryan Purtell, the spokesman for the Germany-based Special
Operations Command Africa.

The EU NavFor spokesman, Lt. Col. Per Klingvall, said: "We're not operating on the
Somali coast. We're just operating out on the waters."

Merca resident Dahi Aden said that a military helicopter flew over the coastal town and
that militants from al-Shabab — the country's most powerful insurgent group — fired
on the aircraft. Aden said it did not respond.

However, a second resident, Abdullahi Qalirow, said the helicopter fired back.

"Once the insurgents fired at the helicopters, they immediately responded with machine
gun fire," said Qalirow, who said their were at least two helicopters, though others
reported only one. "After the incident, al-Shabab militants sealed off the entire area and
prevented civilians from moving around, creating a rumor that something hit there."

Somali Minister of Information Abdirahman Omar Osman declined to immediately

comment, and the spokesman for the 7,100 African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu
said the AU force was not responsible.

"You made me have the laugh of the year," said Maj. Barigye Bahoku. "There is no way
the African Union force can be involved in such a strike. We don't have helicopters —
any air capacity whatsoever."

Last September U.S. commandos on helicopters strafed a convoy carrying top al-Qaida
fugitive Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in rural southern Somalia, rappelled to the ground,
collected his body and another corpse and took off. Nabhan was wanted for the 2002 car
bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner.

Somalia hasn't had a fully functioning government in almost 20 years. Al-Shabab — a

militant group with ties to al-Qaida — has grown in power in recent years and now
controls much of the southern part of the country, where Merca is located.

Meanwhile, the EU Naval Force said Monday that pirates abandoned a hijacked
Ukrainian cargo ship late Sunday with 12 Ukrainian sailors onboard. The Panama-
flagged MV Lugela was reported on Saturday as having been hijacked 900 nautical
miles east of Somalia. The crew is reported to be safe.
--------------------
13 drown, 8 missing after skiff getting Navy aid capsizes (CNN)

Thirteen people drowned and eight are missing after a small skiff packed with more
than seven dozen people capsized while getting aid from a U.S. Navy vessel in the Gulf
of Aden, the U.S. military said Monday.

The skiff, packed with 75 Ethiopians and 10 Somalis, was spotted adrift in the gulf by a
South Korean warship, which asked the guided missile destroyer USS Winston S.
Churchill to provide assistance, according to a statement from the Combined Maritime
Forces, which conducts anti-piracy patrols off the east coast of Africa.

The 9,500-ton, 513-foot long Churchill sent an inflatable boat to the aid of the skiff. After
determining the skiff was without power, the inflatable towed it out of shipping lanes
toward the Somali coast, the statement said.

At about 8:30 am local time Monday, U.S. sailors attempted to distribute fresh supplies
to those aboard the skiff. As they did so, the Africans rushed to one side of the vessel,
capsizing it, and sending all 85 passengers into the ocean.

Crews from the Churchill and an Australian patrol aircraft were able to rescue 61 of the
skiff’s passengers. Thirteen drowned and eight were not found, the statement said.

The Navy was investigating the incident.

--------------------
Wal-Mart sets sights on Africa in £2.9bn bid for Massmart (The Guardian)

The world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, wants to introduce its price-slashing, cost-
cutting style of business to sub-Saharan Africa through an R32bn (£2.9bn) takeover
proposal for Massmart, a Johannesburg-based chain of discount superstores.
In potentially its biggest overseas venture since its purchase of Britain's Asda chain 11
years ago, Wal-Mart has begun buyout negotiations with the management of Massmart,
which runs 290 stores in 13 African countries under brand names such as Makro, Game
and Builders Warehouse.

A deal would be Wal-Mart's first step into Africa, taking the Arkansas-based
multinational into its fifth continent. Asda's chairman Andy Bond, who would oversee
the region for Wal-Mart, described South Africa as a "compelling" growth opportunity:
"South Africa possesses attractive market dynamics, favourable demographic trends
and a growing economy."

The vast majority of Massmart's outlets are in South Africa but the company has a
handful sprinkled across other African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania
and Zimbabwe. The business was founded in 1990 by Mark Lamberti, who remains
chairman of Massmart and has become one of South Africa's best-known entrepreneurs.

For Wal-Mart, the offer is the latest move in a strategy of steady international expansion
which took it into India and Chile last year. Much of Wal-Mart's overseas spread is
discreet from customers' point of view – the company keeps local brand names and
stocks a degree of local produce, but integrates "back end" functions such as purchasing,
stock-keeping and logistics to make economies of scale.

Although popular with thrifty shoppers, Wal-Mart has a reputation for being anti-
union and for a ruthless approach in keeping down wages. Michael Bride, deputy
organising director for global strategies at America's UFCW union, warned that
Massmart's employees could be in for a taste of this approach: "The company may very
well adopt a policy of racing to the bottom in terms of wages and salaries and then
denying workers a voice."

He said this could have a knock-on effect on other South African retailers: "In the US,
Wal-Mart's aggressive policies on salaries and benefits have led others in the industry to
lower standards."

Wal-Mart is tightly controlled by the low-profile Walton family, who hold a stake of
about 40%. Four of America's richest ten individuals are members of the family,
according to Forbes magazine, including the company's chairman, Rob Walton.

Its tentative offer price of R148 per share sent Massmart's shares up 10% on the
Johannesburg stockmarket, where experts said the price was a steep one. Syd Vianello,
a retail analyst at Nedcor Securities, told Bloomberg News: "It's a rich price they're
paying. Wal-mart obviously believes they can do a hell of a lot more with Massmart."
Massmart has a variety of formats selling groceries, electronics, building materials and
household goods to consumers. It also has a wholesale division operating cash-and-
carry style warehouses.

The company's board said it had entered into an exclusivity period to talk to Wal-Mart
but it has yet to offer any recommendation to investors on whether to accept the US
firm's proposal.

The founder of Massmart has championed entrepreneurialism in South Africa. He once

told the Financial Mail newspaper that apartheid had dulled the country's business
creativity: "For 50 years, this country lived through a period where people's creativity
was stifled. The fundamental principles of apartheid did not create a sense of can-do."
--------------------
Nations mull expansion of Somalia peacekeeping force (AFP)

MADRID – Representatives of 45 nations and international bodies met in Madrid on

Monday to consider plans to strengthen an African Union peacekeeping force in war-
torn Somalia.

The AU force, known as AMISOM, comprises about 7,200 troops, and the meeting of
the UN-backed International Contact Group on Somalia, which is to conclude on
Tuesday, will "look into a possible reinforcement", Spain's foreign ministry said in a
statement.

Stepping up the fight against maritime piracy in waters off the coast of Somalia and
finding ways to boost support for the country's transitional government will be among
the other topics discussed, it added.

Delegates from 45 nations and international organisations, including the United States
and the European Union, are taking part in the meeting which was closed to the press.

Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the top United Nations envoy to the
country, Augustine Mahiga, are among the participants.

Ahmed warned in a speech before the UN General Assembly on Saturday that Somalia
is "a weak link" in the fight against international terrorism and urged nations to
continue to assist in training its forces and supporting the AU peacekeeping contingent.

"The terrorists and pirates are now closely collaborating to wreak havoc; to instill fear,
and to promote destabilisation and lawlessness on land and on the high seas," he said.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when warlords overthrew
longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other, plunging the
country into chaos and anarchy.

The transitional government, established in 2004, and the AU peacekeeping force, have
struggled to defend government buildings, the port and airport in the capital,
Mogadishu, against an offensive by Shebab Islamic extremists.

Shebab, which has links to Al Qaeda, now controls much of central and southern
Somalia and is increasingly seen as a regional threat.

Meanwhile, the waters around the Horn of Africa, especially off the Somali coast, have
become a hub for piracy, making the busy shipping routes to the Suez Canal among the
most dangerous in the world.

Backed by the United Nations, AMISOM is mandated by the African Union to support
Somalia?s transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan,
train the security forces, and assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of
humanitarian aid.

More than 30 African Union peacekeepers have been killed in the Somalia conflict since
the mission began in 2007.
--------------------
UN relief as Rwanda 'drops Darfur peacekeeper threat' (BBC)

Rwanda has some 3,500 peacekeepers in Sudan. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has thanked
Rwanda for dropping its threat to withdraw peacekeepers from Darfur.

Rwanda was furious after a leaked report accused its troops of committing genocide in
the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The threat to the UN force in Darfur prompted Mr Ban to make an emergency trip to
Rwanda earlier this month.

After the leak, the publication of the report into the DR Congo conflict was delayed
until Friday.

This was to allow Rwanda to add its comments.

Mr Ban met Rwanda's President Paul Kagame on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly in New York on Sunday.
"The secretary-general said he was very satisfied to learn that Rwanda would continue
its important role in peacekeeping, especially in Darfur," a UN spokesman said
afterwards.

The joint UN-African Union force in Sudan's Darfur region is led by Rwandan Lt Gen
Patrick Nyamyumba. Rwanda has some 3,300 soldiers and 86 police serving with the
force, known as Unamid.

It has also some 200 troops in a separate force in Southern Sudan.

When the report was first leaked, Rwanda dismissed it as "malicious" and "ridiculous"
and said it would review its co-operation with the UN.

The draft of the 600-page probe accuses Rwandan troops and their Congolese rebel
allies of killing tens of thousands of ethnic Hutus after invading DR Congo in 1996.

"The systematic and widespread attacks described in this report... reveal a number of
damning elements that, if they were proven before a competent court, could be
classified as crimes of genocide," it states.

The accusation of genocide against Rwanda's current government is extremely sensitive

as Mr Kagame came to power as the head of a rebel force fighting the regime which
carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and
moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

Some of those responsible fled into DR Congo, where Rwandan troops loyal to Mr
Kagame, a Tutsi, pursued them.

The UN report said many of those killed by the Rwandan troops were Hutu civilians,
rather than fighters.

Analysts say the draft report was leaked to prevent Rwanda lobbying for it to be
amended before publication.

Rwanda's 1996 invasion of DR Congo started years of conflict in that country which left
some four million people dead and involved the armies of at least eight African
countries and numerous rebel groups.
--------------------
France Seeks Talks With al-Qaeda-Linked Kidnappers in Niger, Morin Says
(Bloomberg)

France is ready to negotiate with the al-Qaeda-linked group that holds seven hostages
in the Sahara desert, Defense Minister Herve Morin said.
―We are waiting for the demands of al-Qaeda in order to discuss‖ the matter, Morin
said in an interview today with Canal-Plus television.

The hostages, five workers from Vinci SA’s Satom subsidiary and one Areva SA
employee and his wife, were kidnapped Sept. 16 in Arlit, near a uranium mine in
northern Niger, the companies have said. French officials say they think they’ve been
moved to somewhere in Mali. Five of the hostages are French, one is Togolese, and one
Madagascan.

Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, a terror group that operates in the southern Sahara desert,
has issued two statements claiming the kidnapping.

France has sent two reconnaissance aircraft to Niger to help locate the hostages.

―As in all hostage cases, negotiations are complex, they are difficult, they are
uncertain,‖ Morin said. ―I am not more optimistic than yesterday, but I’m not more
pessimistic either.‖

Agence France-Presse reported over the weekend that an unnamed Malian said he’d
seen the hostages, and that they are alive.

The group killed a 78-year old French hostage in July after French and Mauritanian
soldiers attacked an AQIM base in Mali. Morin said that in that case, AQIM never
entered into negotiations over his release.
--------------------
Nigerian legislators say ready to postpone elections (AFP)

ABUJA – A key Nigerian lawmaker said Monday parliament was willing to amend the
constitution to postpone presidential elections scheduled for January over concerns
there was not enough time to prepare.

It would mean a second round of changes to the constitution after lawmakers amended
it in July to move the presidential, legislative and state elections forward to January.

The electoral chief has since asked to push the election back to April as he and his staff
face the monumental task of putting together an entirely new voter list in the country of
150 million people, Africa's most populous nation.

Senate deputy president Ike Ekweremadu told journalists after a parliamentary

committee meeting with electoral chief Attahiru Jega and justice minister Mohammed
Adoke that the amendments were necessary.
"We are satisfied with the explanation given and we have asked (the electoral
commission) to go back and do a timeline on how they arrived at April and what they
think they will do at this timeline that will guarantee a free and fair election," said
Ekweremadu.

He said "that means there is going to be further amendment to the constitution, and the
electoral act will also be altered to accommodate some of these requests."

The electoral commission is expected to present its new election timetable to the
parliament on Wednesday.

The commission has said it would ensure that the May date for the handover of power
is not altered even if it won more time to prepare. A new president is to come into office
on May 29, 2011.

The commission is under pressure to produce credible elections in Nigeria, a country

with a long history of vote violence and fraud.

The 2007 polls that brought former president Umaru Yar'Adua to power were judged
deeply flawed by local and international observers.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who succeeded Yar'Adua after his death in May, has
announced he will run in next year's election and has pledged a free and fair vote.

The stated reason for having initially moved the vote forward to January was to allow
more time for electoral disputes to be resolved in court before the May swearing-in
date.
--------------------
Liberia's only woman newspaper editor packs a 'Punch' (Christian Science Monitor)

Mango Town, Liberia - Ora Garway quietly takes notes as two male journalists
interview teachers – nearly all of them men – about poor classroom resources and
irregular salaries at their village school.

Slight and soft-spoken, Ms. Garway finally interjects a few questions: Why do so few
girls attend school? Why aren't there more women teachers? What is being done to
boost attendance here in Liberia, the nation with Africa's lowest enrollment rate?

Garway is accustomed to a male-dominated world in a news business that, like the

country itself, is still struggling to recover from a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003.
She is Liberia's only female newspaper editor – and a crusader in reporting on major
issues in this fragile nation.
Women rarely cover the important stories, she says. "You will only find them assigned
to just rewriting press releases," says Garway, who launched the biweekly Punch in
June 2009.

Male editors "can't allow us to do what we are able or capable of doing," she says. "I
really don't know why it's like that."

Her struggle may seem ironic in a country headed by Africa's lone female president,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Women are still scarce in decisionmaking positions and
classrooms here.

According to recent government surveys, 56 percent of Liberian women have not

attended school. Only 18 percent of girls graduate from high school, compared with 25
percent of boys.

Garway spent six years as a reporter before starting her own paper, in part to address
what she sees as paltry media coverage of Liberia's daunting problems with health,
education, and poverty.

Friends had suggested several names for the masthead. She liked "Punch," she says,
because "a woman was coming out to do something that [only] men are doing. It would
be like a punch,... like a blow."

Punch was a gamble in a crowded market – 26 newspapers serve the 1.2 million
residents of Monrovia, the capital. High rates of illiteracy and poverty crimp newspaper
sales. A poor transportation system makes delivery outside Monrovia costly.

Garway says she sells 500 copies per issue, compared with about 3,000 copies for the
most widely read dailies, at less than US 10 cents per copy.

"I didn't think [Punch] would have lasted a year," says Marquita Smith, a former editor
at the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., who visited Liberia to help Punch improve its
financial and news operations.

The Punch editor is an inspiration to other Liberian journalists, says Ms. Smith, who
now teaches journalism at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Ark.

Garway "is very quiet and unassuming," Smith says in a phone interview. But "once you
get to know her and ... see her in action ... you're basically in awe. Ora is very
hardworking. She gets up early, she stays up late," Smith says. Garway will work from
a cafe or a friend's house. "Whatever she has to do to [get the paper] out."
Garway's newspaper has ruffled feathers. After Punch published reports of medical
supply and equipment shortages at Monrovia's main hospital, Liberian health officials
threatened to sue it for disclosing confidential records and for entering hospital wards
without permission to interview patients. The lawsuit was never filed.

Punch also reported on faults with new firefighting equipment, sparking an angry
response from the supplier.

"He came and said, 'You there, girl, you can't write this story about me. You want to
live?' he started saying," she says. The man then smiled. "He turned around and said,
'Congratulations. Every media institution that I visited here I only saw men…. I'm so
proud to come to meet a woman here, even though you ran a story against me.' "

Garway's staff of eight – all men – are accustomed to taunts about their boss.

David Patterson Jr. has worked for two Monrovia dailies. "Someone who is willing to
change society, someone who has determination, who is determined and willing to
work with you, I respect," he says of Garway. "So anyone who criticizes me about
working with a woman, I get more motivated so that the paper will get improved and
those who criticize will become changed."

The paper recently started an Internet edition in hopes of generating more revenue. But
in this country of 3.5 million people, only 20,000 have Internet access, the World Bank
estimates.

Garway credits her interest in journalism to her father's encouragement and to growing
up in a period of turmoil, a civil war that killed some 200,000 people and sent more than
750,000 Liberians fleeing to other countries. While Garway hopes to inspire young
women, she gets more feedback from men, she says.

Has Liberia's best-known woman, President Sirleaf, offered her words of

encouragement? "No, never," Garway says with a smile. "Never."
--------------------
A Pioneer Looks to Africa (Newsweek)

Billionaire Richard Branson, an extreme-sports fanatic, is taking another big risk—this

time with his latest venture, Enterprise Zimbabwe. The nonprofit seeks to encourage
the return of investment to Zimbabwe, which is reeling from the disastrous political
strife and record hyperinflation of 2008. He recently sat down with NEWSWEEK’s Jerry
Guo in New York to discuss Africa’s potential. Excerpts:

Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe recently called you a vulture disguised as an

angel. Why are you tackling Zimbabwe?
Zimbabweans are naturally entrepreneurs, and small amounts of money can help get
Zimbabwe kick-started again…It’s not perfect, but life is much, much better than
before. The world is waiting to see what happens.

How have conditions changed since the cholera, starvation, political intimidation, and
hyperinflation that we saw two years ago?

Since the coalition government formed, schools have opened, kids have schoolbooks,
hospitals have begun to open, nurses are beginning to get paid.

But unemployment is still a whopping 90 percent. Can Zimbabwe really be helped

without regime change?

People have allowed 99 percent of the population to suffer for the last decade. I don’t
think you can continue to allow it for another decade whilst the international
community waits for changes to the politics of Zimbabwe. Hopefully, there will be an
election in a year or two’s time. Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa with well-
educated people and a lot of infrastructure still in place from the past. Enterprise
Zimbabwe can help get it back on the road.

On a broader scale, is Africa a good corporate investment?

I think there’s a new breed of businessmen who think business should be a force for
good. Having said that, Africa grew by 3 percent last year; both Europe and America
would be happy with that. And we believe that there is money to be made in Africa,
even if one doesn’t make the same returns as in the West. Look at what has happened in
Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their [per capita] net worth was less than Africa’s 30
years ago. Now they’re helping the engine of the world. It’s in our interest to have
Africa be another engine. Get people out of poverty, for instance, and they don’t
produce as many children. The world needs less children.

Which countries have the most opportunities?

We have airlines flying to Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria. We have financial-
service companies, mobile-phone businesses, game reserves, health clubs, and we will
invest more. The animal life of Africa, there’s nothing like it on earth. Now is a
tremendous time to get in on the ground floor of Zimbabwe. Things do not cost a lot to
invest there now.

You’re saying money can be made in Zimbabwe?

Money can definitely be made out of Zimbabwe, and I suspect good money. The
Chinese are investing; they’re not doing it for philanthropic reasons. They believe they
can make money out of it.

On a global scale, what sectors hold the most promise to you as the world is coming out
of the economic crisis?

We’ve invested in quite a few different companies to try to get breakthroughs with
alternative fuels. We think isobutanol and algae-based fuels have tremendous potential
in the future of aviation and general fuel use. The moment any of the companies get the
final permission from the commercial aviation industry—like GE or Rolls-Royce—
you’re talking about a switch from dirty fuels to clean fuels, and the revolution in clean
energy will be completely upon us. I don’t think it’s more than two or three years away
for clean jet fuel. Some of these fuels we’re involved in producing have already been
tested by the military.

Will they be competitive with conventional fuel?

Hopefully, it won’t be more expensive. For it to really be a revolution, clean fuel needs
to be the same price as dirty fuel.

Speaking of new markets, virgin galactic is now selling tickets at $200,000 per seat for
space flights, and Boeing just announced they will be developing their own space
capsule. is this a new space race?

It’s getting very exciting. The spaceport is months away from being completed in New
Mexico. The mother ship is finished, the spaceship is finished, and test flights have
started. Test flights will continue for 18 months before we take people up. It’s right on
track, hopefully, for a whole new revolution with commercial companies led by Virgin
Galactic. Initial flights will be suborbital, or 80 miles into space, and then we will look at
orbital flights, hotels in space, intercontinental high-speed travel. I’m determined to see
all this happen in our lifetime.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Coordinated effort needed against piracy, Tanzania urges at UN debate

27 September – Tanzania’s Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda today told the General
Assembly that a coordinated response is required to tackle piracy off the coast of
Somalia, stressing the need for the international community to work more closely with
countries in the region to combat the menace.

Burundi calls on UN to continue supporting its economic development

27 September – Burundi, which with United Nations help returned to relative stability
after decades of conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people, has appealed to
the world body and the international community at large to continue their support on
the road to economic development.

Somalia deserves no less than support given to Iraq, Afghanistan – UN envoy

27 September – The United Nations envoy for Somalia today called on international
partners to help advance peace, stability and national reconciliation in the Horn of
Africa nation, noting that it will take a level of support not unlike that given to other
nations that were suffering from tremendous strife.