Africa
Shooting with Malian musketeers
I’ve just got back from a short filming assignment in Mali and still trying to remove fine red dust from all of my camera equipment. I’ve worked in West Africa several times but this was my first trip to Mali. I’m indebted to an old friend in Bamako in the form of the BBC’s Martin […]
Lindsey Hilsum on the passion and idealism of journalism
Download this episode View in iTunes By Nicole Green Live-streaming a phone call to Israeli authorities while standing on the rubble of Palestinian homes, or reporting on the victims of genocide in Rwanda, where women care for the families who murdered their own, are experiences few journalists can count in their reporting history. But that […]
War and Aid: does humanitarian intervention help or hinder?
Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi It is time for yet more soul searching for the international aid industry. Hot on the heels of Bob Geldof’s spat with the BBC over the exact whereabouts of cash raised for Ethiopia in the 80s, comes Linda Polman’s new book War Games: The Story of Aid and War in Modern Times. If you couldn’t be […]
Nigeria: Violence, unrest and uncertainty
Nigeria is coming to terms with a spate of violent attacks that have left hundreds dead and a political system mired in uncertainty following the return of ailing president Umaru Yar’Adua. We will attempt to unpick the complex wider political situation and make sense of this month’s events at a Frontline Club debate on April […]
From the Frontline to Kigali
Former foreign correspondent Thomas Crampton talks to Eric Weiner, another former foreign correspondent, about his thoughts on the 10 career options left for foreign correspondents. As media giants crumble and budgets for "the old way of doing things" no longer exist it’s a timely (and funny) 10 minute chat. I’m guessing option number 5 […]
I can’t talk about these things…
Dutch video journalist Ruud Elmendorp spent almost a week in Mogadishu, the embattled Capital of Somalia, at the end May. The insurgents led by the Al Shabab and Al Hizbul movements are trying to topple the internationally recognized government of president Sheik Sharif Ahmed. In this guest post for the Frontline Club, Ruud reports from […]
Africa Handshake, Part Nine: Skeptics
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
Africa Handshake, Part Seven: Small Craft, Big Responsibility
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
Africa Handshake, Part Six: The Floating Schoolhouse
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
On the run in Zimbabwe
Wilf Mbanga, a Frontline Club regular and editor of The Zimbabwean Weekly, writes about Press freedom in The Guardian on the eve of World Press Freedom Day. Wilf highlights the cases of Freelance photojournalist Anderson Shadreck Manyere who will be spending World Press Freedom Day on the run, Last week, Manyere was eventually released on […]
Africa Handshake, Part Five: Sao Who?
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
Africa Handshake, Part Four: Oh Buoy
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
Africa Handshake, Part Three: Save the Fish, to Fight Pirates
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
Book Preview: Fifth-Generation War in Africa
Daniel Abbott over at tdaxp is editing a new book on fifth-generation warfare, to be published by Nimble Books. I’m writing a chapter addressing Somalia, piracy (pictured), human security and 5GW in Africa. Here’s a brief sample: The “fourth generation” of war entailed irregular combatants fighting for an ideological cause, seeking to remake society […]
Live tonight – Colin Freeman and Mary Harper on Somalia
You can now watch the event here. Colin Freeman, who was kidnapped in Somalia in November 2008 and held for six weeks, is at the club tonight to discuss his experience and the future for the “failed state” in the Horn of Africa. He’s joined by Mary Harper, a BBC Africa correspondent and Mike […]
The BBC “failed” Kate Peyton
Kate Peyton was gunned down outside the Sahafi hotel in Mogadishu in November, 2005. An inquest into her death was held in November, 2008. Charles Peyton, the brother of Kate, has asked us to publish this from him. The views contained below do not represent those of the Frontline Club, The BBC failed my sister, […]
U.S. Army’s “Sim Refugee”
U.N. officials are scrambling to prepare for the prospect of tens of thousands of refugees pouring into eastern Chad from Darfur to escape escalating tensions in Sudan. An mass movement of displaced peoples will pose major challenges to the European Union peacekeeping force in Chad and Chadian government troops, considering that combatants in the Darfur […]
Reuters honours conflict photographers
Reuters has announced the winners of its own internal journalism awards for 2008. Notable among the winners were Goran Tomasevic’s image of a US soldier in action against the Taleban in Afghanistan, named as Photograph of the Year. Belgrade-born Tomasevic began working for Reuters during the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s the agency says. Ukrainian […]
Live tonight – Kenya one year on
You can now watch the event here. We’ll be discussing Kenya at the Frontline Club tonight one year after the violence that followed the elections. We start at 7 pm GMT/11am PST Tue 3 March and as usual, if you can’t make it to the club in person, you can join the discussion live on […]
U.S. Navy Uses “Smart Power” to Fight Pirates
In January, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advocated a new national security strategy entailing closer cooperation between the State Department, the military, government and civilian humanitarian agencies, and foreign allies. "Smart power," she called it. Just a month later, U.S. smart power is becoming a reality in one of the world’s most troubled regions. Off […]
Send Axe to Africa! Again!
In late March, I’ll be heading to Nigeria to embark aboard the USS Nashville amphibious ship during her “soft-power” deployment on the West African coast. Nashville‘s cruise is part of the U.S. Navy’s Africa Partnership Station, which in turn is one of three ongoing “Global Fleet Stations,” the other two targeting Latin America (pictured) and […]
Skewz: On the Trail of Somali Pirates with David Axe
From Skewz: We had yet another amazing conversation with David Axe … [T]he Bush Administration unwittingly assisted in the expansion of pirate activity several years ago. The Islamic Courts emerged in Somalia with some popular support to provide security and stability in the war-torn country. Their appeal was similar to the Taliban’s more than a […]
Finbarr O’ Reilly discusses Congo LIVE
Reuters snapper Finbarr O’ Reilly will be discussing his experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo and what first took him to Africa live online today, Wednesday, Jan. 14. Finbarr will use the excellent mobile phone video broadcast tool Qik to broadcast live at 17.00 GMT / 1200 ET. You can follow Finbarr on Twitter […]
On the road with Robert Adams
Robert Adams, one of the original Frontline TV cameramen and a founder member of the Frontline Club, is on the road. For six months Rob, his family and some friends will be on the road in Africa. From their home in Harare they’ll head to Cairo, Cape Town and back to Harare and all points […]
Safari Soundtrack of the Year
It’s been a funny year for me music wise. I’m still struggling to keep up with what’s going on back home. I’ve bought a couple of duff albums on the back on online reviews and I’m sorry to lose The Beat on the BBC’s World Service. Anyway, here are the top 10 most played tracks […]
The Pirate-Kenya Connection
Mombasa, southern Kenya’s sweltering port town is, in many ways, the center of gravity of the piracy war. While pirates themselves are based mostly in northern Somalia, hundreds of miles from here, the repercussions of piracy — and many of the higher-order command functions on both sides — play out in Mombasa. Many of the […]
The Pirate Panic Button
The ships that make the two-day run from Mombasa, Kenya, to Somalia carrying vital humanitarian supplies are frequent targets of pirate attacks — and have been for more than a decade. How have ship’s crew adapted? Same way the pirates have adapted over the years: with simple technology and no-nonsense tactics. On Wednesday, the small […]
Unemployed, by Pirates
Kennedy Mwale, 32, pictured, is a freelance tour guide in Mombasa’s old port, a claustrophobic melange of Arab and Portuguese architecture with one small stone pier. A week ago Monday, three small cargo ships were tied to the pier. Scores of shirtless stevedores lugged bags of cement and tossed them into the ships’ holds. The […]
Crilly’s Cool Ones
So my brief guide to African beers appeared in The Times this morning. Crilly’s cool ones… St George: Rich and fruity, packed with hoppy flavour; a fitting taste for a beer that is named after the patron saint of England — and Ethiopia 9/10 Castle: South African beer exported all over the continent. The closest […]
Your African Year
A few days ago I was compiling an 800wd review of 2008 in Africa for one of my papers. I asked for help in finding a good news story to include and was inundated by readers’ ideas for things I should include. I simply didn’t have room for more than one, so I thought we […]