Environment

Africa: Power from the Rift

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East Africa’s Rift Valley may be a huge source of geothermal power, and could transform a continent where two billion people have no access to electricity. SciDev.Net of London reports that pilot drilling in Kenya showed that geothermal energy, which is generated from steam from underground water heated by the Earth’s interior, could be a viable and economic source of power for several African countries. Heading up the project is the African Rift Geothermal Development Facility, which said if the technology is implemented properly, various geothermal sites in the region could produce at least 4,000 megawatts of electricity. The Rift Valley spans several countries, including Kenya, Mozambique and Djibouti. If investment plans are successful, the project will expand to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.

Democracy & Civics

Kenya: Protesting Reporters Arrested

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Seven journalists were arrested in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi last week, where they had joined activists gathered to protest against a controversial new media bill. The Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation said the Kenya Communications Bill, which recently passed in parliament, gives the government the power to raid media centers, confiscate broadcast equipment and shut down all media during national emergencies. Police broke up the peaceful protest outside the Nyayo Stadium, where President Mwai Kibaki was scheduled to lead celebrations marking Kenya’s 45th year of independence. The media bill, described by Reporters Without Borders as “draconian,” also allows Kenya’s information minister to control what, when and how media broadcasts can occur. Nairobi’s police say the protesters had gathered without giving them adequate warning, and were arrested for wearing T-shirts with slogans critical of the government, according to Agence France-Presse.

Democracy & Civics

Fake Drug Den Targets Texas Police

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Narcotics police in Odessa, Texas, were the unlikely subjects of an online reality show called Kop Busters that aims to expose police corruption. The show crew set up a fake drug den in an empty house with indoor-gardening equipment typically used to cultivate marijuana, but instead growing a pair of Christmas tree saplings. The video on the program’s site shows a group of police entering the house, then discovering the decoy Christmas trees — along with a message taped to the wall, informing officers that they were being recorded and asserting that their search warrant was illegally obtained without probable cause. The origins of the project date back to 2005, when an Odessa woman named Yolanda Madden was arrested and found guilty of methamphetamine possession with intent to sell. During her court trial, however, a police informant testified that he was asked by the Odessa narcotics department to plant the drugs on her, but that he unknowingly planted the drugs on the wrong woman.

Public Health

Child Abuse Underreported, but Questions Linger

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Child abuse in high-income countries is widely underreported, according to a recent study — though some critics doubted the research as well as proposed solutions. The British medical journal The Lancet reports that an eight-year study found up to 16 percent of children suffer physical abuse, and roughly the same amount endure neglect or emotional abuse. The journal, collaborating with the Royal College of Pediatrics, found that only one-tenth of abuse cases are confirmed and addressed. Experts in an Australian ABC radio interview suggested that even one in ten was a conservative estimate — and social-service professionals acknowledged that overwhelmed, understaffed child protection agencies lack the resources to deal with so many cases. The staggering abuse statistics and a dearth of solutions left several news sources asking questions.

Featured

Tell Us All About It

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Your feedback makes a difference! Take the Newsdesk.org annual survey and help us improve our coverage of important but overlooked news in 2009. You’ll have real impacts on our work during a time of growth and change for this free public service. Photo: Lynne Featherstone

Featured

Endangered Species?

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A new report by Fitch Ratings finds that a deepening credit crunch may cause “several cities” to lose their local newspapers entirely by 2010. On the threatened list? Foreign-coverage mainstay McClatchy, and the ill-starred Tribune Company. Photo: Special

Democracy & Civics

No Joy in Malawi Radio Closure

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Malawi has closed an independent radio station said to be lauded for its contribution to free speech and civic information. The Nyasa Times reports that the Joy FM radio station is accused of violating a federal law that prohibits broadcast licenses from being issued to any entity “which is of a party-political nature.” Although the newspaper claims that Joy FM lacks any party affiliation, a report in Malawi’s Daily Times newspaper notes that the station’s holding company, Atupele Properties, is owned by former President Bakili Muluzi and his wife. Although the Nyasa Times hailed Joy FM for exposing government corruption, failed policy and rights abuses, comments on the newspaper’s Web site questioned that claim, said other stations had greater credibility, and that political conflict between the current and former presidents was the real issue. Malawi’s private media sector is considered by many to be a valuable government watchdog.

Democracy & Civics

An American University in Iraq

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Around 150 miles north of Baghdad, the year-old American University of Iraq-Sulaimani is beginning to transform Iraq’s educational landscape by introducing its students to Western-style learning. Jane Arraf, writing for the Christian Science Monitor, said the 256 students, most of them undergraduate, are encouraged to debate, think freely and question critically, instead of sitting quietly and being lectured to. Officials and investors of the private school hope the students will become the educated, politically astute leaders the country will need throughout its reconstruction. Many of the students have never used a computer or written essays, the Monitor said. The school’s curriculum currently highlights topics that will have immediate practical consequences for Iraq’s economy and political stability.

Democracy & Civics

NSA: Total Information in Texas?

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The National Security Agency is creating a new data center in southern Texas that critics say will track the daily activities of all Americans, reports the San Antonio Current. The 470,000-square-foot data warehouse, formerly a Sony microchip facility and almost as large as the local football stadium, could help the government identify potential terrorist threats. Yet the lack of oversight of NSA activities has raised civil-rights questions — as has the proximity of a nearby Microsoft facility, which could provide access to the software company’s mass of stored email data. In particular, activists say that the NSA’s “watch list” of people who may be a threat to national security is not always accurate. The Current also cites an October report sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security that found data mining to be ineffective for identifying terrorists or potential attacks.

Democracy & Civics

Newspaper D-Day in 2010?

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Urban newspapers, which are facing a startlingly bleak selling environment, are in such decline that some cities may lose their local newspapers completely within a couple of years. Editor and Publisher magazine reports that low advertising revenue is a major factor driving huge debt among many newspapers. That may force some to default on payments and fold within the next year or two. Two major newspaper companies — the McClatchy Company and Tribune Company — already have dismal credit ratings. In a recent media outlook report, credit ratings firm Fitch Ratings said, “Fitch believes more newspapers and newspaper groups will default, be shut down and be liquidated in 2009 and several cities could go without a daily print newspaper by 2010.”