Robyn Mitchell

China hails Africa as ‘golden ground’ – Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi hailed Africa as a “golden ground” for foreign investment, and vowed to work with Chinese firms to ensure they comply with local labor laws, including minimum wage, a problem that has been raised in Namibia. China has aggressively moved into African markets, tapping into natural resources to fuel its own economy but also taking a major role in building roads, bridges and other infrastructure across the continent. (AFP)

E. Africa ministers want to expand troops in Somalia – East African defense ministers want the UN to endorse a plan that boosts the size of an African Union force trying to stabilize Somalia by including Kenyan troops, an AU official said. The ministers met in the Ethiopian capital to try to forge a strategy to defeat the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, which has been driven out of the capital Mogadishu and is now facing a new front after Ethiopia joined Kenya last week in unilaterally deploying troops. (Aaron Maasho, Reuters)

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Search for AIDS Vaccine Advances – The quest for a vaccine against AIDS is gaining momentum, with research published Wednesday identifying promising new candidates that protected monkeys against a powerful strain of the virus and that soon could be tested in humans. The study, published in the online edition of the journal Nature, also shed light on how the first human vaccine to have conferred limited protection against the AIDS virus may have worked. (Betsy McKay, WSJ)

“Alarming malnutrition” in Sudan conflict zones: UN – The UN has received alarming reports of malnutrition in two Sudanese border states where the army is fighting insurgents, a senior UN official said. Fighting broke out in June between the Sudanese army and rebels in South Kordofan, spreading to states bordering newly independent South Sudan. The violence has already forced about 417,000 people to flee their homes, more than 80,000 of them to South Sudan, the UN estimates. (Ulf Laessing, Reuters)

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Senegal Music Star Seeks Presidency – One of Africa’s most celebrated musicians, Senegalese singer, Youssou N’dour, announced he will seek his country’s presidency in next month’s elections, as the West African nation’s incumbent runs for a third term. Calling his candidacy a “supreme patriotic duty,” N’dour said he has heard those calling for his candidacy for “a very long time” and has finally decided to join the race. (Drew Hinshaw, WSJ)

Food prices may ease in 2012 but won’t drop: FAO – Prices of some foods may “ease slightly in 2012 due to a slowing global economy but are unlikely to drop drastically from the high levels reached last year,” said Jose Graziano da Silva, the new head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. According to Graziano da Silva, “Prices will not be going up as in the last two to three years but will also not drop down. There may be some reductions but not so drastic, in the short term.” (Catherine Hornby, Reuters)

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