Search results for

Fernando Meirelles, director of the Brazilian film City of God, joins us to talk about his latest movie The Constant Gardener. Based on the John Le Carre novel, the movie tells a story of love, betrayal and big pharmaceutical companies set in East Africa.

Near the southern tip of Africa, penguins have taken over some of the most valuable real estate on the continent. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

A Catholic bishop in South Africa has become a leading opponent of the church's ban on the use of condoms. Bishop Kevin Dowling presides over Rustenburg, an impoverished mining town that has been ravaged by HIV/ AIDS. With so much suffering caused by the virus, Dowling considers the Vatican's ban morally unacceptable.

The latest action movie, Tears of the Sun, finds actor Bruce Willis portraying a veteran officer of a Navy SEAL unit in Africa who finds himself conflicted between following military orders and his own conscience. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan says the film is actually a humanitarian action flick.

U.S. Marines patrol Port-au-Prince, as rebels enter the Haitian capital. A day after resigning, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is in exile in Africa. A U.N. peacekeeping force is headed to the troubled nation. Some U.S. lawmakers fault the Bush administration for turning its back on the democratically elected Aristide. Hear NPR's Martin Kaste and NPR's Michele Kelemen.

We've heard this week about the G8 summit of world leaders, including many from Africa, and the setting: Sea Island, off the coast of Georgia. It's part of the Sea Islands -- plural -- and it's rich with what's known as black Gullah culture. Reporter Allison Keyes spoke with Emory Campbell of Gullah Heritage Consulting about Gullah history, traditions and language.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government launched Al Hurra, an Arabic-language news and information channel that broadcasts to the Middle East and North Africa. The channel has gained some fans, but still struggles to dispel the notion that it is a U.S. propaganda outlet. Hear NPR's Steve Inkseep.

N!xau, the Kalahari bushman who wooed audiences around the world with his starring role in the 1980s blockbuster The Gods Must Be Crazy, has died, police officials confirmed. In real life, he was a herdsman and farmer in southern Africa on the border between Botswana and Namibia. All Things Considered offers a remembrance.

Two of Africa's most respected singers, Salif Keita and Youssou N'Dour, have new albums and new sounds. Music critic Banning Eyre says they're both embracing a more subtle acoustic approach to Afro-pop. The CD by Youssou N'Dour is Nothing's in Vain from Nonesuch records, catalog #79654-2. The CD by Salif Keita is Moffou on the Universal label, catalog #LC 00699-8527.

The White House releases an intelligence assessment from October 2002. It concluded that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq would have developed nuclear weapons by the end of the decade. But a footnote from the State Department raises doubts, calling reports suggesting Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from Africa "highly dubious." Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.