The News Review:

- Senegal Australia’s Mining Deposits Ltd in zircon production deal
- Spanish TV Ads Fight African Clandestine Migration
- Rwanda ‘most improved’ in Africa
- French-speaking Rwanda turns to English
- Macon mayor divides his city
- Letter from Europe: In suburbs near Paris simmering frustration
- Africa: New Survey Picks Continent’s Best Worst-Governed Nations

Senegal Australia’s Mining Deposits Ltd in zircon production deal
Forbes – Sep 25, 2007
MDL said it will produce around 85000 tonnes per year of the mineral which it will mine in the Grande Cote area between Dakar and Saint-Louis. Mines and industry minister Madicke Niang said the zircon production from this deal will represent 7 pct of the global output from 2009. The project will cost an estimated 180 mln usd.

Spanish TV Ads Fight African Clandestine Migration
Voice of America – Sep 25, 2007
“You have people who will never listen because they are persuaded that everything which comes from outside basically from an organization like ours or the government from an NG is not true that they know their success will be [in] migrating. Former migrant Faye says the Spanish advertisements would work better if they had former migrants sharing personal horror stories at sea. After losing many friends Faye says he will stay in Senegal and look for work. He says it would be more helpful if Spain invested the more than $1 million spent on the advertisements to create jobs for young Africans. The Spanish government recently began employing hundreds of Senegalese workers on one-year work visas. Spain has signed agreements with Gambia and Guinea Bissau to open job training centers promising to eventually hire some of the centers' graduates.

Rwanda ‘most improved’ in Africa
BBC News – Sep 25, 2007
Botswana at Number 3 is a stable democracy that earns its money from diamonds and agriculture. Cape Verde (4) is a former Portuguese colony which survives economically from remittances by expatriate Cape Verdeans – there are said to be more Cape Verdeans in Boston Massachusetts than there are on the islands themselves. South Africa (5) Ghana (8) and Senegal (9) are all vibrant democracies that are proud to have politically well-informed populations. Worst-governed according to the list is Somalia a country which has not had a functioning government since the overthrow of the dictator Siad Barre in 1991. ther countries scoring badly include Democratic Republic of Congo (47) Chad (46) and Mo Ibrahim’s home state of Sudan (45). Remarkably Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea are better ranked than Nigeria. A spokesman for the Mo Ibrahim foundation said there was no automatic link between the "best governed country" index and the "best former president".

French-speaking Rwanda turns to English
Christian Science Monitor – Sep 25, 2007
“Not that much has changed since liberation; Africa is still a profitable region in terms of France’s commercial trade balance” says Achille Mbembe history professor from Cameroon who teaches at Witswatersrand University in Johannesburg South Africa. “Fifty percent of Africa’s uranium still goes to France’s nuclear plants. If you go to the markets in Senegal you’ll find no African sodas or juices only French ones. In Rwanda all of that is changing. The Franco-Rwandaise Cultural Society ? once the beating heart of all things French in Kigali ? has been closed along with the French international school the French embassy and many of the offices of French multinational companies. For language study Rwandans are turning to a growing industry of English-language academies and for the plum university posts they turn to English-language colleges like KIST. “fficially the policy of the Rwandan government is bilingualism both French and English” says Jean-Baptiste Rusine director of the KIST Language Center.

Macon mayor divides his city
USA Today – Sep 25, 2007
He blames the infighting on jealousy among council members and “not having a council who could understand my vision. ver the summer some rolled their eyes when Ellis invited Jane Fonda on a trip to Vietnam next year for the 40th anniversary of the Tet offensive. In December Ellis announced that he had converted from Christianity to Islam in a ceremony in Senegal the west African nation where he traced his ancestors and that he plans to change his name to Hakim Mansour Ellis. Local critics viewed it as another bid for attention. (The Arab news organization Al-Jazeera for one visited Macon after he converted). A Macon lawyer’s Web site devoted to satirizing local politics established a “Hit the Road Hakim–Meter” counting down Ellis’ last days in office and joked that he converted to get free trips to Muslim conventions. “To me it was a very personal matter as religion should be” the mayor said.

Letter from Europe: In suburbs near Paris simmering frustration
International Herald Tribune – Sep 25, 2007
” n France's troubled suburbs and the integration of minorities Sarkozy's initiative has been to appoint people of immigrant backgrounds to high-profile positions. Rachida Dati 41 daughter of North African immigrants is the minister of justice. Rama Yade 30 and born in Senegal is the secretary of state for human rights. Fadela Amara whose parents are Algerian is the secretary of state for urban affairs. Sarkozy has asked her to devise a plan for all issues related to low-income projects. Presentation of the results will include a conference led by the president at a date not yet determined said Julia Pronzato a spokeswoman for Amara. Sitting in his office just blocks from the Arc de Triomphe Chenva Tieu a 43-year-old entrepreneur who came to France from Cambodia in 1975 said the appointments would have an impact.

Africa: New Survey Picks Continent’s Best Worst-Governed Nations
AllAfrica.com – Sep 25, 2007
Nigeria is ranked at 37th place among the continent's 48 nations only two places ahead of Sierra Leone at 39th place. Kenya is at 15th place below Lesotho (11) Malawi (12) and Tanzania (14). Ghana ranks at 8 Senegal at 9 Rwanda at 18 Mozambique at 23 and Uganda in 25th place. Zimbabwe is at 31st place. When measured against the criteria chosen for the survey there are some surprises. Gabon has the best "safety and security" while Sudan has the worst and South Africa near the top of the list in other respects is the third most dangerous country in the continent safer only than Sudan and Burundi and a little less safe than Nigeria. Botswana is ranked top for the rule of law transparency and lack of corruption Mauritius for participation and human rights and the Seychelles for sustainable economic opportunity and human development.