Reuters AlertNet - Voodoo priests at risk as bird flu hits Africa: "Officials in the tiny West African country which is the home of the ancient religion say spreading the word about bird flu may help save the lives of Voodoo devotees.
'We have identified the groups at risk, including fetishists and followers of the Voodoo cult who sometimes kill animals with their teeth,' Guillaume Hounsou-ve, director of livestock at Benin's Agriculture Ministry, told Reuters in an interview."

MiamiHerald.com | 02/12/2006 | A global event for everybody . . . in some parts: "THE LUGE: Competitors wearing Spider-Man costumes lie on their backs on tiny sleds and go down the bobsled run. The ones who survive (about 8 percent) are tested for drugs. If they don't contain any, they are declared legally insane."

ODI WebLog : Have I Got Old News for you? The 'leaked' DEC evaluation of the tsunami response: "The recent special report on the 'leaked' DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee: http://www.dec.org.uk/) evaluation report that appeared on the BBC television's Newsnight (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/default.stm), was not good news for public confidence in humanitarian agencies. Anyone who saw the programme was probably left with three main impressions. First, agencies had been greedy and had accepted much more money than they could spend properly. Second, in spite of the extra cash the job had not been done well and thousands of needy people were still living in temporary shelters. And third, and perhaps of most concern, agencies were not open to admitting their mistakes." [Question: Should aid agencies publish their evaluations and then get kicked by the media?]

Currently reading: Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers

AgInfo News from IAALD: Web market place tested for rural agricultural information providers in Uganda: "A recent article in New Agriculturist On-line describes how a Market Place for Agricultural Information Services (MPAIS) is being used in Uganda to link farmers with providers of advice and information.

Access to MPAIS in the rural areas is by personal computers, and through Internet Cafes in rural towns for those without a PC. According to the project coordinator, 'We have learnt that this is a viable market for information services.' Further, there is a willingness by farmers to pay for information services."

New Scientist News - Doomsday vault to avert world famine: "WITHIN a large concrete room, hewn out of a mountain on a freezing-cold island just 1000 kilometres from the North Pole, could lie the future of humanity.
The room is a 'doomsday vault' designed to hold around 2 million seeds, representing all known varieties of the world's crops."

Trying a new map hit counting thingy...

Ethiopian shoe bomber suspects: Where in Ethiopia do people have these special shoes?: "The detectives were investigating the three, who also had shoes that had switches and dry cells... A team of detectives sent to Ethiopia to investigate the wired shoes, switches and dry cells returned at the weekend.

They established that a number of people from the suspects’ locality had similar shoes but insisted on interrogating the three." [Uh?]

The definition of Christianism: [Thanks, John]

The definition of "dish monkey"

African Bullets & Honey: "I do not know of any Africans who wake up in the morning saying: 'Today I am going to engage in 'poverty reduction'!' This phrase, beloved by the international community, has no place in the vocabulary of the African citizen engaged in the everyday struggle to survive.

It is wealth creation that links the African struggle of yesterday, today and tomorrow. "

Vacancy: Sub-editor, Nairobi: "Under the direct supervision of the Editor-In-Chief, the Sub-editor will be responsible for editing copy generated by IRIN?s Nairobi newsroom, maintaining quality control and ensuring compliance with house style and standards of accuracy and balance, with special attention to maintaining the relevance of IRIN coverage."

Job: Photo Editor, Nairobi: "Based in Nairobi and under the direct supervision of the IRIN Coordinator, the Photo-Editor will be responsible for overseeing the usage, quality and acquisition of photographic images by IRIN, the management of public and internal image libraries, the development and management of a network of freelance photographers, and the enhancement of photographic skills and capabilities of staff."

ReliefWeb ? Professional Resources ? Vacancies: "VACANCY
Regional Media and Communications Officer -
Horn East and Central Africa
(Based in Nairobi)"

World Press Photo: "We are now accepting entries from professional photographers to the 2006 World Press Photo Contest. The deadline for entries is 12th January 2006. "