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GUARDIAN Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:01:00 GMT
The Occupy fire has died down over the winter, but over the weekend, protesters on both east and west coast returned with a bang – and found themselves in skirmishes with the policeOakland
Saturday's Occupy Oakland, planned as a day of building, became a day of battling, when police responded with force to protesters' attempts to take over a vacant city-owned building, an act organisers admitted was "completely illegal."
"Move-In Day" had been billed as a celebration of the occupation and conversion of a vacant building into a political and community centre. On Saturday afternoon, occupiers thought they would be settling in, not shielding themselves.
But a series of tense and tenser skirmishes around the streets of Oakland concluded in a crackdown that left more than 400 people in jail, including reporters with police-issued press passes.
The day began with a long and confused march around police blockades. Occupiers arrived at their building shortly after 2pm: the sprawling...
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GUARDIAN Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:30:01 GMT
Today is Martin Luther King Day. But with more African-American men facing jail than were enslaved in 1870, there is little to celebrate
According to Jeffrey Gamble, the luckiest day of his life was when his car hit the kerb at the corner of Jefferson and National in Los Angeles while he was drunk-driving. It flew over a fence, falling 80ft into a creek below, leaving him with a broken neck and paralysed. "If I hadn't had that accident, I would be dead – or in jail for the rest of my life, just like my brothers," says Gamble, 47. Prison, for the Gambles, is as common a destination as university might be for a middle-class family. His two brothers are both in jail. Ricky, who was convicted for burglary and assault with a firearm under the three strikes law, is in for 110 years to life. Mike got life without parole for the murder of a local councillor. His father was in jail for a series of alcohol-related offences. His son, Khalif, has also been in jail for dealing drugs and........
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GUARDIAN Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:03:03 GMT
Ghana still faces huge challenges and British support will help it meet them, but its growth and progress deserve our praise
It's all too easy to think of Africa as a single place defined by famine, war and instability. The truth is very different, with a diverse array of countries, each with its own story to tell. While our TV screens have been dominated by the drought in Somalia and uncertainty in South Sudan, Ghana has been undergoing a boom.
Twenty years ago, it was in a very different place: heavily indebted, more than half the population living in poverty and only just beginning the process of returning to democracy. Since then, its political stability has laid the foundations for record growth, bringing jobs to the country and its people.
Ghana shows that well-targeted, long-term development, matched by political and economic stability, does work. British support has played a vital role in this, ensuring that Ghana is on target to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Aid must...
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GUARDIAN Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:05:24 GMT
The Obamas' biographer on the introverted president, the strength of Michelle and the stains the Bush family left on the White House carpets
One of the things we learn from your book, The Obamas: A Mission, A Marriage, is not only how the first couple make their marriage work but that Michelle Obama owns a pair of $515 designer trainers…
I know! It's kind of astonishing.
The lifeblood of any piece of reportage is in this kind of telling detail; how difficult was it for you to get that kind of access to the White House?
Well, I spent a lot of time in the White House in the public areas where reporters are allowed to go, but I spoke to people about the private quarters as well. Some of the things I learned were small, novelistic details. For example, the fact that there were still pet stains on the carpets from the Bush cats when the Obamas moved in. I feel the White House is almost a character in this book. What does it mean to live in this place? It's a home, but it's also an..
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GUARDIAN Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:06:40 GMT
Ghana is one of Africa's great successes – a stable and thriving country that is testament to the impact of aid. As pressure on these budgets grows, Observer editor John Mulholland travels to the country to assess its progress
Early last Sunday morning on a plane ride from the Ghanaian capital, Accra, to the northern town of Tamale, Jeffrey Sachs – director of the Earth Institute research group, economist at Columbia University and international development expert – is explaining what happens when you move from the south of the country towards the north.
"If you look at Ghana and all of west Africa, it's wet in the south, and as you go further north you get into desert. All of west Africa is graded by climate. It's cocoa plantations and tree crops and palm oil up the coast, but as you move north you move into the savannah, and as you go further you get to the desert.
"In general, the farther you go north, the drier you go, and in general as you move from south to north you also..
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| Full List of Western Africa articles |
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I. Coast, Ghana on course with Gabon a threat
S. Africa's ANC rejects youth leader's appeal
Dirty little secret: the loo that saves lives in Liberia
UN expert warns on looming food crisis in Africa
Gambia's Jammeh dissolves cabinet
S. Africa court throws out Dalai Lama visa challenge
From the archive, 3 February 1990: Anti-apartheid activists divided on President De Klerk concessions
Mali beat Botswana to seal quarter-final place
Ghana top group after Guinea draw
African football mourns Egypt dead
Tamil Refugees Trapped in West African Nation of Togo
Sierra Leone launches online mining database to increase transparency
Acta goes too far, says MEP
Black History Month: Great Ways to Celebrate African-American Culture This February
Ivory Coast's top court annuls 11 election results
Ghana's Gyan warns of more Africa Cup shocks
S. African supremacist's widow rejects sodomy claims
Liberia arrests 70 'mercenaries' seeking upset in I.Coast
AU extends mandate of top executive official
Drogba mother dishes up for fans
Ivory Coast reserves too strong for Angola
African Union Vote Ends With No New Leader
Benin President Yayi new African Union Chairman
Africa leaders must respect gay rights: UN's Ban
UN chief: Africa leaders should respect gay rights
Ivory Coast, Angola in top-of-table showdown
