Africa

March 30, 2018: The Texas Civil Rights Project estimates that in total, about 3,000 U.S. military veterans have been deported from the country, though the Department of Homeland Security does not officially keep track. Hector Barajas, once such veteran, operates a safehouse in Tijuana, Mexico, nicknamed “The Bunker.” The storefront functions as a makeshift asylum for veterans deported to Mexico. Barajas served in the military for six years when he was expelled from the U.S. after serving two years in prison due to a weapons charge. The Takeaway brings you to Barajas, who speaks about the way undocumented veterans are treated by the federal government. Plus, the state of the #MeToo movement in Africa; an ‘overlooked’ woman some call Korea’s Joan of Arc; and the selection of a white woman to curate African art at the Brooklyn Museum.

August 08, 2017: Frank Thompson is the former superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, where he oversaw and conducted executions. Now, he works as an advocate against the death penalty. He shares his story today. Plus, The Takeaway examines the turmoil in Venezuela, why some say the Trump Administration is playing politics with nursing homes, elections in Kenya and Detroit, and strategies for cutting the U.S. prison population in half. 

South Africans’ hopes and expectations that their country might become a democratic and economic leader in Africa, helped by a strong relationship with China and membership in the BRICS group — a collection of big countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) expected to emerge as economic leaders in this century — haven’t turned out quite as planned. South Africa dipped into recession this year, has unemployment near 30 percent, and a deeply unpopular and, many South Africans say, ineffective president, Jacob Zuma. What happened, what now, and what do South Africans make of the similarities they see between their president, and President Donald Trump? Host Mary Kay Magistad reports from South Africa.

An unsung weapon against terrorism that has proven successful in Africa is the power of the airwaves — shortwave radio reaching people with reliable information, and programming that helps educate them, connect them and imagine a different kind of future. The ubiquity of cellphones allows people in conflict regions to call in, challenge abuses of power and have a voice. That’s worked in the Congo, with Radio Okapi. It’s working now in areas where Boko Haram has been active in West Africa, and the new Dandal Kura radio network is now broadcasting. Host Mary Kay Magistad talks with her old editor and friend David Smith, who helped set up both.

May 17, 2017:

1. Comey’s Bombshell Memo Triggers Growing ‘Firestorm’ (13 min)

2. Israelis Keep a Close Eye on Trump’s Classified Intel Leak (7 min)

3. Love Letters to Africa (7 min)

4. Cholera Outbreak Hits Yemen (3 min)

5. Voices from Inside Immigration Detention 11 min

May 12. 2016: 

1. In Africa, a Celebration of Growth and Entrepreneurship (11 min)

2. Brazilian Senate Moves to Impeach President Dilma Rousseff (4 min)

3. Hillary Clinton Promises to Share Government Info on U.F.O.s (4 min)

4. Gaming App Helps Researchers Fight Dementia (7 min)

5. Inside a Massive Database of Dreams (7 min)

Click on the audio player above to hear this segment.

Ethiopia is in the midst of an epic drought—the worst in decades, thanks in part to the El Niño phenomenon. The Ethiopian government and the United Nations have appealed to the global community for $1.4 billion to feed the more than 10 million people who will need assistance in the coming year, but international donors have been slow to come up with all the funds that are needed to address the crisis. 

U.S. officials have been warning about potential food insecurity in parts of the Horn of Africa for almost a year. Alerts come in through the Famine Early Warning Systems Network or FEWSNET, which was created by the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1985 and covers some 35 countries in Africa, Central Asia, Central America, and Haiti.

The Takeaway talks with Chris Hillbruner, a senior advisor at FEWSNET, and Dina Esposito, director of the USAID Office of Food for Peace, about how the United States and other countries can respond to food insecurity predictions and avoid the devastating famines experienced in countries such as Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s.

(Credit: U.S. Agency for International Development)

Camel herders work together to haul up water and pour into a trough, taking it in turn to water their respective herds. Through the rehabilitation of well sites, USAID and its partners have improved access to water for pastoralists. So far USAID’s Pastoralists’ Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion (PRIME) activity implemented through Mercy Corps has also rehabilitated 16 ponds. 
(Kelley Lynch/USAID Ethiopia/flickr)

August 3, 2015 WFP collects and distributes food items for the Somali Region in Ethiopia in warehouses in Jijiga. Workers offload sorghum bags (50 KG each) from a truck into the warehouse.
(WFP/Petterik Wiggers/flickr)

Women fill their jerry cans at a water point rehabilitated by USAID. For most rural areas of Ethiopia, water points are the main source of water for households.
(Kelley Lynch/USAID Ethiopia/flickr)

December 03, 2015: 1. Locked and Loaded: Citizens Terrorize San Bernardino | 2. ISIS Draws Strength From Oil, Arms Trade | 3. Troops Free 900 Hostages in Victory Against Boko Haram | 4. China Cozies Up to Africa | 5. How Gene Editing Will Shape Our Future