The Financial Times website has a great series (both video and print reports) on economic migrants return to their country of origin because of uncertainty wrought by the global economic crisis. These include white South Africans (yes, they are the specific focus of one of the reports) and Nigerian entrepreneurs, among others.

The US government is quick to supply the shaky Somalia regime with millions of dollars of weaponry. Though critics pointed out the weapons would eventually end up in the hands of the government’s Islamist opponents, the Shabab, the US hardly cared. Now the US does not want to give food aid to Somalis. The reason: the food might get into the hands of the Shabab. [Link]

I’ve seen the video footage (from a still unreleased film) of the Jackson 5’s 1974 visit and concert in Dakar, Senegal, over the summer. The film was shown at a venue in Harlem. [Link]

The latest Bulletin of the US-based Association of Concerned Africa Scholars or ACAS (I’m one of the outgoing chairs and run its publications there) has a great set of articles on gender based violence on the continent. [Link]

Great mix of new Nigerian “urban” music [Link]

WorldFocus, the PBS news program, investigated the class politics of dancehall in Jamaica, and especially the dance called “daggering.” [Link]

Excellent four part program by Al Jazeera reporter, Rageh Omar, on increased US involvement in Africa, in especially three countries, Rwanda, Djibouti and Uganda. [Link]

New biography of Chris Hani, who until his death in 1993 was the most popular leader in South Africa ANC; the book – about which I have not seen and can’t judge its quality – is by two Johannesburg-based journalists [Link]

Which country is the most routinely mis-covered in US media? No it is not Nigeria or South Africa. [Link].

For a while now both South Africa’s public broadcaster, the SABC, and its only free to air rival, ETV, have declined to flight a new satirical puppet news show created by the country’s leading cartoonist Zapiro, for fear of antagonizing the ruling party. So the producers put the first three episodes of the show “on the Internet.” [Link]

Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League leader and populist politician and who has the ear of South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma, is the subject of a lengthy profile in today’s issue of South Africa’s “Mail & Guardian” newspaper. Separately he is also the focus of a new book by journalists Max du Preez and Mandy Rossouw. Malema is quite odious, but Du Preez, in the PR campaign to promote the book, does not help the book’s case by comparing Malema to the Apartheid dictator, PW Botha, or conjuring up fantasies where Malema comes off as some kind of Mugabe who will take over South Africa.

Finally, South Africa already has one openly gay Constitutional Judge (that’s the equivalent of the United States Supreme Court). He is Edwin Cameron, who also happens to be HIV positive. Now, South Africa may get its second gay judge, an openly lesbian High Court Judge. She is the target of local right-wing elements, including black conservatives – copying US rightwing and homophobic discourse – criticizing her supposed “unconventional lifestyle.” They claim it disqualifies her from serving on the court. It’s all nonsense.