Author: Mail & Guardian

Child marriage in South Sudan

A Human Rights Watch report has called on South Sudan to increase efforts to protect girls from widespread child marriage in the country. The practice “exacerbates pronounced gender gaps in school enrollment, contributes to soaring maternal mortality rates, and violates the right of girls to be free from violence, and to marry only when they are able and willing to give their free consent.”  According to government statistics, close to 48% of South Sudanese girls between 15 and 19 are married, some as young as age 12.

Tunisian youth and conservatives clash over the Harlem Shake

The internet’s latest viral video craze, the Harlem Shake, is just 30 seconds of gyrating fun – but in Tunisia, it has sparked outrage. Conservative Muslims have condemned students who’ve made their own copycat videos, and the education ministry is investigating the principal of a high school where one of many “indecent” videos was filmed.  Animosity between religious conservatives and secularists is growing – in the coastal city of Mahdia, one student received 12 stitches after being beaten for doing the Harlem Shake. Similar violent clashes have been reported in the city of Sfax and the town of Sousse.

Google honours Miriam Makeba

The life of Grammy Award-winning South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba was celebrated on Google’s search engine home page today. Born on March 4 1932, she would’ve turned 81. Makeba is regarded as the first artist to put African music on the world map. Her hit songs include the signature track Pata Pata, Aluta Continua, and Qongqothwane (the Click Song). Makeba was an anti-apartheid campaigner – she testified against the South African government at the United Nations in 1963 and had her citizenship revoked. In 1990 she returned home from the US and her career continued to grow. The singer, who was fondly nicknamed Mama Africa, died of a heart attack in November 2008 after performing at a concert in Italy.

African hair styling in China

Congolese couple Martha Makuena and Paul Levy moved to China over a decade ago to work. In 2012 they opened the first African hair salon in Beijing. It’s located in the Central Business District and thriving from the support of other immigrants and locals. The couple has plans to open up branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou in the next few years.