Feb 12, 2008 — Kenya, previously one of the most stable countries in Africa, degenerated into violence after Dec. 27 presidential elections that international observes say were rigged. More than 1,000 deaths have been reported since then. Last week, the Peace Corps announced it was pulling the last of its volunteers out of the country. Most had been brought home in January. A spokeswoman in Washington said none of its people had been targeted and that the organization hopes it can return very soon.

St. Lawrence University has sent students to its "Kenya semester" program for 34 years. The school has a home base in Nairobi, but students typically combine study time in the capitol with weeks of home-stays in a rural, agricultural community and two long field trips. Not this semester. Early in January, the college had thought its program could go ahead, but when the violence got worse instead of stopping, and the political and ethnic picture became more and more difficult, St. Lawrence cancelled.

Dan Schafer is a senior at SLU. He's an alumnus of the Kenya program, and was in the country as that decision was being made, scouting NGOs for a trip he planned to lead there next summer. He arrived Dec. 29, two days after the polls had closed. That evening, the election results would be announced. He told Martha Foley the protests and violence had already begun.  Go to full article

Feb 06, 2008 — Afghanistan is sliding, politically, militarily, and in human terms. Six years after the Taliban was driven from the capital city of Kabul the conventional word for the radical Islamists is now "resurgent." Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice flew to London yesterday to try to convince NATO to do more to help defeat the Taliban. The United States has about 27,000 troops in Afghanistan, around half of them in a NATO-led force. More than 1400 New York National Guard troops are due to go to Afghanistan in March for 10 months. Britain has about 7700 soldiers there, Canada 2500. Rice and Defense Secretary Robert gates have been pressing allies for more.

Meanwhile the news out of Afghanistan gets worse. According to a new UN report, the country now accounts for 0ver 90% of the world's opium. And opium and marijuana are major sources of income for the Taliban. Former All Before Five host Gregory Warner has made four trips to Afghanistan since last March as a reporter, and a mentor to radio journalists there. He's in Kabul now, probably his last trip given the deteriorating security conditions. His blog entries have given glimpses of taxi drivers and interpreters, lovers and clowns, as well as aid workers and tribal chiefs. He's found his accordion to be a real icebreaker. But over the year, he's been a witness to the country's deterioration, and the tone is grimmer these days. He spoke with Martha Foley yesterday.  Go to full article

Aug 24, 2007 — A chance encounter by two filmmakers in a refugee camp in Guinea, West Africa brings us our next story. Zach Niles and Banker White met the Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars in 2002. They documented the story of survivors of the deadly civil war in Sierra Leone who played music to pass the time in the refugee camp. The resulting film made the festival circuit. It snowballed into a POV documentary on PBS, an appearance on Oprah Winfrey, and a record contract for the band. The Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars' second U.S. tour makes a stop Sunday night in Burlington at the Higher Ground Concert Hall. David Sommerstein spoke with the group's founder.

**Tune in to the Beat Authority from 3-4:45 pm today for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the concert**  Go to full article

Jun 27, 2007 — Thirteen members of the Mzuzu Youth Choir from Malawi begin a month-long tour of the North Country this week. Their visit is sponsored by the Presbytery of Northern New...  Go to full article

Nov 30, 2006 — Leaders of the St. Regis Mohawks and eleven other tribes from Maine and Minnesota gathered in Akwesasne Tuesday night to give thanks to an unlikely source. CITGO, the U.S....  Go to full article

Jul 17, 2006 — World leaders are beginning to call for deployment of an international peace force in Lebanon. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said an international force could stop the...  Go to full article

May 20, 2005 — The World Council of Churches brought Christians from around the world to Athens last week for a conference on healing and reconciliation. The Rev. Clint McCoy was there from...  Go to full article