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03:41 AM

Saturday, 04 Sep 2010

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Africa

Tool-making and meat-eating began 3.5 million years ago in Africa

Saturday, 04 September 2010 03:41

Map indicating where discovery was made. Photo: BBC Researchers have found evidence that hominins - early human ancestors - used stone tools to cleave meat from animal bones more than 3.2 million years ago. That pushes back the earliest known tool use and meat-eating in such hominins by more than 800,000 years. Bones found in Ethiopia show cuts from stone and indications that the bones were forcibly broken to remove marrow.

The research, in the journal Nature, challenges several notions about our ancestors' behavior. Previously the oldest-known use of stone tools came from the nearby Gona region of Ethiopia, dating back to about 2.5 million years ago. That suggests that it was our more direct ancestors, members of our own genus Homo, that were the first to use tools.

But the marked bones were found in the Dikika region, their age determined by dating nearby volcanic rock - to between 3.2 - 3.4 million years ago. A battery of tests showed their cuts, scrapes and scratches were made prior to fossilization. Detailed analysis showed there were bits of stone lodged in one of the cuts.

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Former child soldiers lack support

Saturday, 04 September 2010 03:41

250,000 children around the world are thought to be serving as soldiers, experts say. Credit: AFP Former child soldiers exposed to brutal episodes of war-related violence face a range of psychological and emotional problems that are often left untreated when they leave military service, experts have found.

An estimated 250,000 children around the world are forced to fight as soldiers in conflicts, where they are subjected to a range of traumas including physical and sexual abuse, torture and mass killings.

Two studies, which are to be published next month in the journal Child Development, explored how such children adjust to life in peacetime and found that many of them suffer serious emotional and behavioral problems that are rarely treated.

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Libya violates human rights despite new image - Amnesty

Saturday, 04 September 2010 03:41

Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi. Photo: benmurphyonline.com Human rights observance in Libya is failing to keep pace with the country's improved international image, with abuses rife and state security forces enjoying impunity for their actions, Amnesty International reports today.

Britain, the US and other countries are accused of turning a blind eye to "gross" domestic excesses committed by Muammar Gaddafi's regime, as they rush to co-operate over counter-terrorism and invest in the oil-rich North African country.

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Ghanaian arrested in Nigeria over arms and ammunition

Saturday, 04 September 2010 03:41

Nigerian Customs Service officials are reported to have arrested a Ghanaian with arms and ammunitions in Lagos.

According to Thisday, the suspect, a middle-aged man, was arrested with the assorted dangerous imports including a pistol, explosives, several rounds of live ammunitions and different firearm handling kits.

The suspect, Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako was nabbed at his residence, Road 27 D5B, Victoria Garden City, Lagos, following a tip off.

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Top ICC prosecutor in Kenya to probe election violence

Saturday, 04 September 2010 03:41

Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Photo: ktn.co.ke The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has arrived in Kenya to investigate the country's post-election violence.

More than 1,300 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced after a disputed election in 2008.

Luis Moreno Ocampo will meet victims of the upheavals and senior government officials during his five-day tour.

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