“A lawyer’s guide to getting off rape charges” and other links…
This Janice Turner article comes to me by way of Jun Mendoza: “I ask the barrister whether, if she were raped herself in a case resting solely on consent, she would report it. No way, she replies. Go through that degrading process of being swabbed, interviewed, having your sexual history dug out, having the trial hang over you, only to watch him smirk as he leaves the court, the second assault of not being believed.”
“Uganda’s oil rush: Derricks in the darkness”
The Economist: “Tullow and Heritage, an Anglo-Canadian firm, own the most promising drilling rights in Uganda. The pair also hold rights on the Congolese side of Lake Albert, but these have been the subject of much dispute with the government in Kinshasa. …James Arnold of Tullow says there are 700m barrels of proven reserves on the Ugandan side. With likely additions from further exploration, he believes, the figure could eventually reach billions of barrels. Some speculate that, Congo included, the entire Albertine basin may yield even more than Sudan’s 6 billion barrels of proven reserves. …The find has been transformational for Tullow, turning it from a bit player in the North Sea into one of the largest independent exploration companies in Europe.”
“Clay Refrigerator Preserves Food without Electricity”
Appfrica: “A Nigerian teacher and Ashoka fellow, Mohammed Bah Abba has invented an earthenware refrigeration system for preserving perishables in arid climates. Because the system preserves food, families that have used them have seen a drop in disease and an increase in income. The pot-in-pot is simple, affordable, and made form local materials, and so can be introduced throughout Nigeria and West Africa. …One clay pot is filled with wet sand, which must be kept moist. Into this sand bed is placed a second smaller pot, which is then covered with a damp cloth. The water in the sand evaporates, causing a drop in temperature, and cooling the inner pot.”