Talking Africa

Times are tough.

"I have only sold one item so far for R150 in the past two days. That is very bad."

Khosi Ceba, a vendor selling goods outside the African National Congress Youth League's congress in Midrand, South Africa - where Julius Malema was re-elected - complains about youth delegates' lack of money to buy congress and party memorabilia sold by Ms Ceba and other small-scale entrepreneurs.

Defining battles.

"For me this is one of the defining environmental battles of our age, it's a fight for sanity against the madness of a mindset that sees the melting of the Arctic sea ice as a good thing. As the ice retreats the oil companies want to send the rigs in and drill for the fossil fuels that got us into this mess in the first place. We have to stop them. It goes right to the heart of the kind of world we want and the one which we want to pass onto our children."

Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace executive director, is arrested off a rig near Greenland.

Sweet talk?

"It [China] has not always utilised the talents of African people in pursuing its business interests."

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has a lot to say about Chinese investments in Africa during her recent trip to Zambia.

Shocking.

"The scale of the land deals being struck is shocking."

Anuradha Mittal, director of Oakland Institute, speaks about the scale of land grabs underway in Africa. US universities, such as Harvard, have used British hedge funds, among other vehicles, to purchase massive tracts of land in Africa, with devastating consequences for subsistence farmers living there.

Counter-tweet.

"Not you either. No moral right! You give yourslf the right to abuse ppl and judge them like you r the one to decide…" [sic]

Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, replying via Twitter to journalist Ian Birrell's tweeting remarks about some of Kagame's claims in an interview with a journalist from the Financial Times where he spoke about, among other things, foreign aid to Rwanda. Confused? Yes. Entertained? Certainly.

Greening Angola.

"The Fair's goal is to involve both international experts, green-tech providers, business partners, Angolan companies, institutions and citizens in the quest for a common objective: bringing a greener future to Angola."

Angola's Minister of the Environment, Maria de Fatima Jardim, welcomes delegates to the international fair on the environment and green technologies and services in Luanda, Angola.

Space-age archaeology.

"Indiana Jones is so old school. We've moved on from Indy. Sorry, Harrison Ford."

Egyptologist, Dr Sarah Parck, commenting on the infrared-enabled discovery of over 1,000 tombs and almost three times as many ancient human settlements in Egypt. Satellite technology was used to assist in these remarkable archaeological discoveries, including indicating specific tombs that had been plundered at some point in their histories.

Big bucks.

"The cooperation between India and Africa is mutually rewarding, and is truly a representative of the South-South cooperation."

Anand Sharma, India's minister of commerce and trade, announcing India's intention to invest US$33 billion in Africa.

Captured.

"The accused is alleged to have recruited, trained and led Interahamwe militiamen in mass killings and rapes of Tutsi women in Gisenyi and beyond, between April and July 1994."

Spokesperson for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda announces the arrest of Bernard Munyagishari, former militia leader in Rwanda. Munyagishari was captured in May 2011 with the assistance of the Congolese army.

Matatu of the sea.

"We have now shown this species migrates across international borders, whereby it becomes vulnerable to a multitude of fisheries and environmental pressures."

Scientist Meaghan McCord tells journalists that a bull shark, tagged in the Breede River, South Africa, was tracked and then located in waters near Bazaruto, Mozambique. The bull shark travelled more than 2,000 kilometres since it was initially tagged in March 2011. A veritable matatu of the sea.

Nature calls.

"They will have had to issue a proclamation in the government gazette specifying it. I bet they didn't do that."

Beatrice Mtetwa, human rights lawyer, speaking about the legality of the arrest of Alois Mabhunu, a police sergeant, who used a toilet reserved for President Robert Mugabe's use at the International Trade Fair in Bulawayo.