Africa This Week

News stories about Africa that caught my eye this week:

• In 2006, an oil trading company called Trafigura dumped hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast. More than 30,000 people became ill and several died. This week the company is finally compensating the victims. Much too little, much too late. Illegal dumping of toxic waste is the same issue that started the pirate trend off the coast of Somalia. More about Somali pirates and more about toxic dumping in Ivory Coast.

• The growing bush meat trade in Africa plays a huge role in the decimation of many wildlife species. While it's true that some animals are hunted and eaten out of basic necessity, most of the meat is commercially traded. Bush meat is on many menus in capitals throughout Africa. People eat it because they like the taste and it's often cheaper than a farmed animal. Some bush meat is eaten as a status symbol, especially if its rare like gorilla or chimp meat, as in -- "I'm so rich I can afford to eat this rare gorilla thigh". Now, DNA barcoding has finally come to fruition and conservationists are excited that this may help end this damaging trade. Fingers crossed it will work before Madagascar runs out of lemurs. Read more about DNA barcoding...

• Soon, it won't be so frustrating to upload photos and travel blogs while traveling in East Africa. Kenya is the first country to start hooking up to broadband as fiber optic cables landed ashore a few months ago. The 17,000km long cable took two years to lay and cost more than $650m. The BBC checks out its impact in depth.

• Uganda is quiet after a rather shocking few days of violence by the Bugandan King's supporters. The usually quiet capital Kampala saw rioting that left some dead and many wounded. More about the unrest in Uganda...

• Egypt is getting serious about swine flu. In fact when swine flu first broke out in Mexico this spring, the Egyptian Government took some drastic steps and killed thousands of pigs owned by non-Muslim Egyptians in Cairo. That seemed a tad politically motivated to say the least. But there are now 10 confirmed cases and all schools shut to prevent more. Read more about swine flu in Egypt.

_{Image of Ivorian Woman in a shanty town, Abidjan, Ivory Coast -- Getty Images/Natalie Behring-Chisholm}