Berber Culture

Association

Tunisia

The Tunisian Berber Culture Association, that was recently greenlighted by the government, held its first press conference recently in Tunisia, according to the official press agency TAP. The association aims at promoting the Tunisian Berber heritage, the preservation of Berber customs and fostering research on Berber culture. An indigenous people of North Africa, there are currently some 25 million Berbers in the region, Tunisia's Berber population can be found in the south of the country.

Lassa Fever

Africa

An estimated 500,000 people in West Africa are infected with Lassa fever every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. WHO said the disease remains an epidemic in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria. Sierra Leone's Health Minister Zainab Hawa Bangura said that eradicating the rodent that carries the virus was almost impossible. Instead, she said countries take measures to prevent the spread of the disease. 

Job Data

China

China's urban unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent at the end of June with 9.08 million people registered as unemployed, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The rate had remained steady since the first quarter. The country created 6.55 million job opportunities in the first six months of the year and 2.9 million workers who had previously been laid off were reabsorbed into the job market. The country would continue efforts to boost employment during the rest of the year by introducing favorable tax policies and providing financial support.

Numbers

$55 million +

China's additional food aid to drought-hit African countries

Passengers carried by China's railway during the first seven months of 2011

$247 million

World Bank grants to Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation

$2 billion

AU estimate of aid funding needed for Horn famine