Daily News on the Issues Affecting Africa for November 13th

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today's In the News post are updates on Boko Haram's international reputation, slavery in Mauritania, politics of polio in Sudan, economic prosperity in Equatorial Guinea, religious tensions in Central African Republic, Tanzanian discrimination of albinos, and family planning in Madagascar.

US to name Nigeria's Boko Haram as a 'terrorist' group
The US State Department will formally designate the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram as a "foreign terrorist organisation" on Wednesday, congressional sources and others briefed on the matter said. The designation is significant because it directs US law enforcement and regulatory agencies to block business and financial transactions with Boko Haram, which is fighting to impose Islamic law in northern Nigeria and has ties to al Qaeda. Boko Haram means "Western education is sacrilege." – France 24
To read more, please visit the France 24 site here

Mauritania confronts long legacy of slavery
This year, the government gingerly acknowledged that an age-old scourge still haunted this nation, creating a new agency to wipe out the "vestiges of slavery" here. In a nation where the authorities have long denied the persistence of the problem, the willingness to emblazon the word "slavery" on a government agency — with a gleaming sign announcing it on a prominent street in the capital, no less — was a significant turning point and a step in the right direction, experts say. – New York Times
To read more, please visit the New York Times site here

Sudan polio vaccination blocked, says UN's John Ging
Efforts to vaccinate 165,000 children against polio in Sudan have been blocked by the government and rebels, the UN humanitarian chief says.  John Ging said the two sides should stop "filibustering" and give health workers access to children in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.  The government and rebels had ignored a Security Council resolution to give health workers access, he said.  The UN fears that conflict in the two states could lead to a polio outbreak.  According to the UN World Health Organization, Sudan has been polio-free for more than two years. – BBC
To read more, please visit the BBC site here

Foreign workers flock to Equatorial Guinea
Thanks to the discovery of the much prized "black gold" and natural gas, Equatorial Guinea is comfortably placed as the country with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Africa.  In 2012, Equatorial Guinea's GDP per capita income was estimated at $20,200 (14,900 euros), also a result of the discovery and exploitation of its oil and gas reserves and the economic growth that followed. It is against this background that there has been an influx of both skilled and unskilled labor into the country not only from neighboring countries like Benin but also from as far away as Latin America. – Deutsche Welle
To read more, please visit the Deutsche Welle site here

Christian-Muslim bloodbath devastates Central African Republic
The mineral-rich Central African Republic is collapsing into chaos amid a worsening religious conflict between Christians and Muslims that could trigger genocide and bring more upheaval to a region already beset by turmoil, observers warn.  "The situation ... is horrendous," Gerard Araud, France's ambassador to the United Nations, said last week after the Security Council was briefed on the swelling bloodbath in the former French colony. – UPI
To read more, please visit the UPI site here

Superstitions spark violence against Tanzania's albinos
Today, many in rural Tanzania still believe that procuring the arm, leg, fingers, skin or hair of an albino person and brewing it into a potion will make them rich. Tanzania's deep-rooted superstitions about albinos surfaced in 2006 as a wave of violence against them erupted across rural parts of the country. – NBC
To read more, please visit the NBC site here

Family planning in Madagascar: lessons from a conservation NGO
The national contraception use rate in Madagascar is 29%. Yet in Velondriake, a remote area in the southwest of the country, it is 55%. Just 10% of the community had access in 2007 when the marine conservation organisation Blue Ventures launched Safidy, its family planning programme. So how did it do it? The area had virtually no health infrastructure and a focus group revealed a huge need for family planning. Agathe Lawson, the United Nations Population Fund representative in Madagascar, who supports Blue Ventures and a number of other family planning initiatives in the country, says that asking the community for what it wanted was instrumental to Safidy's success.  – The Guardian
To read more, please visit the Guardian site here