Gregory Warner

Britain Apologizes For Colonial-Era Torture Of Kenyan Rebels

Gregory Warner — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:19:00 +0000

A 60-year-old wound in Kenya has finally found its recompense.

Last week, the British government finalized an out-of-court settlement with thousands of Kenyans who were tortured in detention camps during the end of the British colonial reign. The historic apology — and the unprecedented settlement — has been years in the making.

It started with a Harvard graduate student named Caroline Elkins. She became fascinated with the Mau Mau — Kenyan rebels from the tribe called Kikuyu — who fought in the '50s and '60s for independence from the British.

Can Economics Save The African Rhino?

Gregory Warner — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:00:00 +0000

When Duan Biggs was growing up in the Kruger National Park in South Africa, he used to watch elephants and rhinos walking past his bedroom window. He left home to pursue degrees in biology and economics, and when he returned in 2011 the park looked and sounded "like a pseudo war zone," he says.

"There'd be helicopters flying overhead all the time," he says. "I remember one afternoon coming back to my home from a game drive and the bush was crawling with people with assault rifles, from the army, from the police, and from National Parks.

The Enemy Inside: Rhino's Protectors Sometimes Aid Poachers

Gregory Warner — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:05:00 +0000

It says a lot about the state of the war against poachers in Africa that the Lewa Conservancy, a private sanctuary in Kenya with 12 percent of the country's rhinos, recently appointed a CEO who has never studied zoology or biology. Instead, Mike Watson is an ex-captain in the British army.

His training has already come in handy. Take, for instance, a visit to a crime scene earlier this year: a rhino carcass splayed out in the mud.

Watson holds a black-and-white photo, a kind of rhino mug shot.

With Robocalls, Eritrean Exiles Organize Passive Resistance

Gregory Warner — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:35:00 +0000

Tucked in the northeast corner of Africa, Eritrea is one of the most closed societies in the world, so much so that it's sometimes dubbed the "North Korea of Africa."

President Isaias Afwerki does not tolerate any independent media. The Internet is restricted. Reporters without Borders recently named it 179th out of 179 countries for freedom of expression.

It's illegal to criticize the government — which could mean something as simple as complaining about the city power outage.

787 Dreamliner Could Mean Big Things For Africa's 'Air Wars'

Gregory Warner — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:06:00 +0000

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish. The Dreamliner is coming back. FAA regulators have approved a fix for the Boeing Dreamliner 787, which was grounded around the world out of safety concerns. The first redesigned plane could retake to the skies as soon as this weekend out of Ethiopia. NPR's Gregory Warner explains what the world's most modern aircraft means to the cradle of humanity.

GREGORY WARNER, BYLINE: You know a sector is hot when it gets its own trade magazine.