Every year on 8th March the world celebrates International Women’s Day. This year, celebrate International Women’s Day with the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) and our partner, Alliance Francaise (Ghana).

With nearly 20,000 Malian refugees now in Burkina Faso, according to Burkina Minister of Communications Alain Traore, and up to 800 more crossing the border each day, the government says it urgently needs more help. The most urgent need is for 'shelter, food and medicine' in the country’s northern Sahel Region, said Denis Ouedraogo, coordinator of the National Commission for Refugees.

A group fighting for a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth in the country's delta region has claimed responsibility for killing four police officers this week. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in an email it sent to reporters on Friday that it shot the four police officers who were on a boat patrolling the Nembe river in Bayelsa state.

On 24 February, at the same time as a British government backed meeting on the fate of Somalia was held, another conference conference was held under the sponsorship of the 'Friends of Syria' grouping. 'This initiative grew out of the failure of the US and other imperialist states to get the UN Security Council endorsement for a war against Syria,' says this article from Worker's World, which draws a parallel between the two meetings.

Cosatu is expecting a massive turnout for its national strike on Wednesday, and even hopes organisations outside of its network may spontaneously join in - but the union group has been wary of talking numbers, saying the dual nature of Wednesday's action makes turnout even more unpredictable than is usual in such actions. Based on discussions around labour broking within Nedlac, however, it said it believes unions not aligned with it may join in, as might taxpayer groups concerned about road tolls.

Senegal opposition candidate Macky Sall has won a major boost in his bid to oust President Abdoulaye Wade in a run-off vote, securing the endorsement of the man who came third in the first round. The west African nation's main opposition movement has also called on its supporters and other failed candidates to rally behind Sall, who will challenge the 85-year-old Wade in the second round election on March 18 or 25. Wade, who has been in power for 12 years, garnered 34.8 per cent of the vote in the first round, but fell humiliatingly short of the majority needed to avoid a run-off.

Submissions are invited from researchers, activists, academics, and development practitioners. Young professionals from Africa and the Diaspora are particularly encouraged to submit papers that advance new perspectives and approaches.

At least 77 people in southeastern Africa have been killed and more are still missing as Tropical Cyclone Irina sweeps through the region. The storm struck northern Madagascar more than two weeks ago and has slowly tracked down the west of the country. Torrential rain from the system hit the whole of the island, leading to the deaths of 65 people, weather officials said on Monday. The majority of the deaths occurred in the southeastern district of Ifanadiana. The storm has also affected southern areas of Mozambique and eastern South Africa.

Eldoret North MP William Ruto has agreed to give up a 100-acre piece of land he is accused of grabbing from an internally displaced person. Ruto has offered to leave the land belonging to Mr Adrian Gilbert Muteshi, who was displaced during the 2008 post-election violence, by April 10. In a concession filed in court on Monday, the Eldoret North MP said that he required two months to remove his properties including fences and hedges from the land.

A section of an Egyptian pipeline supplying gas to Israel and Jordan has been blown up in the thirteenth attack on the energy link since January 2011. According to witnesses, the attack on the gas pipeline, which crosses the Sinai Peninsula, occurred on Monday in the Massaeed area west of the Mediterranean coastal town of al-Arish in the northern Sinai.

Africa has been the world’s fastest growing region over the last decade in terms of mobile penetration. While fixed line penetration has stagnated at four per cent in the continent, mobile has grown at an astonishing rate to 45 per cent with North Africa leading at 73 per cent. However broadband is lagging behind considerably when compared to other continents.

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Can institutional philanthropy - foundations established by the very wealthy and capitalized by investments in the stock market, hedge funds, and offshore investments - support a movement that challenges the very capitalist economic system that sustains it?

In the context of its president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, stepping down, Yemeni blogger Noon Arabia writes that many analysts agree that the US policy in Yemen has predominantly been viewed from the terrorism prism, but one doesn't need to be an expert to notice that it has not been successful so far and has in fact backfired on the US. The use of drones on Yemeni soil to kill 'suspected' al Qaeda leaders, the unjustified killing of a teenager and many other innocent civilians commonly referred to as 'collateral damage' and the illegal detention of a journalist, has fostered more animosity towards the US.

A total of 27 people have died as a result of a cholera outbreak, the Health Ministry in Sierra Leone has declared. Over 1,000 cases have been recorded in three districts in the northern region of the country - Port Loko, Kambia and Pujenhun. Health ministry officials confirmed that those who have contracted the disease did so from drinking contaminated water.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

Nearly one-year on since Samira Ibrahim was subjected to a 'virginity test' by Egypt’s military junta, she returns to court hoping it will see the end to the legal battle. Ibrahim said she is pushing forward 'so no other girls are subjected to this kind of torture and violence in Egypt'.

The ANC Youth League will want 'radical change' even without its president, leader of the league Julius Malema told radio station Metro FM in an interview on Monday night. Malema was expelled from the ANC last week for bringing the party into disrepute and sowing division in its ranks. 'I've not stabbed a person. I've not been charged with rape. I've not been charged for corruption. I've not been charged for organising factional meetings, and benefiting my own family. I'm not charged about those things. I'm charged about what has been written in the resolutions of the youth league.' Malema added the new league president would have to continue with the resolutions already adopted.

Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika has told foreign donors to 'go to hell', accusing them of plotting with local groups to topple his government. The UK and other donors cut aid to Malawi in 2010, criticising its economic policies. Mutharika said he has intelligence reports that some Western donor nations were working with local non-governmental groups (NGOs) to hold street demonstrations and vigils against his rule.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says its African science programme may be spared in budget cuts brought on by the organisation’s current financial problems. UNESCO cut its science budget by 31 per cent last December owing to a shortfall in funding, which was a result of the United States freezing its contributions to contest a vote to admit Palestine as a member.