While welcoming aspects of South Africa's new budget announced on 22 February, civil society grouping SECTION 27 says it remains concerned about aspects of the health budget. Even though the health budget has increased, SECTION 27 fears this could be undone by mismanagement, corruption, wasteful expenditure and a lack of capacity for implementation. Amongst other concerns, it notes that increases in allocations for HIV and AIDS programmes will not result in the expected expansion of these programmes unless problems relating to staffing, infrastructure and the payment of service providers are resolved.

A Burundian anti-graft activist detained two weeks ago for criticising the justice minister over alleged corruption was freed Tuesday 21 February. 'I am happy to be freed from prison where I spent two weeks for no reason, because all that I said is true and has been spoken about by several senior officials in the country,' said Faustin Ndikumana. Ndikumana had written in a complaint letter that candidates had been obliged to pay $1,450 for jobs at the judiciary.

European governments have opened the door to a radical offer of 'debt relief' for Arab north African neighbours such as Egypt, EU and governmental sources said. The plan emerged barely 24 hours after eurozone governments backed an unprecedented write-down of Greek sovereign debt held by private investors, one expected to reduce Athens' debt burden by nearly one third, some $141 million.

The final version of the 'Climate Change Adaptation in SADC: A Strategy for the Water Sector' report is available. The main goal of the Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Strategy in SADC is to improve climate resilience in Southern Africa through integrated and adapted water resources management at regional, river basin and local levels. The objective is to promote further the application of integrated water resources management as a priority tool to reduce climate vulnerability and to ensure that water management systems are well adapted to cope with increased climate variability.

A cholera epidemic has spread to nine out of 11 provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations has said. The UN said the spread was 'worrisome' as the epidemic had so far killed 644 people and infected 26,000 since January 2011.

Government has moved one step further towards the establishment of the massive National Health Insurance scheme for South Africa, with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan today announcing an allocation of R1 billion to the scheme's pilot projects. The money comes from the R121 billion health budget which aims to improve hospital infrastructure and strengthen the public health system ahead of the introduction of the NHI, which will be phased in over a period of 14 years, starting this year.

Angola is currently the third main source of remittances from Portuguese emigrants and accounted for 147 million euros entering the Portuguese economy in 2011, according to figure published this week by the Bank of Portugal (BdP). In a year in which total remittances from Portuguese emigrants remained almost the same as in 2010, the amount sent by Portuguese people residing in Angola rose by almost 10 per cent.

Following a nine-hour court session, presiding judge Ahmed Refaat announced that the final verdict in Hosni Mubarak’s trial will be pronounced on 2 June, adding that the session will be aired live on national television. In what is known as the trial of the century, Egypt’s ousted president Mubarak, his ex-interior minister and six of his aides face charges of complicity in killing protesters during the popular uprising that toppled the regime in January 2011. Mubarak also faces corruption charges along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal and businessman Hussein Salem in the same case.

A leading gay activist in Libya has responded to his country's delegate who told a planning meeting of the UN Human Rights Council that gays threatened the continuation of the human race. Libya's representative told the gathering of ambassadors that LGBT topics 'affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race.' But a gay activist from Tripoli responded: 'Human rights are universal and include LGBT rights. Therefore how can a human right be a threat to humanity?'

On 14 February, French authorities searched the upscale Paris residence associated with President Obiang’s son, Teodoro 'Teodorín' Nguema Obiang, as part of a probe into the 'ill-gotten gains' of President Obiang and two other African Heads-of-State. Teodorín is the target of ongoing government corruption investigations in the United States and France, report EG Justice.

Two strong explosions rocked the strategic Somali city of Baidoa hours after Ethiopian and pro-government forces wrested it from Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents, officials and witnesses said Thursday 23 February. Al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdulaziz Abu Musab claimed responsibility for the blasts, saying they had inflicted 'heavy losses' on pro-government forces. News of the blasts came as world powers met with the fragile Somali Government at a conference in London Thursday, designed to build on progress in the years-long struggle against the Islamist militants who have allied themselves to Al-Qaeda.

A Belgian court has rejected an application to ban a colonial-era book about the Congolese adventures of the cartoon character Tintin for breaching racism laws. Documents from the court of first instance in Brussels show that it did not believe the 1946 edition of Tintin in the Congo was intended to incite racial hatred, a criteria when deciding if something breaks Belgium's racism laws. In 2007, Congolese campaigner Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo launched legal proceedings to ban the book, arguing its portrayal of Africans was racist.

An Ethiopian politician standing trial for terrorism is said to be injured and in fear for his life after being attacked in his prison cell by a convicted murderer. The leader of the largest opposition party is appealing to Ethiopia's human rights body to intervene in the case. Former Ethiopian president Negasso Gidada sent an urgent appeal to Human Rights Commission chief Teruneh Zenna asking protection for opposition leaders being held at Addis Ababa's Kaliti prison.

A gas-fuelled fire, with flames as high as 5m, may burn for months in waters off the Niger Delta in south-east Nigeria, Chevron has told the BBC. Two workers died after January's explosion at the KS Endeavour exploration rig, owned by the US firm. Friends of the Earth says this is the world's worst such accident in recent years.

There are more than 20 community radio stations in Zambia. Most have a coverage radius of less than 20 kilometres. Yet they are significant to both rural and urban dwellers, whose interests range from politics to agriculture. But Zambia’s progress towards meeting this new demand for information is meeting some obstacles. The country recently dropped four places on the Reporters Without Borders index of press freedom. Gagging of journalists, censorship and political interference have all negatively affected the quality of service delivery to Zambia’s listening audience.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that Swaziland's fiscal crisis has reached a critical point and there is a high risk that the kingdom will be unable to pay its civil servants' wages for the next few months. The report also says that Swaziland's gross domestic product (GDP) will contract by 2 per cent during 2012 and, if the country does not change its 'unsustainable' fiscal policy, its debt-to-GDP ratio could reach more than 80 per cent by 2016.

A local rights group has demanded that parliament repeals a law issued by the ruling military council that allowed for settlements in cases of squandering public funds. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) sent a memo to the People’s Assembly’s legislative and economic committees Wednesday demanding the repeal of a law issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on 3 January to settle with investors under legal investigations in cases of squandering of public funds. The law is an adjustment to the Investments Guarantees and Incentives Law No. 7 of 1997, giving the government full authority to settle with investors in financial corruption probes even if they are referred to criminal courts or are subject to preliminary prison sentences.

Zimbabwe's trade with the European Union increased by 36 per cent last year, reaching 664 million euros from 488 million euros in 2010, the European Union Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Aldo Dell'Ariccia, has said. Meanwhile, trade between the two partners is set to receive a further boost as Zimbabwe is now very close to completing the ratification of an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU. There are concerns, however, that Zimbabwe's full EPA ratification will pose further challenges for local industry.

The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP) has described the Traditional Courts Bill as 'highly anti-democratic, unconstitutional and discriminatory'. The organisation says it is 'extremely concerned' that the Bill puts rural women in a discriminatory position. 'The Bill basically opens the door for women not to approach the customary court but be represented by a man. Women’s rights to equality before the law is compromised in this situation which make it worse for lesbian women since it is the general knowledge that customary law is not favorable to people who have intimate relations with people of the same sex,' said LGEP in a press statement.

Three senior diplomats have resigned from their posts at the Congolese embassy in London and claimed asylum in the UK. Baby Kazadi Moussonzo, first secretary to the ambassador; Mamie Yaya Efunga, another first secretary; and Kabengele Mamba, second secretary, had between them a total of 14 years service at the London embassy. They resigned earlier this month and have issued a lengthy statement denouncing their government, accusing it of presiding over a 'climate of terror'.