In a cyclone-prone country like Madagascar, being prepared for disaster makes all the difference. The Malagasy National Disaster Office organizes annual simulation exercises in vulnerable areas to test the preparedness of local authorities and communities. However, in Brickaville, on the east coast of Madagascar, power lines had been down for two weeks and news that the town lay directly in the path of Cyclone Giovanna. The cyclone destroyed and damaged thousands of homes and killed at least 23 people, but this number is expected to rise as more remote locations are reached.

A miner was killed in clashes with police at the strike-hit Impala Platinum mine in South Africa, the second death since violence broke out last week, police said on Monday 20 February. 'One miner was found dead with live ammunition in his body, and another was injured with live ammunition,' police spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane told Sapa news agency. Production at Impala, the world's number two platinum producer, has been hobbled since January 20, when some workers began a strike that was declared illegal by a court. That allowed the company to sack workers who did not return to the job, with more than 17,000 people fired. One week ago, Implats agreed to re-hire workers, but the deal failed to address the root cause of the strike - discontent that some categories of workers had been awarded bonuses while others were left out.

It is well known that African urban populations are growing. Almost every article or policy document on the topic is foregrounded with this point. 'However, whether most African countries will fairly soon be mainly urban is another issue. There is now plenty of data to suggest that in many cases, they will not.' This is important, argues this article, because of what it reveals about how African cities have coped with the globalised economy and the livelihoods of residents in the urban setting.

South Africa served as a transit point for a shipment of crowd-control weapons to Madagascar's former president, a Johannesburg-based newspaper reported. The Sunday Independent cited a cable from the United States embassy in Antananarivo saying Chinese-made riot control equipment - including grenades, rubber bullets and teargas - were unloaded in South Africa and then collected by then-president Marc Ravalomanana's private jet.

Having almost completely destroyed their own fisheries, European fishing fleets are attacking the fish stocks of African waters. As a result, traditional fishing communities along the west African are catching fewer and fewer fish. Their livelihoods are under threat. The next Senegalese presidential elections will take place in February - so now is the perfect time to pressure politicians. Tell future leaders of Senegal to make sustainable fishing a priority. To sign the petition, go to

IRIN’s latest film, 'Out of Sight', explores the lives of blind undocumented migrants from Zimbabwe as they try and eke out a living begging on the streets of Johannesburg. In the aftermath of xenophobic violence, the South African government put in place a moratorium on deportations to Zimbabwe in 2009, enabling undocumented migrants to regularise their status. But none of the women in this film were able to take advantage of that dispensation. Deportations resumed in October 2011, and to date, more than 10,000 undocumented migrants have been expelled to Zimbabwe, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The European Union has lifted some more of its sanctions against top officials and institutions in Zimbabwe. An EU diplomat said the bloc was ending measures against 20 entities and 51 people - including the justice and foreign ministers. However restrictions on President Robert Mugabe continue.

Morocco is prosecuting activists who campaigned peacefully for a boycott of elections held three months ago, Human Rights Watch said. These prosecutions contradict statements by Moroccan officials that authorities arrested no one for advocating a boycott. One of several such trials resumes on 22 February 2012, before the Marrakesh First Degree Court. Charged with distributing fliers in violation of the law, the defendants were arrested in Marrakesh on 16 and 17 November 2011, as they began handing out fliers urging Moroccans to boycott the legislative elections on November 25. Another group of pro-boycott leafletters are on trial already in the city of Benguerir.

The Ogaden Somali Community in South Africa says it has filed a complaint with the country's top prosecutor and the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging an investigation into the actions of the Ethiopian government against the Ogaden people. In a statement released on behalf of the community, a South African media advocacy group, Media Review Network, called on ICC authorities to probe complaints of alleged crimes in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. The crimes include extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, rape, torture, disappearances, the destruction of livelihood, the burning of villages and the destroying of life stock, the statement said.

Zambia appeared to have sparked a fierce diplomatic row with Kenya when it claimed the son of former President Rupiah Banda who is wanted on corruption charges is hiding out at State House in Nairobi. Zambian investigators recently claimed Henry Banda, who is wanted by police for alleged corruption during his father’s rule, is seeking refuge in Kenya after the alarm was sounded for his possible interrogation.

A group of about 50 Zanla war veterans last week allegedly stormed Matopo Hills in Matabeleland South Province, but were blocked by Chief Masuku after they attempted to dig up the remains of Cecil John Rhodes from the tourist resort area. Rhodes was buried on World’s View (Malindidzimu Hill) in Matopo National Park following his death in 1902. According to sources, they reportedly claimed the remains of the former colonialist were causing poor rains in the region. National Museums and Monuments director Godfrey Mahachi described the move as illegal. 'All I can say is that the reason why we are keeping Rhodes’ grave is that it is part and parcel of the history of Zimbabwe,' he told NewsDay.

New laws governing traditional courts could strip 22-million rural South Africans - and women in particular - of some of their most basic rights. The Traditional Courts Bill, on which public comment closed this week, aims to set a framework whereby customary courts will have legal clout. Civic organisations have slammed it as being unconstitutional, but traditional leaders argue that the Bill has been grossly misinterpreted by civil society.

The secretariat of the Basel Convention has published a report looking into the current state of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Africa. The report highlights the importance of developing safe recycling capacity and recovery infrastructure in Africa. As is well known, the impact of inappropriately-treated WEEE can be catastrophic for the health and the environment in communities that do not have adequate recycling facilities in place.

A map on the blog of the LA Times newspaper shows patterns of global civilian gun ownership. Guns are much more common in North America than in Africa and most of Asia and South America than in India, according to the most recent data available from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The statistics include handguns, rifles and other small firearms.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued a legal opinion declaring that the detention of Lapiro de Mbanga, one of Cameroon’s most famous singers, by the Cameroonian government was completely arbitrary and a violation of international law, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Key Somalia groups have reached an agreement on a number of pending transitional government tasks, including a federal structure for a future government and representation in parliament. Delegates from the presidency, cabinet and the parliament of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government met representatives from the authorities of Puntland, Galmudug and moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea for three days in Garowe town to hammer out a final deal.

Tense negotiations are underway for the release of two Swedish journalists jailed by Ethiopia on terrorism charges in September. A delegation from the European Union, of which Sweden is a member, is said to have already met with Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi. EU and Swedish officials are this week expected to outline options to further press the Horn of Africa country into releasing the journalists, including a review of aid obligations.

Senegalese riot police fired volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets at stone-throwing demonstrators after prayers at a mosque in Dakar on Sunday, in fresh violence a week before presidential elections. Rescue workers took away one man who was unconscious after being hit by a rubber bullet, an Agence France-Presse journalist witnessed. It was the latest violence in days of urban clashes between police and protesters trying to defy a ban and hold demonstrations against 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade's plan to run for a third term in office.

Over 100,000 people in Mozambique are still recovering from losing their homes and crops, and from being cut off from schools and shops after a tropical storm and cyclone hit the southern African country in January. But the worst may not be over as another dangerous cyclone is expected to make landfall as emergency stocks run low.

Blog Black Looks has listed a number of Ugandan and African human rights organisations who have condemned the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, including the Ugandan Law Society, Coalition of African Lesbians, Urgent Action Fund Kenya and Ugandan Frontline Defenders.