The world court has said it was referring Malawi to the UN Security Council over its refusal to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted by the court for genocide. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir and as a signatory to the Rome statute that created The Hague-based world court, Malawi was obligated to detain the Sudanese leader on its soil. But on 15 October al-Bashir was among six heads of state attending a meeting of the 19-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in the tiny landlocked nation and returned home later in the weekend unhindered.

Waterborne diseases, such as typhoid, dysentery and watery diarrhoea - all approaching epidemic levels - are creating concerns that conditions exist for a reprise of the 2008/09 cholera epidemic, which killed more than 4,000 people and infected nearly 100,000 others. The Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) for Zimbabwe, launched on 9 December, is asking for US$268 million for humanitarian assistance in 2012. The CAP highlights a decade of 'neglect' of the country’s water sanitation and hygiene sector (WASH), which has left 8 million people, or about two-thirds of the population, 'with limited access to WASH and health services'.

Charles Ingabire, an online Rwandan journalist and genocide survivor, is the latest victim in a series of bloody attacks targeting Rwandan journalists. Ingabire was killed in apparent execution style outside a Kampala bar on Sunday, 30 November 2011. Another journalist, Charles Rugambgage, was murdered in June 2010 in Rwanda.

Gun battles broke out near the international airport in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, army officials said. An army spokesman told Libyan TV two gunmen opened fire on Saturday on a convoy accompanying army chief Maj-Gen Khalifa Haftar but called it an 'isolated incident'. It was reportedly followed by hours of clashes along the coastal road. The violence adds to concerns over stability in Libya after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi earlier this year.

The promise of job creation has been put forward by investors, governments, and international institutions to convince local communities of the benefits of foreign investment in agriculture. For instance, the Sierra Leonean president, claimed in March 2011, 'Huge investments in the [agricultural] sector will definitely translate into hundreds of thousands of employment opportunities for our youths.' Several countries studied by the Oakland Institute reveal that many locals thus welcome land investment with the hope that such projects will bring jobs and wages.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has called for a commission of inquiry into allegations that members of the Durban organised crime unit operated as a 'death squad', while the Police Ministry said it had opted to leave the matter to the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD). The comments followed a Sunday Times report that the unit was operating as a hit squad in KwaZulu-Natal. It said the unit was guilty of assassinations related to taxi wars and in retaliation for 'suspected cop killings'.

A Zimbabwean activist, Gladys Mabvira, is set to spend her first Christmas in Harare in nine years as she is set to be kicked out of the UK next week. She has been an active member of opposition group ZAPU UK. Her open and public participation with this group, particularly her online blogging, would put her at risk if she was returned to Zimbabwe, says this article from

Standing outside the c28 military court on Wednesday 7 December, the tiny group of around 15 supporters of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil were hopeful the young man, jailed for months by the ruling military junta, would walk free. However, the court adjourned, yet again, delaying the verdict, 'for no apparent reason', according to a lawyer close to the family.

At the southeastern edge of Cairo, only 10km from downtown and 15 minutes from Maadi, a lonely desert valley called Wadi Degla spreads some 30km from west to east. Cairo’s most popular urban protectorate was established in 1999 in an effort to tame urban and industrial expansion from engulfing into the delicate and so far untouched area. Sadly, today, this very expansion is jeopardising the protected area.

On the verge of officially forming a coalition government to run the country and rewrite the nation’s pre-revolution constitution, Tunisia’s dominant, Islamist political party Ennahda has come under fire for its economic neo-liberalism, both from opponents and from coalition partners. While Ennahda has been able to placate secularists by officially advocating personal and religious freedom, it is reaching out to the international financial community and big business by pledging to counterbalance its left-wing coalition partners.

A couple of weeks ago, newspaper editor Dawit Kebede, an International Press Freedom award winner, fled Ethiopia. Sadly, Dawit's Awramba Times is the latest in a long list of Amharic-language private publications to vanish from the market following the incarceration or flight into exile of their editors. Awramba Times was a breeding ground of young Ethiopian columnists. Apart from the usual news and sports reporters, the weekly had correspondents specialising in parliamentary affairs, health issues, women's issues, satire, and folklore. There were also featured guest columnists such as university professors and opposition party members.

October 2011
Ms Sanusha Naidu participated in first China-Africa People’s Forum in Nairobi recently. She comments on the nature of the event, its outcomes and possible future role in the development of civil society engagement between Africa and China. Prof K Mathews then provides an overview of bilateral ties between India and China in light of a newly proposed trilateral cooperation between India, China and Africa and concludes that it could provide an opportunity for the two emerging powers to “forge partnerships for facing common challenges”.
October edition available .

November 2011
Rahul Goswami provides his observations on Indian investments in Africa, specifically in the context of India’s domestic development challenges. He notes that the human impact of large investment activities should not be overlooked, as social justice is denied in favour of profit seeking motives. In our second commentary piece, Prof Adams Bodomo, University of Hong Kong, provides an overview of the first China-Africa Think Tank Forum that took place recently in China, bringing together experts, researchers, policy makers and politicians amongst others to discuss topics under various themes of Sino-Africa relations.
November edition available

In this edition of Africa Today, host Walter Turner interviews Dimensions Dance Theatre artistic director Deborah Vaughan. The theatre company has become widely recognised for its presentation of both traditional dances and contemporary choreography drawn from African, Jazz, and Modern dance idioms,

Every once in while, xenophobia against men and women from other African countries living in South Africa hits the headlines. Recently, there were threats in Alexander Township, and not too long ago, Somali businesses were the target. Yet, what’s missing from the media and the public eye is the everyday harassment and indifference that migrants face from those who are expected to serve and protect them. These everyday tragedies may not be enough to generate headlines, but they have a profound impact on the lives of men and women, their families, and the community as a whole.

The Israeli government has voted unanimously to launch a $160 million program to curtail illegal African migrants ability to enter the country from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The program will boost the country’s ability to build a large border fence and will also expand a detention center able to hold thousands of new illegal arrivals.

Two sons of murdered Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara have filed a suit before the regional court of Ecowas in Abuja, Nigeria, in an effort to seek justice. Ismaila Hydara and Deyda Hydara Jr called for proper investigation into the death of their father who was killed on December 16, 2004. The African Regional Office of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ-Africa) is also an applicant in the case.

A Kenyan policeman was killed and 11 soldiers were wounded after twin blasts near the Somali border with Kenya, a military spokesman said Sunday. Police said the police officer, who died in one of the explosions, unknowingly stepped on the landmine, killing him instantly.

A coalition of 170 Egyptian, Arab, and international human rights activists called on the Syrian government to immediately release blogger and activist Razan Ghazzawi, along with all other prisoners of conscience detained in Syria. 'The Syrian government’s attempts to curtail the freedoms and muzzle the mouths of those like Razan who defend their rights is the biggest evidence of the fragility of the regime and its failure,' stated Ramy Raoof, an Egyptian blogger and human rights activist, in a press release on the 'Free Razan' Facebook page.

On 2 December Earth Life Africa held an anti-coal seminar at the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Howard campus). The seminar titled 'Anti-Coal Movements in Germany, South Africa and beyond?' highlighted many of the negative consequences associated with coal energy, and some of the concerns and desires in terms of climate change and energy. Makoma Lekalakala, the programme officer of Earthlife Africa Jhb. expressed her concerns regarding Eskom’s plans to improve the electricity shortage that South Africa has been facing.

Foreign companies have snatched $553 million worth of contracts for different projects in the country, with the Chinese getting the lion’s share, Parliament was told. Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion Paddy Zhanda made the disclosure while presenting a report on the 2012 National Budget. '$553 million worth of contracts were awarded to foreign companies and most of these to Chinese companies,' said Zhanda. 'Zimbabwe has a very high unemployment rate and a liquidity crisis and we implore the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, to stop this bleeding,' he said.