Evidence is emerging of unregulated and probably illegal tuna fishing in Libyan waters during this year's conflict. Signals recorded from boats' electronic 'black boxes' show a large presence inside Libyan waters, a major spawning ground for the endangered bluefin tuna. Several strands of evidence, including a letter from a former industry source, suggest the involvement of EU boats.

After sitting in Cape Town at the weekend, where it heard evidence from a range of witnesses, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine declared that Israel was guilty of practising apartheid and called for it to be isolated. The tribunal called on world governments to institute sanctions against it and break off diplomatic ties.

Residents have begun to flee a northeast Nigerian city where a radical Muslim sect launched attacks that killed more than 100 people. Rev. Idi Garba said Tuesday 8 November that nearly all the Christians and non-natives of Yobe state had fled their homes in Damaturu, the state capital. Garba said streets remained deserted, without soldiers or police protection.

Niger, where Libya's fugitive Saif al-Islam Gaddafi may be headed, risks a backlash from nomad Tuaregs in its north if it follows through on its obligation to hand him over to the International Criminal Court. Libya's aid-reliant southern neighbour has vowed to respect commitments to the ICC, but knows that could spark unrest in Saharan areas where a string of past rebellions against the capital were nurtured by Muammar Gaddafi, feted by many in the desert as a hero. The Hague-based ICC said Gaddafi's 39-year-old son Saif al-Islam was in contact via intermediaries about surrendering for trial, but it also had information that mercenaries were trying to spirit him to a friendly African nation.

Sahel states Mauritania, Mali and Niger are enhancing their military might through arms deals with France. The arms sales were detailed in a report presented by the French government in front of parliament on 26 October. The presentation did not specify the quantity or quality of weaponry, but did mention an annual contract. The French government is linked with ten African countries in a series of arms sale contracts.

Gabon's constitutional court has ruled that parliamentary elections will take place on 17 December as planned, despite opposition demands for a delay in the poll to introduce biometric voters cards, officials said. Gabon's opposition has been campaigning for months to delay the elections in order to introduce the biometric system, which has been implemented in many countries for digital chips in passports and electoral cards, using individual biological data such as fingerprints or eye retina scans to combat fraud.

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has sacked six ministers from his cabinet for poor performance, his spokesman said. When he was sworn in for his five-year second term, President Nkurunziza said that each government official will report on tasks accomplished every six months, adding that those who failed to do so would be fired.

This PressTV video is a news feature on the Russell Tribunal on Palestine that took place recently in Cape Town. It features interviews with Desmond Tutu and Cynthia McKinney. The tribunal is an international people's forum created by a large group of citizens involved in the promotion of peace and justice in the Middle East and is a public awareness campaign.

18 November sees a discussion on the intersections between sex, power, masculinity, and femininity with human rights activists and scholar, Dr. Sylvia Tamale, as she signs her new book. This groundbreaking volume 'African Sexualities: A Reader', the first of its kind written by African activists themselves, aims to inspire a new generation of students and teachers to study, reflect and gain fresh and critical insights into the complex issues of gender and sexuality. It opens a space - particularly for young people – to think about African sexualities in different ways.

'We call on all farmers, workers and the landless and all social movements to join us in Durban and everywhere in the world on the 5th of December 2011 to demand a change of the entire capitalist system. The fight against climate change is a fight against neoliberal capitalism, landlessness, dispossession, hunger, poverty and inequality. The crisis of the planet requires that we take direct action. During the agro-ecology and food sovereignty day we will have public protest marches to the conference of the polluters, actions against multinational corporations like Monsanto undermining our seed sovereignty, which will cuminate in a massive Assembly of the Oppressed to discuss ways of ending this unjust system.'

Activists are calling on South Africa to take the lead in moves for a 'Robin Hood' tax for health. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) have pointed out that as the only African country in the G20, South Africa had a role to play in ensuring that a portion of the FTT went to health and not bailing out banks. The FTT is not another tax on working people, but on financial institutions only – it could cover any financial transaction between banks or be more specific and cover currency exchanges between banks.

Nigeria's Boko Haram has threatened to carry out more attacks, a day after a series of blasts and gun battles claimed by the group killed more than 100 people in the country's northeast, the Nigerian Red Cross has said. Ibrahim Bulama, an official from the humanitarian organisation, said on Sunday that the death toll is expected to rise as local clinics and hospitals tabulate the casualty figures from Friday's attacks in Damaturu, the capital of rural Yobe state.

A two-year (2009–2010) action research study entitled 'Experiences of Women in Asserting their Land Rights: the case of Bugesera District, Rwanda', was carried out by Rwanda Women Network (RWN) in collaboration with the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR). The study shows that gains for women’s struggle on land rights in statutory law are undermined on the ground by the continuation of discriminatory practices, which are prejudicial to women and due to the negative attitudes towards women’s land rights in Rwanda.

Millions of Egyptians will head to the polls on 28 November in the first parliamentary vote after a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. But few Egyptians understand the complex election system or know what the parties represent. 'The election system is really confusing,' Saed Abdel Hafez, chairman of the local NGO, Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue, told IRIN. 'Because people do not understand the system, they will most likely vote for the people or the powers they used to vote for in the past. This means that the next parliament will not reflect the new political realities created by the revolution.'

Emotions ran high as Occupy Wall Street supporters and public officials dealt with the aftermath of protests that shut down the nation's fifth-busiest port before spiraling into chaos near the movement's downtown encampment. The movement challenging the world's economic systems and distribution of wealth has gained momentum in recent weeks, with Oakland becoming a rallying point after an Iraq War veteran was injured in clashes with police last week. The comments section of this post contains extensive links to news reports, photographs and videos of the protests.

Deeply concerned by the threats posed by climate change and continued government inaction in the face of these threats, civil society representatives from across Africa have issued a statement calling on leaders and people all over the world to ensure outcomes from the Durban climate change conference that help ‘to keep Africans and all peoples safe’ from ‘the growing threat’ the climate crisis poses.

Access to information from any local government should not require appeals to the Mayor and/or the courts, write Zackie Achmat and Fritz Jooste in this article about the difficulties of the Social Justice Coalition in accessing City of Cape Town service agreements with companies responsible for municipal waste disposal in impoverished townships. 'Local government secrecy is unlawful because it is dangerous to democracy; it can allow influence peddling by the wealthy and connected, and often harms the health and wellbeing of working-class and poor communities.'

Using homosexuality as a focus, Dr. Tamale will on 21 November discuss how political and religious leaders in both Africa and the West instrumentalise sexuality to achieve their political ends, and provide an analysis of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

An Italian worker at a restaurant in Ghana under investigation for allegedly operating a 'whites only' policy has told the BBC it was a misunderstanding. Marco Ranaldi said he made 'a joke' about the racial profile of members of the Atlantic Lobsters and Dolphins. A Ghanaian woman started an online protest after visiting the restaurant a week ago and allegedly being told that it was 'only for white people'.

Eritrea has rejected Kenyan suspicions that it may be arming Islamist al Shabaab rebels in Somalia, as a diplomatic row between the two countries intensifies. Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said he had summoned the Eritrean ambassador and 'raised concerns about intelligence that we have and information available that there is a possibility that arms supplies are flowing from his country to al Shabaab'. The Government of Eritrea rejected the allegations.