The ANC agreed on Tuesday 13 November to some of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele's hawkish proposals on the Protection of State Information Bill. Cwele notably appeared to have persuaded the ruling party to re-introduce a maximum five-year prison sentence for the disclosure of classified information, and to re-introduce a clause that would have the new law trump any other legislation dealing with such information. Without explicitly naming the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the new official secrets act would therefore trump it – as Cwele has asked for, and commentators have cautioned could render the bill unconstitutional.

Trade justice organisations have published a new report titled, ‘Southern alternatives to EU Trade Policy’, which proposes a diverse set of alternative to the current unjust international trade system.

More than 3.5 million people in Sudan's conflict-plagued Darfur region will be vaccinated against yellow fever which is suspected of killing nearly 100 people in the past seven weeks, officials said. '(The) vaccination plan has been finalised and will cover vaccination of approximately 3.6 million,' said a joint report from the UN's World Health Organisation and Sudan's health ministry. A WHO official earlier told AFP the inoculations could possibly begin by early December, after reconfirmation of the diagnosis from a laboratory in Senegal.

South African opposition parties have submitted a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma saying that corruption and unemployment have risen, the justice system has been politicised, and the economy has weakened. The motion, backed by eight parties, was triggered by the recent deadly mine strikes, the downgrading of the country's credit rating by two major agencies, and big spending of state funds on Zuma's rural residence, according to a joint statement by the parties.

In 2001 Brazil invested $69 billion in Africa. By 2009, the latest figures available, that had swelled to $214 billion. At first Brazilian firms focused their efforts on Lusophone Africa, Angola and Mozambique in particular, capitalising on linguistic and cultural affinity to gain a foothold. Now they are spreading across the continent, reports this Economist article.

Zimbabwe's newspapers are filled with public notices for auctions as many other individuals and companies lose their property to banks and money-lenders after falling behind on loan repayments. The country's financial sector has enjoyed three years of economic growth following the adoption of multiple currencies in early 2009 and an end to a tumultuous trading period characterized by record inflation, bank closures and failures. Buoyed by phenomenal growth in deposits and a steady currency, many banks have introduced personal bank loans to attract new clients.

The Fahamu Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the November 2012 issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter. The issue can be found . Please feel free to share it widely.

Ethiopians would like to continue to be good Samaritans to the hundreds of thousands seeking refuge from drought and conflict in neighbouring Somalia, but massive camps in fragile environments have sparked concern among both the government and the people sharing space with the refugees. 'We have had a million refugees at one time,' said Ayalew Awoke, Ethiopia’s deputy director for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), the government’s refugee agency. Ayalew helped establish ARRA more than two decades ago.

Police in Kenya say 42 officers are now known to have been killed in the deadliest attack on police in the country's history. The officers were chasing suspected cattle rustlers on Saturday when a gun battle broke out in the remote Samburu district. Some police were airlifted to hospitals in Nairobi for treatment but later died from their injuries.

The website's headlines trumpet al-Shabab's imminent demise and describe an American jihadist fretting over insurgent infighting. At first glance it appears to be a sleek, Horn of Africa news site. But the site - sabahionline.com - is run by the US military. The site, and another one like it that centers on northwest Africa, is part of a propaganda effort by the US military's Africa Command aimed at countering extremists in two of Africa's most dangerous regions - Somalia and the Maghreb.

The UN special envoy to Western Sahara says the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front rebels must resolve their dispute before lingering hostilities plunge the entire North Africa into renewed conflict. The Polisario Front fought a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces until 1991, when the United Nations mediated a ceasefire between the two sides with the agreement that a referendum would be held to determine the final status of the territory. However, the plebiscite has never been held.

735 police complaints of sexual harassment were recorded over the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday that ended October 29, according to a statement released by the Egyptian government. Sexual harassment continues to hit Egypt with increasing reports of incidents taking place across the country. Yet, Egyptians today acknowledge this long-standing problem exists, and growing social mobilization has brought together men and women in the fight against harassment.

Are the rights of women seriously under threat in post-revolution countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya? There are grounds for concern, but it is too early to tell, activists and experts say. 'There is very little that you can say in terms of rollbacks or undermining of women’s rights ... anything specific,' said Liesl Gernholtz, head of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch. Women organised and led some of the demonstrations that toppled decades-old governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen – and helped the rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

The world's wealthy countries often criticise African nations for corruption - especially that perpetrated by those among the continent's government and business leaders who abuse their positions by looting tens of billions of dollars in national assets or the profits from state-owned enterprises that could otherwise be used to relieve the plight of some of the world's poorest peoples. Yet the West is culpable too in that it often looks the other way when that same dirty money is channelled into bank accounts in Europe and the US. In this excellent investigation shown on Al Jazeera, Zimbabwean journalist Stanley Kwenda takes a journey through the murky world offshore banking.

Lawmakers moved a step closer Tuesday 13 November to approving a bill that would harshly crack down on gay rights, including banning same-sex marriage and public displays of affection between homosexual couples. The bill which has already been approved by the Senate passed a second reading in the House of Representatives with an unanimous vote and will now see a clause-by-clause review in the chamber at an undetermined date.

African civil society organistions are calling for an immediate and complete ban on the growing, importing and exporting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the African continent. 'We call upon the governments of Africa to take the necessary steps to protect the health of their populations by supporting this call and commit to conducting independent and authoritative long-term food safety studies.' A petition can be signed online.

Somalia's al Qaeda-linked militants are moving north into the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, long regarded as a relatively peaceful area, after having been squeezed out of their strongholds further south, the president of Puntland said. Until now, Puntland has largely escaped the worst of the upheaval in Somalia, which has been deprived of an effective central government for the past two decades.

A revised penal code decriminalizing abortion under certain circumstances has met opposition from the community, reports Global Press Institute. In the revised Penal Code of Rwanda, Article 165 decriminalizes abortion when the pregnancy is a result of rape, forced marriage or sexual intercourse with a close family relative. It also decriminalizes abortion when the pregnancy jeopardizes the health of the unborn baby or the mother.

The Nigerian Ambassador to Mali, Mr Iliya Nuhu, has raised the alarm over the high rate of trafficking of Nigerian girls to the West African country. Nuhu said in Bamako, the Malian capital, that the problem had grown in 'magnitude and sophistication' to the extent that a substantial number of Nigerians in Mali seem to be thriving on it. He described the practice as 'a kind of modern-day slavery' with Nigerians going to their villages or towns to bring in young girls between the ages of 10 and 15.

An estimated 135,000 children are at risk of polio in Somalia’s port city of Kismayo, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Three years ago, Al-Shabab insurgents banned polio vaccination in Kismayo and other parts of central Somalia.