An article in The Economist examines how China’s oil trade with Africa is dominated by an opaque syndicate. Ordinary Africans appear to do badly out of its hugely lucrative deals.

Fishermen in Haiti and some African countries could lose their livelihoods as ocean acidification causes a decline in mollusc populations, a study has found. Human industrial activities release carbon dioxide, which dissolves in sea water, increasing its acidity. This higher acidity damages the mollusc stocks on which many fishermen in Gambia, Haiti, Madagascar, Mozambique and Senegal rely.

In Africa, access to positions of political responsibility remains an exception for female politicians. But this is changing. In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman elected at the head of a country: Liberia. Today, women candidates are increasing and the next African elections will open new perspectives to all who have pledged to stir things up in Africa.

The New York Times carries a report that officials in Niamey, Niger are warily watching and bracing for what they call the disaster scenario that has not yet happened: a huge influx of defeated soldiers loyal to the fallen Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Amnesty International has released a report on human rights abuses committed during the movement to topple Libyan fugitive leader Muammar Gaddafi. The 122-page report consisted mainly of damning examples of violations by Gaddafi's regime, saying the strongman's forces are guilty of crimes against humanity, but it also says the National Transition Council (NTC) is guilty of human rights violations, and appears unwilling to hold its fighters accountable for them.

Greenpeace, in response to an explosion at a leaking gasoline pipeline in an industrial area of Kenya's capital in which at least 75 people were killed and 112 hurt, urged the Kenyan government to support its citizens in the wake of this incident. 'This again is a reminder to our African leaders to move away from the dangerous and dirty fossil fuels towards a renewable energy path with cleaner jobs, greener economies and a safer, more sustainable future for Africa's people,' Greenpeace said.

The high rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence in Nebbi district has been attributed to lack of sensitisation of the community on the danger of the disease, says Rev. Fr. Juvenile Ayelangom, the Nebbi director of Caritas, a Catholic church organisation.

The Zimbabwe government is threatening to shut down 'private and foreign' news media organisations that it says are 'abusing their journalistic privileges by denouncing the country and its leadership.' The threat comes just days after the release of new US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks revealed widening rifts within the country’s dominant party, ZANU-PF.

The Independent Living Institute takes a look at this important subject and finds that little has been written about people with disabilities in Africa. Reference material has been drawn from the general textbooks of social sciences and principles of community health on the epidemiology of diseases.

While attention has, appropriately, been focused on getting food and medicines to the victims of the famine in the Horn of Africa, many observers are asking about longer-term solutions, especially if droughts such as the current one become more frequent with climate change. One possibility is to expand irrigation.

Unidentified armed men torched the studios of a private television station that aired programmes favorable to Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, local journalists and news reports said.

Fearing a repeat of hunger riots around the world in 2007-2008, international policymakers are putting agriculture high on the agenda. The G20 agriculture meeting in Paris in June issued an action plan aimed at increasing global agricultural production by 70 per cent in the next four decades in order to address the challenge of trying to feed an expected 9 billion people by 2050 – a challenge that is growing harder with climate change. One priority target to boost world food security should be the millions of smallholder farmers in developing countries who live on less than two hectares – some of the poorest people on the globe.

An increasing number of Nigeria's 70 million Christians are following so called 'prosperity teachings' - the belief that prosperity is a blessing. Services are held in mega-churches, with millionaire pastors preaching the word. Tomi Oladipo reports for the BBC.

A new scramble for Africa is under way. As global food prices rise and exporters reduce shipments of commodities, countries that rely on imported grain are panicking. Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that it has uncovered plots by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to destabilise Nigeria. The party has called on security agencies to be alert and monitor the activities of CPC and its members, especially against the backdrop of present security challenges in the country.

Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership (DCGEP) is a 501(c)3 organisation dedicated to using the power of media to transform education and improve lives in the developing world. Position Summary: The Programme Director, West Africa, will report to the VP, Global Education Programmes. Success in this position will hinge on effective management of current school-based projects in West Africa in accordance with organisational priorities and donor contracts; fully engaging donors and government partners; and spearheading new partnerships and funding for expansion in the region.

On 20 September 2011, Zambians will go to the polls to elect its next president. As is often the case with elections in this part of the world, questions have been raised about the likelihood of the elections leading to violence, writes Judy Smith-Höhn, Senior researcher, African Conflict Prevention Programme, ISS Pretoria Office.

'To See the Mountain and Other Short Stories' is a compilation of Caine Prize 2011 Shortlisted Stories and the Caine Prize African Writers’ Workshop Stories 2011. The Caine Prize for African Writing, an annual literary award, recognises talents from all corners of the African continent and the globe. First presented in 2000 to Sudanese author Leila Aboulela for her story, 'The Museum', the award seeks to find the best original short story, published in English, by an African writer, whether situated in Africa or abroad.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced as fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and rebels in the country’s Blue Nile state continues, the United Nations (UN) reported. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that tens of thousands of displaced people cannot be reached by relief agencies due to movement restrictions against UN staff imposed by the government in both Sennar and Blue Nile states.

It is now common knowledge that ICTs play important roles in the development process. In West Africa, projects such as Esoko, Grameen MoTech and Project ABC are confronting the challenges of development from different angles. Another interesting area with great potential in this sphere is the role of ICTs, social media in particular, in citizen engagement.