Following the second India-Africa Forum Summit held in Addis Ababa in May, two articles focus on the event in this edition of the newsletter. First, Prof K Mathews provides an overview of the activities and outcomes of the Summit, as well as commentary on the state of relations between the Indian government and Africa. A second article by Manish Chand also looks at the Summit, with specific mention of some of the commitments made during the event focusing on capacity building, education and human resource training. In addition, Rashaad Amra provides an interesting overview of Turkey’s engagement with Africa in terms of trade and investment activities. Mandarin translations for this month’s edition focus on the African journalist study tour to India conducted by the EMPA Initiative. It also draws comparisons with the tour to China conducted last year. The second article provides a review of the recent report by Global Witness titled 'China and Congo: Friends in Need'. The May edition is available

Morocco's youth-based February 20 Movement has called for nationwide protests against constitutional changes proposed by King Mohammed VI. The king outlined curbs to his wide political powers in an address to the nation on Friday and pledged to build a constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliament. The proposals, to be put to a referendum on 1 July, devolve many of the king's powers to the prime minister and parliament.

Egypt’s premier has said that delaying a parliamentary election scheduled for September would give political parties more time to prepare, state media said, amid fears that an early poll would benefit Islamists. His comments come amid a mounting campaign by liberal and secular groups to delay the election until after a new constitution has been drafted. The 'Constitution First' campaign has sparked intense debate, with critics arguing that delaying the poll would keep the ruling military in place for longer.

A UNHCR report released on World Refugee Day reveals deep imbalance in international support for the world's forcibly displaced, with a full four-fifths of the world's refugees being hosted by developing countries - and at a time of rising anti-refugee sentiment in many industrialised ones. UNHCR's 2010 Global Trends report shows that many of the world's poorest countries are hosting huge refugee populations, both in absolute terms and in relation to the size of their economies. Pakistan, Iran and Syria have the largest refugee populations at 1.9 million, 1.1 million and 1 million respectively.

'Congress believes that discussion of ANC leadership should be opened and members should at all time be at liberty to discuss and deliberate on the leadership question, particularly for the 53rd National Conference of the ANC in 2012. Putting timeframes of the leadership question disadvantages members and structures of the ANC to honestly reflect on the kind of leadership needed to lead the ANC post 100 years of its existence. Congress further disapproves of emerging tendencies to use State power as a tool to dispense patronage and empower friends and families.'

Swaziland's labour unions are planning a series of further strikes to voice their feelings about proposed wage cuts and to lobby the government for regime change. Sibongile Mazibuko, the president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, said the next protest action would take place over three days and their message was clear. 'We want this government to vacate office and we want regime change,' she said.

African farmers’ organisations, members of the International Movement of Peasants, La Via Campesina, and allied organisations denounce every attempt to adopt genetically modified organisms, GMOs, as being a false solution to the food crisis in Africa. According to the farmers, all of the myths promoting GMOs as a 'miracle' to increase productivity are false, as they threaten the genetic integrity of the local varieties that are the basis of African food security. Only organic food production, based on local knowledge and skills, can feed the continent, as diversified, agroecological farming systems actually produce more total food per hectare than does industrial monoculture.

Reflecting profound concerns of developing countries, a new report has strongly criticised the World Bank group for promoting false solutions to climate change, such as carbon trading, megadams, agrofuels and industrial monoculture tree plantations. The report - 'Catalysing Catastrophic Climate Change' - also gives vent to anxieties of social movements, environmental and social justice organisations, and affected communities. It was tabled at a side event by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) during the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn that concluded on 17 June 2011.

The Botswana government said on 20 June that it had amended legislation classifying essential services workers to include teachers in an effort to prevent more civil servants from striking. Making the announcement through a government gazette, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Peter Siele said that veterinary services, teaching services, diamond sorting, cutting and selling services and all supporting services connected to them have now been placed under the essential services.

Julius Malema’s recent attack on ANC policies at the opening of the ANC Youth League’s 24th national congress struck at the very core of the ruling party, setting the stage for a bruising battle in the run-up to the 2012 conference over the future direction of the party, writes Jabulani Sikhakhane in the Sunday Independent. 'Borrowing from Hugo Chavez and other populists, Malema built his narrative this week on three pillars: he tapped into and stoked the anger and feelings of social despair among the black majority; framed poverty as a function of conflict between the powerful elite (white people in this case) and the majority (poor, landless black people who own very little of the economy); and then presented the youth league, if not himself, as capable of radically transforming the lives of the poor.'

The latest issue of Justice in Nigeria Now (JINN) newsletter contains the following posts:
- Truth in Advertising: JINN's subvertisements tweak Chevron's ads
- Listen to Nigerian women's leader Emem Okon
- Watch what Emem Okon had to say after speaking to Chevron
- Check out Ms Magazine blog featuring Emem Okon and Laura Livoti
- Take Action: Send a message to Chevron re: their human rights and environmental abuses.
Visit their website to sign up for the newsletter.

Delegates from across the continent on Friday (17 June) opened the fifth pan-African gender conference in Dakar, Senegal. The two-day conference, bringing together over 500 participants will, among other things, seek to promote parity in all African countries. The Dakar-based international NGO, Femmes Africa Solidarité, is co-organising the event with the Government of Senegal.

Fresh satellite images show the army amassing heavy weaponry in the capital of Sudan’s embattled northern oil state, suggesting that a major offensive could occur soon, monitors have said. The US monitoring group, which was set up by Hollywood star and rights activist George Clooney last year, said the satellites images that were taken on 17 June were the first to show thousands of people seeking shelter around the main UN compound near Kadugli. Heavy fighting has raged across South Kordofan since 5 June between the SAF and northern troops aligned to the army of the south that Khartoum has vowed to crush using all available means.

Damning video evidence has emerged, proving for the first time that sniper rifles made in South Africa are being used in Libya’s bloody civil war by forces loyal to embattled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, reports City Press newspaper. The revelations come amid continued refusals by South Africa to divulge the details of conventional arms sales to Libya’s repressive government – which totalled nearly R69 million last year.

NATO has acknowledged responsibility for an air strike that killed a number of civilians in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. A statement from the alliance said that a military missile site was the intended target of a raid on Sunday morning but one of the weapons did not strike it and may have caused civilian casualties. At a local hospital, reporters were shown three bodies, including a child, which government officials said were people killed in the air strike. 'Basically, this is another night of murder, terror and horror in Tripoli caused by NATO,' Moussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, said at the hospital. Five families were living in the building which was hit, he said.

The biggest refugee camp in the world is full, creating a humanitarian emergency that threatens thousands of malnourished children, Médecins sans Frontiéres (MSF) has warned. Dadaab, a sprawling desert 'city' in Kenya with a population expected to reach 450,000 by the end of the year, has run out of space, the medical charity said. Many children who fled war in neighbouring Somalia are without food or shelter in dry heat of 50°C.

The Cuban Five, five men serving four life sentences and 75 years collectively in a US prison, are the subject of an international campaign for their release because of the belief that that have been falsely convicted of committing espionage against the US. In this moving song, musician Anthony 'Mighty Gabby' Carter calls for their release.

Igniting a firestorm of global debate, the results of a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll identifying the five most dangerous countries for women are generating controversy in the blogosphere and on news organisations’ websites around the world. Conducted by the Foundation’s TrustLaw legal news service and released on 15 June, the perception poll of more than 200 experts on women’s rights and issues on five continents found that, overall, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India and Somalia posed the greatest danger to women, in that order. On Salon.com, blogger Natasha Lennard said, the TrustLaw survey 'at best offers a snapshot of genuinely concerning situations across the world, but lacks any real or valuable analysis; at worst it betrays [concerning] cultural and racial biases.”

Wal-Mart has wrapped up its much contested merger with Massmart, paving the way for the retailer to take-over Game, Makro, Windhoek Cash & Carry and Builders Warehouse in Namibia. The US giant issued a statement saying it has completed its acquisition of 51 per cent of the shares in Massmart in a N$16,5 billion transaction. Lucius Murorua, chairman of the Namibian Competition Commission (NCC), confirmed that the latest development also allows Wal-Mart to enter the Namibian market.

The Hawks have stopped short of promising to reopen their investigation into the arms deal following last week's revelations that a R24-million alleged bribe was paid by a weapons dealer to a local 'consultant'. Last week the CEO of Swedish arms manufacturer Saab, Hakan Bushke, revealed that British Aerospace Systems had made a R24-million payment to a South African 'consultant' on the arms deal. But Hawks chief Anwar Dramat's spokesman, McIntosh Polela, would not be drawn on further details: 'We will assess the information and see where it takes us going forward.'