In this book, Patrick Beate and Daminan Platt write about AfroReggae, a movement that uses music and culture to provide hope and opportunity to young people, and is taking Brazil's favelas back - one song at a time. Powerful and moving, this is an unforgettable look at Rio, its people and this extraordinary group. What emerges is a colourful portrait of resistance, ethnic diversity, social inequality, and the timeless power of music in a society of fascinating, often heartrending extremes

Of the 1,200 children of migrant workers slated for deportation in 2009, the Israeli Cabinet on 1 August granted legal status to 800 and said 400 would be deported with their families to their parents’ country of origin within 21 days. To win legal status, the children had to have enrolled in the Israeli school system, resided in Israel at least five years, entered Israel before the age of 13 or be born there, and speak fluent Hebrew.

The United Nations spokesperson has said that the restrictions recently announced by the Sudanese government on the movement of personnel from the African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) violates previous accords signed between both sides. Last week, a senior Sudanese official told Reuters that UNAMID travel would be monitored going forward and that their bags will be searched. They will have to inform the government before moving on roads even within South Darfur’s capital Nyala, he said.

The Refugee Law Project seeks a Child Rights Officer to be responsible for the psychosocial component of the Child Rights and Protection Programme. S/he must be a trained social worker or counsellor with considerable experience working with Children.

In this week's roundup of merging powers news, the new Silk Road built by China connects Asia to Latin America, more SA businesses want a piece of BRIC, Ecobank Ghana signs pact with Bank Of China, and Durban to host Africa diaspora conference.

Researchers from the University of California Berkeley’s Human Rights Center canvassed nearly 2,000 households in the Central African Republic to document the impact of violence in the country and gather opinions about the best way forward. The results present a stark picture of a population traumatized by decades of political strife, military coups and poverty; leading the researchers to conclude the country is one of the worst cases of a humanitarian crisis in the world.

Assaults on MDC officials and supporters intensified in the Chipinge area of Manicaland on Wednesday and Thursday, as ZANU PF continued its campaign of violence linked to the Constitutional outreach program. Provincial spokesperson and Makoni South MP, Pishayi Muchauraya, told SW Radio Africa that two MDC officials sustained broken limbs and MDC vehicles were attacked and vandalized by youth militia and CIO agents in separate attacks.

South African telcommunications company MTN has been warned by the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), an opposition group close to the South African trade union federation Cosatu, that it could face a mass boycott from Africans concerned about its bowing to demands from the Swazi royal family to investigate phone calls to South African journalists from inside the country.

As we commemorate South Africa National Women's Day, Gender Links spoke to ordinary women about the challenges they face every day. In an accompanying story, Doreen Gaura writes that the link between many women's organisations and the realities of women's every day lived experience has become tenous. She spoke to women from informal settlements about the issues that matter to them. This photo essay documents their conversation.

Fahamu Refugee Programme & UNHRC invites lawyers and legal advisors to a course aimed at arming them with the information, networks and resources they require to represent those accused of witchcraft. Participants will learn how to best represent those whose claims to asylum are based upon accusations of witchcraft, an emerging area of refugee law in which there is a need for specialised knowledge and training.

4-5 September 2010
Oxford, United Kingdom
Registration fee: £150
If you would like to attend, please submit a completed to Fahamu by 21 August 2010.

The Refugees Self Reliance Initiative a branch of Ezra Ministries of Tanzania has received credible reports that there are a lot of refugees from DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi etc who are forced to return home against their will. We have spoken directly to the team of those refugees and register some mistreatment in the new camp of Nyarugusu.

Following the incredible feeling of African unity experienced during the World Cup, most of us were alarmed by rumours of the targeting of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in some pockets of our communities post the final. It stood in stark contrast to the Pan-African spirit we demonstrated when we collectively switched our loyalty to Ghana after Bafana-Bafana was eliminated from the tournament.

The Africa Peace & Conflict Journal, published by the UN Mandated University for Peace, is now accepting abstracts and full length articles for its upcoming December 2010 publication. Submissions on all topics related to African peace and conflict studies are welcome. The deadline for receipt of full-articles is September 1st 2010. The Africa Peace & Conflict Journal is a biannual publication.

The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) is a pan-African non-governmental organisation headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with a network of 33 National Chapters throughout Africa. FAWE is the pioneer and leading NGO on the promotion of girls’ and women’s education in Africa. FAWE is seeking to recruit a bilingual, results-oriented individual to join its dynamic, professional team as Deputy Director.

In a nondescript room on the 14th floor of a Nairobi office block, the words “hate speech” appear on a computer screen next to the name of a prominent politician, with location, a telephone number and buttons marked “Not verified” and “Follow-up”. Another message reads: “If you think peace is expensive, try violence!” Yet another says: “Plz help us. A certain community is threatening other communities to vacate the area in case YES wins.”

Unlike schools and offices in South Africa, the criminal gangs along the border between the World Cup hosts and Zimbabwe did not take a break because of a sports tournament. As thousands of foreign fans flocked to the football stadiums and hundreds of journalists arrived to cover the first African World Cup, along the border another influx of foreigners received a different sort of welcome. They were not met with bright green and yellow flags and vuvuzelas, instead, these foreigners faced armed attacks and a pattern of sexual violence employed systematically to traumatise already vulnerable people.

Some inmates at Campsfield House immigration removal centre in Oxfordshire are continuing to refuse meals. Detainees said the demonstration, which began on Monday, was due to people being detained for long periods. About 80 detainees decided not to take food on Tuesday evening, the UK Border Agency said.

International Relations and co-operation department director of Nepad, Harvey Short, says more than R770 million of South African state funds have been used to prop up states with human rights abuse records. These include Zimbabwe and Guinea, and no attempt was made to monitor the use of funds, nor evaluate what the effect of the cash windfalls were.

The impact of unfavourable weather on crops in recent weeks has led the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to cut its global wheat production forecast for 2010 to 651 million tonnes, from 676 million tonnes reported in June. However, despite production problems in some leading exporting countries, the world wheat market remains far more balanced than at the time of the world food crisis in 2007/08 and fears of a new global food crisis are not justified at this point, FAO said.

UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have appealed for the participation of all sectors of the Angolan society to ensure the vaccination of about 5.6 million children under five years against polio 6-8 August and 10-12 September. A joint statement by the two UN agencies said the exercise was aimed at protecting children in the country against the crippling disease, and a forerunner to Angola's plans to carry out a national vaccination campaign in 2011.