An ethnic Hutu opposition candidate who hoped to run for president in Rwanda has been denied the right to appear on the ballot because of charges of denying the country’s genocide, party officials said today. Victoire Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years, a return she says she made because the country needs an open discussion to promote reconciliation.

The last of three ceremonies to rebury victims of Rwanda's 1994 genocide who were washed up on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda has taken place. Nearly 11,000 bodies thrown into rivers in Rwanda were recovered from the lake and buried by Ugandan villagers. Their bodies have now all been exhumed from different places and buried at three special memorial sites.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Nigerian Bar Association Human Rights Institute and other Nigerian human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are deeply concerned by reports of a decision by the Nigerian government to resume the execution of prison inmates. The reason given by the authorities for the resumption is to ease prison congestion.

A new International Monetary Fund (IMF) working paper entitled “Mining Taxation: an application to Mali” analyses the structure of the mining taxation system in Mali. It follows the regressive path set forth by the World Bank, consisting of attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) by lowering royalty taxes in the gold mining sector at the expense of lower government revenues collected through these royalties.

The Security Council has joined the chorus of United Nations condemnation of the ambush by unknown assailants in Darfur in which three soldiers serving with the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force were killed and a fourth was seriously wounded. More than 20 gunmen opened fire without warning on the blue helmets as they were providing security to civilian engineers working near the West Darfur village of Nertiti, according to the peacekeeping mission, known as UNAMID.

The Joint Operations Command (JOC), a state security organization only accountable to Robert Mugabe, is spearheading ZANU PF’s campaign to foist the Kariba draft on the people of Zimbabwe. Since the constitutional outreach programme started on Monday SW Radio Africa has been inundated with reports of soldiers roaming towns and districts intimidating people to toe the ZANU PF line.

A measles outbreak in Malawi has killed 82 people, mostly children, and infected more than 17,000 others, a senior health official said. Dr Storn Kabuluzi, director of preventive health services in the department of health, said efforts were being made to vaccinate those most at risk.

The 1st African Broadcast and Film Conference attracted over 200 participants from across the continent, There was a real buzz in the air as many people within Africa’s broadcast industry met for the first time. This 2nd African Broadcast and Film Conference will take place over two days (28-29 July 2010) in Kenya at the Kenyatta Centre in Nairobi. Key topics include a session on Africa’s newest generation of Free-to-Air and Pay TV Challengers, a look at how broadcasters can generate local content and a look at multi-platform strategies with social networking and blogs.

Perhaps Africa's World Cup began in earnest on Jun. 16, when a despondent green and gold-clad crowd began leaving the Loftus Versfeld stadium even before the end of South Africa's heavy defeat to Uruguay. Migrant African fans felt the first touch of cold post-tournament reality. In their final game on Jun. 22, Bafana Bafana, as the country's national team is known, went on to shine brightly for an hour against a pathetic France, but despite taking a two-goal lead, faded at the finish to make an unwelcome mark in the record books as the first host in the World Cup's 80-year history to fail to make through to the second round.

Four hundred sixty-five refugees from different nationalities are detained in various police stations at Sinai. Within the framework of the EFRR’s follow up on the cases of detained refugees in Sinai police stations, a committee was formed by the foundation. The committee is made of 4 lawyers who have visited north Sinai governor.

Souréba, 3, is as light as a bird. Resting on her mother’s knee, the little girl seems indifferent to the noises and movements around her. When her mother, Habsatou, tries to give her some therapeutic food on her finger, the child turns away from the brown milky mixture. She is emaciated and has lost her appetite.

At least 12 people either died in landslides or drowned in rising waters following the torrential rains that fell in Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital, Thursday, according to the National Civil Protection Office.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has reshuffled cabinet ministers, dropping four and re-assigning several others to new portfolios. The changes affected only ministers from his party, which formed a coalition government with President Robert Mugabe last year to end years of bitter wrangling.

The trial of Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and eight councillors on allegations of criminally defaming businessman Philip Chiyangwa in which five journalists will appear as witnesses, was on 22 June 2010 moved to 23 September 2010 by Harare magistrate Olivia Mariga.

A court in Kenya has ruled that prisoners will be allowed to vote in a referendum on a new constitution. It is the first time that prisoners in the East Africa nation have been given the right to vote. The ruling applies only to voting in August's referendum, but correspondents say it may lead to further concessions for future elections.

The winner of Guinea's hugely significant upcoming presidential election should urgently focus on rebuilding the rule of law and holding human rights abusers to account, Human Rights Watch has said. The first round of voting is scheduled for June 27, 2010.

The MSMGF is pleased to announce the launch of our newest policy brief, HIV Prevention with MSM: Balancing Evidence with Rights-based Principles of Practice. This document details the current context for the development and implementation of HIV prevention efforts targeting MSM, provides an overview of available MSM-specific HIV prevention strategies, and offers a look at recent guidelines from global health institutions.

Experts in renewable energy have met in Accra, Ghana to discuss how policy-makers can support the harvesting of abundant renewable energy and thus open the door for sustainable African development. The workshop organized by the World Future Council Foundation, in Hamburg, Germany, in cooperation with the Energy Commission of Ghana brought together representatives from utilities, regulators, industry and civil society from ten African countries who are determined to expand their cooperation under the umbrella of the African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA).

Public hearings for a new constitution continue to be blighted by the endless persecution of people taking part, or those known to be aligned to the MDC. There were reports that 3 MDC activists were abducted by state security agents in Chief Svosve’s area in Mashonaland East province. Eye witnesses say Rodreck Shamu, Temba Masimara and another person identified only as Makunyadze, were abducted by a group of armed men driving a white double-cab CAM truck. Worryingly for the MDC the whereabouts of the activists remains unknown. The party says the three were targeted because they had been instrumental in mobilising MDC supporters in the area to participate in the outreach meeting

KwaZulu-Natal’s health department is using a plastic device in its mass male circumcision drive that speeds up the procedure but has significant side-effects in adult men. Doctors who spoke anonymously to Health-e, expressed concern about the department’s use of the Tara Klamp (TK), a disposable device designed to stay on the penis for around seven days until it falls off with the foreskin.