Key players in the global trade arena have not shown the kind of flexibility to indicate that a Doha deal could be reached in the next year or so, International Trade and Economic Development Deputy Director General Xavier Carim has said.

Less than 100 kilometres from the second-largest dam in Africa, women walk with their babies strapped on their back, water pails balanced on their heads. They walk slowly, their bodies tired. And as night falls, and darkness hits the red sand of the dirt road, they disappear into the dark.

Reports that China is financing investments to the tune of $7bn in military-ruled Guinea in exchange for access to its resources have re-ignited western fears about Chinese activities in Africa. Portrayed as a callous grab for resources that ignores the recent killing of Guinean opposition protesters by government troops, closer analysis of the situation reveals as much about foreign perceptions of China in Africa as its does about one of the continent's most significant economic relationships.

The lack of confidence in global markets has driven some countries to push ahead with alternative food security strategies built around direct investment and bilateral relationships. State-backed investments in foreign land for food production have attracted considerable attention over the past year.

The US is preparing to give Mali's army millions of dollars worth of military hardware to help them fight al-Qaeda's North African branch. Trucks, powerful communication devices and clothing are among $5m (£3m) of equipment being handed over.

The Guinean Prime Minister, Kabine Komara, has hailed the decision of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to investigate the 28 Sept massacre of protesters in Conakry by elements of the Guinean military. In a broadcast to the nation Wednesday, the Prime Minister said the decision would make it possible to identify all those involved in the killing of civilians who were protesting an alleged plan by mili tary leader Moussa Dadis Camara to transmute to a civilian leader by participating in the forthcoming presidential election.

On 22 October, only moments before the funeral service of the late Eunice Nothemba Boyseen, a group of police officers arrived at Mrs Boyseen's house and attempted to illegally evict her daughter Dora Boyseen and the rest of her family. Luckily, residents were able to prevent this eviction from taking place.

The top United Nations envoy to the Côte d’Ivoire today called on the West African nation to build on momentum towards holding its much-delayed presidential elections, slated for the end of next month.

A new United Nations report calls for the lifting of restrictions and costly fees imposed on the $40 billion that migrant workers send home to Africa each year, the world body’s agency tasked with eradicating rural poverty has said. “Supporting this people-to-people money flow to rural areas of Africa is especially vital now because of the recession,” said International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Assistant President, Kevin Cleaver.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has urged Robert Mugabe to ‘relinquish power’ saying the ZANU PF leader alone was ‘responsible for the political stalemate’ in Zimbabwe. Speaking in France during a joint press conference with the French Foreign Affairs Minister, Odinga did not mince his words, bluntly saying; ‘In Zimbabwe Mr. Mugabe is not part of the solution to the political problem; he himself, is the problem.’

Over the years, The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children - GAMCOTRAP has been engaged in consistent grassroots activism and social mobilisation through training and sensitization activities to raise consciousness of men and women on the Effects of FGM on the reproductive health rights of women and girl-children.

Kenya’s government is in talks with Beijing over development of a multi-billion dollar port and transport corridor that could provide a new export route for Chinese oil in southern Sudan. The cash-strapped Kenyan government opened negotiations with Qatar over a potential $3.5bn investment in the port project late last year in return for a lease on 40,000 hectares of land to grow crops.

South Africa has signed a deal with the Republic of Congo that will give South African farmers access to up to 10 million hectares of farmland, the country's biggest farmers' union said. The deal, potentially one of the largest land agreements on the continent and part of Congo's plan to improve food security, will allow South African farmers to lease land for maize, soy beans, poultry and dairy cattle among other produce.

Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party keeps a tight grip on power by ensuring that its political opponents stay weak but recently opposition forces have shown fresh signs of life.

The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) with financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) convened a 5 day Human Rights Summer Course for Human Rights Defenders in the Great Lakes region from 4th -9th October 2009 at Nile Resort Hotel Jinja, Uganda.

How can civil society most effectively work for peacebuilding? This working paper from the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding presents the findings of a comparative research project which analysed the performance of civil society in regards to protection, monitoring, advocacy, socialisation, social cohesion, facilitation, and service delivery in situations of war and armed conflict.

Peacekeepers serving with the joint United Nations-African Union mission in Sudan’s war-wracked Darfur region have intervened in deadly tribal clashes, bringing the situation under control. The fighting between the Zaghawa and Birgid tribes near Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur state killed two people, with six people from both sides sustaining injuries. Four people who were critically wounded were taken by helicopter to El Fasher by the mission, known as UNAMID, for treatment at a Government hospital.

Boosting energy efficiency in South African industry in the face of economy-threatening energy shortages and promoting environmentally-friendly production in Tunisia are the focus of two new United Nations projects. The Swiss Government will help fund the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) projects under the accord signed in Bern, the Swiss capital.

At least a dozen people have been murdered in Guinea over the past month in what police suspect is a flare up in revenge attacks for last month's bloody government crackdown on protesters. The attacks come amid increasing international condemnation of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara's ruling military junta after gunmen opened fire on unarmed demonstrators in a stadium on Sept 28.

African women’s organizations at the national level have been mobilized to form National Working Groups to review their country’s progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action. We hope that in preparing for the Africa Regional meeting on Beijing +15 for Member States in November 2009, and for the NGO Forum and CSW 54 in 2010, each National Working Group will have a document identifying 12 key accomplishments that have been made since Beijing + 10 Review process in 2004, and 12 key areas where critical gaps remain that governments must commit to address.