In this week's roundup of emerging powers news, the World Bank says foreign investors are crowding out African producers, Singapore leads ASEAN investment into Africa, AU wants to replace Western partners with China, China and Rio Tinto complete Guinea mining deal, and China invests heavily in Brazil, elsewhere in pursuit of political heft.

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In this week's emerging powers in Africa round-up, a big shift in trade relations is taking shape across Africa, China's Liu Zhenmin meets AU Chairman Ping, India targets more links in Africa’s food supply chain, World Cup lends South Africa confidence to unite continent, and NGOs slam EU-Brazil plans to develop biofuels in Africa.

High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has been in Kinshasa as part of a three-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo to draw attention to the plight of Congo's displaced people and the need to ensure humanitarian access to them. Guterres who travelled to Equateur province in western DRC, said that his agency was getting ready to re-establish a presence in the region to help the internally displaced as well as prepare for the return of refugees.

A New England Journal of Medicine study has revealed that early initiation of antiretroviral treatment could reduce death rates and the Tuberculosis incidence.

Amnesty International is calling on the Gambian government to end its widespread use of arbitrary detentions and torture as activists worldwide stage protests against the authorities' appalling human rights record on 22 July, the country's national holiday known as "Freedom Day".

When Omar, an 18 year-old Moroccan college student, fell in love with his classmate Salma, he felt nervous about broaching the use of condoms with her. It was his first time having sexual relations and he feared that she might question his fidelity. “I was afraid she would be angry if I suggested we use a condom,” he said. “I was afraid of losing her – so afraid that I thought of giving up the whole idea of using a condom.”

The Dutch government should immediately halt all plans to return Somalis to war-torn Somalia, Human Rights Watch has said. The Dutch authorities have announced their intention to deport, between now and October 2010, at least eight Somalis whose claims for asylum have been rejected. The first deportation could take place as early as July 24. The plan is contrary to UN refugee guidelines, which advise against all deportations to south-central Somalia.

On Monday, August 30th, the Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) at Columbia University will welcome as the 22nd cohort of the Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP). The intensive HRAP curriculum is defined by academic coursework, skills-building workshops and networking opportunities with the human rights communities in New York and Washington, DC. By the time the advocates complete the program in mid-December, they will have acquired the knowledge, skills and connections necessary to further develop themselves as human rights professionals and their organizations back home.

Across the world, but especially in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, young people are taking action to protect themselves from HIV, says a new study by UNAIDS. "Young people have shown that they can be change agents in the prevention revolution," the agency said in a supplement to the OUTLOOK Report 2010, released ahead of the International AIDS Conference starting in Vienna, Austria, on 18 July.

It does not rain, but it pours for the GALZ duo, who are facing charges of allegedly possessing pornographic material as they are likely to stand trial on a second charge of undermining the authority of President Robert Mugabe. In a letter given to representing lawyers by state prosecutor Memory Mukapa the two Ellen Chademana and Ignatious Muhambi are being accused of contravening Section 33(2) (ii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23(undermining authority of or insulting President) ARW Section 277(4) &(5) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.

According to a new report from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, the Fund's efforts have contributed to saving an estimated 4.9 million lives by December 2009. The coming years will see even more results, as half of the total disbursements by the Global Fund were delivered in 2008 and 2009. Much of the US$ 5.4 billion of financing approved in Rounds 8 and 9 will reach countries in 2010 and 2011, and will continue to significantly boost health outcomes.

When the United Nations hosts a summit meeting of world leaders next September to assess the current state of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is expected to single out one of the major "success stories" of the day: a reduction in global poverty. But have there been any real, significant successes in the absolute number of people worldwide who have escaped poverty?

They inhabit a polluted part of Ivory Coast's main city with few jobs and a swelling population, but residents of Abidjan's slums have a rare respite: a stretch of pristine rainforest. From their wooden shacks and unpainted concrete houses by motorways on the edge of Banco National Park, the millions who live in north Abidjan need no lesson on its worth. "This forest is a great thing," said textile worker Sebastien Coulibaly, 35, in front of the sky-scraping green mass of vines and broccoli-shaped trees.

Sudanese government has expelled two foreign employees of the International Organization for Migration working in the country's Darfur region, the agency said Thursday. The organization's Geneva-based spokesman, Jean-Philippe Chauzy, said the Sudanese government gave no explanation for the move. The expulsion order comes days after the International Criminal Court charged Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, with genocide in Darfur.

For a while after the global financial crisis broke, we were told that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would change. The Group of Twenty (G-20) meeting in April 2009 provided a massive increase in resources for the IMF to provide lending to countries affected by the crisis. In return, the Fund announced that it was going to be more supportive of enlarged fiscal deficits and other expansionary measures in the face of the crisis, and provide large amounts of funds to developing countries to cope with the situation.

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, has allocated some $41 million to underfunded humanitarian operations in nine countries across the globe where people are suffering the effects of hunger, malnutrition, disease, and conflict. The funds made available today will be granted to United Nations humanitarian agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and through them to partner organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to cover funding gaps in key humanitarian projects in the affected countries

IDMC has compiled a table showing the estimated numbers of IDPs over the past decade in all the countries which it monitors. The figures include people internally displaced by conflict, generalised violence or human rights violations. They are compiled from the figures published from 2001 to 2009 in IDMC’s annual summaries Internal displacement: Global overview of trends and developments.

In this week's roundup of emerging powers news, Zimbabwe, China strengthen economic cooperation, China Cement Maker Signs S. Africa Deal, Chinese-built hospital risks collapse in Angola, India commits USD 6.7 mn to African bank, and Lula da Silva to visit Cape Verde in July.

In this week's roundup of emerging powers news, will Japan follow in India and China’s footsteps?, World Bank votes $180m for research in Africa, China and Africa envision new security cooperation, China's Sinopec reports oil discovery in Nigeria, and SA and Brazil pledge to boost trade.