Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has lashed out at the government's handling of the suspension of crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, becoming the first minister to speak out about the atmosphere of 'fear' it has generated. Mdluli was suspended for a third time yesterday when Johannesburg Labour Court Judge Andre van Niekerk ruled that a court order setting aside Mdluli's suspension be rescinded. Sexwale said failure by the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to act effectively against those accused of serious offences resulted in the public losing confidence in the security services, the justice system and the constitution.

Regional leaders mediating in Zimbabwe said they want to see democratic and constitutional reforms before fresh elections can be held next year. The Southern African Development Community called on Zimbabwe's coalition government to work on a new constitution and put it to a referendum to adhere to the terms of the power sharing deal brokered by the group in 2009, according to a statement released by the group Saturday.

The politician who led Lesotho for the last 14 years will now be leading the opposition after his party failed to win a majority in parliament in weekend elections in this mountainous southern African country. A day after Pakalitha Mosisili resigned as prime minister, Lincoln Ralechate Mokose, the secretary general of his Democratic Congress Party, said in a telephone interview that 'our stand is to concede and work in parliament as opposition'.

This article written by Ndifuna Ukwazi researcher Fritz Jooste recognises recent commitments made by Cape Town mayor, Patricia De Lille, and the City to address service delivery shortcomings in poorer areas, but it goes on to identify certain obstacles that stand in the way of meaningful engagement between local government and communities, calling on the City to address these.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Ghana to remove subsidies on energy and fuel, a move that is likely to be met with resistance as it will make the commodities more expensive. Ghana's neighbour, Nigeria at one point removed fuel subsidies but the move was met with fierce and sometimes violent resistance. The IMF advised that a public service audit and the scrapping of subsidies will generate monthly savings of about GH¢160 million, which are needed to protect more productive expenditure and allow for an expansion of well-targeted social programmes to help the most vulnerable groups to cope with the tighter cost of living.

France is not ruling out military intervention in Mali, but the former colonial power says that would only be in the context of a UN Security Council resolution. That was the gist of the message newly-elected French President François Hollande put across at a joint press conference with Benin’s President Boni Yayi following a closed-door meeting in Paris. Boni Yayi is the first African president to be received at the Elysée Palace since the election of Hollande.

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the Political and Security Committee of the European Union have called for 'concerted international action' and inclusive solution to the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, worsened by the coup d'etat of 12 April. According to a statement, made available to PANA in Luanda, Angola, the call is part of the recommendations at the fifth annual advisory meeting between the two councils, held from 29 to 30 May, 2012, in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

Turkey has adopted a new course in foreign policy toward Africa under the impact of a new geographic imagination, states this article. 'The novel geographic imagination of Turkish policy-makers has been strongly influenced by Turkey's recent domestic political transformation and, to a lesser extent, by changes in regional and international politics.'

The TaxCast from the Tax Justice Network is a 15 minute podcast that follows the latest news relating to tax evasion, tax avoidance and the shadow banking system. In the latest podcast, tax haven insiders speak out, the co-founder of Facebook ‘unfriends’ the US, and Europe considers a Financial Transaction Tax.

cc S SThe first round of the presidential elections was organized to produce the result that Washington and the Egyptian ruling power are pursuing, that is, to reinforce the alliance between the two pillars of the system, the high command of the Army and the Moslem Brotherhood.

It is important for the Egyptian revolutionaries to build new structures outside of parliament and outside of the rigged game that is called elections.

About one hundred Delft residents who are living in temporary structures whilst waiting for the government to provide them with RDP houses, blocked Symphony Way Road by burning tyres in a protest over their living conditions yesterday. This demonstration was the latest in a series of such protests in the area. Two weeks ago residents burnt tyres on the same road for the same reason.

This essay examines social media content leading up to the presidential elections in May 2012, providing ten interactive graphs to illustrate public opinion expressed on Twitter.

Would the Bank dare practice what it preaches about ending ‘inefficient’ subsidization, given how it amplifies irrational power relations when maintaining the world’s largest fossil-fuel financing portfolio?

Whilst the Egyptian people continue artistically expressing themselves, the Egyptian government is busy painting over the walls of history in and around Tahrir square that document the uprising.

Science shows that sexuality is formed beginning childhood. It is entirely possible one can grow up to be sexually attracted to persons of the same sex.

The UN has adopted around hundred resolutions reaffirming the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination. Yet Sahrawis are still denied the legitimate and fundamental right to vote on the fate of their homeland.

'With the ANC's attempt to legalise this regime, are we making a return to apartheid or could it be just as true that for rural South Africans as well as shackdwellers, history was never left behind?'

A week ago, Tel Aviv's African migrant community came under a sustained mob attack, including vandalism, looting and firebombing. These events, and their aftermath, provide further evidence of the inherently racist nature of political Zionism.

Increasing the rewards for those forces able to capture the state, by any means necessary, inevitably leads to war.