Tanzania’s foreign affairs minister, Bernard Membe, is up in arms over the decision by BAE Systems to pay 29.5-million pounds in settlement of the controversial sale of a radar system. He told a press conference in Dar es Salaam that apart from the decision being unfair, the British company’s move was aimed at tarnishing the image of the Tanzania government before the international community. He warned that if BAE Systems went ahead and paid the money to a charity organisation, such an organisation would not be allowed to operate in Tanzania.

Police arrested more than 20 people to break-up rare protests in the Angolan capital but released all of them the following day, police and activists said Thursday (26 May). An anti-poverty protest near downtown Luanda was organised by the 'Revolutionary Intervention Movement', a gathering of rights activists, they said. About 100 protesters called on President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to improve living conditions in Angola, where UNICEF estimates that 87 per cent of the urban population lives in shantytowns, often without water supplies.

The credibility of the African Union (AU) is being questioned, after news that Zimbabwe will assume the chairmanship of the bloc’s Peace and Security Council. The rotational chairmanship passes from South Africa to Zimbabwe in June. The Peace and Security Council, in theory, is meant to promote peace, security and stability across Africa, while promoting democracy, good governance and the rule of the law. It is also meant to uphold the protection of human rights.

Unless drastic action is taken to reduce unemployment, South Africa may face another 1976 uprising, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said. 'I have already over and over again pointed out the danger of a ticking bomb, that unless we can do something drastic about the crisis of unemployment, in particular youth unemployment, we risk another 1976 uprising,' he said in a speech delivered in Johannesburg. He was speaking at a discussion themed 'Critical conversations on prospects for a non-racial future in SA'.

South Africa believes that the Doha round of trade talks will not be finalised this year and that 'the 2011 window of opportunity is closed', according to Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies. Davies said that the round would focus on delivering a plan b, which would focus on the less controversial issues with the prime aim of delivering something substantial to less developed countries. Davies said that, at a recent ministerial conference, attendees focused on what part of plan b could be delivered, even if on a smaller scale. This included some subjects that were less controversial in terms of the World Trade Organisation's talks, such as trade facilitation issues, customs cooperation, the abolishment of subsidies on exports, non-tariff barriers in industrial tariffs, rules about regional trade agreements, as well as fishing subsidies.

On 8–10 June 2011, key stakeholders from all over the world will gather in New York to review progress of the global response to HIV/AIDS and to plan the way forward. This forum has the potential to reinvigorate the commitment to HIV/AIDS nationally and internationally. In light of this, on 20 May, SECTION27, TAC, Médecins Sans Frontières, the World AIDS Campaign and the AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa sent a letter to the Director General for Health calling on the South African government to take the lead in setting ambitious and measurable targets, and encouraging similar commitments from other UN member states.

Six opposition political parties have launched a coalition in Monrovia in a bid to oust President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the October polls. Johnson-Sirleaf is seeking re-election for a second five-year term, which she has promised to win against all odds. Several interest groups have also signed up with the coalition, arguing that they were supporting the coalition because of the ideals it stood for.

Ghanaians are being treated to fascinating intrigue and allegations of chicanery and underhand dealings as the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) scrambles to regain its grip ahead of an anticipated election primary. A few weeks ago former President Jerry Rawlings used the broken English language proverb of 'Who born dog' to support his claim that incumbent John Atta Mills was allowing his appointees to get away with poor performance, and that this would not have happened when he was in power. But Rawlings, considered the strongman of Ghanaian politics, is finding batting from the other side a tad unfamiliar, with an aide alleging that his boss's phone has been tapped by the country's intelligence service.

Figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that during 2011 Angola will leapfrog Morocco to become Africa’s fifth largest economy. Although growing, Angola's immediate influence on African affairs will not supercede that of the region's giants, South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt, says this article by Dominic Wall on 'The gap between the trio and the rest in economic size, demographics and political clout is considerable. ECOWAS, by far the most sophisticated and active regional bloc, is dependent upon Nigerian funding and manpower, while Southern Africa - besides Angola itself - relies heavily on South Africa. These and other factors mean the traditional giants will continue to dominate. But Angola’s rise has been, and is likely to remain rapid, despite a number of economic weaknesses. And the ability of the Dos Santos regime to influence events on a regional scale cannot be ignored.'

The Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations are posed to put aside the pledge on fighting poverty in developing nations. Their attention has now shifted to supporting the aspirations of ‘Arab up spring’ through a new commitment called ‘Deauville Partnership’. The world leaders said in a statement that the international development banks could give more than $20 billion to Egypt and Tunisia as they seek to support countries that overthrew dictators this year and are trying to establish free democracies.

A bomb blast rocked a popular drinking spot by an army barracks in northern Nigeria on Sunday 29 May, killing a dozen people hours after President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in for his first full term, officials said. A rescue worker who asked not to be identified told Reuters his colleagues had counted 12 dead bodies and that about 25 people had been wounded by the blast.

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As Africa celebrates Africa Liberation Day this week, the great challenge for the continent’s peoples remains liberation from privatisation, writes Horace Campbell.

As the weaponless people who made the Tunisian revolution organise to fill the dangerous gap between the fall of the dictatorship and the election on July 24th, Amanda Sebestyen joins a delegation of the World Social Forum to witness the changes.

A documentary made by South African film-makers Dylan Valley and Aryan Kaganof tried to piece together the real story of what happened to the residents of Hangberg, Hout Bay, when police attacked the community and destroyed their homes in a forced eviction in September 2010. But when a magazine interviewed Kaganof about what he discovered, he found that the media still shies from talking truth to power.

Cultural worker Claudia Wegener reflects on what the ideas of politicisation raised by Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘An African reflection on Tahrir Square’ might mean in a UK and global context.

Following last week's municipal elections in South Africa, Abahlali baseMjondolo have issued a statement on the threat posed by the eThekwini Municipality’s Land Invasion Unit.

With the country witness to sustained, diverse protests in the face of a repressive and unrepresentative regime, Burkina Faso’s people are no longer scared of their government, writes Pierre Sidy.

Travelling to Haiti every year to provide people with medical care, registered nurse Janice Karson is shocked to find that aid workers refuse to help Haitians in areas they see as ‘too dangerous’.

‘The current Libya invasion by the West is absolute portrayal of their failed impracticable democratic ideologies,’ writes Seth Ofori, in response to an article by Jean-Paul Pougala.