Alpha Condé, the "eternal opposition leader" of Guinea who is widely believed to have won the 1993 presidential election, is gathering the largest crowds as Guinea's first truly democratic poll has kicked off.

South African Foreign Affairs officials in Pretoria are making frantic efforts to squeeze in a meeting between President Jacob Zuma and the three principals who will be at the official opening of the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup opens in Johannesburg on Friday and Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara have been invited to attend. The three will travel to the football extravaganza having failed to agree on any of the outstanding issues in the GPA during their Tuesday meeting in Harare.

Survivors of the brutal conflict that has wracked northern Uganda for two decades, most of them young people, must be helped back on their feet by supporting their efforts to acquire skills that will help them reintegrate into society, a United Nations envoy has said after spending a week in the country. “Armed conflict creates victims, but also survivors whose resilience must be reinforced by government, international organizations and civil society as well as adequate rehabilitation and reintegration programmes,” said Radhika Coomaraswamy, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

The United Nations human rights chief has urged the Kenyan Government to reconsider setting up a special tribunal to pursue accountability for the crimes committed during the violence that followed the disputed December 2007 elections. “I have been assured that this option is still open,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement issued at the end of a three-day visit to Kenya.

Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir has agreed to negotiate with the Southern Sudan on a pre-referendum that could herald the split of the semi-autonomous Southern Sudan from mainland Sudan. The Sudanese leader met the top leader of an African Union special panel on Darfur, Thabo Mbeki, former South African President, and announced he was ready for pre-referendum negotiations.

The global economic recovery continues to advance, but Europe's debt crisis has created new hurdles on the road to sustainable medium term growth, cautions the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects 2010 released on Wednesday. The World Bank projects global GDP to expand between 2.9% and 3.3% in 2010 and 2 011, strengthening to between 3.2% and 3.5% in 2012, reversing the 2.1% decline in 2009.

The global economy is likely to grow 2.9 per cent to 3.3 per cent in 2010 and 2011, the World Bank said. The bank, however, said that "Europe's debt crisis poses problems for global growth". In its latest Global Economic Prospects 2010, it said global economic recovery continued to advance "but Europe's debt crisis has created new hurdles on the road to sustainable medium term growth".

Partner states of the East African Community (EAC) and the European Commission (EC) have ended their third negotiations session here on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), observing that the main challenge in accessing the European Union market continued to be stringent rules of origin. Both sides, however, have affirmed their recognition of development needs of the EAC region and their commitment to ensure that EPA is an addition to development that would promote and consolidate regional integration and fast track the integration of the EAC into the global economy.

UN Standing Committee on Nutrition has called for more diverse food sources to curb the impact of climate change on agriculture. The committee made the call in its latest publication. It reported that climate change trends will also affect food and nutrition security.

Six countries in Central Africa have committed to end the recruitment of child soldiers, a move welcomed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as a step forward in giving all young people in the region a better life. In the N’Djamena Declaration adopted yesterday, the six – Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Niger, Nigeria and Sudan – outlined their commitments to child protection in line with global standards, including those in the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

The United Nations envoy in Côte d’Ivoire has urged a new impetus for the country’s electoral process and reunification efforts to overcome the ongoing political impasse and make progress towards the holding of the long-delayed presidential polls. The objective in the immediate future is to concentrate on the production of the definitive electoral list, Y. J. Choi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said in Abidjan on Wednesday following a meeting with the head of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire, Henri Konan Bédié.

Gado's cartoons this week feature an alternative example of security checks during US Vice-President Joe Biden's trip to Kenya, Barack Obama being called by Nairobi about his support for Kenya's new constitution, the 2010 East African budget, and China & North Korea vs the US & Israel over nuclear weapons.

The OECD’s latest annual report on African economic development presents its findings on the economic performance and prospects of growth on the continent. Stephen Marks reflects on the report’s call for taxation reforms, and suggests a need for more 'effective, efficient and fair taxation in Africa’, to alleviate aid dependence and vulnerability to global financial downturns.

Ten days after the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine activists dead, the response from African governments and civil society groups is unrelenting. Organisation continues around the effort to condemn the 31 May attack, and to dismantle the Gaza blockade. Pambazuka News provides an update of last week’s condemning the violence against both the aid workers and the Palestinians of Gaza.

Religious fundamentalism in Kenya has played a central role in the orchestration of gross human rights abuses against transsexuals and other minorities, writes Audrey Mbugua. Urging people to change their mentality, Mbugua argues that ‘we need to respect the human rights of others whether we – or our holy books – agree with how they live their lives or not. At the end of the day, the important question is whether the other person’s acts cause harm to others or not.’

In producing often 'negative resource transfers' (from developing to developed countries), development aid and official development assistance (ODA) essentially remain an exercise in taking money from poor countries for the purpose of enriching wealthier ones, writes Charles Abugre. Given the difficulty of enforcing ODA commitments and the need to halt the net transfer of developing countries' resources, poorer countries should look towards drawing upon SWFs (Sovereign Wealth Funds) in combination with the globally fast-growing Islamic bond market, Abugre argues.

The religious landscape in South Africa has been transformed by elements of the ‘born again’ evangelical church that are quietly penetrating political life, writes Dale T. McKinley. Life in South Africa has long been heavily influenced by religion, but until the recent appearance and stunning growth of the evangelical wing, there has been limited interference in politics. The new right-wing, ultra-conservative presence is pervasive, with 24-hour television networks that create celebrity-style leaders, community outreach events and missionary work.

The question Israelis should be asking themselves about the attack on the aid flotilla on 31 May shouldn’t be why their navy failed to plan for a scenario of violent resistance by individuals on the vessel, says Hagai El-Ad, it should be why Israel’s naval forces were defending the blockade on Gaza in the first place. While most Israelis feel no responsibility for the fate of Gaza’s inhabitants, El-Ad writes, the siege ‘represents a blatant violation of Gazan civilians' human rights’. ‘If not for the siege of Gaza's population, there would be no need for an international humanitarian mission – genuine or provocative.’

The first black South African to become bishop of the Anglican diocese of Natal, and chairman of the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council (KZNCC), Rubin Phillip is playing a crucial role in opposing the government’s attempted subjugation of Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), a South African shack-dweller movement, writes Emma Pomfret. Pomfret investigates the recent traumas endured by AbM, and talks to the bishop about his commitment to seeing those who are suffering take charge of their own destiny.

The Ethiopian election that ushered Meles Zenawi back to power with a 99.6 per cent majority is a testament to the tyranny of the powerful and the hypocrisy of the collective opposition, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. The opposition parties, through inaction and submission, betrayed the Ethiopian people and must share blame for this most recent violation of democratic rights. To atone, the opposition needs to make a public apology and a renew its commitment to speak the truth.