Zimbabwe has been traumatised by the combined impact of political and economic authoritarianism, yet the MDC's economic policies and political practice reflect the very same neo-liberal flavour that has brought the Zimbabwean economy to its knees and devastated the lives of the Zimbabwean people. The MDC's failure, as a labour based party, to draw the working people of Zimbabwe into political activity in their own interest, as initiators of social and political change, means that in its present form and content the MDC can do little to end the misery of the Zimbabwean workers and peasants, argues this commentary on the Zimbabwe Indymedia web site.

Programs to assist and protect refugees worldwide currently face a financial crisis, says the US Committee for Refugees. Funding by donor nations for international refugee programs has been seriously inadequate during 2002, triggering major assistance cutbacks in refugee camps around the world.

Diamond miner De Beers marked the opening of a new store in London's West End by threatening legal action against campaigners for the bushmen of the Kalahari in an attempt to stop protests spoiling the opening. The move underlines the way companies are increasingly aggressive in their treatment of those they feel are damaging their brands while being keen to present themselves as socially responsible.

A Ugandan-backed rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said on Monday it had suspended its participation in peace talks being held in South Africa, complaining it had become "marginalised." RCD-Liberation Movement (RCD-ML) leader Mbusa Nyamwisi said the talks had become a "surrealistic psychodrama" where the signing of an accord had become more important than achieving peace.

East Africa risks attracting terrorist attacks and becoming a theatre in the war against terror unless its governments improve their handling of refugees, a group of international human-rights lawyers have warned.

The Council of Europe has adopted an optional Protocol to update the European Convention on Cybercrime. The protocol criminalises the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems. It also makes it an offence for sites to deny, minimise, approve of or justify crimes against humanity, in particular acts during the Second World War. For any act to be an offence under the Protocol, it must be done intentionally. This should prevent service providers who unknowingly host such material being guilty of an offence. The aim of the Protocol is to harmonise international cooperation in this area, as various EU States have already introduced anti-racism legislation. The Protocol has a way to go before it could become law, and many have expressed doubts over its possible effectiveness because the Bush administration in the US has announced that they will not support it.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will fill a significant void in the international legal system, fulfilling the objective of safeguarding higher values such as protection of human rights - an obligation that transcends state borders, according to the Nigerian Coalition on the ICC (NCICC). The NCICC also noted that that there is need for civil society/government partnership on the implementation of the Rome Statute in Nigeria.

Tens of thousands of refugees in the capitals of Kenya and Uganda are living in dire and dangerous conditions, and national governments are taking insufficient steps to address their plight, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. Human Rights Watch also criticized intergovernmental agencies for neglecting their responsibilities to protect and assist refugees in Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda.

The United Nations Security Council should extend the arms embargo on Liberia to all rebel groups, and closely monitor the compliance of the Guinean government with that embargo, Human Rights Watch says. In a new report, "Liberian Refugees in Guinea: Refoulement, Militarization of Camps, and Other Protection Concerns", Human Rights Watch said the Guinean government's close relationship with Liberian rebel groups is posing a serious threat to refugees' security and protection in Guinea.

Negotiations between the Congolese government and two rebel groups have produced an agreement in principle on the workings of a transitional government, the South African government said.

South Africa has one of the worst TB epidemics in the world, with an incidence rate of 362 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province, where there are 500 cases for every 100,000 people, this fact is hard to miss. Various factors - poverty, HIV/AIDS, and lack of infrastructure - all contribute to rising TB rates. But a new project is using modern technology to fight the scourge.

There are growing reports of fighting breaking out between government troops and Mai-Mai militias in Katanga province, in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda is beginning the process of setting up a nationwide system of community courts to try more than 100,000 suspects in the genocide war of the mid-1990s in which up to a million people are believed to have died.

The Miss World beauty circus fled to Britain on Sunday while in northern Nigeria the death toll continued to mount in bloody sectarian rioting fuelled by Muslim anger at the pageant. As around 90 contestants arrived in London, the Nigerian Red Cross said that the toll in the flashpoint city of Kaduna had passed the 200 mark and that violence linked to the event was expected to continue.

The Sudanese government has agreed to allow Ugandan soldiers to continue an offensive against Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels inside Sudan, just a few days after ordering them to leave. Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza told IRIN on Monday that Khartoum had agreed to allow the UPDF to continue to operate in southern Sudan for as long as it took to wipe out LRA bases there.

A wave of pre-election violence and protests which have rocked Kenya's political party nomination process over the past week is raising serious concerns ahead of the country's presidential, parliamentary and civic polls slated for 27 December.

Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile has apparently been instructed by President Thabo Mbeki to fire three MECs -- Education MEC Stone Sizani, Roads and Public Works MEC Phumulo Masualle and Social Development MEC Ncumisa Kondlo. The province is awash with rumours as to why Mbeki had demanded the action, with one suggestion being that they are part of a "leftist" clique and that their removal is part of a purge.

In the face of vastly reduced crop estimates for next year, the Famine and Early Warning Systems Network says that the Zimbabwe government and NGOs need to step up efforts to provide food aid to about 6.7 million people, whose food security is under threat.

A new round of ceasefire talks to end Burundi’s nine-year old civil war failed to get underway on Tuesday, as rebels of the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) said they did not get the invitation to attend.

The president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, has announced that a referendum will be held next year on changing the constitution. Correspondents say Mr Gbagbo's move is significant as on the same day, the rebels seemed to soften their demand for his resignation when they submitted their peace proposals to West African mediators.