La Via Campesina calls on all the peasant organizations of the world and their allies to organize actions in the month of June.

An assault on the Libyan interim government headquarters has left one guard dead and several others wounded, according to reports. Fighters attacked and surrounded the building on Tuesday 8 May, demanding stipends that the government promised to pay to those who helped oust former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Nasser al-Manaa, an interim government spokesperson, said the armed protesters, some of them carrying mortars, tried to push their way into the building.

The 21-member Civil Society Constitution Coalition (CSCC) has welcomed the Draft Constitution released recently, saying some clauses provided for in the document were progressive. CSCC spokesperson, Leonard Chiti, said the coalition had noted some progressive clauses provided for in the document and that it would protect them so that other interest groups would not take advantage of their numbers or influence to water down or remove them.

The International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict unites organisations and individuals into a powerful and coordinated effort for change. 'Together we will demand bold political leadership to prevent rape in conflict, to protect civilians and rape survivors, and call for justice for all - including effective prosecution of those responsible.'

Website Africa Focus has a feature on HIV/AIDS and health as a human right. 'In the last 15 years, AIDS activists and medical professionals, in Africa and around the world, have won the recognition that the fight against AIDS, which disproportionately affects the African continent, is a shared global responsibility. Millions of lives have been saved. But the fight against AIDS and the wider commitment to health as a universal human right is now threatened by AIDS fatigue and austerity politics.'

Rebels in Sudan's western Darfur region said on Tuesday (8 May) they had seized control of a town from Sudanese government troops, part of their campaign to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government. 'Our forces entered Girayda, south of Nyala, and took over the garrison completely,' Abdullah Mursal, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction led by Minni Minnawi, said.

The new Constitution of Egypt is on the verge of being drafted. In order to support the forthcoming work of the drafters, ARTICLE 19 has produced a comprehensive policy brief outlining how the new Constitution should protect the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information. The brief is based on international legal standards on freedom of expression, including the decisions of international and regional human rights courts as well as the authoritative interpretation of international human rights law by the UN Human Rights Committee, regional mechanisms and other bodies, such as the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

A young person is three times more likely to be unemployed than an adult globally and if the disparity is not dealt with urgently economic protest will worsen. The International Labour Organisation revealed this and other shocking statistics at the Youth Employment Summit, hosted by the National Youth Development Agency, in Boksburg, East Rand. Unemployment remains high at 23.9 per cent in South Africa, and 70 per cent of the jobless are between the ages of 15 and 34.

Shoppers in Malawi have been scrambling to buy basic goods, fearing huge price rises after the currency was devalued by 33 per cent. The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says that many shops had run out of staple foods such as sugar, cooking oil and bread by the end of Monday. The kwacha was devalued as part of moves by the new government to restore donor funding. The central bank announced that one dollar would now be worth 250 kwacha, up from 168, while the peg to the US currency would be scrapped.

The Brazilian government of Dilma Rousseff is taking firm steps towards stronger relations with Africa, such as the creation of a special fund to finance development projects together with multilateral lenders like the World Bank. South America’s giant is keen on establishing a strategic association with Africa, and the tool for doing that is its powerful national development bank, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), which will work in conjunction with the multilateral African Development Bank (AfDB).

FEMNET is seeking to recruit a suitable person to fill the position of Head of Communication.

A two-week-long mass strike by doctors, who demanded a pay rise from hospitals in the Nigerian state of Lagos, has taken a deadly toll on a significant number of patients in need of urgent medical care. Hospital staff say many patients have either died or continue to suffer as the strike by about 1,000 doctors paralysed the medical institutions.

In connection with a recent gang rape video, Women’sNet has issued a statement supporting the criticism of organisations like Media Monitoring Africa, who have criticized the initial coverage of the story for revealing details about the alleged victim, and the Daily Sun’s publication of a picture of the girl involved. 'Survivors have a right to anonymity, and according to our law those who circulate and use images from this video are liable for prosecution.'

Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy has sparked controversy and debate over an article she wrote contending that women have not yet benefitted from the revolution and the women’s revolution won’t begin 'until the rage shifts from the oppressors in our presidential palaces to the oppressors on our streets and in our homes'. Critics have argued that while oppression does exist, her analysis is simplistic and irresponsible as it uses 'Orientalist' arguments to defame Arabic culture and serves a neo-colonial agenda of the 'white man'. In a blogpost, journalist and activist Mona Kareem called on Western media to highlight the voices of other Arab women for an accurate picture of 'Arab feminism'.

Egypt’s parliament on 6 May 2012 approved amendments to the Code of Military Justice that failed to end the unprecedented expansion of military trials of civilians, despite pleas for reform from the legal and human rights communities, Human Rights Watch said. In 2011 more than 12,000 civilians, including children, faced unfair military trials which fail to provide the basic due process rights of civilian courts, more than the number of military trials of civilians during 30 years of rule by former president Hosni Mubarak.

Zimbabwe’s new school term opened this week with teachers threatening another round of industrial action, if the government fails to meet their demands by June. The start of the last school term was marred by a nationwide strike, which only ended when the government agreed to pay teachers an extra US$58 and urgently address their needs.

At last week’s World Bank and IMF spring meetings, the G24, the group of developing countries governments made a bold bid to get debt work-out mechanisms back on the agenda. They called for a study on sovereign debt restructuring mechanisms, a topic which the IMF had ignored. The European debt crisis provided an opportunity to re-open the debate. Though the G24 call was not echoed in the International Monetary and Financial Committee’s statement, it was an important first step which shows how the problem of unpayable and illegitimate debt is increasing at international level.

When President Museveni signed the controversial Land Amendment Bill into law protection from illegal eviction was guaranteed. However, participants debating the issue of land grabbing in a public policy symposium in Kampala last week, cited state house, police, the lands ministry, investors and government officials among the key drivers of land disputes and illegal evictions.

Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete has sacked six ministers amid allegations of government corruption. He has been under pressure to deal with the scandal following a report by a body overseeing public finances. The inspector of the government's accounts noted the rampant misuse of funds in at least seven ministries.

Sudan has endorsed the African Union's (AU) roadmap to avert an all-out war with South Sudan, though it insisted on retaining the right to self-defence. Earlier, South Sudan said it had accepted the AU's seven-point roadmap that called for a cessation of hostilities. Based on the seven-point roadmap, the two countries have until next Tuesday to restart stalled negotiations and three months to reach an agreement.