Landmines planted about a decade ago in parts of Kabalo territory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) southeastern Katanga Province are adversely affecting farming livelihoods, and an important World Food Programme (WFP) project. 'In our area, there are villages where we get much harvest but the road leading to those villages [has] landmines,' a food trader from Kabalo said. Lorries often get blown up by the landmines, Birindwa Murhula, a leader of one of the local food traders’ associations, told IRIN.

Israel was swift to recognize the new state of South Sudan in July 2011, reports the LA Times. 'Following the formation of the state, Israel ended collective protection for those from South Sudan and wants asylum seekers to leave the country. The window for voluntary departure and a $1,300 incentive closes March 31; those still in Israel would be deported after that.'

Egypt’s Free Egyptians liberal political party issued a statement on Monday warning the government of serious repercussions from the shortage of basic commodities and the rise in prices across the country. The party said that the shortages 'have become a huge burden on the shoulders of the Egyptian family, especially the poor and low-income workers.' It said an uprising of the poor could take place if the government is not careful.

Blog Africa is a Country highlights how Nigerian producers Chris Dada and Funmi Iyanda, the creators of chopcassava.com which documented fuel subsidy protests in Nigeria, have stitched together their short viral films and video-blog diary made during the protests. What ChopCassava’s reporting made increasingly clear was, says Africa is a Country, was that the protests developed into the question of 'the way how we are governed as a people'.

All seven districts in Barotseland, the western region of Zambia, where a two day mass rally was convened Monday, have backed calls for the region to secede from the rest of Zambia, state radio reported Tuesday 27 March. The Barotse National Council which called for the meeting said Mongu,Sesheke,Kalabo, Senanga,Kaoma,Shangombo and Lukulu supported the secession of Barotseland.

Post-election violence victims living in Uganda want the government to help them return home. The more than 1,500 Kenyans at Kiryandogo camp, about 300km from Kampala, however, want assurances of safety and that they will be given land. 'We have been in Uganda for four years and we believe there can never be peace and reconciliation when some of the affected people are languishing in poverty outside Kenya,' the group said in a memorandum to Special Programmes minister Esther Murugi.

The Euro crisis is expected to weigh heavily on Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Africa because the European Union (EU) is the largest aid provider to the continent, an Economic Report on Africa 2012, released by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) warns. The report, 'Unleashing Africa’s Potential as a Pole of Global Growth', released at the ongoing meeting of African Finance Ministers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, notes that a handful of countries, such as France and Italy, had already reduced bilateral assistance to Africa because of the global economic crisis.

IMF policy recommendations are often criticised for being too restrictive, procyclical and paying little attention to country-specific circumstances. In the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, the Fund showed some policy rethinking, bringing about expectations of change. However, Rathin Roy and Raquel A. Ramos of the UNDP Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth analyse IMF policy recommendations given to developing countries and conclude that headquarters’ receptiveness to new approaches has not been translated into policy analysis or recommendations.

Swaziland is planning a censorship law that will ban Facebook and Twitter users from criticising its autocratic ruler, King Mswati III. Africa's last absolute monarch is facing growing protests over his undemocratic regime which has pushed the tiny mountain kingdom to the brink of bankruptcy. But Mswati's justice minister, Mgwagwa Gamedze, told the Swazi senate: 'We will be tough on those who write bad things about the king on Twitter and Facebook. We want to set an example.'

Cardiologist Wouter Basson is appearing before the Health Professions Council of SA to face a remaining four charges of unprofessional and unethical conduct. The charges relate to his conduct as a medical doctor when he headed the country's chemical and biological warfare research programme for the defence force in the 1980s and early 1990s during the apartheid era.

A South African lawyer has said he was preparing a class action lawsuit against leading gold mining firms on behalf of thousands of former miners who say they contracted silicosis, a debilitating lung disease, through negligent health and safety. Attorney Richard Spoor, whose legal battle against a South African asbestos-mining company led to a $100m settlement in 2003, said he would file class action papers with the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg 'within the next few months'.

Some remain sceptical of what a massive gas find will mean for Mozambique's 23 million people, reports the UK Guardian. They question whether the government will direct enough of its new revenue towards infrastructure, which is still sorely lacking, and improving agricultural productivity – the biggest single tool for reducing poverty. Erik Charas, director of @Verdade (the Truth), Mozambique's biggest circulation newspaper, warned: 'There is a lack of transparency in these deals. They're making deals for generations to come and I have no idea about them. The lack of transparency is a major flaw. The people in power are negotiating on their own behalf. We might end up with 50 billionaires who own private planes and the rest of the population impoverished. That is our biggest fear.'

Almost a thousand Swazi and South African HIV activists marched to the United States consulate in Johannesburg on 22 March 2012 to demand that the US continue supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria, and safeguard funding of its President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which US President Barack Obama's latest proposed budget will cut by 12 per cent. The march organizers - a coalition of international and regional HIV organizations, including the global medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the World AIDS Campaign, and the AIDS Rights Alliance Southern Africa - also called on the British and Australian governments to join their American counterparts in kick-starting a response to solve the Global Fund's financial crisis.

In Cameroon’s Northwest region, citizens, organizations and local officials are taking part in campaigns and speaking out to encourage women to run for office in the legislative and municipal elections anticipated for this year. Though a date has yet to be set for the elections, International Women’s Day this month stirred up excitement for women’s campaigns.

Blog Ndifuna Ukwazi reports on an article in the Mail and Guardian that further illustrates the uncertainty surrounding the actual cost of procuring nuclear power. The article highlights the lack of consensus amongst experts in the field as to what the overall cost for nuclear power can be. Focusing on South Africa, the article shows that costs could range anywhere between R322- billion to R1.4- trillion. The construction cost alone would place a considerable strain on South Africa’s resources with no return for 10 to 15 years, the expected time for constructing six reactors.

The African Union has added their backing to Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s run at becoming World Bank President. This post from blog Africa is a Country says there are those who would be pleased to see her get the job simply so that Nigeria could be rid of her. Her opponents accuse her 'of acting as an agent for global financial instutions, she was widely seen as the instigator of the removal of the fuel subsidy in January that led to the eruption of the Occupy Nigeria movement.'

A report released on Tuesday 27 March by the UN refugee agency shows that new conflicts and a rising outflow from older crisis spots such as Afghanistan together contributed to a 20 per cent rise in asylum claims in industrialized countries in 2011. UNHCR's report, 'Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2011', says that an estimated 441,300 asylum claims were recorded last year compared to 368,000 in 2010. The report covers 44 countries in Europe, North America, Australasia and north-east Asia.

The UN has proposed that countries set limits on the size of agriculture land sales to regulate the growing trend of so-called farmland grabs. The new voluntary guidelines won the consensus of nearly 100 countries this month after three years of negotiations and are now set to be ratified in May at a special session in Rome of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. The guidelines, which officials say are largely pro-business, nonetheless state that countries should 'provide safeguards' to protect tenure rights.

The births of tens of thousands of children during Côte d'Ivoire's eight-year rebellion were not formally recorded. While many families take a lax attitude towards registering new babies, the gaps in birth and other records are particularly serious in the central, northern and western parts of Côte d'Ivoire, where government functions were effectively suspended by the rebellion between 2002 and 2010. As children born during this period move up through the school system, they have run into problems.

An Angolan human rights group has said it is launching a campaign for the right to protest amid a state crackdown. Jose Patrocinio, Omunga co-ordinator, cited recent violent break-ups of demonstrations in Benguela, the capital Luanda and the oil-rich Cabinda enclave. The Benguela-based group also plan to hand a petition to the Supreme Court to stop lower courts from acting against jailed demonstrators.