On the eve of a key United Nations Summit in Rio De Janeiro, Friends of the Earth International launched a new report exposing the increasing influence of major corporations and business lobby groups within the UN. 'Governmental positions have been increasingly hijacked by narrow corporate interests linked to polluting industries and business sectors seeking to profit from the environment, the climate and the financial crises,' said Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International. The report presents a number of cases that clearly expose how UN policies and agencies have been excessively influenced by the corporate sector.

Nobody can actually buy land in Mozambique. The government owns it all. But the government will give companies exclusive rights to land for 50 or 100 years, and it's really cheap. Mozambique's government, in fact, has been encouraging investors to come and take advantage of this land. Dozens of companies, both foreign and local, have lined up to seize the opportunity.

The Programme Officer, as member of Goree Institute’s programme team, will be responsible for the successful delivery of Goree Institute’s programme of work on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and developing and establishing new areas of engagement for Goree Institute in West Africa. He/she will be responsible for conceptualizing and implementing projects and will work in close cooperation with partners to develop and implement Goree Institute’s programme and projects.

ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the unusual event of two reports concentrating on the same issue being presented at the twentieth session of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday 19 June 2012. The reports, by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, both focus on the issue of impunity for violations of journalists’ human rights. Both reports urge relevant state and non-state actors to secure journalists’ rights by implementing international human rights law and monitoring this implementation.

This new South Centre research paper discusses recent negotiations in technology transfer, sustainable development and climate change. In terms of proprietary rights, the author categories technologies and related products into three domains: the public technologies; patented technologies and future technologies. After revealing the effects of patents on access to climate-related technologies, a number of measures are discussed to address problems arising should patents become a barrier to the transfer of climate related technologies.

Algeria's government has been paralysed by arguments over who should be anointed as favourite to be the next president, exposing divisions within the ruling elite that could shatter the country's fragile stability. The cohesion and control with which Algeria's establishment runs the energy exporting former French colony has kept it steady even as its neighbours were buffeted by the 'Arab Spring' upheavals over the past 18 months.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has vowed to mobilise more communities to fight for quality health should the Gauteng Health Department not deliver on their demands. Angry TAC members marched to the office of the Gauteng Health MEC, Ntombi Mekgwe, this week, demanding an end to the drug shortage in health facilities. Health services in Gauteng have been dealt a severe blow due to drug stock outs which have been ongoing for months.

Botswana has condemned the African Union (AU) for enticing Malawi to host Sudan president Omar al Bashir at the AU summit that was supposed to be held in Malawi in July. The summit has now been relocated to Ethiopia after Malawi refused to host Al-Bashir and threatened to arrest him if he attended over crimes al Bashir committed against humanity in Darfur and is on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court.

A participant of the UN Summit in Rio de Janeiero was denied entry into Brazil by the Brazilian authorities. Jeremias Vunianhe, a journalist and member of Friends of the Earth Mozambique, was denied entry at the airport of Rio de Janeiro on 13 June. Vunjanhe was expected to expose the negative impacts of Brazilian mining corporation Vale at the Peoples Summit, a parallel event of the UN Rio+20 Summit. Vale is one of the official sponsors of the UN Summit. Friends of the Earth Mozambique supported hundreds of Mozambican families which were resettled by Brazilian company Vale in the Moatize district and carried out demonstrations in recent months to reclaim their rights.

A new report by UNESCO has revealed the extent of homophobic bullying worldwide, recognizing the problem as a human rights issue. The UN agency’s first ever international consultation on the issue brought together experts from NGOs, ministries of education and academia from more than 25 countries around the world.

Sudanese activists said the security forces have dealt with protesters over the last three days with unprecedented violence, saying that Sunday was the bloodiest day in Sudanese street history. Sudan’s capital Khartoum has seen mass protests, which started on Friday, when hundreds of students took to the streets in protest of high costs of living and plans to cancel fuel subsidies.

Everybody’s trying to rebrand Africa, and it isn’t going so well, reports this piece on the blog Africa is a Country. 'Vogue Italia’s latest issue - boosted by great billowing gusts of editorial hot air from both the New York Times and the Guardian - is called 'Rebranding Africa', and as you’d expect the whole thing is an embarrassing and insulting shambles...First: you’re re-branding the continent of Africa - as one does - so who do you pick as your cover star? Well, it was the obvious choice. What self-inflating fashion magazine wouldn’t lead their Africa edition with a picture of a South Korean diplomat sitting behind a desk in Manhattan?'

Senegalese security agents have arrested over a hundred illegal immigrants in the capital Dakar and its suburbs in a major operation at the weekend. The round up was sparked by the killing of a Nigerian national allegedly by three Senegalese over fake currency notes.

As leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) countries head into a second day of talks at the grouping's seventh summit this week in Los Cabos, Mexico, calls are strengthening for a new debate around the group's lack of accountability. 'The G20 has liberally imposed itself over other institutions to mandate those other institutions to take on its agenda,' Gawain Kripke, a researcher with Oxfam America, said in Washington. 'That's potentially a problem, when you have this fundamentally unauthorised organisation setting the agenda and work plans for other institutions that do at least have bylaws and so forth.'

“Finally, if you do not abide, then know your legal permission to operate will be terminated.”

At least 80 people have been killed since Monday 18 June in clashes in northern Nigeria triggered by Islamists waging an insurgency against the government, figures from police and the Red Cross showed on Wednesday. The violence - some of which was sparked by church bombings over the last three Sundays - has heightened sectarian tensions in Africa's most populous country, which is evenly split between Christians and Muslims.

Seven members of the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested and then briefly detained on Tuesday, after a ‘die-in’ protest in Bulawayo. The ‘die-in’, which saw three different groups of WOZA members lying down at main traffic intersections in the city, form part of a WOZA led campaign to pressure for a devolved system of government to be included in the draft constitution.

The government is insensitive to the needs of the poor and does not understand the economic plight faced by many state employees. This is the sentiment of many public sector workers as the state and unions wrangle through wage negotiations, and while unions haven’t explicitly threatened to strike, their members are already preparing themselves for industrial action. The government suspended talks with unions last week, claiming they had no more money to put on the table.

Zambia's government estimates that some unscrupulous mining companies may owe the country up to $1 billion in unpaid taxes. What difference could that make to Zambia? A staggering one when we consider that Zambia’s external debt in 2011 was $1.6 billion. Countries like Zambia need fairer international tax rules to stop companies from dodging the taxes they owe, says this Christian Aid blog post.

After a year-long incubation process supported by the World Bank Institute, 19 Ugandan civil society organisations this week formally established a ‘contract monitoring coalition’ that aims to involve local communities in the oversight of government-funded projects - including those related to oil - awarded to private sector contractors. 'There have in the past been incidents of alleged collusion between contract parties,' Gilbert Sendugwa, who chaired the coalition in its formative stages, told Oil in Uganda. 'Our coming on board is going to minimise that possibility and also improve the flow of information.'