The rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) last Friday denied claims by the Ethiopian army that it had "completely annihilated" separatist forces in the west of the country. "This is not the first time the Ethiopians have claimed total victory against our forces," OLF spokesman Lencho Bati told IRIN. "Our forces are intact." He admitted that OLF troops had sustained casualties in the fighting which has been raging in the Gambela region for the past two months when the OLF launched an offensive in the area.

The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) has agreed to the extension of a ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains region of south-central Sudan, sources close to the rebel group told IRIN.

The warring sides in the southern town of Baidoa have officially signed a ceasefire document, local sources told IRIN on Wednesday. They said the ceasefire, which was arranged by a mediation committee and announced over the weekend, has been observed by both sides, even before it was officially signed. Fighting between rival factions of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), which controls much of Bay and Bakol regions in southwestern Somalia, erupted last week.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday confirmed that the planned Somali peace talks to be held under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, are now scheduled to take place in September.

President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi publicly accepted defeat after a bid to run for a controversial third term was rejected by the country's parliament last Thursday.

Refugees will return from Djibouti to Somaliland on Saturday, the UN refugee agency UNHCR announced on Wednesday. It said these first voluntary repatriations were taking place after "long negotiations" between the Djibouti and Somaliland authorities. About 14,000 refugees - out of a total of 21,700 - have registered to return.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has said it will continue to administer to refugees in Dadaab camp, northeastern Kenya, despite threats by local politicians who this week accused the agency of ignoring the welfare of local communities around camp.

Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attacked a United Nations-run refugee camp in north western Uganda, killing five refugees and a government soldier, the U.N. said on Tuesday.

Human rights are under attack every day in countries in southern and eastern Africa. Under pressure to deal harshly with rising levels of crime or through political manipulation, police inflict torture and ill-treat criminal suspects and political activists. Excessive or unjustified lethal force is used to suppress peaceful protest and government opponents are arbitrarily detained, according to a new report from Amnesty International.

Africa is likely to face increasing poverty, environmental decline and ill-health unless urgent action is taken to ensure that development takes environmental impacts into account, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)has warned. Soaring pollution levels, land degradation, droughts and wildlife losses are among the threats to the continent outlined in the UNEP report Africa Environment Outlook (AEO). In addition, climate change and the uncontrolled expansion of cities will have an increasing impact over the next three decades.

Five camps hosting Burundian refugees in Kibondo, western Tanzania, face a severe funding crisis, greatly hampering the provision of adequate assistance, particularly in education, water and sanitation, a relief organisation told PANA Monday.

Some 700 Namibian refugees from Botswana's Dukwi refugee camp are set to return home in August when the UN High Commissioner for Refugees completes preparation for their repatriation.

King Mswati's efforts to use the constitution to permanently enshrine absolute monarchial power and ban political opposition is being challenged by Western envoys stationed in the kingdom. "The aspirations and basic rights of all Swazi citizens must be guaranteed," warned United States Ambassador to Swaziland, James McGee, in his formal address at an observation marking America's Independence Day last week.

Armed with machetes and escorted by comrades toting assault rifles, the group thrusts into the bush singing and shouting. It could be mistaken for a lynch mob, but the quarry is actually an invasive plant: the innocuous-looking prickly pear, which resembles a green cactus.

The political crisis in Madagascar appears to finally be at an end. Saying the incoming President seems to be "a chap who can actually deliver on things," Richard Cromwell of the Institute of Security Studies in Johannesburg discusses how the crisis was resolved and what lies ahead for the impoverished island nation.

A prominent South African politician went on trial on Tuesday charged with fraud and corruption linked to a multi-billion-dollar arms deal. Tony Yengeni, 47, former chief whip of the ruling African National Congress and Michael Worfel, a German who is former head of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co (EADS) in South Africa, appeared in a Pretoria court.

Four commercial farmers have been formally charged with disobeying a ban on farming activity on land targeted for redistribution. On Thursday, Commercial Farmers Union spokeswoman Jenni Williams confirmed that four farmers had been formally charged while another 11 had been asked to report to the police station.

Fresh fighting erupted in the town of Baidoa on Thursday in which at least 20 people were killed, local sources told IRIN. The fighting between two factions of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), which controls much of the Bay and
Bakol regions of southwestern Somalia, started at 09:00a.m. local time (06:00 GMT) "and is still continuing", the sources said.

As the 2003 national election draws near, the watchdog of the Broadcasting industry, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has threatened to invoke the law against any broadcasting station that shows any preference or bias in reporting activities of politicians and their political parties. NBC wants broadcasting companies to ensure fairness, equity, accuracy, and objectivity in all their reporting, charging them not to allow the power of incumbency of the serving political office holders, to influence them into shifting their loyalty from the Nigerian people to certain individuals.

Primaries organised by Nigeria’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday and Tuesday to choose candidates for next month’s local council elections were marred by factional violence. At least two people died and dozens of others were injured.