More than 1,000 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been ordered to move to a suspected minefield because the authorities want to build shops and restaurants on the site of their old homes. However, Kisangani mayor Augustin Osumaka Lofanga told IRIN: 'The landmine argument doesn’t stand up. If there is a risk, it is only 10 per cent. Nobody has died yet,' he said, adding that demining of the area had already been conducted by Handicap International Belgium and 'if not properly done, it is their responsibility...'

Since psychiatric care was decentralised last year in South Africa, patients have been moved from hospitals into community day hospitals that don’t have the appropriate resources to deal with mental illnesses. As a result, many of society’s most vulnerable have slipped through the cracks in the system and now walk the streets like invisible people. A 2007 study by the Medical Research Council revealed that one in six South Africans struggle with a mental disorder.

Heavy fighting took place in Côte d’Ivoire’s main city, Abidjan, for a third day over the weekend as rival forces battle for power. Fighters loyal to the internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara battled for control of the presidential palace and barracks still loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo. The battle for Abidjan remains fierce, with heavy fighting reported on Saturday (02 April) around the Agban military base in the centre of the city.

South Africa has angrily rejected attacks on President Jacob Zuma by Zimbabwean official media, which on Sunday labeled him duplicitous and questioned his suitability to mediate between Zimbabwe’s squabbling ruling parties. In the clearest sign yet of growing tensions between Pretoria and Harare, the Zimbabwean government mouthpiece Sunday Mail said Zuma was erratic and an undesirable facilitator in the talks between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Media images of men in northern Kenya washing condoms for re-use have underscored the need to improve HIV communication and close gaps in the supply of condoms in rural areas. Local TV channels recently showed images of men in Isiolo, in rural northern Kenya, washing condoms and hanging them out to dry. The Ministry of Health recently said the country faced an acute, nationwide shortage of condoms; it has appealed to the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, to supply 45 million condoms.

With the global effort to eradicate polio seeing major gains, international health agencies have also been highlighting the fight against measles, the highly contagious disease that kills over 160,000 children each year. India is the hardest hit and Nigeria, despite its major oil wealth, is also at high risk, reporting 14,271 suspected cases and 7,754 confirmed last year, resulting in 151 deaths, reports AFP.

'Far from cooking up a plan to save the Earth, what may come out of the summit could instead be a deal to surrender the living world to a small cabal of bankers and engineers - one that will dump the promises of the first Rio summit along the way,' warns Jim Thomas about the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, due to happen next year. 'Tensions are already rising between northern countries and southern countries over the poorly defined concept of a global "Green Economy" that will be the centerpiece of the summit.'

Bodies are lying in the streets of the besieged Libyan city of Misrata and its hospital is overflowing with the injured, an evacuee has said after arriving in Tunisia. Misrata is the only big rebel stronghold left in western Libya and has been under attack for weeks by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. Accounts from Misrata cannot be independently verified because Libyan authorities are not allowing journalists to report freely from the city.

Authorities in Greece say Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi is seeking to negotiate an end to the fighting that has pitted his forces against antigovernment rebels since February. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported on 3 April that at least two of Qaddafi's sons backed a plan to remove their father from power and usher in a transition to a constitutional democracy.

Arms manufacturer Denel emphatically denies it, or its subsidiaries, sold armaments to Libya, following a sales trip to that country a year ago. Earlier on Friday, the Mail & Guardian published details from a leaked Denel internal memo outlining a visit to Libya in April last year, which involved the 'planned sale of G6-52 artillery systems, missiles, grenade launchers and anti-materiel rifles'.

Health officials in Ghana are worried the rainy season, due to start in April, will fuel the spread of cholera, which has killed at least 69 people and stricken more than 5,000 in the past few months. While Ghana has not pinpointed the source of the cholera bacterium, top health officials say poor sanitation systems and hygiene habits- including open defecation - are largely to blame for the epidemic.

Mozambique will raise food and fuel prices from April but subsidise food for two million poor, to avoid the sort of protests that have rocked North Africa and the Middle East, a government official said on Wednesday. Planning and Development Minister Aiuba Cuereneia said the decision was taken after this week's cabinet meeting. 'We will review the fuel prices between April and June but the rise will not go over 10 percent,' he told Reuters.

The Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter is a monthly electronic publication that provides news, reflection, and learning on the provision of refugee legal aid. It is aimed primarily to be a resource for legal aid providers in the Global South where law journals and other resources are hard to access. The newsletter now has a blog which can be accessed at

Five newspapers line a vendor's makeshift table built from cardboard and sticks but most customers go straight for Isolezwe, one of South Africa's growing Zulu-language dailies. 'I guess people feel comfortable reading in their language,' says Blessings Kupe from his stand at a busy Johannesburg taxi rank where he offers the country's most-read papers, all English titles like Daily Sun and The Star.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) canvassed their team and came up with a list of 50 inspirational African feminists. 'We know that there are far, far more women than we could include in our list, but we wanted to at least make a start at celebrating the achievements of some of these great women – and we hope our friends will forgive us our omissions! Take a look and let us know who else you would have added,' AWDF says.

The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria has once again postponed the parliamentary polls until Saturday 9 April. This announcement was made on Sunday (03 April) after a meeting with all political parties' leaders in the country’s capital Abuja. Mr Attahiru Jega, INEC chairperson said that all the parties have fully endorsed the new date. As a result, other elections have been moved forward accordingly. Presidential election has been slated for April 16 while governorship elections in the 36 states will now take place on April 26.

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About 4,000 people demonstrated in Morocco's biggest city Casablanca Sunday (3 April) to demand more democracy and reform, an AFP reporter said. Police said about 2,500 people took part in the demonstrations while organisers put the figure at 10,000. Demonstrators chanted 'No to corruption', 'End social injustice', and 'The people want an end to authoritarianism'.

At least 800 people have been reported killed in one town in Cote d'Ivoire, according to the Red Cross, as fierce fighting continues to grip the country. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the deaths reportedly took place during intercommunal violence in the western town of Duekoue on Tuesday. Dorothea Krimitas, an ICRC spokeswoman, said on Saturday (02 April) that the violence likely erupted the day after the town was taken by fighters loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the country's internationally recognised leader.