If all you ever read about gay people in Africa is in the western media (including gay media), you would be forgiven for thinking it's one endless horror story. Largely unnoticed amid all that has been the quickening development of gay communities and movements in many parts of Africa. In Kenya, for instance, David Kuria - a gay man - is standing for the senate. If elected, he'll be the second openly gay politician in Africa.

State-owned trading firm MMTC Ltd, the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) and the conglomerate Bharti Enterprises plan to join the growing number of Indian entities engaged in commercial farming in Africa. Cheap land and labour costs in Africa are attracting a number of Indian firms with interest in agriculture. A large number of people in East African countries such as Kenya work in the cultivation of tea, coffee, corn, vegetables, sugarcane, wheat and fruits, among other things.

The media sector has been buzzing with speculation about the reasons why five senior editorial staff at the New Age newspaper simultaneously quit their jobs on Tuesday, a day before the paper was due to launch. Though derided by some as the mouthpiece of the ANC and praised by others as a chance to bring diversity to the media landscape, readers from all quarters have been awaiting the launch of the New Age with great anticipation.

A United Nations agency has suspended plans to grant a prize sponsored by Equatorial Guinea President Teodor Obiang Nguema after lobbying by human rights groups. Obiang is accused of rights abuses, rigging elections and corruption. He has previously denied such charges.

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has adopted recommendations for an action plan to coordinate with regional and national parliaments to ensure African parliamentary budget support for implementation of the July 2010 African Union Summit Declaration on Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa; the AU Summit Decision for the Eradication of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS; and the September 2010 commitments by African governments at the recent UN MDG 10th year review summit.

The Conference of the Democratic Left in the Western Cape reiterates its support for the period of action called in October by Abahlali baseMjondolo in the Western Cape in protest at the lack of housing and service delivery. In contrast to others, we regard the tactic of direct action and civil disobedience as legitimate forms of protest under a neo-liberal and pro-capitalist state.

Despite liberal laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) students at schools and at tertiary institutions are faced with the harsh reality of prejudice characterised by homophobic slurs despite policies meant to protect learners. The South African Schools Act states that a school must serve learners’ educational requirements without unfairly discriminating. However previous research conducted showed that discrimination experienced by lesbian and gay people at schools is prevalent.

Marie Musa, 37, is devastated. After the mother of four gave premature birth, her baby boy died a few hours later - because the hospital did not have enough incubators to rescue the infant. In August, the same month that Musa’s baby died in hospital, James Bamie Davies, commissioner of the customs and excise department of Sierra Leone’s National Revenue Authority (NRA), announced in a government gazette an auction of medical appliances, including eight incubators. One in five children die before they reach the age of five in Sierra Leone, and one in eight women die during childbirth, according to the 2008 United Nations Human Development Index.

Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank vice president for Africa, has invited policymakers and leading private sector representatives to discuss how to accelerate trade among African countries. Intra-Africa trade has long been viewed as the key to unlocking the continent’s growth potential. But in spite of the development of economic blocs such as custom unions and common markets, as well as improvements in inter-continental transport, only about 10 per cent of trade on the continent takes place among African countries.

Nigeria's main militant group on Tuesday threatened to carry out another attack in the capital Abuja, weeks after it claimed responsibility for twin car bombings on the West African country's independence day. The threat was contained in a statement by Jomo Gbomo, spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), reports xinhuanet.com.

Robert Mugabe has threatened to retaliate if ambassadors he unilaterally appointed to the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) are sent back to Zimbabwe. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last week told the EU and the UN that ambassadors appointed solely by Mugabe don’t speak on behalf of the whole government. But Mugabe has now threatened that the EU will face retaliation if they heed Tsvangirai’s advice and expel the diplomats he appointed. His spokesman George Charamba on Monday told NewsDay news service that Zimbabwe would reserve the right to ‘reciprocate’ if its diplomats were thrown out of their postings.

The H.F. Guggenheim Foundation makes grants for scholarly research into problems of aggression and violence. One program is reserved for African Scholars under the age of 35, educated and living on the African continent. Selected applicants will attend a methods workshop to refine and improve their research plans in Accra, Ghana, in March 2011, and after submitting revised plans, will receive grants of $2000 each to support their fieldwork. In 2012 they will be funded to attend a professional conference to present their findings and will receive assistance in finding a publisher for their work.

Passive before human rights abuses in Angola, the British government often shows little concern for people who have come to this country seeking refuge, writes Lara Pawson in the London Guardian in reference to Jimmy Mubenga, a man who died while being deported to Angola. As the facts of Jimmy Mubenga's death come to light, we would do well to consider why he ever sought refuge in the UK, and why 'I don't want to go' were among his last words, she says.

It is not much to look at - a small pitted brass coin with a square hole in the centre - but this relatively innocuous piece of metal is revolutionising our understanding of early East African history, and recasting China's more contemporary role in the region. A joint team of Kenyan and Chinese archaeologists found the 15th Century Chinese coin in Mambrui - a tiny, nondescript village just north of Malindi on Kenya's north coast.

In what could be a landmark case, seven schools in the Eastern Cape's OR Tambo district, near Mthatha, are taking the local, provincial and national governments to court due to the lack of resources, saying their pupils' right to basic education has been violated. The attorney representing the schools, Cameron McConnachie, from the Legal Resource Centre, said the right to education by means of proper infrastructure had not yet been tested in a court of law.

Discrimination against women not only exposes them to the worst effects of disaster and war, including rape, but also deprives their countries of a prime engine for recovery, according to a new United Nations report. The release of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) 'State of World Population 2010 report – From Conflict and Crisis to Renewal: Generations of Change' coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Security Council’s landmark resolution 1325, which aimed to end sexual violence against women and girls in armed conflict and to encourage greater participation by them in peace-building initiatives.

Women in Mali have produced a video about violence against women that was aired on Mali’s national television station. The topic is not openly discussed in Mali, and the film is one step towards more openness. The 20-minute video was aired primetime on ORTM, Mali’s national television station. It shows women victims of violence (anonymously) telling their story. The stories they tell are shown as illustrations made by a cartoonist.

A September US Court decision dismissed a case against Shell for human rights abuses in Nigeria, with the sweeping claim that corporations could not be held liable under international law for human rights abuses. And a UN Environmental Programme report on oil in the Niger Delta, due to be completed early next year and funded by Shell Oil, is reported to include, without alternate views, claims from Shell that 90 per cent of oil spills from its facilities are due to sabotage or attempts at theft rather than to negligence. The AfricaFocus Bulletin available through the link provided contains several articles and blog commentaries on the two new developments.

Media watchdogs see the 'invisible hand' of the ruling party behind a string of firings and resignations that have removed some of Egypt's most prominent government critics from their soapboxes just weeks before parliamentary elections. 'Oblique threats and backroom deals that are not visibly linked to the government have started silencing some of Egypt's most critical independent voices,' says Mohamed Abdel Dayem, Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Feminine Action Union (UAF), a Moroccan association for the promotion of women's rights, announced on 13 October the creation of the National Observatory for the Improvement of Women's Image in the Media. The new centre will monitor violations against Moroccan women's dignity in the media, including in advertisement and art productions, at national, regional and international levels.