The number of people fleeing fighting and reprisal attacks by Rwandan Hutu Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR) militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) South Kivu Province has increased by up to 600 percent in a few weeks, say humanitarian officials.

Guinea-Bissau's electoral body has declared Malam Bacai Sanha as winner of Sunday's presidential run-off vote. Sanha, former head of state (1999-2000) and candidate of ruling party PAIGC, scored 224, 259 votes (63%) defeating rival Kumba Yala, another ex-head of state, who got 129,973 votes.

Governments and investment funds are buying up farmland in Africa and Asia to grow food -- a profitable business, with a growing global population and rapidly rising prices. The high-stakes game of real-life Monopoly is leading to a modern colonialism to which many poor countries submit out of necessity.

The two companies are resisting calls from the Congolese government to change the terms of their contracts. This deadlock is threatening the entire renegotiation process. Faced with the refusal to negotiate these two contracts, the Congolese government is unable to conclude the renegotiation process. There is a risk of other companies, which have already renegotiated their contracts, to not honour commitments they have already made

The Kenyan cabinet has rejected prosecution of post-election violence perpetrators by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and instead opted for the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) as a means of national healing. After a day-long meeting at State House Nairobi, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga addressed a rare press conference where they said the TJRC Act would be amended to make it more effective.

The British Broadcasting Corp. has resumed broadcasting from Zimbabwe for the first time since it was banned in 2001 and the five-month-old coalition government said it also was considering allowing CNN back. Despite the signs that the government is serious about media reforms, former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's party continues to complain about ill-treatment and harassment by followers of President Robert Mugabe

Tanzania has launched a bank aimed specifically at women in what officials say will be an empowering move. The bank says women need only an ID card or passport to open an account, unlike other banks which require title deeds or other proofs of wealth.

The new Moroccan family law was designed to give women equal rights in the family. But five years after its introduction, Moroccan women leaders say opposition to the law from politicians and within the judicial system persists, and the new law has not been able to change Moroccan mentality. King Mohammed VI adopted the law, the Mudawana, in January 2004. Under the new law, a woman can ask for divorce without her husband's approval. And where men could earlier repudiate their wife arbitrarily, divorce is now made conditional on a decision by the court.

Aid workers and officials are calling for a scaling-up in peacekeeping efforts in Sudan's western Darfur region. "Darfur may appear calmer, but one has to remember that there are fewer reports coming out because they are deeply nervous of how the Sudanese government will react to criticism," said one international aid worker, who has spent more than two years in Darfur.

South Africa's council workers' union said on Friday it had won a pay increase almost twice the rate of inflation, ending a five-day strike that challenged President Jacob Zuma's economic policies. "The wage agreement has now been signed and this effectively brings to an end the strike which has been raging all week," the SAMWU union said in a statement. The strike left rubbish piled up on streets and licensing offices closed. Workers settled for a 13 percent pay rise after demanding 15 percent. Inflation is running at 6.9 percent.

Transforming Civil Conflict (TCC) is offered by The Network University, an initiative of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the Centre for Conflict Resolution, Department of Peace Studies, Bradford University, UK. The Transforming Civil Conflict course is a four-week online course in international conflict resolution, taugh entirely through the Internet!

The tragedy of Congo's women and girls has slowly emerged in recent years. Tens of thousands have been raped or otherwise assaulted by army soldiers, rebels, or other men. Sexual violence has been used to terrorise civilians by all warring parties. The European Union and other donors have started programs of assistance for the victims that have made a real difference to the lives of some - unfortunately not all - Congolese women and girls. Beyond immediate medical and social assistance, the European Union in Congo also runs programs for military and judicial reform called EUSEC and REJUSCO.

This report has been compiled by a group of African and international civil society organisations concerned about the lack of transparency in mining contracts, as well as the revenue that national budgets forego because of excessive mining tax concessions as well as multinational mining companies avoiding and evading tax.

UN Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah has told the UN Security Council that the Somali transitional government is on its heels trying to thwart repeated attempts by extremist groups to overthrow it. "Despite multiple constraints, the government is resisting and repelling multip le attempts to overthrow it and seize power illegally by force," the UN envoy said, adding: "Repeated attacks by Al-Shabaa b and Hizbul-Islam militants have sent the Horn of Africa nation into chaos, with refugees fleeing by the thousands."

Zimbabwean journalists on 28 July 2009 launched the Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights (ZJHR) as part of efforts to curb violations of media freedom and the abuse of journalists’ professional rights with impunity. Speaking at the launch ceremony at the Harare press club, The Quill, ZJHR spokesperson Dumisani Muleya, said the organisation was moulded along the lines of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should emphasize human rights on her seven-nation trip to Africa, Human Rights Watch has said in a letter to Clinton. The eight-day trip, to begin on August 5, will take Clinton to Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Cape Verde. While in Kenya, Clinton will also meet with the president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government.

In Sierra Leone, a mother who transmits HIV to her child can be fined, jailed for up to seven years, or both. Human Rights Watch reports that in 2008, several men were arrested in Egypt simply for being HIV positive. New legislation is currently being discussed in Angola that could lead to a three to ten year jail sentence for those who knowingly pass on HIV.

Nearly 150 CSOs write to IFC urging consultations with individuals and communities directly impacted by its projects as it reviews three years of implementation of the Performance Standards. BIC was among a coalition of 150 organizations who signed onto a letter urging the International Financial Corporation (IFC) to ensure consultations with individuals and communities directly impacted by its projects in the review process of its Policy on Disclosure of Information and its Performance Standards on Social and Environmental Sustainability Policy (Policy & Performance Standards).

Egyptian police shot dead an African migrant trying to cross the border into Israel on Friday, security and medical sources said, the latest killing in an upsurge of violence at the sensitive frontier. The man, who was shot in the chest and right leg, was announced dead on arrival at Egypt's Rafah hospital, a medical source said. His nationality was not immediately known.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) claims that its "stress breeding", high-yield seed program and its emphasis on grassroots farmer input will boost agricultural production among poor, small scale farmers. But NGOs and environmentalists say AGRA’s Programme for Africa’s Seed System (PASS) is essentially a top-down, corporate driven approach that further threatens food security on the continent.