When in 2008 the government of Madagascar agreed a deal with Korean Daewoo Logistics for the company to access 1.3 million hectares of agricultural land to grow maize and palm oil for export, protests, political crisis and ultimately the fall of the government and the cancellation of the deal followed. Madagascar’s citizens were not consulted.

Finding 'an African solution to an African problem', the African Union (AU) has endorsed the establishment of a hybrid court to try all crimes committed in the Darfur crisis. The decision was reached by the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), which met at the level of heads of state and government in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja Thursday to consider the recommendations of the Thabo Mbeki Panel on the Darfur crisis.

An estimated 60,000 hungry refugees in the western Uganda settlement of Nakivale have staged a strike complaining of lack of food supplies for three months leading to deaths of mainly children.

As tensions worsen in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change says an armed gang tried to abduct its security administrator in central Harare on Tuesday. Zimbabwe’s unity government is on the verge of disintegration after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai pulled his ministers out of cabinet meetings.

A French appeals court has halted a lawsuit against three African leaders accused of embezzlement. Anti-corruption group Transparency International had accused the leaders of using African public funds to buy luxury homes and cars in France.

Kenyan teenagers are having sex. And they appear to have no clue how to go about it. A report by the Nairobi-based Centre for the Study of Adolescents (CSA) reports that 40 percent of girls and 50 percent of boys reported having had sex before their 19th birthday, a significant minority reported having sex with more than one partner in the previous six months.

ARTICLE 19 joins with the Africa Forum for Media Development, the African Media Initiative, the Global Forum for Media Development, the International Federation of Journalists and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers in calling for stronger dedicated European Union support to media freedom in Africa.

The SADC Troika on Defence, Security and Politics began its fact finding mission in Harare on Thursday in an effort to narrow the differences between Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe. The ministerial mission is being led by Oldemiro Baloi, the Mozambican Foreign Affairs Minister, Zambia deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Fashion Phiri and Lutho Dhlamini from Swaziland.

Raúl Chambote

Joseph Hanlon

The Acting Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Joseph Kamara, has welcomed the final convictions of three leaders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The trial convictions of the RUF leaders were upheld by the SCSL Appeals Chamber, with Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon convicted on 16 counts and Augustine Gbao was convicted on 13 counts of an 18-count Indictment charging them with atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

The PhD in Human Rights and Peace Studies is the only PhD program of its kind in Asia, while the MA is the longest running graduate degree program in human rights in Asia. These programs offer a unique opportunity to engage in depth with the highly important issues of human rights and peace in the world today. The objectives of the programs are to produce graduates with excellent research skills and thorough theoretical and conceptual knowledge of these fields, and who are able to apply this knowledge to the field.

It’s a busy day as usual in the city-centre, with everyone moving about their daily business. Looking around, it seems that you will mostly find women and girls sitting by the roadside selling fruits and vegetables, while men are operating bigger businesses, like construction. Male directors are moving up and down their construction sites to make sure work is at its best. Meanwhile, women dust their wares, waiting for passersby to purchase, so that at least they are able to put food on the table by the close of day.

It is projected that if the economy does not improve within the next two years, more than half a million mineworkers in the region will lose their jobs. It is estimated that more than 25% of mineworkers are HIV positive. Only two countries reviewed in the study have sufficient reserves to deal with a long-term recession.

Diplomats from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are mediating in the talks, the latest in a series the regional group has brokered to find a durable solution to Zimbabwe's long-running political instability. Tsvangirai, accusing Mugabe of violating a power-sharing agreement they signed last year, partially pulled out from government some two weeks ago, sparking the latest political crisis.

The detained Campaign Manager of Gambia's main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), Femi Peters, appeared before Banjul Magistrates' Court charged with "organising an unlawful assembly". According to sources, Mr. Peters refused to enter into a plea when the charges were read out to him in court on Monday in the absence of a lawyer.

An investigation by the government in Liberia has concluded that the Firestone Rubber Plantation Company has polluted local water sources. The three-month investigation found that a plant south-east of the capital Monrovia was responsible for high levels of orthophosphate in creeks.

An in-depth investigation into the September 28, 2009 killings and rapes at a peaceful rally in Conakry, Guinea, has uncovered new evidence that the massacre and widespread sexual violence were organized and were committed largely by the elite Presidential Guard, commonly known as the “red berets,” Human Rights Watch has said.

Women's football is being used in Zimbabwe to confront the stigma associated with HIV and Aids. A total of 16 women's teams now take part in competitions for players who have openly declared that they are HIV positive. But despite the courage of the women involved, there has been much resistance.

The Security Council has extended the sanctions imposed on Côte d’Ivoire, warning that the situation in the divided West African nation continues to pose a threat to international peace and security for the region. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member Council voted to maintain for another year an arms embargo, restrictions for certain individuals on travel and financial movements, and the ban on any State importing rough diamonds from Côte d’Ivoire.

India has offered Democratic Republic of Congo $263 million in loans to build hydroelectric plants and repair battered infrastructure in the war-ravaged central African nation, Congo's foreign minister said on Friday.