United Nations-backed Congolese armed forces conducting intensified military operations in eastern and northern Democratic Republic of Congo have failed to protect civilians from brutal rebel retaliatory attacks and instead are themselves attacking and raping Congolese civilians, Human Rights Watch has said. The attacks on civilians from all sides have resulted in a significant increase in human rights violations over the past six months.

Collecting detailed information, and making sure it is accurate, can cost a lot of time and money. It is expensive for fieldworkers to travel regularly to every project site, and the technology involved in gathering the data – often small handheld computers – can take a lot out of a limited budget. One solution is Mobile Researcher, a tiny application that can be installed on the mobile phones.

Around the world, a woman dies every minute from pregnancy-related causes. Globally, there are more than 500,000 maternal deaths per year, the majority of which are in Africa where in many places the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is as high as 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births. And these death threats are only increasing: one in every 16 African women faces the lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy and delivery-related complications, particularly those from marginalized communities and those living in poverty.

The 4th edition of the annual Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media festival for children and youth in eastern Africa will be held at Goethe-Institut, Nairobi, Kenya, August 10-15, 2009. The only festival in Africa exclusively designed for children and youth, Lola Kenya Screen was established in October 2005 to explore, identify and nurture creative talents among children and youth in areas of filmmaking, cultural journalism, events planning and presentation and critical appreciation of creativity.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced concern over the political and constitutional crisis in Niger, calling for restraint and political dialogue to resolve the issue. In a statement issued at the UN headquarters in New York, Ban said he was “deeply concerned” about the ongoing political and constitutional crisis in Niger.

Wael Abbas, a leading Egyptian blogger and activist who has documented police abuse in the country in recent years, staged a sit-in for 10 hours after security confiscated his computer upon arrival from attending the Talberg Forum in Sweden.

Elections in Guinea-Bissau to replace assassinated President Joao Bernardo Vieira are to go to a second round, the electoral commissioner says. Mr Vieira was killed in March in apparent revenge for the death of the head of the army in a bomb blast. The two frontrunners from Sunday's vote are the ruling party's Malam Bacai Sanha with 39.6% of the vote and former President Kumba Yala with 29.4%.

Kenyan security forces beat and tortured hundreds of civilians in several communities during an October 2008 disarmament operation in Kenya's northeastern Mandera districts, Human Rights Watch has said in a report. Human Rights Watch called on the Kenyan government to establish an independent inquiry without further delay to investigate and then prosecute those responsible.

Radio is often considered to be a one-way medium, but the African Farm Radio Research Initiative is investigating ways of combining radio and ICTs to gather content and to share information among farming communities throughout rural Africa.

African leaders remained united in their condemnation of the arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir and called such a move a “slap in the face” on the ongoing efforts to restore peace in restive Darfur. The issuance of an arrest warrant against the Sudanese President, Bashir has been a hot issue during the African leaders' meeting in Sirte, central Libya and could end up with a total rejection of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Mali consumes 65 million tonnes of wood per year, which represents 90% of the country's energy consumption, according to the Malian government. Despite the adoption of a national programme for the increase in the use of butane gas and the Domestic Energy Strategy (SED), wood consumption remains high in the country.

The International Rescue Committee is launching an emergency measles vaccination campaign targeting thousands of refugee children in Hagadera camp to contain an outbreak of the disease at the massively overcrowded site. The IRC has confirmed six cases of the highly contagious virus and suspects 19 other cases in Hagadera, one of three overflowing camps in Dadaab, eastern Kenya

Sanusha Naidu does a roundup of the week's Sino-African news.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is once again calling on President John Atta Mills and other African leaders currently meeting in Sirte in Libya to condemn the systematic campaign being waged by President Yahya Jammeh’s administration to undermine media freedom and freedom of expression in The Gambia.

Efforts to guard Uganda against looming food insecurity are held back by government’s failure to encourage and sensitize farmers on what specific fertilizer types to use in order to rejuvenate the increasingly less fruitful soils. Scientists warn that despite availability of some improved seed varieties, soils in the landlocked East African country can no longer produce food sustainably to feed a rapidly growing population.

The ECOWAS Community Court hearing the case of torture brought by Musa Saidykhan, a Gambian journalist against the operatives of the Gambia’s notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA), on June 30, 2009 dismissed the preliminary objections raised by the Gambian government, the defendant in the case. According to the Community court, Saidykhan is a citizen of West Africa and that the court is mandated by the ECOWAS protocol to hear human rights violation cases brought before it.

The trial of seven Gambian journalists accused of publishing with “seditious intention” will now continue at a High Court in Banjul instead of the Kanifing court where the trial began. On July 1, 2009, the accused, four newspaper journalists and three executives of the Gambian Press Union (GPU) were summoned to appear on July 3, instead of the original adjourned date of July 7.

Pamoja Media is the premier vehicle for marketers looking to reach an African online audience globally. Previously, marketers both on the African continent and in the Diaspora have had a hard time connecting with the diverse African audience.

Olivier De Schutter

The landmark 30 th Durban International Film Festival brings together films and filmmakers from around the world in a celebration of the diversity and magic of cinema. Across eleven intense days DIFF will present over 200 screenings at venues across the city of Durban and in surrounding communities. While the selection of fascinating, passionate and entertaining films forms the centre of the festival, an extensive programme of free workshops and seminars – this year based at the Royal Hotel - will prime a new generation of South African filmmakers.