The latest update from the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) looks at the key issues pertinent to Tanzania's 2005 parliamentary and presidential elections. "In many cases, a review of a country's elections is unlikely to undergo an all-encompassing assessment of the relevant elections matters, leaving aside other dominant issues that influence the delicate democracy within the analyzed elections. That said the subsequent analysis will contain a set of election issues reviewed via a justifiable list of topics."

2004-2005 saw an upsurge in seed industry takeovers and a shake-up in rankings. Today, the top 10 companies control half of the world's commercial seed sales. With a total worldwide market of approximately US$21,000 million [$21 billion] per annum, the commercial seed industry is relatively small compared to the global pesticide market ($35,400 million), and it's positively puny compared to pharmaceutical sales ($466,000 million). But corporate control and ownership of seeds – the first link in the food chain – has far-reaching implications for global food security.

For a large part of its history, UNHCR became involved in the response to Internal Displacement in an ad-hoc case-by-case manner, focusing especially on those situations where IDPs were mixed with, or in close proximity to refugees or returnees and shared much the same needs and vulnerabilities. It has now agreed to take on global lead responsibility for ensuring adequate and effective responses to situations of conflict-induced internal displacement in the key areas of protection, camp management and emergency shelter. This approach was endorsed on 12 September by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the main international humanitarian coordination body, and is expected to be tested in two to three major new emergencies starting in 2006.