Swaziland and Lesotho have the highest HIV prevalence in the world. They also share another distinct feature: during the last century, they sent a large numbers of migrant workers to South African mines. This paper examines whether participation in mining in a bordering country affects HIV infection rate.

Blog Black Looks has listed a number of Ugandan and African human rights organisations who have condemned the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, including the Ugandan Law Society, Coalition of African Lesbians, Urgent Action Fund Kenya and Ugandan Frontline Defenders.

Sixteen Tanzanian human rights defenders were arrested on 9 February. In protest against the Tanzanian authority's act that goes counter their state commitment to protect, respect and fulfill human rights, Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) has drafted a letter urging the Tanzania authorities to release and drops all charges against these activists. They are requesting people to support the 16 activists by:
1. printing and delivering/posting the letter to the president's office in Dar-es-salaam if based in Dar-es-salaam or any part of Tanzania
2. printing and delivering the letter to the Tanzania embassy/consulate in your country if based outside Tanzania,
3. adapting the letter and putting it on your organisation's letter head, signing it and delivering it to the president office or the representative of Tanzania government in your country.

Home Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma must try again to be elected as the African Union Commission chairperson, the Southern African Development Community decided at the weekend. Foreign ministers from SADC countries met in Cape Town at the weekend, where her recent defeat at the AU summit in Ethiopia was discussed. Dlamini-Zuma contested the election against Jean Ping, the AU Commission head, who was standing for a second term.

The Journal of Peace Research has published a special issue on climate change and conflict that constitutes the largest collection of peer-reviewed writings on the topic to date. The research covered in the journal includes:
- The publics' concern for global warming: A cross-national study of 47 countries
- African range wars: Climate, conflict, and property rights
- Climate change, rainfall, and social conflict in Africa
- Come rain or shine: An analysis of conflict and climate variability in East Africa
- Climate change, violent conflict and local institutions in Kenya's drylands
- Climate clashes? Weather variability, land pressure, and organized violence in Kenya, 1989-2004
- Does climate change drive land-use conflicts in the Sahel?
- Climate variability, economic growth, and civil conflict
- Civil war, climate change, and development: A scenario study for sub-Saharan Africa
- Climate-related natural disasters, economic growth, and armed civil conflict
- Don't blame the weather! Climate-related natural disasters and civil conflict
- Could climate change precipitate peace?
- Climate change and the institutional resilience of international river basins
- Weathering climate change: Can institutions mitigate international water conflict?
- Climate change and international water conflict in Central Asia
- Climate change and security in the Israeli-Palestinian context.

This edition deals with the housing crisis and includes the following articles:
- The Neoliberal Project, Privatisation and the Housing Crisis
- Housing Associations: Privatisation Via Not-For-Profits
- Housing Profiteers and their Facilitators & Company Profile: Grainger
- Homelessness: Who profits from destitution?
- The Return of Class War Conservatism: the Realities of Housing in the ‘Big Society'
- Housing Benefit Cuts: Educate, Agitate, Organise!
- Anti-Squat Security Companies: Protection by Occupation?
- The Criminalisation of Squatting
- Alternatives: Housing Co-ops & Case Study: Phoenix Co-op
- Campaign Spotlight: SQUASH

Visit for more information.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

Sudanese police have raided student dormitories at the main university in the capital Khartoum, arresting and beating hundreds of students, activists say. The youth activist group Change Now said Friday's raid took place before dawn, adding that more than 350 students had been arrested at the University of Khartoum. The university has been the scene of student protests since late December. The students have previously staged a sit-in to demand the right to form a student union and to protest against police violence in earlier raids there.

The European Union has lifted some more of its sanctions against top officials and institutions in Zimbabwe. An EU diplomat said the bloc was ending measures against 20 entities and 51 people - including the justice and foreign ministers. However restrictions on President Robert Mugabe continue.

The Conservative government's new plan to reform the refugee system will prevent legitimate claimants from telling their stories and will damage the Immigration and Refugee Board's ability to review those claims, says one immigration expert. The reforms were announced by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who said Canada is being preyed upon by 'bogus' refugees from democratic countries with strong human rights records.

Morocco is prosecuting activists who campaigned peacefully for a boycott of elections held three months ago, Human Rights Watch said. These prosecutions contradict statements by Moroccan officials that authorities arrested no one for advocating a boycott. One of several such trials resumes on 22 February 2012, before the Marrakesh First Degree Court. Charged with distributing fliers in violation of the law, the defendants were arrested in Marrakesh on 16 and 17 November 2011, as they began handing out fliers urging Moroccans to boycott the legislative elections on November 25. Another group of pro-boycott leafletters are on trial already in the city of Benguerir.

The detention without charge of Dr. Wenceslao Mansogo Alo, a medical doctor who is also a prominent human rights defender and opposition member in Equatorial Guinea, for more than five days following the death of a patient during surgery is a source of serious concern, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. Both organizations are calling for his immediate release. Mansogo is a member of the leadership of the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) party and serves as its secretary for international relations and human rights. He is a medical doctor and owns and runs a private clinic in the city of Bata. He is also a member of the local city council.

The Ogaden Somali Community in South Africa says it has filed a complaint with the country's top prosecutor and the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging an investigation into the actions of the Ethiopian government against the Ogaden people. In a statement released on behalf of the community, a South African media advocacy group, Media Review Network, called on ICC authorities to probe complaints of alleged crimes in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. The crimes include extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, rape, torture, disappearances, the destruction of livelihood, the burning of villages and the destroying of life stock, the statement said.

Testimony before an inquest into a Zimbabwean power broker's fiery death has ended, leaving the last hours of General Solomon Mujuru's life shrouded in suspicion that he was murdered by political rivals. After three weeks of hearings that have been closely followed in Zimbabwe, Magistrate Walter Chikwanha did not say when he would report his conclusions after hearing evidence from 37 witnesses. He can rule the death was accidental or criminal and in the latter case an investigation would be opened. Chikwanha could also declare an 'open verdict', effectively saying he was unable to reach any conclusion.

The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) decided at the weekend to delay Julius Malema’s suspension until its disciplinary committee had heard his submission in mitigation of sentence, party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on 6 February. This followed the decision of the national disciplinary committee of appeals (NDCA) to uphold the guilty verdict against the ANC Youth League president. The NDCA also ruled that the disciplinary case against Malema and five other members of the ANCYL’s NEC be referred back to the national disciplinary committee (NDC) for evidence in mitigation of sentence.

The burning inferno of what used to be a Chevron Corp. natural gas rig still stains the night's sky orange more than two weeks after the rig caught fire, and no one can say when it will end as swarms of dead fish surface. The environmental damage is hitting a region whose poor still rely on the delta's muddy waters for survival. A nearby clinic remains overrun with patients who are showing up with skin irritations and gastrointestinal problems.

Leader of the opposition John Tembo has said president Bingu wa Mutharika’s remarks on Friday 3 February when he opened the 43rd session of parliament offered no hope for a nation that is economically struggling. Mutharika had said he will offer concrete proposals to the present problems in May and also appealed to the IMF to give his administration three years to resolve the economic crisis. Mutharika has already been criticised for failing to provide proposals and measures to deal with the current problems Malawi is facing and many question his three year 'grace period' request when no tangible proposal has been seen in the past two years since many problems started to appear.

A National Security Council (NSC) meeting slated for recently was cancelled after a fierce clash between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai over the composition of the attendees following the expiry of the term of office of one of the service chiefs, authoritative sources confided to The Standard last week. Sources said the meeting was potentially explosive as there was mistrust between the service chiefs and Tsvangirai.

A renowned journalist was humiliated and beaten by security guards manning South Sudan’s National Assembly on Monday, eye witnesses told Sudan Tribune. Mading Ngor, host of the popular ’Wake Up Juba’ show on Bakhita FM, was roughed up by at least four security men and wrestled to the ground in front of other journalists. Only when a MP intervened was he let go by the security services.

Some 11 universities and other political groups are promoting calls for civil disobedience starting 11 February until the military rulers step down and hand power over to an elected civilian authority. 'We called for a gradual strike and if the demands aren’t met we will escalate to civil disobedience as we had depleted all other peaceful means of protesting,' Mahmoud Afify, spokesman of the April 6 Youth Movement, said. A variety of sectors, mainly students and labor unions, welcomed the idea.

The government is contemplating to open doors for Genetically Modified Crops (GMOs) in a decision expected to attract more international partners in the bio-technology industry. Addressing an international conference in Dar es Salaam, Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Prof Jumanne Maghembe said the country had no other option but to welcome the new technology. The national discussion on whether to allow GMOs is currently between the ministry of Agriculture and the Vice President's Office with a debate on safety legislation protecting farmers and consumers and whether to remove a contestable clause (strict liability clause) in the bio safety regulatory framework.

Some young citizens in Ghana have never witnessed water flowing from the taps in their homes, reports Global Press Institute. As the water shortage here persists, families bemoan expensive and time-consuming alternatives. Meanwhile, public officials say they are doing their best with the current supply and implore residents to do their part to help them.

The TAC and SECTION27 have sent an open letter to the High Commissioner to India for South Africa to highlight their urgent concerns with final negotiations for the EU-India Free Trade Agreement. They are concerned about provisions for the scale up of intellectual property, pushed by the European Union, in an impending EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the impact of these provisions on the health of people across the developing world.

The Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues is governed by Mauritius, but it's inhabitants yearn for self-governance. How much longer will they have to wait?

The 18th ordinary session of the African Union Summit was marked by the failure of African leaders to elect a new chairperson of the African Union Commission. Behind the scenes, complex international and regional shenanigans led to the deadlock.

The United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has a less than glowing image in the DRC, but there is no sign in sight of the mission's end.

Top African copper producer Zambia plans to audit all its mining houses in a bid to dig for back taxes of up to $1 billion it estimates it is owed, its mines minister said. Such a policy by the government of populist president Michael Sata would widen an initiative launched by the previous administration and comes against the backdrop of a surge of resource nationalism across Africa and Zambia's own doubling of copper royalties to six per cent.

President Obiang’s major pre-occupation is enjoying the oil wealth of his country together with members of his family and cronies. And the country’s opposition makes sure nobody disturbs the big man.

The Committee to Protect Journalists on 6 February condemned official attacks on journalists covering political unrest in Egypt. 'At least two journalists were shot by security forces in the past three days, and a third journalist was assaulted in police custody, according to news reports,' said the organisation.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed issues a decree for people living in government houses to immediately vacate to give the transitional federal government ample time to renovate the badly damaged buildings. More than 60,000 people are said to be sheltering in these government owned houses and ministries, however the Somali government argues that it now has the funds to refurbish the badly ruined buildings that have been left in dilapidated state.

Over 130 people gathered at the Solomon Mahlangu hall in Khayelitsha, Cape Town on 4 February to acknowledge victims of hate crimes. Several organizations joined Free Gender in this event, including HBS, the African Gender Institute, Social Justice Coalition, Triangle Project, TAC, and Gender Dynamix. There was a candle lighting ceremony during which survivors and families of those who have passed due to hate and intolerance were presented with framed portraits.

Nigerian authorities have handled the Boko Haram crisis badly, resulting in more bloodshed. The key to resolving sectarian agitations is dialogue and not the use of force.

Lack of unity is South Sudan’s most profound crisis, one that underlies the country’s economic and political woes. It will take a long time and sustained efforts to build one nation with common values.

African awakenings have been sporadic, with short-lived moments of intensity followed by exhaustion. But there has to be a starting point and now many people know that ‘We can’.

Anxiety has gripped Mali in the face of contrasting positions by the government and rebels in the north following clashes that have left scores dead in what is shaping up as a secessionist battle. Rebel leaders of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) said they were ready for a major offensive inland following a series of attacks that have targeted mainly small towns in northern Mali.

Somalia President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has announced the government's plan to establish 100 schools in the capital Mogadishu. Several countries and institutions have expressed willingness to offer development assistance to Somalia, especially after the militants of Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group, were largely driven out of Mogadishu.

A suicide bomber killed at least 11 people Wednesday in the war-torn Somali capital Mogadishu when he detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near the presidential palace, officials said. The blast occurred outside the Mona hotel, where 32 people including six members of parliament were killed in an August 2010 attack by two Islamist suicide gunmen wearing government security uniforms.

Egyptian judges probing alleged illegal foreign funding of non-governmental organisations accused domestic and foreign groups on Wednesday of illegally meddling in politics, further straining ties with key ally Washington. The judge said December raids on 17 NGO offices as part of a probe into illegal funding had been conducted 'according to the law'.

Access to accurate information about the extent and nature of large-scale foreign investment in Ethiopian, Sudanese and South Sudanese land is extremely limited. So broader narratives of 'land-grabbing' - seeing governments as unwitting victims or as predatory regimes – are a potentially misleading oversimplification in the Horn of Africa, where local populations do not lack agency in this process, says this briefing.