'In a released 7 December 2011, critics of the markets and even the architects and gatekeepers of climate finance admit to its failure'.

‘From Egypt to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the people are finding out that the entire process of voting and elections is stacked against change,’ writes Horace Campbell. We need ‘new forms of politics’ to transform our social system.

Durban will be worse than Copenhagen and Cancun, Pablo Solon predicts. ‘Instead of becoming stronger, the fight against climate change is becoming more soft and flexible, with voluntary commitments to reduce emissions.’

On Monday 5 December MediaClimate held a seminar titled 'Media meets climate: A problem or a solution for social movements' at the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard campus. MediaClimate is an international research group that looks at media coverage of the annual UN climate summits. The aim of the seminar was to explore the relationships between COP17, the media and the different angles of the stories. One of the issues raised was that COP and climate change terms are often difficult to understand.

tells the story of ten of Kenya’s unsung heroes who carry forward the tradition of the thousands of nameless freedom fighters of Kenya’s long path to liberation. These activists were part, over the last year, of the inaugural Fahamu Pan-African Fellowship (FPAF) programme. With local action and an African vision, the FPAF aimed to support a cadre of energetic, visionary and innovative activists.

[PDF] record the contribution of ten of Kenya’s community activists who daily resist oppression and dare to build alternatives. These are the Kenyans who organise rather than agonise.

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Anti-riot police Monday 5 December broke up a 'Day of Anger' rally by Mauritanian youths demanding the ouster of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, detaining about 20 protesters. As the tide of Arab uprisings swept to the west of Africa, police used tear gas on hundreds of demonstrators who sought to enter a square in downtown Nouakchott that has been declared off-limits for protesters since rallies began in late February.

South African president Jacob Zuma has declared his intention to have a decision on Agriculture at the UN COP17 climate negotiations in Durban last week; while the World Bank is promoting so-called 'Climate Smart Agriculture' and carbon offsets as the future of African agriculture and climate solutions. But civil society groups in Durban are concerned that this vision for African agriculture will lead to land grabs, farmer poverty and food insecurity, and only worsen global climate change.

Gambia’s opposition coalition, the United Front, has urged President Yahya Jammeh to retract his 'no coup or elections can remove me' from office statement, PANA reported. The coalition, consisting of four opposition parties that supported an independent candidate, Hamat Bah, made the call in a statement issued on the heels of the country’s just-concluded presidential election.

The Angolan government should end its use of unnecessary force, including by plainclothes agents, against peaceful anti-government protests, Human Rights Watch says. On 3 December, police and plainclothes security agents violently dispersed a peaceful rally of about 100 youth in Luanda, the capital, and injured at least 14, one of whom had a serious face wound, Human Rights Watch said. The demonstrators were protesting the 32-year rule of President José Eduardo dos Santos, whom they blame for rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and political repression.

WikiLeaks announced a new project on 2 December that they say aims to 'reveal the details of which companies are making billions selling sophisticated tracking tools to government buyers, flouting export rules, and turning a blind eye to dictatorial regimes that abuse human rights'. The whistleblower website calls their latest release 'The Spyfiles' and launched it with 287 files available for download. Among these files are presentations and product brochures for two South African companies: VASTech and Seartech. WikiLeaks said one of the companies sold equipment that could permanently record the phone calls of entire nations.

Just 8 kilometres South of the Kenya/Somali coastal border, 60 kilometres parallel to the northern coast of Kenya lies Kiunga Marine National Reserve. It is a marine reserve made up of a chain of about 50 coral islands, lying some 2 kilometres offshore and inshore of the fringing reef. This marine reserve is home to coral reefs, coral gardens, sea birds, rare endangered sea turtles, mangrove forests and a vibrant underwater world. But this once pristine environment is slowly taking a beating from a dramatic change in climate. Fishing has been the main economic activity in this area for centuries. But with the catch getting smaller every day, fishermen are worried.

Kenya’s new chief justice Willy Mutunga says that living by the constitution means that all Kenyans – from the tiniest hut to State House – must do what it requires, when it is required, whatever the cost in finance, effort or personal convenience.

Peter Vakunta’s new book, writes Ken Walibora Waliaula, ‘is remarkable both in its analysis of primary texts and synthesis of various strands of theoretical and critical debates on the core and inexhaustible question of the language of African literature’.

‘Conventional wisdom’ tends to limit understanding of the presence of people of African descent in Britain to the post-Second World War era. But Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe shows that African-descent peoples have lived in Britain and made remarkable contributions for several centuries.

The illegal invasion of Somalia exposes Kenya as a client state in the US empire building agenda, argues Abdi Dirshe. While political elites benefit from aid as a reward for their proxy status in the war against terrorism, the people will pay dearly for it.

Africans in the continent and the diaspora have been exploited for centuries in a sinister globalisation that only benefits the West. In this interview, African-American scholar Rosetta Codling wonders: ‘When will real global trade be realised, where all parties reap the same benefits?’

The Women’s Leadership Academy will mobilise ambitious Kenyan women leaders in every village, town, county and constituency and build their skills to the level where they are able to compete with men for the various political positions in the constitution.

Income inequality in South Africa as measured by the Gini co-efficient widened from the early 1990s to the late 2000s despite government efforts, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. In a report entitled 'Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising', the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) notes that income inequality in OECD member states, which are developed nations, has widened over the same period, while in emerging market economies (EMEs) it has narrowed.

As COP17 drew to a close last week the only game in town was the market-based mechanisms that are false solutions to climate change. The same institutions, corporations and governments who have led the world into economic chaos are leading us towards climate chaos, says the Durban Climate Justice blog. In a new video released at COP17, critics of the markets and even the architects and gatekeepers of climate finance admit to its failure.

‘On the face of it, life in the camp, with its surface calm and order, presented a sharp and favourable contrast to the open terror living in Uganda. But it was the Kensington camp, and not Amin’s Uganda, which was my first experience in what it would be like to live in a totalitarian society,’ writes Mahmood Mamdani, in ‘

Militias outside the control of Libya's central government are holding vast stores of tanks, rockets and small arms in the city of Misrata, an arsenal that will test the ability of the country's new rulers to assert their authority. A Reuters team gained rare access to militia warehouses in Misrata and counted thousands of boxes of arms and ammunition, most of it seized from forces loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi and hauled back to the city in trucks.

Data obtained by Amnesty International shows that the US has repeatedly transferred ammunition to Egypt despite security forces' violent crackdown on protesters. A shipment for the Egyptian Ministry of Interior arrived from the US on 26 November carrying at least seven tons of 'ammunition smoke' - which includes chemical irritants and riot control agents such as tear gas. It was one of at least three arms deliveries to Egypt by the US company Combined Systems, Inc. since the brutal crackdown on the '25 January Revolution' protestors.

State officers must enforce the Constitution fully or honourably resign, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga told the Kofi Annan meeting on Kenya progress Monday. Speaking when he gave a key note address at the two-day meeting, Dr Mutunga said complying with Kenya's new Constitution was not an option, however unpalatable some officers may find its provisions.

With stamped ballots piled on the desk in front of her, rights activist Ghada Shahbandar, said: 'As long as I have these obtained in my hands, I cannot trust the final declared results.' Speaking at a press conference held Saturday by the Egyptian Coalition for Election Observation, Shahbandar of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights highlighted several incidents that demonstrated incompetence by the judicial committee supervising the elections. The stamped ballots, for instance, should only be found inside polling stations and vote counting centers and heavily guarded throughout the process.

Egyptians voted on Monday in run-off contests for parliamentary seats, with the Muslim Brotherhood's party trying to extend its lead over hardline Islamists and liberal parties in a political landscape redrawn by the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is set to take the most seats in Egypt's first free election in six decades, bolstering its hand in any struggle with the ruling army council for influence over the most populous Arab nation.

The opening statements in the Durban climate talks sounded more like conclusions, writes Nnimmo Bassey on the New Internationalist blog. Negotiators will be grappling with two key issues - the first is whether to have a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol or whether to bury it and raise a Durban Mandate in its place. 'A whole lot of the foot dragging here is about money. Avoiding responsibility means holding tight to one’s money bag. And the rich countries, reeling from the financial crisis, do not want to take any step in the direction of doing the right thing.'

Technical experts from global lenders the International Monetary Fund arrived in Malawi recently for a mission to offer technical assistance that seeks to revive a stalled programme meant to cushion foreign exchange shortages. Ruby Randall, an IMF resident representative told reporters the team, co-led by Etibar Jafarow and Nadia Rendak, comprises monetary capital markets and legal experts whose findings will be 'expected to help authorities implement key extended credit facility (ECF) programme commitments'.

'There is nothing new in this aggressive and bullying stance of the EU in the EPA process. The last Conference of African Ministers of Trade held in Kigali once again officially registered its condemnation of the EU’s approach and methods in the EPA negotiations. It is in this context that we welcome the statements by Ghana’s Minister of Trade as well as the ECOWAS Director of Trade to the effect that member-states will continue to work to reverse the multiple conflicting trade regimes that the EU is imposing in West Africa through the EPA process, and that genuine developmental outcomes rather than arbitrary deadlines are the appropriate and legitimate reference point for ECOWAS in the EPA negotiations.'

The name Solomon Abera will forever be etched in the collective memory of Eritrea's press corps. On 18 September 2001, as the world focused its attention on the terrorist attacks on the United States, the government of Eritrea borrowed Abera's voice to sound the death knell, on state-controlled airwaves, of the Red Sea nation's independent press. Shortly after Abera read the announcement, the government rounded up leading independent newspaper editors and a dozen ruling-party dissidents calling for democratic reform - all of whom have disappeared in custody. On 2 December, the Committee to Protect Journalists said they learned that Solomon Abera, who lived in exile in Germany after fleeing government censorship and intimidation in 2005, was no more.

As thousands assemble in Durban for this year’s climate talks, the countries of the global South hope for some listening as well as all the talking, says international climate campaigner, Nnimmo Bassey. Bassey’s new book ‘To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa’ shows that the climate crisis confronting the world is mainly rooted in the wealthy economies’ exploitation and abuse of fossil fuels. Unless the connection is made between resource extraction, profiteering and climate change, the talks can not resolve the crises we all face.

'Just think of these figures: The third quarter profits for Morgan Stanley $2.2 billion; for Wells Fargo $4.1 billion; for J.P. Morgan Chase $4.6 billion; Bank of America $6.2 billion...these were the banking outfits that helped to fashion the near-depression. Remember all these figures are this year, well after the fiscal calamity of three years ago. Or take the oil companies in the third quarter of 2011: BP, despite paying out billions in compensation for the oil spill, made $5.1 billion; Shell made $7 billion; Mobil Exxon came in at $10.3 billion. And we can’t find money for the Global Fund? Is there any better definition of the 1%? And I haven’t even enumerated the restoration of corporate bonuses. Do you see what’s at work here? In the reckless haste to coddle the multinationals, global public health has taken a merciless hit. And here’s something else to think about. Not a one of these companies has given a direct nickel to the coffers of the Global Fund, despite endless requests that they do so. And BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil are all members of the Global Business Coalition Health (GBCHealth), successor to the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS.'

This Berghof Conflict Research paper, ‘Anti-terrorism Legislation: Impediments to Conflict Transformation’, reviews the ambivalent impact of terrorist ‘blacklisting’ regimes on peace processes with non-state armed groups, and argues that when applied unwisely, they might interfere with efforts to find a political solution to asymmetric intra-state conflicts. Indeed, the political nature and inconsistent application of terrorist proscription tends to blur the distinction between legal and unlawful political activism, encourage state repression of unarmed dissidents, and fuel radicalism.

The Global Water Partnership together with IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, under the auspices of UNESCO, at the University of Dundee, is looking to build on their successful 2011 International Water Law Programme (www.dundee.ac.uk/water/workshop), and offer scholarships for 30 participants to undertake a module in International Water Law, in Dundee 11-29 June 2012. Scholarship recipients are responsible for all travel (to/from Dundee) and subsistence (food/accommodation) costs. GWP is aiming at providing funding for travel and subsistence for a limited number of successful Scholarship applicants. Even though final funding is pending, GWP and the University of Dundee now invite applications from suitable candidates. Applications will be accepted from 24 November 2011 to 3 February 2012. Successful candidates will be notified at the beginning of March 2012 to allow as much time as possible to obtain visas, additional funding, etc.

BECCS, or biomass with CCS, has recently gained attention in national as well as international
high level discussions on climate, as a supposedly viable means to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. But the underlying premises for these claims are unfounded and dangerous, says this briefing paper from Biofuelwatch. 'Capturing carbon and pumping it underground itself requires considerable energy consuming from 10-40% of the power generated at the power station where it is applied, and hence increasing energy demand and cost of construction and operation.'

A recent study conducted by the African Women’s Development and communication Network (FEMNET) with support from Trust Africa has reviewed that a majority of African women still have relatively limited access to material assets, low incomes and very limited opportunities to engage in regional and foreign trade. The study was commissioned in five African countries (Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia) to assess the gender effects of the economic partnership agreements that the European Union is currently negotiating with different economic blocs in Africa, specifically how African women have benefitted from these new trade arrangements and their impact on women’s economic rights. Findings of the country studies indicates that trade arrangements in Africa and with its partners in other regions of the world has had different impacts on women and men and most often than not it affects women more negatively in their position as entrepreneurs, workers, consumers, producers, and care givers within the public and domestic spheres. Full report is available on request: [email][email protected]

ANC supporters dressed in the COP17 volunteers' tracksuits tossed stones and water bottles at members of civil society organisations that were marching in protest against climate change, the corporate-funded lack of progress at COP17 and other green issues in Durban on Saturday. At around 11am, as the protesters were still congregating at Botha's Park near Warwick Triangle in Durban, a phalanx of volunteers joined the march, in 'support of COP17' and 'in defence of President Zuma', according to some of the 200 or so volunteers who spoke to the Mail & Guardian.

Evaluation of the health impacts of climate mitigation strategies is critical to informed decisions that will attain the greatest combined gain for health, well-being and sustainable development.
This report from the World Health Organisation considers the scientific evidence regarding possible health gains and, where relevant, health risks of climate change mitigation measures in the residential housing sector. The report is one in a Health in the Green Economy series led by WHO’s Department of Public Health and Environment. Other reports in the series focus on transport, household energy in developing countries, agriculture and health care facilities.

The global revolt underway has shifted the whole political landscape and the terms of the discourse, writes William I. Robinson, a professor of sociology, global studies, and Latin American studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. 'Global elites are confused, reactive, and sinking into the quagmire of their own making. It is noteworthy that those struggling around the world have been shown a strong sense of solidarity and are in communications across whole continents. Just as the Egyptian uprising inspired the US Occupy movement, the latter has been an inspiration for a new round of mass struggle in Egypt. What remains is to extend transnational coordination and move towards transnationally-coordinated programs.'

‘Fifty years on, Fanon remains an extraordinary example of an intellectual willing to commit to a living politics waged with and not for the damned of this earth,’ writes Richard Pithouse.

Fanon appears more current than ever, writes Mireille Fanon Mendès-France. Thanks to his thought, many people have learnt that the fight for liberty, democracy and human rights is led against local despots and against the tenets of the neo-colonial order which they protect.

‘In the fifty years since Fanon’s passing to the other side and since the first publication of The Wretched of the Earth, both continue to live on, challenging us to not give up, to not become complacent, and to take arms, albeit symbolic, social, political, epistemic, and most of all pedagogical ones.’

Frantz Fanon played a key role in ‘legitimising violent struggle’ among ‘African liberation movements’, writes Cameron Duodu, in an exploration of Fanon’s relationship with Pan-Africanism, in particular in Ghana.

What would Fanon make of ‘the myriad socio-economic and political problems facing Africans and people of African descent today,’ asks Ama Biney, on the 50th anniversary of his death.

Frantz Fanon ‘respected us enough to understand that, as with his observation about every generation having to find its mission, to fulfill it or betray it, the responsibility for that future is no other than ours,’ writes Lewis Gordon.

The need to revisit Fanon’s work has ‘never been greater’, argues Helmi Sharawi, in an analysis of its relevance to ‘the process of globalisation’ in contemporary Africa.

'The Fact of Blackness', the seminal 1952 essay by Frantz Fanon, is still relevant today, argues Chambi Chachage. 'It is relevant simply because Du Bois’ problem of colour line has not yet disappeared.'