The rebellions in the ANC against Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma have broken the hermetic seal that had been tightly wound around electoral politics by the dominance of the ANC since 1994. Despite the ongoing debasement of political discourse by Zuma and some of his supporters, a new space is opening in which there can be some discussion of alternatives, argues Richard Pithouse. Although this space remains constrained by all kinds of shared dogmas it is, clearly, important for previously suppressed voices to seize this moment, to use it as effectively as possible and to hold it open for as long as is possible. The debates on the prospects for new and better policies are to be welcomed and we should take them up with vigour. But we also need to be clear sighted about the limits to a conception of politics that focuses on policy without taking sufficient account of the other factors that shape the reality of how things really go down in practice.

In this call to action, Kambale Musavuli and Maurice Carney argue that 100 years ago, King Leopold's brutality in the Congo had critics such as Mark Twain up in arms. Today, the brutality which is now corporate sponsored and African led is met with silence. They then invite us to become part of a global movement to break the silence in order to end the violence.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is the winner of Rights & Democracy’s 2008 John Humphrey Freedom Award in recognition of its courageous pursuit of justice for victims of human rights abuses inside Zimbabwe. The organization has played a leading role in the promotion and protection of human rights across Zimbabwe since its founding in 1996.

Ms Lucia Namuganga lost her husband to HIV/Aids a couple of years ago. Before a month elapsed, in-laws chased her away from their land, accusing her of infecting their son with the virus. Confused and frustrated, she went back to her parents’ home with five children thinking that she would be able to till part of their land and fend for herself and the five orphans.

Long queues of people waiting to vote in most municipalities have been reported by our correspondents. In general polling stations opened on time and have been well organised, with only minor problems. In Beira, where independent candidate Daviz Simango had warned of possible police intimidation, our correspondent reports that police were “nearly invisible”. There are long queues and voting is going smoothly.

The use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) to protect children from malaria has risen six-fold in the past seven years, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust. Despite this success, however, 90 million children still do not have access to this simple protective tool, and remain at risk from the life-threatening disease.

Amnesty International says that hundreds of those awaiting execution on Nigeria's death row did not have fair trials and may therefore be innocent. At an Oct. 21 press conference in Abuja, the capital, releasing its latest report on the death penalty in Nigeria, co-authored by the Nigerian rights organisation Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), Amnesty called for an immediate moratorium on executions in the country.

This essay presents an overview of key issues in literature on gender justice, citizenship and entitlement in the sub-Saharan Africa region. The essay begins with definitions of the key terms, making a special effort to draw from literature generated within the region. The second section, constituting most of the essay, is a review of the key literature, arranged by problem areas on which the literature on gender justice has focused.

To better prepare Africa’s urban settlements for climate variability and change, the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) program invites combined research and capacity building proposals that address the vulnerabilities of Africa’s urban centres to climate change, and will help urban stakeholders work together in developing adaptation options.

Today's food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. "Food insecure" governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snapping up farms all over the world to outsource their own food production and escape high market prices. Private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, are eyeing overseas farms as an important new source of revenue.

Fighting in eastern Congo continues to put the lives of thousands at risk. The need for an urgent response only grows. But Europe shamefully continues to fail to take the kind of action that is most needed - sending in a rapid-response military mission.

On November 24th 2008, Lyon will be hosting an international conference on digital solidarity at the invitation of President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a proposal made by the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, and under the French presidency of the European Union. Almost 300 personalities are expected, including several heads of state and government and leading members of territorial authorities, international organisations, NGOs, companies and foundations.

The Board of Directors of UAF-A announces with pleasure and excitement, the appointment of Ms. Jessica Nkuuhe as our new Executive Director. Ms. Nkuuhe will succeed our founder director Ms. Kaari Betty Murungi. Jessica will take over this responsibility on March 1, 2009.

It is wrong to execute an innocent man. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit will now consider whether it is constitutional. Troy Anthony Davis, convicted of murder, is asking the courts to hear evidence that key government witnesses have repudiated their testimony against him. But so far the courts have decided that, while he may be innocent, procedural rules prevent them from taking a second look.

IOM and USAID has released a new six-month study, entitled “No Experience Necessary: The Internal Trafficking of Persons in South Africa.” This qualitative study is the first survey research on the trafficking in children, women and men for labour and sexual exploitation within South Africa.

On November 21st 2008, a new campaign aimed at identifying and recognizing those who played a positive role during and immediately after the post elections chaos in Kenya will be launched. Who were the people that were prepared to risk their own lives to save others?

From 25 Nov to 10 December Zimbabwe will once again join the rest of the world to focus on ‘16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN’ - a global campaign to “SAY NO!” to violence against women, which is now in its 18th year and sweeping the world.

“Women and girls are in urgent need of protection as fighting continues in North Kivu,” Bob Kitchen, International Rescue Committee (IRC) country director in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has said. “Vulnerable to sexual violence and abuse in a highly unstable environment where armed groups roam with impunity, women and girls are particularly at risk of harm when they have to leave camps or population centres to collect firewood for cooking,” he added.

Twaweza, meaning "we can make it happen" in Swahili, is a newly established ten-year initiative that seeks to enable people in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to improve their quality of life through a bold, citizen-centered approach to information access and public accountability. Twaweza's core purpose is to enable millions of ordinary citizens in East Africa. Twawea is looking for unusually creative, capable and committed people for the a number of posts.

Zimbabwe’s educational system is now in the morgue. The state of our education system is clear testimony to how self-destructive Zimbabwe has become. In a word, Zimbabwe is structurally deficient and in a desperate need for repair and construction.

SOUTH Africa's cabinet says it will withhold $28m of agricultural aid to neighbouring Zimbabwe until a representative government is in place. South Africa's cabinet said the impasse was creating a humanitarian crisis. The current outbreak of cholera was a clear indication that Zimbabweans were becoming "victims of their leaders' lack of political will", it said.

"Cabinet is extremely concerned about the political impasse that is creating a humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe. The reported outbreak of cholera in parts of that country is a clear indication that ordinary Zimbabweans are the true victims of their leaders' lack of political will and failure to demonstrate seriousness to resolve the political impasse.

The 3,000 extra UN troops being sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo need to be elite soldiers from Europe, the UN's ex-peacekeeping chief says. Jean-Marie Guehenno told the BBC there was an urgent need for an effective international force in the east.

A white South African teenager who killed four blacks, including a three-month-old baby, in a racially-motivated shooting spree was sentenced on Friday to 169 years in prison, the SABC reported. A court in North West province imposed the sentence on Johan Nell, 19, after he pled guilty to murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition in connection with the January 14 shootings in a shantytown near Swartruggens, the broadcaster said.

Lesotho's drive to test all of its citizens age 12 or older for the virus that causes AIDS fell short of its goals, both in carrying out the program and in safeguarding the rights of those tested, said Human Rights Watch and the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa in a new report.

Over the last twenty years, the ballot box has replaced military coups as a means of political change across Africa, says Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, a political scientist from the University of Ghana. However the results of democratic practices are a mixed bag of sand and sim-sim. "There has been a significant departure from the mode of politics of the past," he says.

In major nightclubs in Nairobi, a new phenomenon is taking shape: the number of male sex workers is on the rise as more men turn to the act as away of eking a living. While many people have associated Mombasa with men who sell anal sex, it is emerging that Nairobi is now a hot-spot for this business. Men who engage in this act for commercial reasons are easy to come by than was the case in the past, says Dr Joshua Kimani, whose research work has enabled him to come into contact with some of them.

The Security Council has welcomed last weekend’s legislative elections in Guinea-Bissau and called on the political parties in the troubled West African country to respect the results. Last Sunday’s polls were held on schedule “in an orderly and peaceful manner,” and both the Government and the people deserve commendation for their efforts, the Council said in a press statement read out by Ambassador Jorge Urbina of Costa Rica, which holds the presidency of the 15-member panel this month.

United Nations humanitarian agencies are preparing to send emergency supplies to southern and eastern Ethiopia, where flash floods following heavy rains have displaced locals and damaged about 2,000 hectares of cropland. Food, water, health care and other non-food items are needed to help the inhabitants of the Somali and Oromiya administrative regions of Ethiopia, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. The Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) is also affected.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working with authorities in Burundi to better protect the country’s albino children in the wake of a brutal crime in which a six-year-old girl was shot and dismembered, apparently in the mistaken belief of some locals that the body parts have magical qualities. Media reports say the girl was shot dead at the weekend in Burundi’s eastern province of Ruyigi, close to the border with Tanzania, and then her head and limbs were removed by her attackers.

A top army major and five other ranks have been sentenced to life imprisonment for stealing and selling arms to The Emancipation of Niger-Delta Militant Group (MEND). A military tribunal in Nigeria heard that their operation took place between the periods of January 1st 2000 to December 2006.

A traditional chief in Manicaland with strong ZANU PF links, has instituted civil proceedings to ban women from holding political posts in his chiefdom. So incensed is Chief John Rukweza about the emergence of an influential female MDC councillor in his area that he wants to ban her and all other women from political activities.

Zimbabwe’s doctors have sketched a picture of a health system that has collapsed with hundreds of people dying from a cholera epidemic which has now crossed the border into South Africa. Limpopo Health Department spokesperson Phuti Seloba confirmed that 81 people were being treated at Mussina Hospital with three deaths recorded so far.

Africa’s operators say they cost their national backbone prices based on distance. The basis is that the further you want your traffic carried, the more it costs. However, this logic will soon be challenged by new, cheaper international bandwidth costs. If it costs more to send traffic from Johannesburg to Cape Town or from Lagos to Abuja than it does from any of these places to Europe, then national arbitrage will have well and truly arrived. Russell Southwood looks at what is likely to happen.

The first five years of a large-scale antiretroviral programme have resulted in excellent, sustained rates of virologic suppression, CD4 cell count increases, and improved clinical outcomes among adults in Botswana, according to a study reported in AIDS. The Botswana Antiretroviral Treatment Program (commonly known as MASA, from the Setswana word for "new dawn") began providing free access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in January 2002 through Princess Marina Hospital in the capital city of Gaborone.

Meriem and her friends, while washing their families' clothes in a stream near their rural homes, used to dream and giggle about having a romantic wedding someday. Her fairy tale would turn into a nightmare when she was 14 years old, however, when her father decided to give her away in marriage.

The UN refugee agency and its partners have been taking advantage of relative calm in the eastern Congolese province of North Kivu this week to step up work on a new camp for up to 30,000 displaced people. UNHCR and the provincial authorities want to move almost half of the 67,000 internally displaced people (IDP) currently staying in two camps in Kibati to the new Mugunga III camps, located to the west of the provincial capital, Goma.

“The 16 days of activism campaign responds to issues troubling all South African women regardless of their sexual orientation.” So said Zanele Muholi, a lesbian women’s rights activist who believes that the 16 days should be a period of solidarity among women to uphold the rights of all citizens and restore the dignity of the most vulnerable members of society.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) hosted its 24th world conference in Vienna, Austria on 3 to 6 November 2008. This assembly, which was attended by more than 80 member countries of the world aimed to, among other objectives, create and strengthen networks between activists campaigning in all regions of the world.

Ministers from across the developing world say they want to take control of their own health research agendas as part of a wish list presented at the Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health yesterday (19 November). Launching the much-awaited 'Call to Action' at the closing event of the Forum they said they want to prioritise policies dealing with research for health and improve coordination between ministries so that their respective countries can have more ownership of research.

A new health data system has been introduced to rural parts of Sierra Leone, where lack of electricity and widespread illiteracy has prevented authorities and UN agencies from collecting reliable data about infant mortality and other health indicators. The method: Counting stones

Ugandan Inspectorate of Government (IGG) said police and judicial are most corrupt government institutions according to public perceptions. Newly released 2008 Inspectorate of Government National Integrity Survey report which investigated prevalence and incidences of corruption and administrative injustice in public service and the reasons for it, suggest that corruption has been glorified.

Like many teenagers in rural Ethiopia, Shekuria Mume, 19, became pregnant, quit school and got married at 15. The birth of her first baby remains one of her most traumatic experiences, as an untrained traditional birth attendant (TBA) delivered her. "I had heard that some women die while giving birth so I was scared most of the time during my pregnancy; I didn't sleep much," Shekuria told IRIN.

Sokari Ekine reviews the following blogs:

Ranger witnesses the murder of his father
Lions Guardians
Dudu Diaries
Lamu Marine Conservation project

China's economy is huge and expanding rapidly. In the last 30 years the rate of Chinese economic growth has averaged 8 percent per annum. The economy has grown more than 10 times during that period, with Chinese GDP reaching US$3,42 trillion by end of last year.

Chinese companies are shopping for companies in Europe and around the world, undeterred by the global financial crisis. In fact, they are hunting for bargains. Analysts and business leaders say the economic meltdown that has pummelled global stock markets may be bad news for the West, but it could be a boon to Chinese companies flush with cash and looking for places to put it — despite being burned on earlier investments.

Portuguese-speaking countries are focussed on improving economic and business communication with Beijing, via the Forum Macau, which they see as strengthening relations between China and the Portuguese-speaking world. The overall positive balance and the promise of greater future efforts came from the Session on Mutual Investment between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, organized in September by the Forum Macau, which recently published the speeches made by the participants.