It will soon be a quarter of a century since the death of Thomas Sankara. He joined Lumumba, Um Nyobé, Felix Moumié, Osendé Afana, Ben Barka, Outel Bono, Pierre Mulele, etc in the pantheon of the worthy sons of Africa assassinated by the colonialists and their African accomplices. But today, when Africa more than ever needs the spirit of the Sankarist action, Guy-Marius Sagna considers it regrettable that Sankara is not the reference he should have been.

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For 50 years now, France has covered a state crime it has had since 17 October 1961, when the Parisian police attacked Algerian demonstrators and killed more than 200 of them. Some were killed by bullets, while others drowned in the Seine River. From General de Gaulle to Sarkozy, this massacre has been covered like a deliberate political decision, because it has never been disapproved. Emmanuel Terray thinks "it is high time that this accomplice silence ends!”.
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Paul Biya is set for a third term in office. A well locked electoral system offers him re-election without encountering any opposition. It is in this respect that the Cameroonian autocrat has gone after the popular movement which had destabilized him in 2008, where the repression caused about 140 deaths. According to Pierre Sidy, the political opposition failed for "not taking the political direction of these social movements and for not succeeding in structuring and anchoring them in the popular quarters”.
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The Durban+10 Coalition conference passed in near indifference from international media. Not shocking when it is known that the states which control the world had wanted to empty the Durban Declaration of all its contents ten years ago. The conference against racism, discrimination, xenophobia and associated intolerance, fights on in the same logic. Behind their masks of virtue, racism, xenophobia and intolerance continue to nourish them. ‘Some’, notes Mireille Pennon-Mendès-France, ‘do not hesitate to bring back to the surface the theory of the supremacy of the ` white race' as the only race that can save humanity’. Interventions such as that carried out by NATO in Libya do not justify themselves differently.

Climate negotiators said they made progress on laying out ways to help poor countries but deep differences remained on core issues ahead of a make-or-break talks in South Africa. With scientists warning that the planet is far behind on meeting pledges to control climate change, officials from around the world held a week of talks in Panama City to float ideas before the Durban conference opens on 28 November. UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said that the talks made 'good progress' and pointed to technical work on the shape of a Green Climate Fund that will assist the poorest nations seen as worst impacted by climate change.

Media reports that Zambian Watchdog reporter George Zulu is in police custody are not true, the reporter told the International Press Institute, while expressing concern that the newspaper's staff is being intimidated by police who want them to reveal their sources on a controversial story. IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie called on Zambia's new government to be diligent in protecting the rights of journalists to report freely and in calling to task police or other officials who would intimidate journalists or pressure them into revealing their sources.

Reporters Without Borders visited Cameroon from 26 September to 2 October to assess the degree of media freedom during the campaign for the 9 October presidential election and to promote a series of reforms that are needed to improve media freedom, including a new media law and the decriminalization of press offences. 'The media's coverage of the campaign is trying to be balanced but the campaign itself is not,' Reporters Without Borders said. 'President Paul Biya, who is running for reelection, and the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Rally (RDPC) are everywhere. Biya is the only candidate to be seen on campaign posters. The opposition is hardly managing to make its voice heard. Everyone agrees that there is little political debate and this is reflected in the media.'