The UN special envoy to Western Sahara says the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front rebels must resolve their dispute before lingering hostilities plunge the entire North Africa into renewed conflict. The Polisario Front fought a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces until 1991, when the United Nations mediated a ceasefire between the two sides with the agreement that a referendum would be held to determine the final status of the territory. However, the plebiscite has never been held.

735 police complaints of sexual harassment were recorded over the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday that ended October 29, according to a statement released by the Egyptian government. Sexual harassment continues to hit Egypt with increasing reports of incidents taking place across the country. Yet, Egyptians today acknowledge this long-standing problem exists, and growing social mobilization has brought together men and women in the fight against harassment.

Are the rights of women seriously under threat in post-revolution countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya? There are grounds for concern, but it is too early to tell, activists and experts say. 'There is very little that you can say in terms of rollbacks or undermining of women’s rights ... anything specific,' said Liesl Gernholtz, head of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch. Women organised and led some of the demonstrations that toppled decades-old governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen – and helped the rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

The world's wealthy countries often criticise African nations for corruption - especially that perpetrated by those among the continent's government and business leaders who abuse their positions by looting tens of billions of dollars in national assets or the profits from state-owned enterprises that could otherwise be used to relieve the plight of some of the world's poorest peoples. Yet the West is culpable too in that it often looks the other way when that same dirty money is channelled into bank accounts in Europe and the US. In this excellent investigation shown on Al Jazeera, Zimbabwean journalist Stanley Kwenda takes a journey through the murky world offshore banking.

Lawmakers moved a step closer Tuesday 13 November to approving a bill that would harshly crack down on gay rights, including banning same-sex marriage and public displays of affection between homosexual couples. The bill which has already been approved by the Senate passed a second reading in the House of Representatives with an unanimous vote and will now see a clause-by-clause review in the chamber at an undetermined date.

African civil society organistions are calling for an immediate and complete ban on the growing, importing and exporting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the African continent. 'We call upon the governments of Africa to take the necessary steps to protect the health of their populations by supporting this call and commit to conducting independent and authoritative long-term food safety studies.' A petition can be signed online.

The honeymoon period for new Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has officially ended after 34 opposition parties together called on the government to ensure free and fair elections in regional voting next April. The parties had been invited by the country’s Election Board earlier this month to look at how to schedule the vote and when the groups demanded to know how the board was to deal with potential irregularities in the voting, the meeting was canceled.

The movement to bring greater transparency to the oil, gas and mining industries is facing a crucial time in its development and needs to overcome three significant challenges to continue to be successful, Daniel Kaufmann, head of the international transparency watchdog Revenue Watch Institute told TrustLaw. The transparency movement must become more global, the data produced by the extractive industries must be clear and comparable across countries, and the movement must work to build up expertise within resource-rich countries so that local transparency watchdogs, governments and media can interpret the data, Kaufmann, a former World Bank economist, said.

The number of mobile phone users in sub-Saharan Africa rose by 44 per cent to 475 million, compared to just 12.3 million fixed line connections, representing the highest proportion of mobile versus fixed line connections in the world. Statistics released by GSMA, a global association of mobile survive providers revealed that mobile industry is driving explosive economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

The ANC agreed on Tuesday 13 November to some of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele's hawkish proposals on the Protection of State Information Bill. Cwele notably appeared to have persuaded the ruling party to re-introduce a maximum five-year prison sentence for the disclosure of classified information, and to re-introduce a clause that would have the new law trump any other legislation dealing with such information. Without explicitly naming the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the new official secrets act would therefore trump it – as Cwele has asked for, and commentators have cautioned could render the bill unconstitutional.

Trade justice organisations have published a new report titled, ‘Southern alternatives to EU Trade Policy’, which proposes a diverse set of alternative to the current unjust international trade system.

More than 3.5 million people in Sudan's conflict-plagued Darfur region will be vaccinated against yellow fever which is suspected of killing nearly 100 people in the past seven weeks, officials said. '(The) vaccination plan has been finalised and will cover vaccination of approximately 3.6 million,' said a joint report from the UN's World Health Organisation and Sudan's health ministry. A WHO official earlier told AFP the inoculations could possibly begin by early December, after reconfirmation of the diagnosis from a laboratory in Senegal.

South African opposition parties have submitted a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma saying that corruption and unemployment have risen, the justice system has been politicised, and the economy has weakened. The motion, backed by eight parties, was triggered by the recent deadly mine strikes, the downgrading of the country's credit rating by two major agencies, and big spending of state funds on Zuma's rural residence, according to a joint statement by the parties.

In 2001 Brazil invested $69 billion in Africa. By 2009, the latest figures available, that had swelled to $214 billion. At first Brazilian firms focused their efforts on Lusophone Africa, Angola and Mozambique in particular, capitalising on linguistic and cultural affinity to gain a foothold. Now they are spreading across the continent, reports this Economist article.

Zimbabwe's newspapers are filled with public notices for auctions as many other individuals and companies lose their property to banks and money-lenders after falling behind on loan repayments. The country's financial sector has enjoyed three years of economic growth following the adoption of multiple currencies in early 2009 and an end to a tumultuous trading period characterized by record inflation, bank closures and failures. Buoyed by phenomenal growth in deposits and a steady currency, many banks have introduced personal bank loans to attract new clients.

The Fahamu Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the November 2012 issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter. The issue can be found . Please feel free to share it widely.

Sierra Leonean polls slated for November 17, 2012 will be adequately secured. The assuarance came from the country's security chiefs, who also allayed fears of likely intimidation by security agents saying that the decision was a precautionary measures to avoid any likely chaos. According to the security officer, the polls will see over 15,000 security personnel deployed under the Integrated Elections Security Planning Committee.

In the middle of the night on 14 March 2012, the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) abducted a woman named Jalila Khamis Kuku from her home and took her into custody. Denied access to a lawyer and even a change of clothes, Jalila was dragged into a pickup truck in her night gown accompanied by a dozen NISS officers in civilian clothes, reports Global Voices Online. Out of the eight months Jalila has served in jail so far, three of them were spent in solitary confinement. She is now under threat of the death sentence as she has been accused of serious charges under the Sudanese criminal law; namely Article 51, of waging war against the state, and Article 50, which entails undermining the constitutional system.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Department of Home Affairs on Monday (12 Nov) squared off in court over the attempted deportation of more than 30 foreign nationals. On Friday the commission launched a scathing attack on the department, alleging it had acted dishonestly over the issue. About 10 days ago the commission, together with the non-governmental organisation People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty, brought an urgent application in the South Gauteng High Court to stop the department from deporting 39 asylum seekers detained at the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp.

Sudanese government forces have blocked international peacekeepers accessing the site of an alleged attack that killed up to 10 civilians in the western Darfur region, the peacekeepers said. The African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said a team of peacekeepers went to investigate on Saturday after receiving reports of an attack on civilians in Sigili village, some 40km (25 miles) southeast of North Darfur's state capital El Fasher.