Mandera town, on the border between Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, is the hub for aid operations in the drought-affected Mandera district in Kenya. It could have been a possible logistics base for sending help by road to the famine-affected areas in south-central Somalia, but the security risk is high. About four months ago, Al-Shabab militia took over Bulo Hawo on the Somali side, and continue to mount sporadic attacks in the area even though it has been retaken by the authorities.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has expressed concern over the volatile political atmosphere in the country as incidents of politically motivated human rights violations shot up to 1,014 in June from 994 recorded in May. In its summary on political and food-related violations, ZPP said Midlands province recorded the highest number of incidents, pegged at 214, up from 201 in May. The province witnessed an increase in assault, harassment and intimidation cases while Mashonaland East recorded a drop from 188 to 172 reported cases.

Civil society organisations in Malawi have appealed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika for crimes against humanity following the violent deaths at the hands of police of at least 19 people during the 20 July anti-government demonstrations. In a statement issued in the capital, Lilongwe, Monday, the eight organisations that organised the demonstration also asked the Hague-based court to prosecute Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister Aaron Sangala, and the Inspector General Of Police, Peter Mukhitho, alongside the president.

Côte d’Ivoire remains fragile and unstable, says this report from the International Crisis Group. 'The atrocities after the second round of the presidential elections on 28 November 2010 and Laurent Gbagbo’s attempt to retain power by all means despite losing exacerbated already acute tensions. The next months are crucial. The new government must not underestimate the threats that will long jeopardise peace and must avoid the narcotic of power that has caused so many disastrous decisions over recent decades.'

The Hawks have taken the first step towards re-opening the multibillion-rand arms deal probe - which could expose those who took bribes to prosecution. The head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, Anwar Dramat, wrote to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) informing it of the Hawks' intention to speak to European investigators to establish whether or not criminal charges should be brought against any South Africans. The Hawks controversially dropped the probe into the arms deal in September last year, arguing that prospects of successful prosecutions were slim.

Rebel fighters challenging the rule of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi waged an eight-hour gunfight here in their de facto capital on Sunday, against what their leaders called a 'fifth column' of Qaddafi loyalists who had posed as a rebel brigade. It was the latest sign of discord and trickery in the rebel ranks to emerge in the four days since the killing of the rebels’ top military leader, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, a former Qaddafi confidant who had defected to their side. The mysterious circumstances of his death have raised new questions about his own loyalties, and about the unity and discipline of the rebel troops.

Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, has set up a committee to negotiate with a radical Islamist group that has claimed responsibility for a string of almost daily shootings and bomb attacks in northeastern Nigeria, the government has announced. The committee was set up on Saturday after a meeting between Jonathan and local leaders in Borno state, which concluded that the military's strategy against Boko Haram, the group in question, has done more harm than good.

Cash for guns or buy-back programmes in post-conflict states have fallen out of favour as a method of ridding a society of weapons, and have been replaced by often elaborate schemes designed to remove money from the equation, but the debate continues as to the best way forward. The disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) community has grappled for years with buy-back practices and acknowledges they can have a profound effect on the nature of peace and even encourage a return to conflict. However, sometimes they can be termed 'good practice'.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has appealed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to prevent forthcoming conflict-mineral rules from causing a 'de- facto embargo' on trade from the Central African nation. The commission was asked to develop the guidelines last July under the Dodd-Frank Act to help cut the link between Congo’s mineral trade and armed groups. The SEC rules, which are expected as early as next month, will apply to US companies involved in the trade in tin ore, tantalum, tungsten and gold shipped from Congo and nine neighboring countries.

Globalisation continues its forward march
Noam Chomsky

To date, the rise of public indignation has not questioned the power of companies. The future depends on what the majority is ready to withstand and knowing whether this vast majority will collectively come to a constructive proposal in response to the problems that are at the heart of the capitalist system of control and domination. If not, the consequences may be grave, as history has so clearly shown.

******

One Europe, several Europes in construction or deconstruction?
Samir Amin

To some, Europe is currently under construction. But Samir Amin thinks that those who think so have limited and fragile criteria for judgement which could be compared with the inter-dependence of interests, in the short-term, of European monopoles. According to Amin, the current crisis is most probably the start of the ‘deconstruction’ of Europe.

******

Senegal: What interpretation can be made of the happenings in June?
Sidy Diop

The events which recently shook Senegal show that the political system of the country is in crisis. Through massive street demonstrations, the population prevented the parliament from adopting a law, and a few days later, violent protests expressed the great dissatisfaction created by the energy policy. It should not be doubted that this is an unprecedented occurrence which calls for reflection in order to determine the true meaning of the happenings and perhaps draw lessons which are essential to hatch the institutional evolution that measures up to the new expectations displayed by the people.

******

The reason for marching against rape of women in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

When some Congolese heard of a march by their fellow citizens from Paris to Brussels, they thought it was madness. One of the recurrent questions asked was: ‘What will that change?’ The material, symbolic and humane reason behind the march was unknown to them. They had forgotten that great changes start from little things. This article by Jean-Pierre Mbulu is an attempt at theorising this walk and its effects.

A wicked blow to Africa, the invasion of Libya has little to do with protecting civilians and all to do with strategic interests. Why are these invaders so heartless, asks Charles Abugre.

Several districts in Uganda will need urgent relief aid to mitigate the risk of starvation following poor rains that have affected this year's harvest, the Minister for Disaster Preparedness warned. Most of the affected districts are in Karamoja where the situation was particularly unique because crop failure and a prolonged drought had aggravated the region's food crisis, Musa Ecweru said.

After walking for days to escape drought and insecurity, often barefoot and with almost no food or water, Somali refugees who arrive at Dadaab camps in northern Kenya are met with delays and red tape. Some wait up to two weeks to be registered as refugees, and longer to get food and shelter. The sluggish pace of the registration process is partly because refugees may only register and receive ration cards at Ifo camp, at the centre of the three Dadaab camps set up to 10km apart.

Uganda ‘is seeking to come up with a law that will make it impossible for sexual minorities, or even those who know about them, to live within the country. Consequently this is going to lead to an increase in the number of people seeking asylum based on their sexual orientation,’ writes Angella Nabwowe.

A panel discussion at the recently held International Association for the Study of Forced Migration conference tackled the often precarious position of refugee human rights defenders. Katie McQuaid reports on the issues at stake.

Stephen Oola writes about how a recent International Association for the Study of Forced Migration conference explored the links between transitional justice and forced migration.

South Sudan has barred people of Somali origin from entering its territory by road, creating a potential diplomatic and trade crisis with its neighbours. A senior Kenya Revenue Authority official, who sought anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the press, said that the rules were introduced two weeks ago due to what is believed to be security reasons. Kenyan traders, including those of Somali origin, have flocked to South Sudan in search of new business opportunities.

At least nine people have died in clashes between unidentified 'armed gangsters' and security forces in northwest Burundi, sources said. The incident, the most deadly since the end of the 1993-2006 civil war, came amid increasing reports in recent weeks of attacks by 'armed gangs'.

Pirates have hijacked an Italian diesel tanker off Benin in western Africa in an attack of the kind more usually associated with Somalia. Assailants boarded the RBD Anema e Core in the Gulf of Guinea, officials in Benin and Italy confirmed. The Gulf of Guinea has become increasingly important for its potential energy reserves which have attracted international interests, BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy reports from Dakar.

Faced with the slow response to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons, the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) convened a debate over 3–6 July in Kampala on gaps between ratification and implementation, engaging member states and involving civil society.