The price for Uganda Land Alliance’s (ULA) investigations into cases of land grabbing has been set-so high that once paid, it will become extremely risky for anyone attempting to question the vices of land grabbing and forceful evictions of innocent citizens. Government has given ULA two weeks within which to among other stern conditions; provide evidence of land grabbing or else have her permit revoked; and to make an apology to the President and government ministries. The above conditions were contained in a damning 19-page investigation report on the works of ULA, produced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Rights groups in Kenya have warned of a potential miscarriage of justice after the government moved to have the cases of four people charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) transferred to a region tribunal which has no experience in handling such crimes. Two of the suspects, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former higher education minister William Ruto, are likely candidates in a forthcoming presidential election.

On April 26, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was convicted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international law for aiding and abetting rebels from 1996-2002 in Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil war. Immediately after the verdict, announced on the eve of Sierra Leone's 51st Independence Day, emotions ranged from excitement to disappointment, showing the complexity of the case.

In a special co-production by SOAS Radio and Pambazuka News, our presenter Robtel Pailey was in the Hague, interviewing Brenda Hollis and Stephen Rapp, current and former chief prosecutors of the Special Court for Sierra Leone; Courtenay Griffiths, Taylor’s defense attorney; Sharon Taylor, Taylor’s daughter; Hawa Momoh and Abu Duffae, Sierra Leoneans who witnessed the verdict with anticipation; and A. Fasu Kanneh, a Liberian resident in the Hague who worked with Taylor in 1980s Liberia. We discuss whether or not Charles Taylor’s verdict is an indication of selective justice, as argued by the defense, or a victory for international justice, as argued by the prosecution.

A concerted funding effort is needed to achieve basic services for all, says this Occasional Paper from the Municipal Services Project (MSP). 'One untapped source for renewed funding of public services is the large pools of public capital accumulating in Public Pension Funds and Sovereign Wealth Funds. At present, they invest heavily in the private sector to maximize returns but under appropriate conditions, such funds could actually realize greater long-term returns from investment in public service provision while avoiding the politically controversial and contradictory practice of using public sector funds to support privatization.'

Hundreds of representatives of free media are getting ready to go to Rio de Janeiro, in June 2012, to help to prepare the Peoples’ Summit at Rio+20, a parallel event to the UN Conference on sustainable development. They will work to spread the voice of the people gathered at the Summit, who instead of talking about the management of the environment by economic power, will speak about the ways for the environmental and social justice.

Can regional integration offer a way out of the current economic, climate, food and energy crises? In this video documentary, activists from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe argue that regional integration is the only viable response to these crises.

A recently posted YouTube video provides a glimpse of the thriving resistance of the Palestinian people, and the depravity of the Israeli military. In the video, a young Palestinian woman climbs over an Israeli military water cannon, effectively neutralizing the vehicle, while defiantly waving the Palestinian flag atop the water canon. Sadly, the video also shows Israeli occupation forces attacking protesters with pepper spray, aimed directly (and deliberately) into their eyes and from close range.

The European Union has slapped an assets freeze and travel ban on six coup leaders in Guinea-Bissau. It said a ban on entering the EU and the assets freeze targeted "six persons that threaten the peace, security and stability of Guinea-Bissau. Their names will be listed in the EU Official Journal on May 4.

When President Museveni signed the controversial Land Amendment Bill into law protection from illegal eviction was guaranteed. However, participants debating the issue of land grabbing in a public policy symposium in Kampala last week, cited state house, police, the lands ministry, investors and government officials among the key drivers of land disputes and illegal evictions.

Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete has sacked six ministers amid allegations of government corruption. He has been under pressure to deal with the scandal following a report by a body overseeing public finances. The inspector of the government's accounts noted the rampant misuse of funds in at least seven ministries.

Sudan has endorsed the African Union's (AU) roadmap to avert an all-out war with South Sudan, though it insisted on retaining the right to self-defence. Earlier, South Sudan said it had accepted the AU's seven-point roadmap that called for a cessation of hostilities. Based on the seven-point roadmap, the two countries have until next Tuesday to restart stalled negotiations and three months to reach an agreement.

Renewed heavy fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) North Kivu Province has pushed some 3,000 Congolese refugees into northern Rwanda where they are in need of humanitarian assistance, says a senior UN official. 'The situation is worsening since humanitarian volunteers are now overwhelmed by the influx of Congolese refugees who are arriving in Rwanda,' Neimah Warsame, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) representative in Rwanda, told reporters on 3 May.

Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the switching off of the last of their nation's 50 nuclear reactors Saturday, waving banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol. Japan will be without electricity from nuclear power for the first time in four decades when the reactor at Tomari nuclear plant on the northern island of Hokkaido goes offline for routine maintenance. After last year's March 11 quake and tsunami set off meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, no reactor halted for checkups has been restarted amid public worries about the safety of nuclear technology.

Japanese organisations have asked for support in their appeal to Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihiko Noda and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon concerning the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool. 'It is clearly evident that Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool is no longer a Japanese issue but an international issue with potentially serious consequences. Therefore, it is imperative for the Japanese government and the international community to work together on this crisis before it becomes too late. We are appealing to the United Nations to help Japan and the planet in order to prevent the irreversible consequences of a catastrophe that could affect generations to come.'

Who are the people behind grassroots movements, farming unions, groundbreaking research and government policy that are helping to stave off hunger, boost crop harvests and put more food on tables? AlertNet put this question to dozens of experts and researchers from leading non-governmental organisations and research institutes involved in nutrition and agriculture and have come up with a 'Top 10 food trailblazers' list.

This newsclip from The Real News Network examines worker protests in Egypt in the context of the European Bank seeking to ratify $1.5 bn in loans to Egypt. 'This isn't investment, it's imperialism!' shouts one protestor.

The 'Birthing Justice: Women Creating Economic and Social Alternatives' series features twelve alternative social and economic models which expand the possibilities for justice, equity, and strong community. They are based in the US, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Some are national-level, some global-level. Some are propelled by people’s movements, some forced or adopted into government policy. In first-hand narratives, women describe their role in having created the models and show us their unique perspectives and challenges in the movements. The fifth narrative focuses on land occupations in Honduras.

The National Coordination of Peasant Organizations (CNOP) of Mali and La Via Campesina have published a new report on the mobilization of social movements against land grabbing. Land grabs jeopardize food sovereignty and threaten sustainable family farming and peasants everywhere in the world. The document stems from the first international peasant and farmer conference against land grabbing, held at the Nyéléni site in Sélingué in Mali, from 17 to 19 November 2011. The gathering included about 250 participants, principally women and men of rural and peasant origin, from 40 mainly African countries. It witnessed numerous testimonies by populations that had been ousted from their land by foreign investors who have set up vast monocultures for the export of foodstuffs or agrofuels. In most cases the populations are neither informed nor compensated.

The complex linkages between poverty and ethnicity are explored in the context of Mauritius. The research finds that the causes and patterns of poverty differ according to ethnic group. Economic, political, and social spheres are analysed. The author carried out doctoral field research for fourteen months in Mauritius to collect primary data concerning: ethnic identity, inter-ethnic/religious relations, poverty, exclusion, and marginalisation.

High-level Nigerian government participation is needed at an upcoming international conference to make progress in ending a lead poisoning epidemic among children in Zamfara State, Human Rights Watch said. The international conference, in Abuja, the capital, on May 9 and 10, 2012, will include representatives from the World Health Organization, bilateral donor agencies and nongovernmental organizations. It will focus on the mass lead poisoning in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara, one of the worst such crises in modern history.