Several women were on Monday morning arrested after stripping down to their bras at Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) as they protested the brutal manner in which opposition Forum for Democratic Change Women’s League leader Ingrid Turinawe was arrested last Friday. Ms Turinawe was assaulted on Friday as the police blocked a rally called by the opposition in Nansana, outside Kampala.

A quiet walk through nature offers moments of beauty and serenity that often go unnoticed. In celebration of Earth Day 2012, we invite you to take a few minutes to enjoy this journey through cycles of light, water, wind and earth.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration has released its newest publication, 'Rainbow Bridges: A Community Guide to Rebuilding the Lives of LGBTI Refugees and Asylum Seekers'. Rainbow Bridges is the first guide of its kind directed at US LGBT and accepting communities. It is a 48-page guide developed in a pilot project to resettle LGBT refugees in San Francisco. Rainbow Bridges offers practical step-by-step guidance on welcoming new refugees, ensuring their mental and physical well-being, and helping them find support in their new communities.

Activists have sent another letter to Cepheid, the manufacturer of the revolutionary GeneXpert multi-drug resistant TB diagnostic machine, urging them to bring down the price of their products so that more people can access this lifesaving test.

Thousands of young Mauritanian opposition protestors took to the streets of Nouakchott Sunday to demand President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a former coup leader, step down. 'We're ready to oust Aziz,' the demonstrators chanted during a march that wound up in front of the national broadcaster, which the protestors described as 'the symbol of the regime's tyranny'.

Grantees of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria who allegedly committed fraud or misused funds unwittingly did a lot of damage to the Fund – and, many say, global health - as donors withdrew and the beleaguered organization faced a 'crisis of confidence' in recent years. But the Fund has responded and is undergoing an extensive restructuring process. IRIN/PlusNews takes a look at some of the alleged fraudsters and the progress of the investigations.

The Editors of African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal are pleased to announce a special issue on 'There are no Blacks in Argentina.': Policing the Racial Border to explore the hidden and invisible history of Blacks and the ways in which racial ideology and practice have erased the presence and memory of the African descendant populations while valorizing whiteness in Argentina. While a number of critical works have began to uncover the presence of African descendant populations in Argentina, this topic remains under theorized.

The African Anthropologist is the official journal of the Pan-African Anthropological Association. It is published biannually by CODESRIA on behalf of the Association. The journal is planning to produce a special issue focusing on ‘sexuality’. We hereby invite contributions on various aspects of sexuality.

Are you an African leader with a vision for the future of your continent? Applications for the next Programme for African Leadership at the London School of Economics close on May 4th 2012. Successful applicants will take part in a three week intensive programme of lectures, debates, seminars and events based around issues of leadership as well as international affairs and development. Participants will benefit from gaining access to an active pan-African alumni network of rising leaders, with an annual network forum being held in Africa from 2013. The programme dates are 3rd-21st September 2012, further information is available from

South Sudan's army has completed its withdrawal from Sudan's main Heglig oil field, the military said Sunday, but condemned the north for bombing the area. Juba seized the flashpoint oil hub on April 10, claiming that Khartoum was using Heglig as a base to attack the South's oil-producing Unity State. Although South Sudan disputes it, Heglig is internationally regarded as part of Sudan.

On Monday, 23 April 2012, Eddie Webster will be presenting the next instalment of the monthly Ndifuna Ukwazi seminar series. This public talk examines the rise of the workers’ movement and the politics of the ANC (1973–1994). Prof Webster will discuss the historical origins of the links between the ruling party - then a liberation movement struggling through the worst years of Apartheid - and the workers’ movements, which were rapidly developing and newly energised during this period. This question has continued relevance for current politics, given the political affiliation between the ANC, Cosatu, and the South African Communist Party (SACP). It is especially relevant in the year the ANC celebrates its 100 year anniversary, amidst ongoing debates about the state of our new democracy and the future of the party. For those who cannot attend, the event will be live-streamed:

Television journalist Gil Noble, who died recently, hosted the New York City public affairs television program 'Like It Is'. One of his legendary interviews was with Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee who coined the term 'black power'. Carmichael changed his name to Kwame Ture after moving to Guinea in 1969. Noble interviewed him in June 1996 about two year’s before his death.

South Sudan's seizure of a Sudanese oilfield has all but killed off hopes the two countries will settle their disputes soon and Khartoum may demand compensation before returning to talks, a Sudanese oil minister said on Sunday. The newly-independent South seized Heglig earlier this month, raising fears of an all-out war with Sudan. Tensions have mounted since South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in July, under a peace settlement that ended decades of civil war.

Rising drug resistance has turned what public health officials call today's Big Three infections - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria - even more fearsome. Together, these diseases kill millions every year, representing 10 per cent of all deaths globally. Worse, the trio of epidemics is tragically interconnected, with TB, for example, the leading cause of death among individuals infected with HIV.

The junta in Guinea Bissau on Saturday said its plan for a two-year transition had only been a suggestion, in an apparent climbdown following threats of UN and regional sanctions. Hours afterwards the opposition politician picked as transitional president by the junta told news agency AFP he was turning down what he described as an 'illegal' appointment. The junta has come under fire from the United Nations and the west African regional grouping Ecowas for failing to restore civilian rule after an April 12 military coup.

In Malawi, an audience-driven radio programme - Nkhani Zam’maboma or 'News from Districts' - has captivated the nation by exposing everyday injustices experienced by Malawians. Grievances are articulated through local idioms and proverbs that have little in common with the individual freedoms espoused by human rights activists. Never before has it been possible for Malawians to share experiences of injustice so publically.

A two-day National Conference on Land Owners and Land Users affected by large scale investments in agriculture organized by the Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF) and Green Scenery, held on the 2nd and 3rd April, 2012 at the St. Edwards Pre- School Hall, Kingtom, Freetown ended up with a recommendation by participants for the formation of a Civil Society coalition that would serve as a watchdog on land issues in the country. In response to this recommendation, the 'Action for Large scale Land Acquisition Transparency’' known as (ALLAT) was formed.

The mission of Congolese Genocide Awareness (CGA) is to generate worldwide awareness on the effects of war in general and the civil war specifically of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Particularly our mission is to generate awareness around the reoccurrence of the rape of Congolese women and the exploitation and killing of children. More information can be found on their website at A video and song shot for their cause can be seen at

In this Newsclick video, Professor Samir Amin discuses with Aijaz Ahmad on developments in Egypt over the last one year. Samir Amin details the correlation of forces in Egypt today and identifies the current phase as the beginning of a long period of democratic change with its ups and downs.