Police in Garissa recently forced a Star journalist to delete photographs of 25 injured TFG soldiers. The wounded soldiers had been airlifted from Somalia after a firefight with al Shabaab at Hayo camp, 25 kilometres from Afmadow. Star correspondent Stephen Asteriko chanced on the soldiers who had been admitted to the Garissa General Hospital before being flown to Nairobi for further treatment. The soldiers, mostly below the age of 20, had received serious injuries to the head, chest and leg.

The graffiti and street art in post-revolution Libya is a constant reminder of what most fought for this year. Some of the picturesque artistry in bright and warm tones depicts nature and Libyan traditions. There are also caricatures mocking the late Muammar Gaddafi - no longer a symbol of fear.

Egypt's caretaker premier named a new cabinet on Wednesday 7 December charged with tackling worsening crime and a sliding economy after the first round of elections showing a landslide victory for Islamist parties. Interim PM Kamal al-Ganzuri announced his administration following nearly two weeks of delays, reportedly caused by problems in finding a suitable candidate to fill the highly sensitive interior ministry post.

This Newsclick video examines the role of Indian companies in African land grabs, highlighting how these companies are moving into Africa to take advantage of a lack of governance and laws when it comes to land.

Burundi has made some progress in consolidating peace, but recent developments could reverse gains, according to the UN top envoy in the country. Karen Landgren told the UN Security Council that efforts to preserve the peace are being marred by human rights challenges and politically-motivated killings.

The results of the first round of parliamentary elections indicate that female representation will be minimal, if not nonexistent - a phenomenon experts and candidates attribute to cultural barriers. Not a single woman earned a seat in parliament in the first round, nor did any female candidates contest the run-offs.

Senegal: The people rise up against land grabbing
The inside story of a 20,000-hectare deal

On October 26, the people of Fanaye, a rural community in northern Senegal rose up against the allocation of 20 000 hectares of land to an Italian company to produce biofuel. Two people died in the unrest. The Defence Collective sent a memorandum to the authorities explaining the fraudulent manner in which the land was expropriated and why it ‘is unacceptable to allow the production of biofuel and exports in an area of chronic malnourishment.’

Land grabbing: Farmers of the world say stop

Millions of hectares of arable land have been expropriated and given to multinational companies and investment banks for the purpose of industrial agriculture, mining, production of biofuel, carbon trading, tourism, big dams, etc. Farmers’ groups from around the world gathered recently in Mali to denounce the massive land grabbing taking place.

China, Africa’s best strategic ally
Jean-Paul Pougala (2011-11-28)

China is giving the West the jitters as it strengthens its strategic ties with Africa. Against this backdrop reminiscent of Cold War rivalry, Jean-Paul Pougala looks at the divisions beginning to emerge between countries favouring closer ties with China and those who seek to remain with their old alliances. He applauds the changes in Cameroon and deplores the Ivorian status quo.

Gabon: Historic moments when the opposition should speak with one voice!
Mengue M'Eyaà

With upcoming elections in Gabon, the death of historic opposition figure Pierre Mamboundou on October 16 couldn’t have come at a worse moment and seems to have scuppered the chances of a united front which could have put an end to the Bongo regime. Mengue M’Eyaa calls on the opposition to come together and liberate Gabon from an illegitimate predator.

As COP17 drew to a close last week the only game in town was the market-based mechanisms that are false solutions to climate change. The same institutions, corporations and governments who have led the world into economic chaos are leading us towards climate chaos, says the Durban Climate Justice blog. In a new video released at COP17, critics of the markets and even the architects and gatekeepers of climate finance admit to its failure.

Data obtained by Amnesty International shows that the US has repeatedly transferred ammunition to Egypt despite security forces' violent crackdown on protesters. A shipment for the Egyptian Ministry of Interior arrived from the US on 26 November carrying at least seven tons of 'ammunition smoke' - which includes chemical irritants and riot control agents such as tear gas. It was one of at least three arms deliveries to Egypt by the US company Combined Systems, Inc. since the brutal crackdown on the '25 January Revolution' protestors.

South African president Jacob Zuma has declared his intention to have a decision on Agriculture at the UN COP17 climate negotiations in Durban last week; while the World Bank is promoting so-called 'Climate Smart Agriculture' and carbon offsets as the future of African agriculture and climate solutions. But civil society groups in Durban are concerned that this vision for African agriculture will lead to land grabs, farmer poverty and food insecurity, and only worsen global climate change.

The Angolan government should end its use of unnecessary force, including by plainclothes agents, against peaceful anti-government protests, Human Rights Watch says. On 3 December, police and plainclothes security agents violently dispersed a peaceful rally of about 100 youth in Luanda, the capital, and injured at least 14, one of whom had a serious face wound, Human Rights Watch said. The demonstrators were protesting the 32-year rule of President José Eduardo dos Santos, whom they blame for rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and political repression.

Just 8 kilometres South of the Kenya/Somali coastal border, 60 kilometres parallel to the northern coast of Kenya lies Kiunga Marine National Reserve. It is a marine reserve made up of a chain of about 50 coral islands, lying some 2 kilometres offshore and inshore of the fringing reef. This marine reserve is home to coral reefs, coral gardens, sea birds, rare endangered sea turtles, mangrove forests and a vibrant underwater world. But this once pristine environment is slowly taking a beating from a dramatic change in climate. Fishing has been the main economic activity in this area for centuries. But with the catch getting smaller every day, fishermen are worried.

The blog has a photo gallery of the Global Day of Action Against UN Conference of Polluters (COP) in Durban, while the Durban Climate Justice blog has a

You are cordially invited to the launch of three Pambazuka titles, To Cook a Continent, Earth Grab and African Awakening on Tuesday the 6th of December at Ike's Books in Durban. Authors and activists, Nnimmo Bassey, the ETC Group, Patrick Bond and more will be present at this exciting event happening alongside the COP17 talks in Durban. Visit this to find out more or click on the link provided to view a flyer about the event.

The US is losing the global information war, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared while appearing before a congressional committee to ask for extra funds to spread US propaganda through new media. Clinton said existing private channels are not good enough to handle the job, naming as rivals Al Jazeera, China's CCTV and RT - which she watches, she added.

State officers must enforce the Constitution fully or honourably resign, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga told the Kofi Annan meeting on Kenya progress Monday. Speaking when he gave a key note address at the two-day meeting, Dr Mutunga said complying with Kenya's new Constitution was not an option, however unpalatable some officers may find its provisions.

Egyptians voted on Monday in run-off contests for parliamentary seats, with the Muslim Brotherhood's party trying to extend its lead over hardline Islamists and liberal parties in a political landscape redrawn by the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is set to take the most seats in Egypt's first free election in six decades, bolstering its hand in any struggle with the ruling army council for influence over the most populous Arab nation.

The deputy chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Erastus Jarnalese Onkundi Mwencha, says the structure of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the continent and the European Union is not to Africa’s advantage. 'Our advantage is regional integration. Can EPA help us to integrate our markets? If anything it will stall us. I don’t think EPA is a priority for Africa,' Onkundi Mwencha told Business and Financial Times in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the 7th ordinary session of African Union Ministers of Trade conference in Accra.

We will consider arresting George Bush when Amnesty International 'give us the facts', said Zambia President Michael Sata on Sunday shortly before he saw off the visiting US former president. The Zambian president also said 'it’s a coincidence' that Mr Bush and Zimbabwe long-time ruler Robert Mugabe were in Zambia at the same time. Sata was responding to questions from journalists at KK International Airport in the capital Lusaka about Amnesty International’s calls on Zambia to arrest Mr Bush for human rights violations during his 2001-2009 Presidency.

Zanele Muholi and Khanyisile Mbongwa put together a collaborative show around the idea of interstices, of spaces in between/in-between spaces - literal, metonymic, metaphorical. 'Ngaphakathi esiphakathini' is directly translated as 'inside the in-between', writes Khanyisile. The artists respond to the economies of violence of the everyday, a reality of bodies marked and inscribed in particular ways.