An Italian coast guard patrol rescued almost 400 people aboard a boat that had left Libya six days before and was lost for more than 36 hours off the coast of Lampedusa. Arriving in Lampedusa, migrants declared tragic deaths had occured from hunger and fatigue during the voyage and dozens of bodies were thrown over board.

In this months newsletter Daniel Large provides commentary on relations between China and South Sudan, as well as the potential role for China to play in the newly independent state. In our second commentary piece, Peter Bosshard provides insight into the long-term impact of China's Three Gorges Dam and the lessons they offer Africa as the number of large-scale hydro-power projects on the continent continues to increase. Translations of the two commentaries are also provided in our continuing Chinese series. The July edition is available .

The 7th conference of 'The Revival of Panafricanism Forum' was held on Saturday, 16 July 2011. The topic of the conference was 'Panafricanism: A Viable Ideology to Address Africa’s Rape Redux/Euro-American 21st Century Neo-Colonial Re-Conquest and Scramble for Africa.' The speakers were Dr. Molefi Kete Asante (keynote), Peter Bailey, Maurice Carney, and Chioma Oruh. Videos of the conference are posted on Youtube:
- (Part 1)
- (Dr. Molefi Asante, keynote speaker)
- (Closing remarks and comments).

More and more Eritrean refugees, mostly educated young men, continue to arrive in Ethiopia, with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, expressing concern over the rising numbers. 'Most say they left their country [to avoid] a prolonged military conscription, but they also say they want to join their families on the road,' Moses Okello, UNHCR’s representative in Ethiopia, told IRIN. Ethiopia hosts at least 61,000 Eritrean refugees.

South Africa's preparations to host the next major round of climate talks have met with scepticism from activists critical of what they say is the country's lack of leadership on environmental issues. The high-level meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, scheduled for 28 November to 9 December in the eastern port city of Durban, is seen as the last chance to renew the Kyoto Protocol, the only international agreement with binding targets for cutting greenhouse gases. But environmentalists have voiced concern that South African organisers are not doing enough to lay the groundwork for an ambitious conference that will make hard commitments on climate change and raise the cash to achieve them.

The promotion of two Côte d’Ivoire military commanders against whom there are serious allegations of involvement in grave crimes raises concerns about President Alassane Ouattara’s commitment to end impunity and ensure justice for victims, Human Rights Watch has said. On 3 August 2011, President Ouattara signed a promotion making Chérif Ousmane the second-in-command for presidential security (Groupe de sécurité de la présidence de la République). During the final battle for Abidjan, Ousmane was the head of the Republican Forces operations in Yopougon neighborhood, where scores of perceived supporters of Laurent Gbagbo were executed extrajudicially.

Malawi’s leading economic analysts say government’s domestic borrowing and interest rates are set to rise following the suspension and withholding of aid to Malawi by some of the country’s donors. The analysts, particularly those from Nico Asset Managers Limited and National Bank of Malawi (NBM), have also warned that the country’s economy - once a model of success less than two years ago - is on its way to a major slowdown as businesses pant under the weight of a hostile macroeconomic environment that denies them even the most basic of survival kits such as forex, fuel, water and electricity.

Chad seems a nightmare location for business - unless, that is, you are Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, 45, or Patrice Backer, 44, of Advanced Finance & Investment Group, a private-equity fund-management company in Dakar, Senegal, that has so far invested about $72 million in African financial institutions, agriculture and mining. 'It's like low-hanging fruit,' says Ndiaye, describing the investment climate in Africa. 'There is no competition. If you know what you're doing, it is a bonanza.' Such bonanzas - opportunities in troubled places with huge needs - are increasingly being sought out by a fast-growing group: Africans who have returned home after years of living, working and studying in the West, reports Time business magazine.

The Front to Defend Egyptian Protesters, which includes 34 human rights organisations and a number of volunteer lawyers, has welcomed the initiative taken by many activists and political powers to help in representing the civil plaintiffs in the case of the ousted president Hosny Mubarak, his sons, his interior minister, and some figures of the former police apparatus. The initiative comes to ease the burden carried by the Front since establishment in April 2008, especially with the growing pattern of cases it is competent with since the aftermath of January 25th revolution.

Newspapers in Malawi used to be exempt from sales tax. But the finance minister has announced they would start attracting the standard 16.5 per cent VAT. For a press that's already over-reliant on state advertising, the predicted drop in sales - and corresponding need to bring in even more government ad spend – is very bad news for free media, says this article on

Climate change, a growing number of voices in media and policy circles warn, is raising the risks of violent conflict in the twenty-first century. Dire futures are predicted for some of the world’s poorest, least prepared countries and their most vulnerable citizens. This report, sponsored by the Centers of Innovation at the U.S. Institute of Peace, evaluates these claims for conflict-prone Nigeria. Based on a comprehensive literature survey, interviews with senior government officials, academics, and private sector figures, and the author’s work as a conflict analyst in Nigeria, the report calls for a more nuanced approach to mapping the links between climate change and conflict.

The government of Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who pledged to uphold democracy in a Friday (05 August) meeting with US President Barack Obama, has suspended a newspaper over a reprinted opinion column criticising the White House meeting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine will convene in District Six, Cape Town, site of a brutal apartheid-era forced removal. The land has remained undeveloped on the edge of the city since it was declared 'a white group area' and the homes of black residents were demolished in the 1970s. The Cape Town session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine – to be held on 5-6 November – will consider whether Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people fits the international legal definitions of the crime of apartheid.

A women’s group begins campaigning near La Marsa beach in Tunis to convince more women to come up and register in the electoral lists, in time for the deadline now pushed back to 14 August. Most of the women watching the proceedings are veiled. The veils present more of a question than a suggestion at present. One survey among veiled women conducted by journalists here claims that four in five of these women will not vote for Ennahda, the Islamist party surging ahead in popularity ahead of elections for a constituent assembly due in October.

Thousands took to the streets of Bissau Friday 5 August for the third rally in three weeks to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, who is accused of hindering an assassination probe. 'Carlos, get out', 'Carlos to court', chanted protesters, according to an AFP journalist, during a march to the presidency. The rally was called by a coalition of 17 opposition parties accusing Gomes Junior of failing to shed light on a spate of high profile political assassinations in 2009. Two earlier protests were held on 14 and 19 July.

The British producer’s voice was clearly audible in the background: 'Lift up his arm so we can see how thin it is.' The starving Somali baby’s arm was duly lifted for the camera. Media interest in the East Africa famine started to gain momentum a couple of weeks ago, when the United Nations declared it the worst drought in 60 years and half a dozen aid agencies appealed for funds in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, reports Alertnet in this article on the media coverage of the situation. But journalists in Kenya complain of the international media’s ‘Animal Farm’ news values. We’re equal, but some are more equal than others.

Oil giant BP has entered the oil rush in Namibia by clinching 25 per cent of the equity in Chariot Oil & Gas’ exploration license in the orange Basin. The transaction is in the form of a farm-out agreement and was conducted through Enigma Oil & Gas Exploration, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chariot. The new share structure of Block 2714A is Petrobras, as operator, with 50 per cent, with BP and Chariot sharing the remaining interest. The partners hope to strike an estimated nine billion barrels of oil.

The New York-based rights organisation Human Rights Watch has described the suffering of scores of women in South African government hospitals and clinics. It charges the abuse puts women and their newborn babies 'at high risk of death or injury'. The report says poor governance and corruption contribute to thousands of unnecessary maternal deaths.

As the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) marks 10 years of its existence as a continental programme aimed at fast tracking the development agenda of the continent, opinions are divided about how far it has succeeded in achieving its objective. Since its inception, NEPAD has undergone some metamorphosis. In February 2010, the 14th Assembly of AU decided to establish the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency), as the technical organ of the AU, to replace the NEPAD Secretariat.

In early 2010, the government of Equatorial Guinea accepted more than 100 recommendations made by United Nation (UN) member countries at the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The accepted recommendations were aimed at improving several key areas related to the protection and promotion of human rights and civil liberties. It is unclear how or if the government of Equatorial Guinea is implementing the UPR recommendations; to date it has not provided the UN Human Rights Council with any updates to this effect, reports EG Justice.