South Africa hosts the third annual Tech4Africa conference, in Johannesburg, attracting innovators and entrepreneurs from a dozen countries. Among the speakers are Sim Shagaya, a Nigerian-born Harvard graduate planning to create the 'Amazon of Africa', selling Lagos's increasingly affluent consumer class everything from refrigerators to perfume to cupcakes. His previous venture, DealDey, which offers Groupon-style deals, is now the top-grossing ecommerce site in Nigeria with 350,000 subscribers.

Sudan dismissed as 'misleading' Israeli allegations it supplies arms to foes of the Jewish state and said there was no foreign involvement in a munitions factory Khartoum says was bombed by Israel. The poor Muslim East African country has long been seen by Israel as a conduit for weapons smuggled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, via the Egyptian Sinai desert. Four people were killed after fire broke out a week ago at the Yarmouk arms factory in the south of Khartoum, and the following day Sudan said an Israeli air strike was responsible.

Uganda’s practice of pardoning and then integrating into its military captured or surrendered members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), getting them to hunt down their former comrades-in-arms, has come in for criticism by civilians affected by the rebel group in the Central African Republic (CAR). 'This strategy is a real insult to the victims,' said Gaétan Zangagoumé, chairman of a victims’ association in Obo, capital of Haut-Mbomou Prefecture. The area, in the extreme southeast of CAR, has been heavily affected by LRA activities. Victims there include hundreds of civilians forcibly conscripted into the LRA as well as people from villages repeatedly attacked, torched and now deserted. Fear of further attacks greatly restricts freedom of movement.

Hotter than normal temperatures raise the risk of violent conflict in East Africa, while increased rainfall makes such disturbances less likely, according to a new study conducted by the US National Academy of Sciences. For both climate variables, there is about a 30 per cent change in the likelihood of violence occurring in an affected area, the study finds. The results appear to reinforce warnings of climate change leading to more conflict in Africa, which is regarded as particularly vulnerable to the effects of sharp shifts in temperature and precipitation.

Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire was jailed for eight years Tuesday after a court found her guilty of terror charges and denying the genocide. 'She has been sentenced to eight years for all the crimes that she was found guilty of,' judge Alice Rulisa told the court, adding however that she was innocent of another charge of 'calling for another genocide.' Rulisa said the leader was found guilty of the 'crime of conspiracy in harming authorities through terrorism and war' as well as denial of Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

According to an education for all global monitoring report published by Unesco in October, 71 million adolescents of lower secondary school age were out of school in 2010, with three out of four living in south and west Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The last of these regions has doubled the number of students enrolling over the period, yet has the world's lowest total secondary enrolment, at 40 per cent in 2010. Private schools have stepped in to plug the gap.

The UN deputy humanitarian chief says food shortages are 'a chronic problem' in southern Africa. More than 5.5 million people in eight countries need aid this year, a 40% increase compared to 2011, said Catherine Bragg. Bragg, winding up a five-day southern Africa trip over the weekend, said worsening food shortages are the result of drought or floods and rising world food prices.

Algerians want 'frank acknowledgement' of crimes committed against them during the French colonisation of the country, a minister said, ahead of the 58th anniversary of the war for independence. 'In view of the crimes committed by this coloniser against a defenceless people... the Algerians want frank acknowledgement (of them),' Mohamed Cherif Abbas, minister of the mujahedeen (veterans of the war), told news agency APS.

The first ever Gay and Lesbian Awards of Kenya (GALA) have been announced by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) to honor gay, lesbian, Trans, queer, intersex and bisexual (LGBTIQ) individuals and organizations for their contributions to Kenyan society. The awards are also to honor politicians, employers and others who are committed to advancing equality and social acceptance for LGBTIQ people in Kenya. Scheduled to be held on 15 December 2012, the awards are expected to run each year and will recognized exemplary service, courage and work on LGBTIQ issues in the country.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has eased technical assistance restrictions on Zimbabwe in a move seen as moving towards normalising relations with the southern African nation. This will see Zimbabwe getting technical advice to design its economic programmes and the IMF will monitor the implementation of specific projects.

A recent academic study has identified a range of mental health disorders suffered by shack dwellers in South Africa's Western Cape Province, from chronic insomnia to low self-esteem. The study, 'The Impact of Living in Transitional Communities; The Experiences of People in Blikkiesdorp and Happy Valley', was conducted by the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Because of budget considerations, the study was constrained to two settlements.

Gunmen have killed 20 people, including a traditional leader, in an attack on a village in northern Nigeria's Zamfara state, a local official has said. The attackers stormed Kaboro village and began shooting indiscriminately.

Experts have called on governments and development organizations to put in place measures to significantly reduce the amount of food lost in the global food delivery chain. 'The amount of food lost along the food supply chain should be reduced as a way of reducing wastage within the food production system and also as a way dealing with global food insecurity,' Joseph Alcamo, chief scientist at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), told IRIN.

President of Zambia Michael Sata and the ruling Patriotic Front party must halt their violations of civil rights and threats of violence against the political opposition or face international legal action, says the Coalition for the Defence of Democratic Rights (CDDR). According to a letter from the CDDR addressed to President Sata, Minister of Justice Wynter Kabimba, Director of Public Prosecutions Mutembo Nchito, and Inspector-General of Police Stella Libongani, the ruling party has abused state institutions in a campaign of persecution against opposition parties and political figures, alleging that their rights to freedom of expression and free association have been violated.

Government troops and unidentified rebel forces clashed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday, military officials said. Heavy weapons fire could be heard after 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) at Sake in North Kivu region, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of the city of Goma, officials and residents said. A regional military official confirmed the fighting to AFP but could not identify the rebels.

While tens of thousands of Congolese refugees have fled to Uganda and Rwanda since April, a smaller but significant number of frightened civilians have been fleeing from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and seeking shelter in Burundi. Some 6,000 Congolese - mainly from South Kivu province - have crossed the border since January and sought asylum in Burundi, with 4,334 of them arriving between April and September.

Internal displacement is not only a humanitarian, human rights or peace-building challenge, but also a development one. Development actors are relevant players to prevent internal displacement, to respond to it and to support durable solutions for IDPs who got displaced due to conflict, violence or natural disasters. Human rights-based approaches to development initiatives to support for example livelihoods, strenghten local governance, address housing and land issues or to alleviate food insecurity of IDPs will also ensure the displaced people's rights. This publication on the development challenge in addressing internal displacement in Africa by NRC/IDMC in collaboration with the Nordic Trust Fund, explains the relevance of human rights for development initiatives in displacement situations.

Hanging from the door of a mini-bus taxi as it jerks and jinks through traffic, 16-year-old Gires Manoka calls out the van’s destination to potential passengers as it crosses Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. One pedestrian asks the fresh-faced teen if he shouldn’t be in school instead of working. 'I was in grade seven last year,' Manoka replies, 'but I had no one to pay my school fees. I got no choice but to hustle; this work keeps my family alive.'

Violent protests have erupted in Kisumu, western Kenya, following the murder of a prominent local politician. A senior police officer, who requested anonymity, told the AFP news agency on Monday that three people 'died from either burning or suffocation after teargas was lobbed into a hardware shop they were hiding in'.

Tackling the global climate crisis could reap significant economic benefits for both developed and developing countries, according to a new report. The impacts of climate change and a carbon-intensive economy cost the world around US$1.2 trillion a year - 1.6 per cent of the total global GDP (gross domestic product), states 'Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet'.