Blog Africa is a Country has a post about the furore caused when one of Sweden’s most prestigious national dailies blew up an article on its front page about cultural director at Stockholm Culture House Berhang Miri (a Swede of Iranian descent) reshelving Hergé’s Tintin books because of their perceived colonial taint, generating heated press and internet debate. The blog post is an interview with Nathan Hamelberg, member of The Betweenship group (which probes racist structures from a young, mixed-heritage perspective), to explain the discussion and its wider implications in Swedish society.

The last part of Africa to be decolonised, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, remains one of the most peaceful. Yet, despite comprehensive protocols and agreements, SADC faces acute challenges characterised by tensions between member states, resource deficits, citizens’ exclusion, social discontent and limited internal and external coordination. Regional security cooperation requires adept infrastructures underwritten by political commitment; but the organisation’s Secretariat appears powerless to ensure policy implementation, says this International Crisis Group report.

Countries where people lack adequate access to land rights, water and energy - are among the worst performers in the annual Global Hunger Index (GHI). 'We find there is a definite correlation between these resources and food insecurity,' said Claudia Ringler, a co-author of this year’s GHI study, which was produced jointly by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the NGOs Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

Ghana says it takes strong exception to the contents of the purported United Nations Group of Experts report on Cote d’Ivoire, which was prematurely leaked to the media. The state-owned Graphic on Saturday quoted a statement signed by Mr Chris Kpodo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, as saying it was grossly abnormal for such a report to appear in the public domain before it was received by the Security Council Sanctions Committee, which was scheduled to meet to receive the report on 12 October. 'The Government of Ghana, therefore, takes strong exception to the contents and leakage as it sought to give credence to repeated allegations that Ghana is being used as a base by Ivorian refugees and exiles to destabilise the Ivorian Government.'

Over 56 million young people in sub-Saharan Africa have not completed primary school and lack basic skills for employment, according to a report. These young people are aged between 15 and 24. The African leg of the UN Global Monitoring Report on Education was released by the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in Soweto.

The Civil Society Associations Gambia (CSAG) has filed an application against the government at the ECOWAS Court of Justice regarding the West African country’s 38 death row inmates at Mile 2 Central Prisons. Banka Manneh, chairman of the CSAG, made the announcement in a statement released by the West African bloc ECOWAS on Monday in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The group accused the Gambian government of violating the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Customary International law.

On 9 October, the Institute for Policy Studies sent the newly appointed World Bank president Dr. Jim Kim a letter signed by 58 organizations from around the world urging him to champion financial transaction taxes (FTT) – a tiny tax on stocks, bonds, currency and other derivatives trades - as an innovative way to raise much-needed money to address climate change, health and other development priorities in poorer countries. The groups – including WWF, Greenpeace, Oxfam, AFL-CIO, World AIDS Campaign, United Methodist Church, and the Main Street Alliance – come from a broad cross-section of civil society and show a growing consensus that it's time for developed countries to get serious about meeting their promises on climate and development finance.

Previously unseen images of South Africa's black consciousness hero Steve Biko have been published by Google, 35 years after his violent death in police custody.

The material was made available by the . See

Sign a petition demanding their release in the absence of a fair and transparent trial.

It is estimated that in South Africa around 2,500 children develop cancer every year, but less than a third (700 children) are actually diagnosed and treated. 'We suspect some cases are treated, but just not reported [to the Paediatric Cancer Registry], but many go untreated because they are just never diagnosed,' says Professor Christina Stefan, head of Paediatric Oncology at Tygerberg Hospital.

President Francois Hollande looks set to make African leaders sweat at a gathering of French-speaking nations in Democratic Republic of Congo this week, when he attempts to cut murky ties with France's former colonies. Hollande has vowed to promote democracy in a continent known for flawed elections and 'sit-tight' leaders, and, unlike his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, he will travel to Africa without any company executives, something that would 'muddy the waters', one adviser said.

The International Monetary Fund has urged Eurozone leaders to act swiftly in response to the debt crisis in Greece and Spain, or risk dragging down the global economy with another financial crisis. The IMF warned that the situation was grave and could escalate into a wider downturn unless national leaders ended their disputes with a long-lasting deal. As eurozone finance ministers met in Luxembourg for crisis talks and the launch of the euro's permanent rescue fund, the IMF urged Europe and the US to promote growth to help major developing economies like China, Brazil and India.

Africa can ensure food security by producing wheat. New research presented in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this week shows that the continent has the potential to be self-sufficient. The demand for wheat is growing faster than for any other crop, according to statistics of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Researchers are looking into the possibility of making Africa a major wheat producer, as the continent is the biggest wheat importer worldwide. It is expected that this year alone, Africa will spend 12 billion dollars on importing 40 million tonnes of wheat.

Joint letter requesting Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to remove arbitrary restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association in Ethiopia.

International Internet giant Google is urging East African countries to reduce the costs of Internet services in the region to promote more local content being available for users. Google’s Field Access Director Kai Wulff said in Uganda that the region 'receives unlimited capacity and yet a very small portion of it is being used'. He said that this is because rates are too high and called on governments and telecom operators in the region to lower Internet prices in an effort to boost penetration, usage and create wealth.

Kenyans have staged a protest in the capital Nairobi against a vote paving the way for members of parliament to be paid $110,000 send-off bonus, with money expected from tax increases. Demonstrators marched after parliament dismissed the majority of wage demands of striking public sector workers, including doctors and teachers - yet it approved the lucrative pay off which will cost the country $24.7m.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union has given Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga seven days to act on the Limpopo textbooks report. The union said a thorough investigation was necessary into those named in the presidential task team report on the Limpopo textbook crisis. 'Sadtu calls for the investigation to take place as a matter of urgency and no stone to be left unturned because we don't want to see a repeat of [the] Limpopo saga in 2013,' said general secretary Mugwena Maluleke.

The panel writing Egypt's new constitution has released an unfinished draft of the document, calling for a public debate on the charter in the face of mounting criticism. The parliament-selected panel is dominated by Islamists. It has come under criticism from liberals and secularists who accuse the panel of seeking to place limits in the new constitution on religious freedoms and women's rights.

Kenya's President Mwaki Kibaki late Tuesday shattered MPs' dream to award themselves a controversial bonus of more than $110,000 each as a send off when he declined to sanction the deal stating the country’s economy was unable to shoulder the extra financial burden. The Head of State refused to assent to the Finance Bill 2012, saying that the country could not afford the colossal perks that the MPs had awarded themselves in form of a severance package totalling $25m.

Most Kenyans favour the International Criminal Court (ICC) trials but in an ironic twist, would vote for candidates facing crimes against humanity charges at the same court. This is according to an opinion poll by Gallup whose results were published by The Economist, an authoritative world affairs magazine. The survey also revealed that Kenyans voters would also vote for the candidate who would save the four from the trials during the March 2013 General Election.