South Sudan's security forces have committed 'shocking' acts of violence against civilians, including killings and rapes, Amnesty International says. In a report, the UK-based human rights group says the abuse has been taking place during a disarmament campaign in the eastern Jonglei state. Amnesty urges South Sudan to take 'immediate action' to end the violence.

In the wake of the attack on the US embassy, Libya’s new government has proposed a worrying State of Emergency law that if put into action would rob citizens of the freedoms they fought so hard for. The draft would grant the authorities powers that clearly infringe on individual freedoms – such as the right to intercept communications of any kind and impose controls on the media.

Family planning advocates in Uganda have scored some major financial and policy wins this year, but experts remain concerned that inadequate political commitment and poor health services will continue to impede women’s and girls’ access to contraceptives. At a global family planning summit in July, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni announced that his government would increase its annual expenditure on family planning supplies from US$3.3million to $5million for the next five years. He also pledged to mobilize an additional $5 million from the country's donors.

Malawi has reacted angrily to sightings of a Tanzanian motor boat on lake Malawi and the release of a new map of Tanzania that claims part of the lake. Malawi president Joyce Banda announced that Malawi will pull out of the talks with Tanzania as Tanzania has failed to respect the route of dialogue that Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete had assured her at a meeting in Mozambique earlier this year.

Tanzania is by next year set to reach the goal of allocating 10 per cent of its annual budget for agricultural sector in line with the AU Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security on the continent. Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Eng Christopher Chiza announced the government commitment when addressing journalists during the ongoing African Green Revolution Forum 2012.

Chinese government state-controlled media, China Central Television (CCTV), launched its African regional bureau in Nairobi, Kenya on January 11, 2012. While its presence has diversified the media landscape in Africa, media watchdogs and foreign media outlets - such as CNN and the New York Times - have been rather skeptical of its journalistic independence given the media organization's close ties with the government.

UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller has appealed for strengthened political will to help the world’s more than 42 million refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and stateless people, amid a recent rise in new humanitarian emergencies in Africa and the Middle East. In a speech to the annual meeting of UNHCR’s governing Executive Committee (ExCom), Feller listed drawn-out displacement situations, insecure settings, difficulties in helping acutely vulnerable people, and funding shortages as the major current obstacles to quality protection. However, she also took aim at countries seeking to outsource their asylum responsibilities elsewhere.

The United States would support a 'well planned' and 'well resourced' African-led force to help oust Islamic rebels in northern Mali, provided its neighbours back the idea, a US official said Monday. 'Yes, I say there will have to be at some point military action to push' the rebels linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb out of northern Mali, the top US diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, said.

The Soul Beat Africa Democracy and Governance website is an online space to support knowledge sharing and networking among people and organisations working on democracy and governance issues in Africa, with a particular focus on media and communication. The content consists of programme experiences, resource materials, research reports, events and trainings and covers the following areas: Media and Democracy and Governance; Freedom of Information; Civic Engagement; Anti-corruption; Conflict and Peace; Elections; Gender Empowerment; Rights and Justice; and Parliaments.
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This paper provides a status of trade integration in SADC, highlighting achievements, challenges and constraints. Understanding constraints facing this process can provide insights as to whether the region should forge ahead with its approach to economic integration or retreat and evaluate the process with a view to define what could be its immediate priorities.

The Sudanese security services were accused of beating and arresting several Darfuri students from the Bakht Alrida university in Aldoam, White Nile, on Monday 1 October, Radio Dabanga was informed. The exact number of arrested and injured students is still unknown. Witnesses said these students were holding a strike against the payment of tuition fees.

The production of a manual, 'A Community Based Guide for Monitoring Impacts of Oil and Gas Activities on the Environment', discusses the history and likely impacts of oil and gas exploration in Uganda, including the impacts of construction of access roads and infrastructure, waste disposal and decommissioning. Community leaders have used this tool to initiate environmental monitoring groups, many of which double up as savings and income generation clubs.

The euphoria that greeted the government’s imposition of minimum wage increases has quickly soured, with prices of food and other essential commodities escalating as higher wage costs are passed onto consumers. In July 2012, President Michael Sata’s government upped the minimum monthly salary in line with the 2011 election promise of “more money in the pocket” for poorly paid workers. Wages for domestic workers increased from US$30 to about $105, while general workers such as office orderlies, shop assistants, sweepers and farmworkers saw their monthly earnings more than quadruple from $50 to $220. In the past month, the cost of 25kg bag of the staple ground maize meal has increased by $1 to $8.50, while other farm produce prices have also risen.

The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance between October 2012 and March 2013 in Malawi has jumped from 1.63 million to 1.76 million, but response plans remain inadequate and maybe exhausted be by November to December 2012. The new figure is contained in a report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet), which provides an update on the food security conditions in Malawi from August 2012 through March 2013.

A High Court judge has endorsed Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s plan to delay by-elections until March next year when he plans to call a general election after arguing that his government was broke. The Supreme Court had in July ruled that the veteran ruler must call by-elections in three parliamentary constituencies that fell vacant in 2009 by September 30. But last week President Mugabe approached the High Court seeking an extension to the last week of March 2013 where he indicated the country would go for harmonised elections.

US President Barack Obama's administration is facing new questions over the attack on the US consulate in Libya, amid reports of military preparations to target those behind it. A Congressional committee asked whether repeated requests for more security at the Benghazi consulate were rejected. The US ambassador was among four Americans killed on 11 September. The US is gathering intelligence ahead of a possible military operation against those implicated, US media say.

An outbreak of Ebola fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo may have killed up to 36 people, out of 81 suspected cases, according to a new death toll released by the health ministry. The ministry said that 20 confirmed cases have been recorded, as well as 32 likely and 29 suspected as of 29 September.

On 26 September 2002, the Senegalese government-owned ferry Le Joola capsized off the coast of The Gambia, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths. Thought to be the second worst civilian maritime disaster, families of the victims are still seeking justice.

Gunmen massacred at least 26 people in a student housing area of northeast Nigeria on Tuesday 1 October, calling victims out by name before shooting them or slitting their throats, officials said. The motive for the attack at the mixed Christian and Muslim school was not immediately clear. It occurred in the early hours in the town of Mubi, where the military last week carried out a high-profile raid against Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has been waging a deadly insurgency.

The Sudanese opposition is urging people to revolt, saying that public resentment is reaching a boiling point. Commentators, however, say there is no immediate sign of a repeat performance of the summer’s protests. Harsh austerity measures, violent clashes with South Sudan and corruption cases have all added to Sudanese citizens’ simmering anger. And it is this resentment which opposition groups hope will eventually reach a boiling point, tipping people out onto the streets once again, reports theniles.org