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

Flooding across Nigeria has killed at least 148 people and displaced more than 64 000, the Red Cross said Tuesday 2 October. The organisation is also warning of an increased risk that water-borne diseases like cholera could spread.

Recent allegations of the misuse of a grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria could jeopardize Uganda’s malaria funding and hurt efforts to fight the disease, which is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Evidence of the mismanagement of a US$51 million malaria grant to Uganda from the Global Fund resulted in the July arrest of three Ministry of Health employees and prompted a police investigation into the matter. In September, the organization called for the refund of any ineligible expenses under the grant and the strengthening of safeguards to prevent future misappropriation of funds.

Cameroon has received heavy rain and flooding during the past year. Some experts attribute the unusual weather to climate change, while others point to poor management of dams, reports Global Press Institute.

Lawyers in Zambia have formed the Coalition for the Defence of Democratic Rights (CDDR) to defend civil rights in the country. In its inaugural statement issued Wednesday, the lawyers said the formation of the coalition became necessary because of the growing illegality and violence initiated by individuals, the the abuse of state power by the Executive to advance their private and political interests. The CDDR said it intends to make the international community aware of the current abuse of rights and threats of violence being deployed by President Michael Sata’s government, paving the way for future prosecution and accountability for the unlawful conduct currently being committed by the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).

Amid the tributes to Ethiopia’s recently departed prime minister was much twittering (and tweeting) about ‘stability’ and the ‘transition’, especially from Ethiopia’s foreign donors. There is considerable concern that without Meles Zenawi, the charismatic former rebel leader who ruled Ethiopia for 21 years until his death, the country may implode, infighting might engulf the ruling party or Ethiopia’s fragile economic growth might reverse. While these fears about the country’s stability are warranted, there has been little recognition of the role that human rights play in underpinning stability, says this Human Rights Watch post.

The Independent Media Commission (IMC), the statutory media regulatory body on September 26, 2012 suspended for a month, three privately-owned newspapers for allegedly producing offensive publications. The newspapers namely Independent Observer, the Senator and Awareness Times will thus, not appear on newsstands from September 26 – October 26, 2012.

The Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) has joined with other civil society organizations to urge all UN Member States to accede to the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 'Imagine living your life as a stateless person. You are not recognized as a citizen of any country. You have none of the basic government protections the rest of us take for granted. No passport, no drivers license, no way to marry legally, work legally or even register the births of your children and enroll them in school. As estimated 12 million people live in this very precarious situation,' says the WRC.

Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) in partnership with the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and Chiadzwa Community Development Trust (CCDT) immaculately hosted a three day 'People's Indaba' at the Harare Crowne Plaza Hotel, from the 11th - 13th September this year. The event, known officially as the 'Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba' (ZAMI), saw over 120 individuals including; Chiefs, Legislators, church leaders, mining communities, community based organizations, regional participants, youth and women activists and media taking part in the indaba.

The European Union is hoping to wrap up free-trade agreements across most of sub-Saharan Africa next year but has yet to assuage African fears that their budding industries will not be able to cope with the new competition. The European Union launched talks with more than 70 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries 10 years ago on Thursday - on September 27, 2002 - aiming to help them trade their way out of poverty and to give EU businesses access to nascent markets.

The situation of journalists in Somalia is becoming increasingly precarious as the country struggles to put behind it years of lawlessness following the recent successful election of a new president. 'So far, 13 journalists have been killed and 19 others wounded this year, and the killings may continue if something is not done promptly,' Abdirashid Del, a senior member of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), told IRIN, noting that political transitions often heighten security risks for journalists in Somalia.