Muslim marriages have no legal recognition in South Africa, writes Waheeda Amien, but the use of written marriage contracts – the terms of which are enforceable in a secular court – offers a form of protection for parties, both within marriage and upon divorce.

Ugandan-born lecturer John Otim recounts his experience of an attempt to assassinate him at his home on the campus of Nigeria’s Ahmadu Bello University in December.

Following the Egyptian government's refusal to allow activists from all over the world to travel to Gaza from Cairo, Uri Avnery highlights the country's increasing commitment to honouring Israeli wishes around the blockade of the Gaza Strip. While Egypt has previously turned something of a blind eye to the supplies funnelled to Gaza via underground tunnels, this situation is about to change through the construction of an 'iron wall'. Why a country historically considered as the leader of the Arab world is prepared to do this likely lies in its own decline, Avnery contends, with President Hosni Mubarak obliged to follow US – and by extension Israeli government – wishes with a view to shoring up Egypt's own influence and power.

Having anticipated a predictable status quo of suits-and-presentations from the Copenhagen climate change conference, Rahul Goswami stresses the ultimate strength of local producers and their 'focus on food for people'.

Moves to create a new leftist platform focused on addressing issues that affect people and on building socialism from the ground up rather than through state power are noble and worthy of support, Mphutlane wa Bofelo writes in this week’s Pambazuka News. But, says wa Bofelo, for the ‘soul-searching efforts to find and build a new platform for building power from below to yield a united socialist front’, they must be informed by and acknowledge the ‘multiplicity, plurality and diversity of traditions within the so-called “old left”, instead of lumping all past and present leftist and socialist/communist platforms with soviet-style communism.’

Matteo Fraschini Koffi writes of his experiences of racism in Italy, the brutal treatment of fellow individuals of African ancestry in the country, and how the problem should be overcome.

As delegates from 192 countries meet in Copenhagen to discuss a climate deal, Percy F. Makombe says the talks should be about implementing the Kyoto Protocol rather than negotiating a new agreement. But will developed countries commit to adequate reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions?

With Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma seeking to respond to the recent upsurge in armed robberies in the country's capital Freetown, Roland Bankole Marke discusses efforts at crime prevention in the country.

Over 5 million people, mostly civilians, have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since its conflict began in 1996. In this week’s Pambazuka News Phumlani Majavu looks at why peace is so elusive, with reference to a recent report from human rights group Global Witness on the role the illegal trade in minerals plays in fuelling violence in the DRC.

The effects of climate change are likely to lead to increased levels of conflict across Africa, a new study has suggested. Cyril Mychalejko takes a closer look at responses to the report’s conclusions.

As global awareness grows around conflict in Congo, a myriad of Western-based prescriptions are being proffered, Kambale Musavuli writes in this week’s Pambuzuka News, including the ‘conflict minerals’ approach. But this approach, devoid of social, political, economic and historical context, argues Musavuli, will simply perpetuate the root causes of the region’s challenges rather than resolve them.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Lamido Sanusi's financial reform, writes Kola Ibrahim, will do nothing more than re-assert the dominance of a rapacious capitalist class in Nigeria. While public ownership of services rooted in the welfare of Nigeria's people remains most desirable, Ibrahim contends, Sanusi and his ilk can be counted on to simply support the entrenched political class.

Stephen Kabera Karanja looks at the legal principles underpinning the ICC’s intervention in Kenya and the objectives of Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo’s visit to the country earlier in November.

Young African intellectuals should revisit the philosophies of visionary leaders like Nyerere and Nkrumah for inspiration and a sense of self-belief, rather than looking to ideas from outside the continent, Marie M. Shaba argues in this week’s Pambazuka News.

African Union (AU) experts on women and gender affairs will submit their recommendations to establish the African Union Women’s Trust Fund feasibility study, the African Union Commission Gender Action Plan, and the Roadmap for the African Women’s Decade: 2010-2020 to ministers in charge of gender and women’s affairs on 21 November. In order to disseminate and monitor the implementation of the Action Plan the meeting proposed using faith-based groups, imams, and the media to sensitise and transmit messages to women and society at large.

Zimbabwe has ratified the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development, a regional instrument for advancing gender equality and women's rights. It is the second country after Namibia to ratify the protocol.

Apathy and a failure to speak out on the part of Nigeria’s citizens is fuelling the country’s leadership crisis, Babatunde Oyateru argues in this week’s Pambazuka News. Exhorting his fellow citizens to hold their political representatives accountable, Oyateru says: ‘We do not whisper, we should not cower, we should let our voices ring so loud … so that the generations that come after us will not have to scream, but sing songs of a delivered Nigeria.’

The international community’s hasty decision to investigate Guinea’s Captain Camara for crimes against humanity has led to serious setbacks in solving the country’s political crisis, Joseph Kaifala argues in Pambazuka News. Since the only way for Camara to avoid trial at the International Criminal Court is to remain in power, it’s unlikely he’ll be willing to relinquish his military dictatorship any time soon, says Kaifala.

With this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) fast approaching – in the year of the 60th anniversary of the institution no less – the Commonwealth needs to do much more in support of civil society and the protection of human rights, writes R. Iniyan Ilango.

While the Zambian government is seemingly content to make nonsensical noises on the subject of the country's Freedom of Information (FoI) bill, it should accept critical perspectives as the words of people who love their country, writes Henry Kyambalesa.