Thousands of political prisoners, journalists, activists and other citizens languish in Ethiopia's official and secret dungeons. The violently repressive regime has thrown a pall of paralyzing fear over the entire nation. Will President Obama ignore this crying shame when Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn hosts him next week? Will he continue with his policy of parroting high ideals but embracing ruthless and corrupt African strongmen?

Will the bloc’s policies and structures be deployed to fight the poverty, ecological destruction and climate change, privatisation and corruption, illicit financial flows and Resource Cursing associated with current global lending, or will they amplify these features?

Colombian drug traffickers financed the re-election campaign of President João Bernardo Vieira in Guinea-Bissau in 2005. But the growing narcotics problem in West Africa - with an estimated 2.5 million consumers - has not received adequate attention globally.

Joining Kenya, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Macedonia — all lobbied by Israel over the course of the year - India abstained from a crucial vote that would have allowed the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli war crimes. The decision sends signals of India’s disturbingly different stance towards Palestine.

Front Line Defenders continues to be concerned at the freezing of the bank accounts of MUHURI and Haki Africa despite the lack of evidence for the terrorism-related allegations against them.

The world today groans under the weight of predatory white supremacy that has condemned the majority of the people to poverty and hopelessness. But a new order is emerging, heralded by South-South solidarity to overthrow Empire.

This draft framework was the subject of a high-level meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, this week. The Protocol erodes farmers rights as it outlaws centuries-old practices of farmers freely using, exchanging and selling seeds/propagating material.

Photos have surfaced of the gunman Dylann Roof wearing White supremacist iconography and reportedly telling his Black victims: ‘I have to do it. ... You rape our women and you’re taking over our country, and you have to go.’

The Liberian government’s refusal to recognize and respect rural people’s customary land rights is marginalizing and destabilizing local communities. The state has handed out millions of hectares to investors in recent years. Now emotions are flaring into full-scale conflict.

The bank will invest primarily in infrastructure projects in both BRICS and non-BRICS countries. The establishment of its first regional office in Johannesburg will give access to the Africa, where infrastructure development needs are highest.

Prof. Bodomo has produced an excellent book that will for years to come be the standard work for scholars. “Two points I will always retain are: the African who was surprised that the Chinese do not speak English and the complaint by some Chinese that the Africans are intensely dating Chinese women. What did they expect?”

Some £600 million in UK aid money courtesy of the taxpayer is helping big business increase its profits in Africa via the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. In return for receiving aid money and corporate investment, African countries have to change their laws, making it easier for corporations to acquire farmland, control seed supplies and export produce.

Although it starts with a bang, bringing to light some shocking and unfortunately typical facts about capitalistic accumulation, ‘Tyranny of experts’ is a frustrating book because of the author’s black and white approach, his libertarian dogmatism, his apparent lack of awareness of the history of certain political ideas, and his method of reasoning which favours numerous anecdotes over systematic analysis.

By Dhiru Soni, Ahmed Shaikh, Anis Karodia and Joseph David
2015-03-16, Issue 718

The new wave of ‘looting’ of land and other natural resources will likely continue on a scale hitherto unknown. Whatever the supposed benefits of this trend, urgent attention ought to be turned to the thousands of people in Africa and other emerging nations who will become landless in the countries of their birth.

A life-sentence in prison, torture and no medical treatment is the price Sidahmed Lemjayed and 22 of his fellow Saharawis have had to pay for fighting for independence and against the exploitation of resources in their homeland, Western Sahara.

Following increased ISIS violence in Libya, the Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi, a US ally, has called for intervention by the "international community". But another aggressive Pentagon-NATO operation in Libya would be just as disastrous as the war of regime-change in 2011.

The Kenyan social movement stands with the People of Venezuela and social movements in South-South solidarity, defending the independence and sovereignty of Venezuela against any imperialist attempts to undermine the social progress made in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro.

Boko Haram exists, but what is being witnessed in Nigeria today are attempts by the West to expand their military presence in West Africa, using the terrorist group as an excuse. There is nothing new in these tactics.

China has huge interests in the three Southern Africa countries – Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania – that South Africa now seems to target as the source of natural gas. These interests count for multi-million investments encompassing bilateral agreements.