Under the rhetoric of “green economy”, capitalists are actually attempting to use nature as capital, proposing unconvincingly that the only way to preserve natural elements such as water and forests is through private investment.

The problems facing the new nation are the product of non-existent or underdeveloped state institutions, themselves the product of the current system’s failure to redefine itself from a liberation movement to a ruling party with a mandate to deliver services to the population.

Militant Islam is well known in Nigeria thanks to the atrocities committed by Boko Haram and other radical groups. What is less known, but remains a problem, is the intense conflicts among Muslim sects, which often hurt non-Muslims.

Sudanese President al Bashir must contend with the anger of his own people on the streets; and in Egypt, the people are not convinced the win by Morsi is their own victory.

Kenya Railways Corporation has over the past two decades gone from being an exemplar of service and care to leaving behind a greed-driven legacy of retrenchment, dislocation and abandonment of its employees.

Food production and people's sovereignty in Africa could be seriously compromised by carbon capture projects and the so-called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+) mechanism.

Increased police brutality and the prospect of conservative politicians using public money to sue and bankrupt organizations they ideologically oppose - these are the likely outcomes of last week’s Constitutional Court judgment against protest organisers.

A reincarnated Hans Christian Andersen may have painted ‘The Spear’ for those denying the testimony of their eyes.

The anti-apartheid struggle has been betrayed. But all is not lost. The people must once again unite and wage a new struggle to liberate themselves.

Dakar, Senegal
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The Angolan Constitutional Court has received lists of candidates from 27 political formations for the parliamentary elections scheduled for 31 August. Making the announcement, court boss Onofre dos Santos said the 19 parties and eight coalitions now had 10 days to correct their nomination irregularities or inadequacies. Mr Santos said the irregularities or inadequacies would include replacement of candidates.

Thousands of Liberian refugees will leave the Ghanaian camp they have lived in for years to an uncertain future back in their country. UNHCR is closing the camp on the grounds that Liberia is now a stable democracy. But is that so?

Governments have tasked the United Nations with a growing number of global mandates, but they have provided it with very few resources to carry out the work, according to this article on Worldwatch Institute's website. 'UN funding is minuscule in contrast with that of other public bodies. The regular budget of the organization - $2.2 billion in 2011 - is less than the total annual spending of the Tokyo Fire Department. The small UN budget is striking in view of the multiplying global crises that need commonly decided international solutions - including climate change, financial instability, resource limits, transborder disease, and poverty.'

A peaceful march by the ‘Save Togo‘ collective on 12 June 2012, degenerated into a stand off with security forces. Around 120 injured were recorded during clashes over 12-13 June. The ‘Save Togo' collective brings together several political and human rights organisations. It was created on 4 April in Lomé and totals 17 groups, including seven organisations dedicated to the defense of human rights.

Global Voices reports on the crackdown on political activists in Angola. On 11 June, Luaty Beirão, also known as Ikonoklasta or Brigadeiro Mata Frakuxz, was arrested at the airport of Lisbon, for allegedly carrying cocaine in his luggage. 'On social media, many people commented that the real reason behind #Ikonoklasta's detention was political. In recent times, the rapper's voice of dissent has become more and more visible, as he openly lent support to the frequent street protests in Luanda.'

Seven members of the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested and then briefly detained on Tuesday, after a ‘die-in’ protest in Bulawayo. The ‘die-in’, which saw three different groups of WOZA members lying down at main traffic intersections in the city, form part of a WOZA led campaign to pressure for a devolved system of government to be included in the draft constitution.

Algeria's government has been paralysed by arguments over who should be anointed as favourite to be the next president, exposing divisions within the ruling elite that could shatter the country's fragile stability. The cohesion and control with which Algeria's establishment runs the energy exporting former French colony has kept it steady even as its neighbours were buffeted by the 'Arab Spring' upheavals over the past 18 months.

It is against the background of increasingly greater challenges in almost every environmental respect that the Rio +20 conference takes place. But wouldn't it be more accurate to call it Rio -20?

Everybody’s trying to rebrand Africa, and it isn’t going so well, reports this piece on the blog Africa is a Country. 'Vogue Italia’s latest issue - boosted by great billowing gusts of editorial hot air from both the New York Times and the Guardian - is called 'Rebranding Africa', and as you’d expect the whole thing is an embarrassing and insulting shambles...First: you’re re-branding the continent of Africa - as one does - so who do you pick as your cover star? Well, it was the obvious choice. What self-inflating fashion magazine wouldn’t lead their Africa edition with a picture of a South Korean diplomat sitting behind a desk in Manhattan?'

After a year-long incubation process supported by the World Bank Institute, 19 Ugandan civil society organisations this week formally established a ‘contract monitoring coalition’ that aims to involve local communities in the oversight of government-funded projects - including those related to oil - awarded to private sector contractors. 'There have in the past been incidents of alleged collusion between contract parties,' Gilbert Sendugwa, who chaired the coalition in its formative stages, told Oil in Uganda. 'Our coming on board is going to minimise that possibility and also improve the flow of information.'