Three African transgender and intersex rights advocacy organizations have formed an alliance to enhance the trans and intersex movement on the continent. The organizations include South African based Gender DynamiX (GDX), Uganda’s Support Initiative for People with atypical Sexual Development (SIPD) and Transgender and Intersex Africa (TIA).

The White House has chosen to honour Akili Dada founder and executive director, Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, as one of fourteen Champions of Change who are leaders in American Diaspora communities with roots in the Horn of Africa. These leaders are helping to build stronger neighborhoods in communities across the country, and are working to mobilize networks across borders to address global challenges. Akili Dada works to empower a new generation of African women leaders.

Two years after Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, international aid donors have delivered only half of the billions of dollars promised for reconstruction, according to UN data. Just $2.38-billion (53 per cent) of the $4.5-billion pledged for recovery programmes in 2010-2011 has been delivered, figures from the UN special envoy for Haiti show.

South Africa's coastal city of Durban - home to over three million - has said goodbye to long-standing City Manager Michael Sutcliffe, who reigned over a municipal version of neoliberal nationalism.

The International Criminal Court says Libya has not responded to a request for information about the health and status of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi before a deadline which expires on Tuesday 10 January. The former Libyan leader's son was captured in southern Libya in November. The ICC, based in in The Hague, has indicted him for crimes against humanity and wants to know officially whether Libya plans to hand him over.

Burkina Faso’s first president was assassinated nearly 25 years ago but the identity of his killers remains unresolved. Marking the anniversary of his birth, campaigners draw attention to the continuing struggle for justice for Sankara.

Africa-UK is a national programme bringing together members of the African diaspora in the UK to work towards the continent's development. It promotes diaspora activism to ignite, debate and drive positive change through events and training sessions. Topic under discussion include:
- The contribution of the African Diaspora to their countries of origin.
- Engagement with UK development policy.
- Remittances.
- Social investment.
- Volunteering.
- Fundraising.
- Health.
To find out more visit the website:

Nearly 25 years after the death of Thomas Sankara, signatories to the following petition continue the call for an independent investigation into his assassination.

While over one million refugees suffered under tents following the 12 January 2010, earthquake, 128 newly constructed homes, finished in May 2010, sat empty for 15 months. Today, the majority of these 'social housing' units are occupied, but mostly by illegal squatters who broke in by smashing windows and doors. 'The houses have been finished for almost two years, but they have never been officially delivered,' Jean Robert Charles, one of Cité Soleil’s assistant mayors told Haiti Grassroots Watch (HGW).

Mumia Abu-Jamal has been moved out of administrative custody and transferred to disciplinary custody at SCI Mahanoy after news that the prosecutor would no longer seek the death penalty. Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters gathered in Philadelphia to mark the 30th anniversary of his arrest for the killing of a white police officer. Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther, called it to the event to make his first public remarks since the prosecutor’s decision was announced. Read his comments on the Prison Radio blog.

?Journalist Carla Murphy had planned to cover a small protest in the Bronx and then head to brunch - but she went to jail instead. 'As officers encircled me, I kept my shoulders down and tried to moderate my tone. That sixth sense had nothing to do with journalistic training and everything to do with my being city kid. I grew up here in southeast Queens; NYPD ain’t never been nothing to fuck wit. I protested that I was a working journalist and asked if they were serious.'

US 'occupy' protesters claimed victory Monday 12 December in blockading ports along the West Coast and shutting down a major trade cargo hub in a new front on the anti-capitalist campaign. At least one port was fully closed down, while freight traffic was disrupted at several others including in Oakland, where thousands of demonstrators rallied after a day of action from California to Alaska.

Frantz Fanon played a key role in ‘legitimising violent struggle’ among ‘African liberation movements’, writes Cameron Duodu, in an exploration of Fanon’s relationship with Pan-Africanism, in particular in Ghana.

The ANC will push for a new interventionist economic nationalism, rather than a simplistic nationalisation of the country's $2.5-trillion in resources not yet mined, which was what ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema had wanted. The Mail & Guardian has learned from various sources that central to this plan is to force competitive input prices through taxes and other penalties and for state institutions to take bigger stakes in companies that hold key strategic infrastructure minerals.

The first cohort of 10 fellows of the programme graduated at an event held on 18 November 2011 at Southern Sun Mayfair in Parklands, Nairobi.

This occasion was organised to mark the end of a year-long programme that supported and nurtured a cadre of visionary, innovative and energetic activism and leadership among Kenya’s community organisers. This graduation ceremony brought together all those involved in the programme since its inception in a collective celebration of the achievements of the fellows.

For more details about the Fellowship, please contact George Mwai.

Disturbed by two incidents involving elderly women suspected of witchcraft – one of whom was burnt alive, while the other was denied medical treatment – Cameron Duodu calls for Ghana to value the lives of all its citizens.

2008 US Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney was offered 'victim witness' special protection by the FBI after the indictment of four men in northern Georgia for plotting to kill McKinney, Attorney General Eric Holder, and, according to FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Brian Lamkin of the bureau's Atlanta office, President Barack Obama.

According to the US Census Bureau, a higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty than they have ever measured before. In 2010, we were told that the economy was recovering, but the truth is that the number of the 'very poor' soared to heights never seen previously. Back in 1993 and back in 2009, the rate of extreme poverty was just over six per cent, and that represented the worst numbers on record. But in 2010, the rate of extreme poverty hit a whopping 6.7 per cent. That means that one out of every 15 Americans is now considered to be 'very poor'.

Emotions ran high as Occupy Wall Street supporters and public officials dealt with the aftermath of protests that shut down the nation's fifth-busiest port before spiraling into chaos near the movement's downtown encampment. The movement challenging the world's economic systems and distribution of wealth has gained momentum in recent weeks, with Oakland becoming a rallying point after an Iraq War veteran was injured in clashes with police last week. The comments section of this post contains extensive links to news reports, photographs and videos of the protests.

Imperialism is alive and well, and the Libyan invasion by Western forces is the latest example, writes Motsoko Pheko. Only a united Africa protecting and defending the interests of her own people collectively can defeat imperialists.