COTE D’IVOIRE: Reconciliation Through Education

Four years after a military and political crisis divided the education system of Cote d'Ivoire, the country has finally found a way to make all schools begin their academic year at the same time again.

POLITICS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Extended Political Transition Raises Temperatures

An African Union (AU) recommendation to extend the political transition period in Côte d'Ivoire for a year will be put to the United Nations Security Council this week - even as various groups in the war torn nation oppose the plan.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: Pressing Ahead With a Controversial Peace Keeping Mission

Is it, as one cabinet minister has claimed, a "welcome" troop deployment? Or is an analyst's description of the force as "suicidal" more accurate?

ENVIRONMENT: Japan Swelters Under Urban Heat Island Effect

The gleaming high rise buildings that crowd the cityscape may symbolize Japan's economic recovery but they have also converted this priciest of human habitats into vast heat-trapping canyons in what is known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect.

POLITICS-DRC: Disillusion at Post-Election Clashes

An outbreak of hostilities in Kinshasa appeared to be drawing to an end, Wednesday, as United Nations officials and diplomats worked to restore calm to the Congolese capital in the run-up to a second round of presidential elections.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: It’s “Wait and See” for Zuma’s Corruption Trial

While the first half of 2006 in South Africa was dominated by the proceedings of former deputy president Jacob Zuma's trial on rape charges, the second looks set to be punctuated by his corruption trial. But, only if the court case goes ahead, of course.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: Condemnation, Assassination, Resignation

This weekend has seen Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi survive a no-confidence vote initiated by legislators who accuse his government of failing to bring order and reconciliation to the East African country. The vote capped a tumultuous week during which a cabinet member was assassinated and another parliamentarian shot, while eleven ministers resigned their posts according to a government spokesperson.

POLITICS: “A Peaceful Solution Rather Than a Military One” for Northern Uganda?

An optimistic note about the prospects for talks to end war in northern Uganda has been sounded by Salva Kiir: vice president of Sudan and head of the regional authority in southern Sudan, which is mediating in the discussions.

WEST AFRICA: Mixed Feelings Over Charles Taylor’s Transfer to The Hague

Former Liberian head of state Charles Taylor was flown to The Hague, Tuesday, to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity associated with the conflict that took place in Sierra Leone during the 1990s.

POLITICS-SUDAN: No Welcome Mat for the Blue Helmets

The Sudanese government appears to be taking a hard line on the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force to help protect civilians in the war-torn region of Darfur, in western Sudan.

RIGHTS: “War on Terror Is Sending People Into the Hands of Terrorists”

Political repression and the war on terror are expected to be amongst issues discussed at the five-day CIVICUS World Assembly that begins in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Jun. 21.

POLITICS-DRC: “We Cannot Have Elections Like This”

Hundreds of combatants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are said to be joining a nascent militia based in the north-east of the country: the Congolese Revolutionary Movement (Mouvement Revolutionnaire Congolaise, MRC). This comes just weeks before the first multi-party elections to be held in 40 years, and is undermining prospects for a successful poll.

COTE D’IVOIRE: The Cost of War – Children That Do Not (Officially) Exist

The political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, sparked by a failed coup in 2002, is further disrupting the registration of children born in areas under rebel control.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Spread of Light Weapons Reaches “Worrying Proportions”

Efforts to identify potential voters and disarm combatants are expected to begin Thursday in strife-torn Côte d'Ivoire, in preparation for elections that must take place by the end of October. However, the guns held by rebels and fighters that support the government aren't the only weapons giving cause for concern.

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: A Plane Crash That Took More Than Lives

There have been intensified calls in Kenya for an end to inter-clan hostilities in the arid north - this after a plane crash claimed the lives of six members of parliament (MPs) and a bishop who were on a peace mission to the region.

LIBERIA: Before UN Sanctions Are Lifted, a Timber Industry Clean-Up

Liberia's newly-elected but cash-strapped government has begun to find ways that the U.N. sanctions can be lifted to allow the country to exploit its immense timber resources for the benefit of its war-ravaged people.

POLITICS-SUDAN: No “Happily Ever After” Just Yet

Fifteen African heads of state were in attendance, and thousands of spectators - witnesses to the signing of a peace deal more than two years in the making, that was ending war between Sudan's government and southern rebels.

SWAZILAND: Opposition Arrests a “Desperate Attempt by a Dying Regime”

Political tensions in Swaziland are on the rise following the arrest of 15 pro-democracy campaigners in recent weeks over petrol bomb attacks that were made on courthouses and the homes of various officials last year.

DEVELOPMENT-RWANDA: Community Service Offends Across the Board

During the 12 years since the Rwandan genocide, national and community courts - and an international tribunal - have tried to bring about justice for victims of the killings and rights abuses that took place in 1994.

POLITICS-IVORY COAST: A Baptism of Fire for the New Prime Minister

2006 may be just a few days old, but it has already presented the Ivory Coast's new prime minister, Charles Konan Banny, with a substantial challenge: how best to deal with the attack staged Monday on Akouedo military base in the east of the financial capital, Abidjan.

CHALLENGES 2005-2006: Congolese Mineral Wealth As Coveted As Ever

A ragged gold miner dives into a chocolate-coloured pool of sludge, resurfacing minutes later with a handful of stones containing slivers of gold ore.