Q&A: Bashir Pushed, But Not Yet Into a Corner

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested last month that the court's preliminary panel issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes allegedly committed in Sudan's western Darfur region.

Q&A: "Between Implementation and Planning, There Is a Disconnect"

Accounting for about a third of the gross domestic product in sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture clearly plays a significant role on the continent. But, figures only tell part of the story. A review of Africa produced under the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) notes that agriculture is also "woven into the fabric of most societies and cultures in the region."

POLITICS: Security Council Deadlocked Over Kosovo

When the United States and some of the members of the European Union (EU) expressed admiration for Kosovo’s "patience" in its longstanding quest for a new nation state in the Balkans, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin dismissed their "naivety" with a degree of political sarcasm.

POLITICS: Controversy Follows Gaddafi’s Rapprochement With Europe

The re-emergence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi into the diplomatic good graces of Europe has met with a decidedly mixed response, even in some of the governments ostensibly courting his favour.

EGYPT: Political Fatwas Draw Fire

Egypt's ruling party often accuses its Islamist opponents of exploiting religion to achieve political ends. But in the wake of several controversial fatwas - religious edicts - issued by the grand imam of the influential Al-Azhar Islamic establishment, critics are now accusing the state of playing the religion card.

DEATH PENALTY-MOROCCO: Conformist Media Blamed for Public Apathy

Lack of media interest in reporting on death penalty issues is responsible for widespread public indifference to whether or not Morocco eventually abolishes capital punishment, according to analysts and activists here.

MEDIA-EGYPT: Ahmed To Challenge &#39Press Offences&#39

Makram Mohamed Ahmed, newly elected Egyptian Journalists Syndicate chairman, has promised to pursue the syndicate's longstanding goal of outlawing the practice of issuing jail terms for so-called "publication offences".

Q&A: "More Activism From Women Would Be a Significant Stimulus to the Abolition Cause"

Professor Sahar Mahdi Al Yassiri is a well-known writer on death penalty abolition in the Islamic world. Al Yassiri, a lawyer by trade, is also a member of several human rights NGOs, including the Right to Life Centre for Death Penalty Abolition in North Africa and the Middle East. In an interview with Abderrahim El Ouali, IPS correspondent in the region, she explains why it is crucial that women play a more active role in the abolition movement:

EGYPT: An Environmental Make-Over for an Ancient Industry

Air pollution is so bad in Cairo that living in the sprawling city of 18 million residents is said to be akin to smoking 20 cigarettes a day. According to the World Health Organisation, the average Cairene ingests more than 20 times the acceptable level of air pollution a day.

DEVELOPMENT-MOROCCO: Debate Over Policies to Assist Beggars

Morocco's social development minister, Abderrahim Harrouchi, says efforts are underway to address the plight of thousands of beggars in the North African country.

POLITICS-MOROCCO: Quotas Overpowered by Machismo

When Morocco held legislative polls a decade ago, just two women were elected to the lower house of parliament in this North African country. Legal reforms enacted since have ensured that women will fare better when the latest parliamentary ballot gets underway Friday. But for activists, there is still a long way to go in bringing gender parity to the Chamber of Representatives.

MEDIA-MOROCCO: Censorship Begins At Home

A new press law has created a regulatory council comprising journalists that some fear could lead to censorship by media persons rather than the government.

EGYPT: Desert Reclamation the Country’s Best Hope – Or a Mirage?

"You can grow anything here," says 76-year-old Mohamed Ahmed, spreading his arms wide to point to the cascading bougainvilleas and an orchard of mango trees drooping with fruit. But, "When I first came here, there was nothing here but sand and more sand."

RIGHTS-MOROCCO: Childhood Being Stolen

Habiba Hamrouch describes her daughter, Sanaa, as her "revenge" - her blow against the mixture of abuse, tradition and indifference that enables thousands of girls to be exploited as domestic servants in Morocco.

POLITICS: "Take The Bull By the Horns And Move Towards a New Country – Africa"

Positions are being staked out concerning the establishment of a pan-African government, this at the annual summit of the African Union (AU), underway in Accra. Heads of state and government from around the continent began meeting in the Ghanaian capital Sunday; they will wrap up talks Tuesday.

AFRICA: Regional Integration No Path to Continental Government, Says Gaddafi

The final leg of the 2007 African Union (AU) summit kicked off in the Ghanaian capital of Accra Sunday, with a three-day gathering of the AU Assembly - comprising heads of state and government.

TRADE-KENYA: East Africans May Be Stripped of the Kikoi

Kenyan activists are fighting to retain cultural designs that have been developed in East Africa but are being patented by companies in rich countries. After losing the kiondo basket trademark to Japan, the popular kikoi fabric design is currently at risk of being patented by a British company.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: MDGs Depend on Power Relations Changing

‘‘The people of Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta are poor not because they do not have resources but because they do not have political power. Those who wield power in Nigeria are building skyscrapers in Lagos and Abuja while there is nothing in the Niger Delta. It is the same at the global level.''

ENVIRONMENT-ALGERIA: Fighting Desertification Through Conservation

In May, Algeria will inaugurate a reserve around a small oasis in the south-west where plants and animals are to be protected in the service of a broader goal. Hopes are that the Taghit National Park will help stop the advance of the Sahara Desert, which already stretches across almost all of this North African country.

ENVIRONMENT: Plans to Halt Desertification in Africa a Work in Progress

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) requires signatories to create national action plans for dealing with this scourge that allow sustainable development - and encompass participation by communities, amongst others.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Keeping the Sahara in Check

Two hundred kilometres. A long distance to some, perhaps, but in the context of desertification in Algeria, alarmingly short.