Reports from the UN Mission in Sudan indicated that new clashes between government and rebel forces erupted in North Darfur over the past weekend.

Darfur has almost become a household word and with good reason. It is the first human made catastrophe of the 21st century; its death count combined with the huge humanitarian crisis staggers the imagination.

The Darfur crisis in Sudan is perhaps the most politically convoluted conflict in the world today. Its underpinnings involve local, regional and international players, all selfishly vying for power and economic interests.

In the wake of renewed government aerial bombardments in North Darfur, reported yesterday by United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Africa Action today stressed that civilians in Darfur remain acutely vulnerable to violent attacks in this ongoing genocide.

In further defiance of the international community the Mugabe government yesterday ordered police to assault lawyers who attempted to march in the capital Harare against unlawful interference with their profession.

As the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prepare for their annual spring meetings, to be held at their headquarters in Washington, DC this weekend, Africa Action today stresses that an immediate priority of the international financial institutions must be the total cancellation of Africa’s debt, without economic conditions.

The US plan to set up its African Command has been unpleasant and out of sorts from the very beginning. An editorial carried by the Gabonese newspaper "Reporter" has appealed to African countries to say "no" to the US African Command.

Africa Action marks International Women’s Day with a recognition that the global HIV/AIDS crisis continues to take a disproportionate toll on the world’s women, and with a call to U.S. and international policymakers to do more to address the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV/AIDS and other health challenges.

Days before an African peacekeeping force is deployed in Somalia, violence has spiralled in the capital, Mogadishu, forcing hundreds of families to flee the city and set up temporary camps on the outskirts.

Maryan Aliyow Isse had hoped the security situation in Mogadishu would stabilise after the Ethiopian-backed transitional government took control of the Somali capital in December.

A military solution is not an option in ending the crisis in Darfur, according to United Nations and African Union officials. Instead, the parties to the Darfur conflict must agree to a peace process.

An estimated 50,000 asylum-seekers from Somalia have entered neighbouring Ethiopia in the past eight months, according to preliminary findings of an assessment team from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Humanitarian operations in the western Sudanese region of Darfur have resumed in some areas but security concerns are still restricting activities in others, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said.

The truth about the December Ethiopian invasion of Somalia and the January 7-8 U.S. air strikes on the Somalian towns of Afmadow and Ras Kamboni is obscure to most Americans.

As violent attacks increase across Darfur, and as the humanitarian crisis that forms part of the genocide continues to escalate, Africa Action today condemned the lack of progress by the international community in realizing the necessary United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force to protect the people of Darfur.

The Bush administration, faced by a serious setback in Iraq, is seeking to bring together an international police force under its leadership. This is being done under the guise that they will be NATO or UN forces and not American-controlled.

The international humanitarian organisation Norwegian Refugee Council has closed down its relief operations in Darfur, western Sudanese, a move it said will affect 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the troubled region.

The report states that the Botswana government used physical force and 'coercion and intimidation' to evict Bushmen from the reserve, and recommends that the government allow people who wish to go home to do so.

A top United Nations envoy warned on Thursday that the Darfur peace agreement was on the verge of collapse and lambasted the Darfur Ceasefire Commission (CFC), which is responsible for monitoring and implementing the accord.

Political opponents of the Khartoum regime have come under increased surveillance, harassment and arbitrary arrest by NIF security forces, states a number of recent reports by the Sudan Organization Against Torture (SOAT).