Deals have been made between President Joseph Kabila and the CNDP rebel forces, but their integration into the army hasn’t worked. Some are unhappy about the slow process, others have broken into splinter groups. And those on the ground continue to suffer.

On Monday morning, things were looking up for Mali. By Monday night, the interim president Dioncounde Traore had just been beaten up in his office after a massive and genuine public demonstration in favour of the military junta, leaving the country more confused and unstable than ever before.

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves showed off some of its latest products in Johannesburg recently. Daily Maverick reporter J BROOKS SPECTOR took a look-in at some of these new stoves designed to help save the planet – at least according to their manufacturers and sponsors.

It’s the calm before the storm. In Cairo and Alexandria, Port Said and Aswan, campaigning for Egypt’s next president has stopped, thanks to a three-day “cooling off” period designed to give voters some respite from the relentless onslaught of adverts, interviews and rallies. In theory, at least.

Many of the tweets joked about camel milk and the possibility of, perhaps next year, camel cheese, Insha’Allah. Others spoke of the “rebirth of hope”, while one participant tweeted “TedxMogadishu event was not a success by itself. Poorly organised, no sound system, didn’t follow the ted rules...” Wait a bit, did that tweet say TedxMogadishu? As in Somalia, Mogadishu? On the same day that news reports told of five Somalis killed in bomb attacks in the capital, tweets and video emanated from a secret location in Mogadishu, known only to the participants?

Just in case you were in any doubt about where the Zimbabwean army’s loyalties lie, last week’s declaration of unflinching support for Zanu-PF should reassure you – and Robert Mugabe – that the top brass have his back.

It was another bravado performance in The Hague from Charles Taylor, who looked gentle and unassuming as he asked for leniency. Almost tempted to believe him, SIMON ALLISON recalls that no amount of smooth talking can erase the horrors the man inflicted on Sierra Leone.

Unless the South African government gets its head out of the sand over the next chairperson of the AU, there’ll be another stalemate in Lilongwe – and our already battered reputation will take another hammering. By SIMON ALLISON.

The greatest myth surrounding humanitarian aid is that those who provide assistance are noble actors independent from the realities of war. Médecin sans Frontiéres’ recent book Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed lays bare the compromises and justifications made in conflict zones – and GREG NICOLSON spoke to two of its contributors.

You know the story and its underlying message: slow and steady wins the race. You probably don’t know the story of African economic under-development and Western economic growth, which is not quite as exciting. But the message, as outlined in a new IMF report, is similar – and it’s good news for the sluggish but increasingly stable African economies. By SIMON ALLISON.

Johannesburg-based photographer Ilan Godfrey has won the inaugural OPENPhoto Award for the essay Legacy of the Mines, his intriguing and evocative series of square images depicting people on the fringes of the commodity world. By staff reporter.

African journalists are very familiar with the “big stick” – the unmistakable threat of violence that haunts their work. To help them get around this problem, and other difficulties dogging the progress of the media in Africa, a new prize looks to encourage innovations that can revolutionise the African media landscape – and organisers have brought out the much less familiar “big wallet” to do just that. By SIMON ALLISON.

Next week is Fairtrade Coffee Week in South Africa. While this global movement for ethical supply chains and fair prices for farmers has long been gaining traction overseas, it seems that awareness among South African consumers still has a way to go. By REBECCA DAVIS.

Africa and the ICC have an intense and complicated relationship. The African Union would like to change this and have Africa take responsibility for enforcing its own justice, and it’s meeting to do exactly this. But don’t expect the ICC to go anywhere yet. By SIMON ALLISON.

Algeria goes to the polls on Thursday to elect a new parliament. With some bravado, the Algerian government has promoted these elections in advertisements as “Algeria’s Spring”, invoking the spirit of the Arab Spring. But this is just another opportunity for the country’s political elite to gain a semblance of legitimacy. By KHADIJA PATEL.

In this instalment of Street Life, GREG NICOLSON talks to a Zimbabwean who came to South Africa when his country’s economy declined. These days, he sells curios on the streets of Johannesburg and dreams about returning home.

Those dastardly liberal types responsible for drafting the new Zimbabwean constitution – aka “regime change weapon” – have crossed the line as far as Zanu-PF is concerned with their repeated attempts to smuggle in protection for gay rights and all kinds of other dangerous imperialist dogma. Consensus remains a long way off. By SIMON ALLISON.

It hasn’t taken long for new President Joyce Banda to put her stamp on Malawi. In just over a month, she’s upset the African consensus on arresting Sudan’s President Bashir, devalued the country’s currency by half and in general been as different as possible from her late predecessor. This can only be a good thing, writes SIMON ALLISON.

Almost overshadowed by the case involving NPA boss Menzi Simelane, a ruling delivered on Tuesday by the North Gauteng High Court delivered diplomatic shockwaves. It compelled authorities to investigate allegations of state-sponsored torture and crimes against humanity in northern neighbour Zimbabwe. The ruling also opens the door for other victims of war crimes to seek relief through the SA criminal justice system. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

As Timbuktu reels under rebel control, South Africa’s investment in the preservation and protection of ancient manuscripts has been significantly imperilled. A good few million rands were poured into the Timbuktu project, but it’s not the financial loss that will be felt most acutely. By KHADIJA PATEL.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and they talk about “Mother Africa”. Therefore, the tech revolution had to take root in inventive ways here, changing outsider perceptions of the continent. Investors, though, have been slow to tap into Africa’s tech boom. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

A stalemate in the never-ending race to chair the AU Commission is inevitable unless someone can show some real leadership. It’s time for our diplomats to ditch their egos and find a compromise candidate, or it’s Africa that will be compromised – again. BY SIMON ALLISON.

It’s always been something that happens elsewhere, like North Africa, the Middle East or Asia. But we’ve always had our own unique problems, which has driven the need for legislation like the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill which has languished in Parliament for the last five years. But last week something happened that might speed things up a little. By MANDY DE WAAL.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist is in town for the Absa Capital Markets conference. His view of the world’s advanced industrial nations is bleak, to say the least. But the good news is that he’s much more upbeat about the prospects for emerging markets like South Africa – as long as we watch our exchange rate. By REBECCA DAVIS.

Historians’ worst fears are coming true as Timbuktu’s new rulers set fire to an ancient tomb, just one of the city’s many World Heritage sites. And this is just the beginning, says Ansar Dine, the Islamist group whose fundamentalist dogma threatens to destroy Africa’s most fabled city. By SIMON ALLISON.

A new photographic project by two Capetonians explores the world of commuter cycling in South Africa, giving us intimate portraits of bike riders and their trusty steeds. REBECCA DAVIS doesn’t ride a bicycle, but she might start after this.

Kenya’s incursion into Somalia last October, dubbed Operation Linda Nchi or Protect the Country, signalled a renewed vigour in the war against Al-Shabaab. As part of the operation, officials also launched a crackdown in the North Eastern province of Kenya, intent on weeding out the Somali cell of al-Qaeda sympathisers. In the process, Kenyan Somalis and Somali refugees were arbitrarily arrested and gravely mistreated. By KHADIJA PATEL.

It’s hotting up again in the eastern DRC where the government’s intention to arrest a notorious warlord has sparked intense conflict and a refugee exodus. It seems General Bosco “the Terminator” Ntaganda doesn’t want to be arrested. By SIMON ALLISON.

It’s only the third day of campaigning in Egypt, and already 20 people are dead. But death tolls have a horrible habit of rising, as Egypt well knows after over a year of revolutionary and post-revolutionary turbulence.It’s an ominous sign that, though Hosni Mubarak is gone, his tactics have not been forgotten. The revolution still has some way to go. By SIMON ALLISON.