Was enough done to counter incitement and intimidation online during recent elections?

By Judie Kaberia, Nzau Musau - International Justice - ICC ACR Issue 347,
3 May 13

After ensuring that last month’s general election went off peacefully, the authorities in Kenya have come in for criticism for failing to curb the wave of hate speech that spread over the internet.

Rebels and government seem committed to talks, yet neither will call a truce to ease transition to peace.

By Rodrigo Sandoval Araujo - Latin America

13 Mar 13

Although Colombian government and rebel negotiators are expressing cautious optimism over the progress of talks, the peace process is hampered by continuing violence.

Delays in enacting legislation to address longstanding grievances make land as potent an election issue as ever.

Farmers hold off planting because of electoral violence concerns.

As Kenyans prepare to go to the polls on March 4, experts are warning of possible food shortages because many farmers are not planting crops for fear of election violence.

Farmers in the country’s grain basket, Rift Valley Province, are scaling down their planting because they do not want to lose out if there is violence similar to that which followed the December 2007 presidential election. More than 1,100 people were killed and hundreds of thousands uprooted from their homes in the months that followed.

Resettlement scheme angers Azerbaijan, which sees it as an obstruction to an eventual peace deal.

Some of the Armenians fleeing the conflict in Syria are being welcomed as settlers by the authorities Nagorny Karabakh.

Robert Matevosyan, head of the resettlement department at Nagorny Karabakh’s Kashatagh district government, says 25 families have moved there since the civil war started in Syria.

Precautions in place in Havana's old town.

By Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez - Latin America

A rise in cholera cases in the Cuban capital Havana is being traced back to parts of the country worst affected by Hurricane Sandy two months ago.

Doctors who have recorded new cases of the disease during house-to-house inspections say the health ministry has declared a state of alert in the Jesús María and Belén communities of Habana Vieja municipality.

Habana Vieja – Old Havana – is a popular tourist area in the city centre.

Ten-year-old Noria is unable to go to school any more because she is so scared of the effects of war.

“We are scared – there’s war here and rockets being fired. I used to go to school but now I can’t,” she said. “When night comes, my little sister and I have nightmares. One day a rocket landed close to our school, and we were saved only by God’s mercy.”

Her father Abdul Wahed, a farmer in Kunar’s Wata Pur district, says that living near the district government offices and a base used by international forces means the family has seen a lot of military action.

"It's not looking good," official said as winds headed for shore.

By Reporters in Cuba - Latin America

The devastation caused by the hurricane that hit Cuba in the last week of October was made worse by the poor state of many buildings, according to eyewitnesses.

Hurricane Sandy was the worst natural disaster to strike Cuba in half a century.

As the hurricane raced towards shore, Lázaro Expósito Canto, head of the Provincial Defence Council in Santiago de Cuba, made a last-minute announcement on television and radio.

By Mélanie Gouby - International Justice - ICC ACR Issue 332, 15 Nov 12

As rebels operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo threaten further attacks unless the government agrees to negotiate, experts are warning that Kinshasa cannot afford to repeat the mistake of trying to pacify armed groups by integrating them into the national army.