£30m Payout To Ivory Coast Victims In The Hands Of Corruption
Oil traders Trafigura paid £30 million in compensation to the African victims of toxic waste dumping. But the £30 million is in danger of being stolen because of corruption in the Ivory Coast. The money was deposited to a bank in the city of Abidjan which would allow each victim to withdraw £1000 each, but now the account has been frozen and attempts are being made to transfer the money to a group claiming to represent the 30,000 victims. An unidentified man claiming to be President of the “National Co-Ordination of Toxic Waste Victims of Côte d’Ivoire” then applied to have the money transferred to the association’s account. Shortly afterwards the Ivorian state prosecutor agreed to the application. A local court in Abidjan is due to rule on the transfer claim this week.

Somali Refugees Flooded Out Of Camps
In the last month north-eastern Kenya has gone from a desperate situation caused by drought to three weeks of constant rain. A camp housing thousands of mainly Somali refugees has been completely flooded. A BBC reporter, Bashkas Jugsodaay, at the Ifo camp, says water levels reached half-way up the houses - and it is still raining. The main road into the area has been cut off by flooding. Aid agencies are being severely criticised for the response to the situation as the camps are already housing 210,000 more refugees than they have capacity for.

UN Afghanistan Staff Being Shipped Out
In Afghanistan more than half of United Nations employees are being moved to secure locations outside the country for at least three weeks after the killing of five workers last week. This was the most direct attack on UN employees in decades of work in the country. Many feel the withdrawal sends a worrying message about the situation in Afghanistan, although the UN insists that they are not pulling out completely and that this step is only temporary, leaving the rest of the world with nothing to do but watch and wait.

International Criminal Court Investigates Kenyan Election Violence
Kenya's most powerful politicians are shaking in their boots as the prosecutor of the international criminal court is due to arrive in Nairobi tomorrow for "decisive" consultations that could see some of them indicted for crimes against humanity. The Kenya government had refused to establish a tribunal trying those responsible, which are alleged to include cabinet ministers from both sides of the coalition, according to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). At the meeting Luis Moreno-Ocampo will meet the president, Mwai Kibaki, and the prime minister, Raila Odinga, to seek permission to investigate last year's post-election violence, in which at least 1,133 people were killed during ethnically motivated attacks or by the police.

Fears For Hopes Of Independent Palestinian State
Saeb Erkat, chief Palestinian negotiator, stated on Wednesday that Palestine may have to abandon its goal of an independent state if Israel continues to expand its settlements and the United States does not stop it. Israel has refused to incorporate Palestinians as citizens who live in the West Bank, insisting that it would make Jews the minority and lead to a “demographic timebomb”. The alternative left for Palestinians is to "refocus their attention on the one-state solution where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live as equals", Erekat said. "It is very serious. This is the moment of truth for us."

Landmark Anti-Corruption Deal In Danger
A landmark piece of legislation intended to precipitate a global crackdown on corruption is in danger of losing all credibility because of a row over how it is monitored. Officials from more than 100 countries will gather in Doha, Qatar, next week to assess the effectiveness of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which entered into force in 2005 and has been made law by 141 countries. Anti-corruption campaigners say a review mechanism is urgently needed to monitor how countries are implementing the Convention. However, a vocal group of countries including China, Russia, Egypt and Pakistan are resistant, saying corruption is too complex and politically sensitive an issue to discuss openly. But if corruption is not made transparent, how will it ever end?

Words: Yumna Martin

Picture: Flickr user Travelling_Steve