A South African appeals court has ruled that the corruption case against ANC leader Jacob Zuma can continue.

A judge overturned an earlier high court ruling dismissing charges against Mr Zuma, saying the lower court judge had "overstepped" his authority.

State prosecutors said Mr Zuma "remains a charged person".

The ANC says Mr Zuma will still lead the party into elections due in the coming months, meaning he is the strong favourite to become the next president.

The 16 charges of corruption, money-laundering and racketeering stem from a controversial $5bn 1999 arms deal.

 

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He's taking a third wife.

It's a mystery to me whether he has been married to more than two women at the same time in the past, despite BBC's timeline.  I'm not against polygamy per se, just against someone acquitted of rape after having sex with an HIV+ woman without protection putting another woman permanently at risk. 

As well, most people only take more wives if they are wealthy, and I imagine his wealth is derived from all of that corruption he's still accused of.

Gross.

These are in reverse chronological order: most recent first.

Firing across Congo-Rwanda border

Rebels 'seize' Congo border town

Battles rage near key Congo town

Government troops and UN forces have been involved in fierce battles against Tutsi rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reports from the region suggest the strategic village of Kibumba, north of the regional capital Goma, is the latest to have fallen to the rebels.
 

In pictures: Thousands flee Congo fighting

UN joins battle with Congo rebels

UN peacekeeping forces are engaged in heavy fighting against rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The head of the UN mission, Alan Doss, told the BBC that helicopter gunships and armoured units were supporting the Congolese army north of Goma.

The clashes followed reports that hundreds of protesters had attacked the mission's headquarters, saying the UN was not doing enough to protect them.

DR Congo rebels seize army camp

Rebels fighting government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo have captured a major army camp in the east of the country, UN peacekeepers say.

The rebels have also taken control of the headquarters of Virunga national park, home to some of the world's last remaining mountain gorilla

Thousands displaced in DR Congo

The UN says about 200,000 people have been displaced by renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two months.

Previously the United Nations had reported half that number.

Concern has been rising in the east of DR Congo, where the army has been battling fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda.

Zuma 'shocked by white poverty'

The head of South Africa's governing African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has said he is shocked and embarrassed about white poverty in the country.

One of my projects in Kinshasa is focused on finding an alternative method of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for pregnant women.  The drug that is commonly used, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), has been shown to have limited effect in certain regions because the malaria has developed resistance to it. 

Pregnant women are more susceptible to malaria, and even without developing symptoms, the presence of parasites can negatively affect the fetus - including resulting in anemia and low birth weight. 

SP has been used not only among pregnant women but also in infants and small children because it was effective and safe (adults could use other drugs such as doxycyline, mefloquine (Lariam), and atovaquone proguanil HCI (Malarone)).  While it still may be effective as preventive treatment - there are now efforts to use IPT in infants - resistance is developing at a startling rate.  Artemisinin in combination with other drugs (Coartem brand is one option) have been developed, and people were taking artemisinin on its own until it was determined by WHO that this was the number one way to encourage malaria strains to develop resistance to this medication very quickly and render it obsolete.

Either way, IPT seems to be a more commonly proposed solution, and this time for another new population, according to this article from BBC:

Children at risk from malaria should regularly take anti-malarial drugs, whether or not they are infected, according to a new study.

The recommendation is to provide medication three times a year.  In this case, the specific drug is not mentioned.  The mechanism, however, is simple: reduce the parasite load in children's blood, reduce the risk of anemia, and help them feel healthier and better able to pay attention in school.  The idea is much like those of us that self-treat for helminths when living overseas: take some Vermox one each six months, kill the parasites, and have more energy.  Considering that each time I am in Kinshasa, at least one colleague or friend is going for malaria testing and possibly self-treating when feeling symptoms coming on, it seems only logical that, as long as the treatment is safe for children, this approach would have a positive effect for school kids.

Apparently there have been Allegations of corruption behind South African violence, as Martin Plaut posits in this BBC article, saying that foreigners had been provided with subsidies on housing.

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"They" would be BBC.  It's been quiet for quite some time now.

The most current report says 60 dead have been brought to 'the Kinshasa Hospital,' presumably Hôpital Général de Kinshasa (let me know if this Wikimapia.com link works for you).  There are an additional 32 people being treated at the hospital for gunshot wounds.

My colleagues surmise that the body we saw is a 'belligerent' from Bemba's resistance forces who is only wearing shorts because he shed his military gear while trying to escape to somewhere else.  It's dark now - I can't see if he is still out there under the pagne.

Beer, sardines are consumed. I've been doing some work relatively inefficiently.  But I am very tired and thinking about sleep.

Fred has linked to Peter, who, with the help of an armored vehicle, has snapped shots of empty streets around the capital.  Keep scrolling down, he has some other good shots.

I tell ya, nothing like a battle in the capital to help you discover new bloggers keeping tabs on things...

Speaking of which, Global Voices has a good synopsis of what we have all been reporting.


EDIT (12:35am): I heard one loud noise, the first in some time, unless I missed a bunch, what with being asleep and the AC running. We are hopeful that we'll be able to go out and about tomorrow.  For breakfast: my colleague scored canned milk for the Nescafe to help keep us in the calories.  I am a tad concerned about the proposal that I might be moved to the MONUC compound, where a) there is food, but b) I don't know anyone or the situation there, and c) there may not be internet!!  My best bet is to convince the powers that be that I should stay somewhere much closer and avoid driving across town.

EDIT 2 (5:08am): We'll see if the activity has truly been cleaned up.  I just heard three new booms and a bunch of gunshots but I don't know where.  It could have been closer to Bemba's residence or at the Beach.  It will start to get light here soon.  I'll know what the choices are in a couple hours.  I don't want anyone to be at risk trying to drive me somewhere else, and thusfar have been safe and therefore not a high priority evacuee to some other location.

Kate also mentioned our poptart-accessing UNICEF friend in her most recent entry, and it looks as though he left the following (anonymous) comment on her blog:

pop-tarts, dr. pepper, gatorade, and listerine. along with maybe 200+ other UNICEF, UN, spanish embassy, & other assorted folks we were let into the MONUC exclusive duty-free shop this morning. bit of an urban refugee seen here though - plastic chairs, army cots, sleeping mats, beer cans, water bottles, discards from MREs (meals ready to eat), and us evacuees here amongst the enormous concrete playground with warehouses, hangars, generators, sanitation facilities, and a little office in the back where a senior supply officer from Eritrea is letting me bask in his air conditioning, share his nescafe & crackers, and use his internet. (he wasn't interested in my poptarts). - UNICEF-employed friend with access to poptarts

I'm beginning to think a change of scene wouldn't be so bad.

(5:21am) All seems quiet again.

EDIT 3 (9:00am): I am waiting for someone to come pick me up.  We plan to go get my things out of one hotel and move (as planned anyway) to a new spot not far from here, as long as that hotel seems secure.  People are walking around, cars are driving around, and some acquaintances of the deceased outside finally removed his body, after several conferences took place about him during the course of the morning.

Everything seems fine now. I am not sure whether I'll have internet right away, so don't worry if I'm not online.