The situation remained tense in western Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday as reports filtered out of heavy casualties in a clash between militia fighters supporting President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel fighters on the frontline earlier in the week. Foreign residents in the volatile west of Cote d'Ivoire told IRIN that at least 15 people had been killed and 40 had been injured in Monday's attack on the rebel outpost of Logouale, 520 km northwest of Abidjan.

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has been informed by the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of a series of arbitrary arrests and disappearances, as well as torture in detention, in recent days in the Southern Darfur state. According to the information received, on 22 February 2005 security forces arrested Mr. Adam Khamees Altom (40 yrs), from the Zaghawa tribe, from Kalma Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in southern Darfur state. Mr. Adam was taken to security offices in Nyala where he remains in detention without any official charges.

The Botswana High Court ruled on Monday that Australian-born academic Kenneth Good may stay in the country while his lawyers challenge the constitutionality of a deportation order. President Festus Mogae gave Professor Good, a political analyst at the University of Botswana, 48 hours to leave Botswana two weeks ago for lambasting Mogae's decision to handpick Vice-President Lieutenant-General Ian Khama as his successor.

The new Mozambique government has probably broken its agreement with the IMF by hiring sufficient teachers, says the Mozambique Bulletin. "All over Africa, the IMF has imposed a cap on government wages of between 7 per cent and 7.5 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product, effectively national income). In nearly all countries, teachers are the biggest part of the wage bill, and by setting the cap as a percentage of GDP, it means the poorest countries, which usually have the biggest educational needs, can hire the fewest teachers. This, in turn, means these countries are less likely to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Initially the Ministry of Education said it needed to recruit a further 10,000 teachers for this year, but because of the IMF cap, the Ministry of Finance only allowed the hiring of 4000. The new Education Minister, Aires Aly, last week announced that the Ministry of Finance will allow him to hire 5000 extra teachers. Read the full newsletter by clicking on the link below.

The Home Office has asked to see BBC undercover evidence of alleged racism and violence by security staff at an asylum seeker detention centre. The BBC heard evidence of detainees being physically and racially abused while officers made sure violence was not captured on CCTV. The BBC's Simon Boazman said most of the officers he met at Oakington did try their best to treat the detainees with dignity and respect. But there were a significant minority who were racist.

The Ugandan government has made science subjects compulsory for secondary school students, and said it will preferentially fund university students taking science courses. Under the new policy, approved last month, biology, chemistry and physics classes will be compulsory for all secondary school students, and first year university students will have to take some science subjects.

Family Health International works closely with senior research staff to develop, implement, monitor, manage and/or analyze complex and other research studies; and designs research management systems. Visit http://www.fhi.org or email [email protected] for more information.

Ahlimba has drawn the short straw at this crumbling Togolese school. While her teaching colleagues are on the somewhat unreliable state payroll, she depends entirely on what her pupils’ parents can scrape together for her monthly salary. “I do the same work as the others, but there are some months when I’m not paid at all,” the slender 25-year-old told IRIN.

As student protests over various issues escalated in Johannesburg and Pretoria on Tuesday, education authorities strongly condemned campus violence. The unrest continued on Tuesday at branches of the University of Johannesburg, and at the Mamelodi campus of the University of Pretoria. In both cities, protesters were sceptical about efforts to resolve their grievances through talks.

The University of Botswana Academic and Senior Support Staff Union (UBASSSU) has expressed outrage and dismay at the declaration of Professor Kenneth Good as a prohibited immigrant. Good, a political science professor and an independent minded critic of Botswana's democracy, was served with deportation papers on Friday evening and instructed to leave the country within 48 hours. He was granted an extension by the High Court following an urgent application lodged on Saturday.

It looks deceptively as if Cote d’Ivoire is at peace again. Many schools have reopened in the rebel-run north and noisy groups of children wearing black and white or gingham check uniforms kick up the dust on their way to class in the morning. But after two and a half years of armed confrontation, the war is far from over. And despite appearances, the schools are not running normally. Classes and exams have been disrupted for three years running and a generation of young Ivorians risks being left out in the cold.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has expressed relief at the 19 February 2005 release of newspaper editor Mohamed Lamine Diallo, known by his pen name Benn Pépito. Pépito was secretly detained for three days in connection with his reporting on an opposition leader wanted by the authorities. "We welcome Benn Pépito's release but we continue to be concerned about violations of the confidentiality of journalists' sources in Guinea," RSF said. "Even when state security is involved, political coverage can never justify secretly detaining a journalist."

Accessing relevant development knowledge is a key challenge for many researchers in developing and transition countries. The Global Development Network (GDN) and the British Library of Development Studies (BLDS) have teamed up to address this issue with a new Document Delivery Service. The service will provide research institutes in the South with access to Europe's largest research collection on economic and social change in developing countries. Aimed at knowledge professionals within research institutes, it allows them to search the BLDS online catalogue and request a photocopy of any article or document chapter to be mailed to them at no cost. 

The Guinean government has released the news editor of an independent weekly newspaper and the lawyer of an opposition politician who disappeared following last month's assassination attempt on President Lansana Conte after holding them in custody for three days. Benn Pepito, the news editor of La Lance, and Paul Yomba Korouma, a lawyer who had been acting for missing opposition politician Antoine Soromou, were arrested within hours of each other on Wednesday night. They were both freed on Saturday.

The Batsirai Group is a Zimbabwean non-governmental organisation working to strengthen community response to HIV & AIDS. Following a successful two-year placement, the organisation is currently seeking to consolidate its work in promoting community participation within its partner communities and within its own staff. The postholder will also assist in strengthening systems documentation, organisational learning and participatory monitoring and evaluation.

While under direct supervision of the Director of Social Affairs of the African Union, the incumbent will also be accountable to the WHO regional Advisers on Violence Prevention in the African (Brazzaville) and Eastern Mediterranean (Cairo) Offices, and periodic reporting to these advisers at 2-3 month intervals will be required.

The Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) is the world's leading online source of news and information about the role of science and technology in developing countries.

We are looking for a WEB PRODUCTION EDITOR with at least 3-4 years experience to manage the editorial production process for the SciDev.Net website ensuring both accuracy of published material and efficiency of the production process, and coordinating the implementation of new features on the site.

You will have solid experience of html coding, a keen eye for detail, communication skills and the ability to work independently and as part of a dynamic team. A science and/or development background is advantageous. The position is based in London.

Please send a covering letter and C.V. to [email protected] by 04 March 2005

Further details: www.scidev.net/productioned

The Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) is the world's leading online source of news and information about the role of science and technology in developing countries.

We are looking for a MARKETING OFFICER with at least 2 years experience, responsible for implementing the marketing strategy and news dissemination plans, as well as email and print marketing campaigns, and monitoring statistical data about the use of the website.

You will have a keen eye for detail, excellent communication skills and the ability to work independently and as part of a dynamic team. A science and/or development background is advantageous. The position is based in London.

Please send a covering letter, C.V. and some examples of your work to [email protected] by 04 March 2005

Further details: www.scidev.net/marketing

Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa (CAFSA), in collaboration with its corporate and non profit partners, is pleased to launch Employee Volunteer Week 2005. Visit www.volunteerweek.org.za for more information.

AFFORD's Office Manager's role is to manage the effective running of AFFORD's busy office and oversee the implementation of efficient administrative and Human Resources processes and systems.