Hundreds of university professors are staging a sit-in at over a dozen campuses across Egypt to call for the ousting of university administration officials appointed by the former Mubarak regime and to replace them with elected representatives. 'We are calling for democracy that is part of the revolution that started on January 25th,' says Khaled Sameer, an assistant professor of cardiac surgery at Ain Shams Medical School and the spokesperson for the Unified Coalition for the Independence of Universities.

Contrary to popular belief, intra-regional trade has actually been slowly going up since 2000, though the figure still pales into insignificance compared to what the rest of the region trades with the outside world, specifically China and United States of America (USA). SADC Secretariat trade policy advisor Paul Kalenga told The Southern Times that intra-SADC trade grew in absolute terms to US$34 billion in 2009 from US$13.2 billion in 2000, a 155 percent increase.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and India have signed a deal to build a hydroelectric plant in southern Congo. Officials from both countries participated in a signing ceremony in the Congolese city of Kananga late Monday. Congo's Energy Minister Gilbert Tshiongo said the plant, when completed, will have a capacity of 65 megawatts. The project is part of Congo's effort to address power shortages and develop the country's infrastructure. Analysts say the country has huge hydroelectric potential because of its many rivers.

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When Libyan rebels requested NATO air support to help them in their fight against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, they might have gotten more than they bargained for, and might be paying for it for a long time to come. Several scattered reports released since the conflict began claim that some of the missiles NATO jets are using to disable Gaddafi's army are tipped with depleted uranium, a toxic heavy metal that could have long-term negative health effects on populations exposed to it.

Egyptian companies and multi-nationals are now using images of and references to the youth-led uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in advertisements to sell internet service, mobile phones, soft drinks, tourism and more. The marketing has sparked something of a backlash among young Egyptians and has contributed to a rise in politicised street art and graffiti. 'Everyone sold us down the river. So all these people coming now and claiming that their phones, their kitchen appliances, their whatever, has helped the revolution - nothing has helped the revolution but the people that did the revolution,' said one Egyptian.

In line with its mandate to promote high-level scientific and academic debates on various aspects of socioeconomic development in Africa, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) hereby announces the 2011 edition of its Gender Symposium which will be held from 1st to 3rd November, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. The Gender Symposium is a forum organized annually by CODESRIA to discuss gender issues in Africa, and the theme of this year’s edition is Gender and the Media in Africa.

A lack of proper primary care facilities in South Sudan means doctors are often overworked. And a lack of money means they are under-equipped, as well. The government in Juba does not give them enough to buy the supplies they need, and donations from the international community do not fill the gap. The health ministry has plans to open a network of primary care centres - roughly one per 15,000 people - but none are fully operational. And the military and police hospitals are closed, forcing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and officers to seek care from civilian facilities.

Women in minority and indigenous communities are especially vulnerable to wide-ranging forms of violence, abuse and discrimination, according to a new report released by Minority Rights Group International (MRG), a human rights group that works on behalf of minorities and indigenous peoples. The disproportionate levels of abuse and discrimination that these women face - including rape, other forms of sexual violence, and trafficking, from government forces, paramilitaries, or members of their own communities - can be attributed to the fact that their identity exists at the intersection of two rather marginalised groups, women and minorities, making them easy targets.

In a historic gathering, more than a hundred women from seven continents representing more than 40 women’s organisations worldwide attended the first general assembly of International Women’s Alliance (IWA) in Manila early this month. With the theme 'Advance global anti-imperialist women’s movement in the 21st century, strengthen the international women’s alliance', progressive women from 20 countries vowed to fight imperialist attacks against women’s rights and welfare.

In response to a recent report by the Oakland Institute on land grabs in Africa, this blog article notes that, 'The free market attributes the demand of Westerners for transport fuel as more pressing than the demand of poor locals for basic food crops, because they are able to pay more, not because they have a greater need. Domestic governments need to intervene here to ensure that local economies produce enough food to feed themselves. Malnutrition has far reaching effects through every aspect of the economy, reducing productivity, increasing poor health, and damaging long term development of children both physically and mentally.'

Millions of people in developing countries rely on affordable generic medicines to stay alive. More than 80 per cent of the medicines used by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to treat AIDS across the developing world are produced in India. But the European Commission is now shutting off the tap of affordable medicines by attacking the production, registration, transportation and exportation of generic medicines. Visit this page of you're interested in helping Médecins Sans Frontières send a message to the European Commission to keep their hands of our medicine.

The United Nations' newest agency - UN Women - takes an ambitious and sometimes startling look at gender equality and women's rights around the world with its first-ever report. The 2011 'Progress of the World's Women: In Pursuit of Justice' report is 'a global survey of women's access to justice -looking both at legislation passed by governments and the steps taken (or not taken) to implement those laws,' according to the Guardian. 'The report highlights the practical barriers that women - particularly the poorest and most excluded - face,' says former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet in the report’s introduction. It states that 127 countries do not explicitly criminalise rape within marriage, while 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not a crime.

South Sudan becomes the world's newest nation on 9 July, the final step in the six-year Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a deal that ended the 1983-2005 North-South war. The government is upbeat, but after the euphoria of celebrations and the pomp of speeches, the new nation faces a mammoth task. Exactly how North and South Sudan divorce is critical to the future for both states. Key negotiations still remain - most importantly over oil. Border conflict has already forced thousands to flee, including some 110,000 people following the northern occupation of the contested Abyei region in May.

More than half of Tunisians do not know who they will vote for in October's elections, according to a poll partly sponsored by Al Jazeera. The faultline between those who would like to see an Islamist form of governance and those who wish to see the secularism established under President Habib Bourguiba maintained is fast becoming a defining divide in the nascent democracy. With 54 per cent of Tunisians yet to decide who they will cast their vote for, according to Al Jazeera's poll, it is clear that the campaign period will be crucial. Most of the newly formed political parties remain completely unknown to the public.

More countries have gender equality legislation on their books than ever before but many laws are inadequate and rarely if ever enforced, the first major report by the new UN women’s agency showed on Wednesday. While equality between women and men is guaranteed in the constitutions of 139 countries and territories, the report titled 'Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice' paints a picture of a world in which statutes have little impact on women’s lives. 'In rich and poor countries alike, the infrastructure of justice – the police, the courts and the judiciary – is failing women, which manifests itself in poor services and hostile attitudes from the very people whose duty it is to meet women’s rights,' the report said.

When the European Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations began ten years ago, there was a common understanding that the new trade regime would be targeted at deepening of Africa’s regional and continental integration, the enhancement of the competitiveness of the economy, and improvement of production capacities with a view to achieving sustainable development. However, says this posting on the Third World Network-Africa website, in the process of the negotiations these laudable objectives are not being pursued whilst WTO-plus elements have been introduced into the negotiations as reflected in numerous contentious issues.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies Database (CMRS) has announced the launching of its newly constructed information system. The CMRS information system aims at becoming a comprehensive location where migration and refugee research material especially, but not exclusively, on the Middle East region is compiled. The system is divided into three main components: legal, demographic and socio-economic. It contains material in both Arabic and English and it is possible to search in both languages.

The Refugee Law Project (RLP), Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, in collaboration with the African Transitional Justice Research Network (ATJRN) is accepting applications to its 2nd Institute for African Transitional Justice (IATJ), an annual week-long residential programme with a focus on Transitional Justice issues in the context of Africa. The Institute, which is scheduled to take place from 20 - 27 November 2011, in Kitgum, Northern Uganda has as its theme: 'Whose Memories Count and at What Cost?' The deadline for submitting applications is 1 August 2011, and any applicant intending to apply for some form of scholarships must do so before that deadline.