Lecturers at the Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi in the eastern city of Zomba, some 80 kilometres from Blantyre, Monday held peaceful demonstrations, protesting what they called an intrusion on their academic freedom. This follows the summoning, by Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, of political science lecturer, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, over an example he allegedly gave in one of his classes. Dr. Chinsinga reportedly drew parallels between Malawi's current fuel crisis with the insurrections that toppled the government of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Malaria is the leading cause of mortality among children under the age of five in this West African nation, and UNICEF is concerned that stocks of essential drugs to treat the deadly disease are in danger of running out in two to four weeks’ time.

The UN refugee agency said in Geneva on Tuesday it has become 'increasingly concerned' about the dangers for civilians inadvertently caught up in the mounting violence in Libya, especially asylum-seekers and refugees. 'We have no access at this time to the refugee community. Over the past months we have been trying to regularise our presence in Libya, and this has constrained our work,' Melissa Fleming, UNHCR's chief spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.

A new issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies (vol. 24, no. 1, March 2011) has just been published. It includes the following articles:
- Laws, Policies, or Social Position? Capabilities and the Determinants of Effective Protection in Four African Cities.
- Refugee Camp Security: Decreasing Vulnerability Through Demographic Controls.
- ‘Let Me Go to the City’: African Asylum Seekers, Racialization and the Politics of Space in Israel.

Alhaji Bature Iddrisu, managing editor of privately-owned Bilingual Free Press on 19 February 2011 filed a complaint at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service against Kennedy Agyapong, an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North Constituency of the Central Region, for threatening him with death. Agyapong was reported by a pro-government daily newspaper, The Enquirer, to have said that he would 'kill' Alhaji Bature for consistently linking him and his family to illicit drug trafficking from one radio station to another.

Unconfirmed reports from sources in Libya - where reliable information is notoriously difficult to come by - suggested more than 60 people died in violence in the capital on 21 February. Network Al-Jazeera also claimed at least one government building had been torched in Tripoli, a report that also could not be independently verified. Unconfirmed reports from sources in Libya suggested more than 60 people died in violence in the capital on 21 February. Network Al-Jazeera also claimed at least one government building had been torched in Tripoli, a report that also could not be independently verified.

Orchestrated violence following hotly contested presidential election results in December 2007 led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Many are still struggling to rebuild their lives in their new homes, despite a government compensation scheme.

A suicide car bomber has attacked a police training camp in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, killing at least six people, officials say. The blast is reported to have happened near the Darwish Camp, which is next to a police academy. There are fears the death toll will rise.

Closing arguments in a civil case initiated by foreign nationals seeking compensation from the state for damages suffered during the May 2008 xenophobic attacks were heard in the Western Cape High Court last Thursday. A group of 11 Somali, Ethiopian and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) nationals are suing the Safety and Security Ministry, claiming police did not protect them during the 2008 attacks.

IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) travelling to Southern Sudan before and after the recent referendum on independence have faced difficulties during and after their journey. Between November 2010 and January 2011, around 200,000 Southern Sudanese IDPs living in the north returned to the south. There have been various reports of convoys of returning southerners being attacked in the disputed region of Abyei during and in the weeks following the January referendum, according to some reports by Misseriya tribal militias loyal to the government in Khartoum.

In a a sign that the first cracks are starting to show in the Libyan regime, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son warned in a lengthy and rambling address broadcast live last night that the overthrow of the regime would lead to civil war and the break-up of the country, reports the UK's Independent. The address by Saif Gaddafi, who is viewed as reform-minded in the West, came as the first major anti-government protests spread to the capital, Tripoli, striking at the heart of the regime and making Colonel Gaddafi's 42-year hold on power appear increasingly precarious.

The Algerian government has said it will end its 19-year-old state of emergency 'within days'. Mourad Medelci, the foreign minister, made the announcement on Monday, echoing a similar promise made by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the president, earlier this month. A state of emergency has been in place in Algeria since 1992 and the government has come under pressure to remove the laws following popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

In Ghana’s capital city, Accra, a commotion stirs along the train tracks near the central railway station. Dozens gather to hear the news - that soon, their homes and workplaces will be razed for a new rail system. 'Last year we came to warn you to leave the railway lands. Last week we came again. And today, too, we have come,' Accra’s mayor, Alfred Vanderpuije, tells the crowd in Twi, a local language as he tours the site. 'I can’t tell you if I will come tomorrow or tomorrow next. But we will come and we will demolish all of the structures.'

A cabinet minister has accused a renegade militia in Southern Sudan's Jonglei oil state of killing at least 211 people, doubling earlier estimates of the death count. James Kok Ruea, the humanitarian affairs and disaster management minister, called the killings a 'massacre'. Renewed violence has sparked concerns for the security of the underdeveloped south where voters last month overwhelmingly voted to declare independence from the north in a referendum.

With the world’s attention focusing on mass mobilization and historic shifts of power in Tunis and Cairo, the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire has faded into the background but remains completely unresolved. There has been no face-to-face meeting between Laurent Gbagbo and his long-time political rival Alassane Ouattara, while both men, backed by their respective camps, continue to lay claim to the presidency.

Tunisia and Italy have agreed to work together to counter illegal immigration after thousands of people arrived on the tiny island of Lampedusa. According to Tap, Tunisia's official news agency, an agreement between Italy's foreign minister and Tunisia's interim prime minister was made late on Monday night. Under the deal, Italy will give Tunisia practical aid including a 'network of radars and fast boats that will be operated by Tunisians', the agency quoted Franco Frattini, the Italian minister, as saying.

Protesters have clashed with police and government supporters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, reports say. Demonstrators gathered in the early hours of Wednesday morning (16 February) in front of police headquarters and chanted slogans against the 'corrupt rulers of the country', Al Jazeera's sources said. Police fired tear gas and violently dispersed protesters, the sources said without providing further details.

The African National Congress (ANC) has disputed predictions by political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki that the South African government would face a Tunisia-style revolt, on the same day police fired live ammunition to disperse residents who took to the streets over poor service delivery in Mpumalanga. Mbeki predicted in an opinion piece published in Business Day that SA would face a civil revolt around 2020, when the government would no longer be in a position to sustain the welfare programmes 'it uses to placate the black poor and to get their votes'.

Fahamu’s Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the February issue of the , a monthly publication that aims to provide a forum for providers of refugee legal aid. With a focus on the global South, it aims to serve the needs of legal aid providers as well as raise awareness of refugee concerns among the wider readership of Pambazuka News.

A stampede at a political rally killed 11 people as Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan spoke, highlighting the insecurity in the country as it prepares for elections in April. As Jonathan began his speech at the soccer stadium in Port Harcourt, some people tried to leave to avoid the traffic out of the stadium, while others pushed inside. As well as the 11 who died, at least 46 others needed hospital treatment.