The editors of four independent weekly newspapers, "L'Eveil Hebdo", "L'Authentique", "Le Journal" and "Al Moujtamaa", have been sued for allegedly libelling Bodiel Ould Houmeid, a leading member of the ruling Socialist Democratic Republican Party (PRDS) and a close associate of President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya. According to Media Foundation for West Africa-Mauritania's sources, the editors were first brought before the state prosecutor in the capital, Nouakchott, on 31 March 2004. After they had waited for over two hours, they were sent away and told to appear in court on 1 April.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says it is deeply concerned about the recent jailing of an Ethiopian journalist, after he was unable to pay bail in a criminal defamation case. On Friday, April 2, Ethiopian authorities jailed Merid Estifanos, former editor-in-chief of the private, Amharic-language weekly Satanaw. According to local sources, Estifanos appeared before a federal court in the capital, Addis Ababa, on April 2, in connection with a defamation charge stemming from a September 2001 opinion piece titled "The Hidden Agenda of Prime Minister Meles."

The Human Rights Advocates Program was established in 1989 to build the capacity of grassroots activists worldwide so that they can more effectively address pressing human rights concerns and build linkages with the global human rights community. To date, nearly 200 leading human rights activists from more than 60 countries have participated in the program and are now affecting change in their communities, both locally and globally. Beginning this year, a new phase of the program will be launched by focusing specifically on advancing human rights thinking and activism with respect to the global economy. The ‘Initiative on Human Rights Advocacy and the Global Economy: Human Rights Advocates Program’ builds on the success of the now 15 year-old Advocates Program, featuring a program of advocacy, skill-building, and scholarship through a four-month intensive training program in New York.

The latest issue of Chimurenga, a quarterly publication of arts, culture and politics from and about Africa and its Diasporas, is inspired by the writings of Bessie Head (1937-1986) and titled Triptych: Head/Body (& Tools)/Corpses. It features unpublished notes by Ms Head and new writing and art by Olu Oguibe, Chimamanda Adichie, Greg Tate, Sandile Dikeni, Charles Mudede, Khulile Nxumalo, Achille Mbembe, Jean-Claude Fignole, Tanure Ojaide, Pumla Dineo Gqola, Muthoni Garland, Pravasan Pillay...amongst others. The cover art is by Dread Scott.

The Centre for Economic Justice's (CEJ) mission is to strengthen international movements that counter corporate-driven globalization and to promote more just policy alternatives. CEJ supports the people most directly and negatively affected, helping them gain political power as well as technical and funding support in their struggles for environmentally-healthy, human-centred, and sustainable economies. CEJ also links global South networks with U.S.-based community groups, activists, and policy advocates, with the goal of fostering and strengthening cooperation. People from the global South, people of colour, women, and LGBT individuals are especially encouraged to apply.

The IDS seeks an experienced social scientist who combines an interest in research with a desire to contribute in a practical way to the development of health systems in low and middle-income countries. Candidates should have a post-graduate degree in a relevant social science and several years of practical experience working in health-related development projects or programmes in low or middle income countries.

Asylum Welcome, an organisation working with refugees and asylum seekers in Oxford, is currently seeking a honorary treasurer to serve on its Executive Committee.

The Crime and Justice Programme at the ISS is engaged in policy research on crime, criminal justice and crime prevention issues in South Africa. The Programme is starting a new project focusing on immigration in Southern Africa. The senior researcher will be responsible for researching, monitoring and analysing immigration trends in SA. The position also involves project planning and managing, working collaboratively with government on quantitative and qualitative research processes and policy development, travel in SA and the region, writing and public speaking, and liaison with the media.

The weekly Sesotho tabloid, Mololi, a publication of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy political party, has been served with a court summons by a Member of Parliament for Mokhotlong constituency No. 79, demanding maloti 350 000 (approximately 54 000 US dollars), for defamation.

The new third series of the ever popular and controversial Yizo Yizo, which is going to embrace South Africa television screen on the 1st of April 2004, promises to blaze the country with another burning issues. In this new edutainment series, the Yizo Yizo makers attempt to show that the inner city is evolving and is becoming what you can term a "new township".

Makerere University has engaged consultancy researchers to review the 1.5 affirmative action points scheme introduced in 1990, to enable the university to plan accordingly. According to a circular by Sebastian Ngobi, the academic registrar, the research will weigh the principles of affirmative action to enable the university's Senate to make decisions supported by factual and analytical data. Through the affirmative action scheme 1.5 points are added to the score of each eligible female A' level student applying to join Makerere University.

Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has said the glaring failure revealed in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) report on Zambia justifies the call for more investment in the social sector. Commenting on the contents of the MDG report that was released recently, CSPR assistant co-ordinator Gregory Chikwanka said the report's revelations heralded the need for the government to revisit the resource allocation procedures. The report states that of the 10 MDG targets, Zambia could probably achieve one while possessing the potential to achieve only six others.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has virtually decreed that the most vulnerable group of children in the educational ladder in the country should go through the first three years of the cycle, the formative years, without textbooks. They should make do with workbooks, the virtually blank books that carry dotted caricatures and no words or content and are primarily used for drawing. Only teachers would have resource books.

A subregional workshop is currently taking place in Limbé, Cameroon, to boost the planning capacities of education ministries in Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Rwanda and the Central African Republic. The five-day workshop will bring together directors of educational planning, human resources and finances. It will propose various ways of improving the use of national statistics in educational planning. The workshop is organized by the Pôle de Dakar, a French Cooperation Initiative, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the World Bank.

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading journalists and media executives in over 120 countries, is deeply worried by the criminal prosecution of Paul Kamara, the editor of the For Di People independent newspaper. According to information provided to IPI, Kamara is being prosecuted on two counts of "seditious libel" against the president.

The Centre for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University has announced a call for applications for the 2004 Human Rights Advocates Program. The Human Rights Advocates Program was established in 1989 to build the capacity of grassroots activists worldwide so that they can more effectively address pressing human rights concerns and build linkages with the global human rights community.

The Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, jointly with The Nordic Africa Institute, offers an annual visiting professorship for up to six months, funded by the Swedish Government. Deadline for proposals (send by ordinary mail) is 30 April 2004.

Information and communication technologies have brought considerable changes and innovations in the creation, management, publishing and dissemination of knowledge. Aware of the importance of these technologies and their effects on the production and dissemination of knowledge, CODESRIA (Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa) will organise from 1 to 2 September 2004 in Dakar, Senegal, a conference on the impact of information and communication technologies on electronic publishing and dissemination.

The 3rd ADALEST Conference will be hosted by the University of Malawi, Centre for Language Studies. The conference will be combined with the 5th Malawian National Language Symposium and will be held in Mangochi, Malawi, from 30 August until 04 September 2004.

The course entitled "Preparing for the Rehabilitation Effort in Iraq" will target mid to senior level professionals in areas related to community re-building, rehabilitation, humanitarian relief work, and post-conflict reconstruction, especially those who are likely to be deployed to Iraq. It is a two-week course hosted by George Mason University (GMU)’s Peace Operations Policy Program (POPP).