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'.

Reporters Without Borders says it is relieved that three employees of the opposition weekly 'Al-Midan', who had been arrested on 2 February 2011, were released on 12 February. But it is very concerned about the three who are still being held. The detainees have been beaten and subjected to torture, including electric shocks and sleep deprivation. They were arrested because of the coverage that 'Al-Midan', the Sudanese Communist Party's mouthpiece, gave to street protests on 30 January.

The price of rice, the staple food in Madagascar, has doubled in the past two years, forcing residents in the capital, Antananarivo, to halve their consumption. 'At almost 2,000 ariary (US$1) a kilogramme, rice has become a luxury item,' Tiana Randrianirina, a rice seller at the main market in the capital, told IRIN.

As further protests in Djibouti are announced, government is cracking down on civil society and the opposition. There are fears foreign police forces may be used against protesters. Since 29 January, Egypt and Yemen-inspired protests have been noted in Djibouti, calling for Djiboutian President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh to respect the country's constitution and not seek a third term in office in the upcoming April elections.

Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, could have as much as $400 million hidden away out of reach of prosecutors, according to leaked US diplomatic cables. A leaked cable sent from US officials in the United Nations in October 2007 reported the concerns of Stephen Rapp, who was the Special Court for Sierra Leone prosecutor at time, about Mr Taylor's alleged missing millions.

The conference will highlight what happens to a people and its environment when land access falls into the hands of speculators. What landlords and land speculators do is to hoard land by holding onto them for many years without developing them, hoping that someday they can be sold at a very good profit.

On 21 December 2010, a third landmark resolution calling for a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty received unprecedented votes at the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA), reports Penal Reform International. 109 countries voted in favour of the resolution, 41 voted against, 35 abstained, and 7 were absent. This is a significant vote in that it reaffirms the continuing trend towards international abolition, PRI says.

The road to safety does not always guarantee deliverance, especially not for many women refugees fleeing conflict in the Horn of Africa. Increasing cases of sexual abuse against women refugees en route to sanctuary in Egypt and Israel have raised concerns about providing victims with proper mental health care to survive not only the psychological remnants of rape, but also the resultant stigma.

In a venture aimed at getting tomorrow's leaders tested today, Innovative Medicines of South Africa (Imsa) has launched a university-based HIV counselling and testing (HCT) campaign called First Things First. 'First Things First aims to help South African students, as future leaders, to be responsible, get tested for HIV, know their status and commit to behaviour that will benefit themselves and their peers,' said Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi.

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.

The SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) would be meeting with members to decide whether to accept an industry wage deal. The union had agreed to the revised offer in principle for its freight worker members on Sunday. The offer included a nine percent increase across the board for 2011 and 8.5 per cent for the second year.

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 Union Commission is opposed to elections in Zimbabwe this year and is now trying to persuade President Robert Mugabe to postpone them to 2013 to allow for necessary reforms that can ensure violence-free, credible, free and fair polls, top officials in the commission revealed this week. In separate interviews with the Zimbabwe Independent, senior officials in the Political Affairs’ Department of Human Rights, Elections and Peace and Security of the AU Commission, who preferred anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media, said the commission was planning to send an AU assessment team to Zimbabwe to find out if conditions were right for elections.

As a wave of social protests started on 14 February in Malawi, the impoverished country's main donors are withholding aid over repressive media and anti-gay laws. The long announced anti-government protests kicked off in Malawi's capital Lilongwe and in the northern town of Mzuzu. The main demand was for government to address high fuel prices and shortages, causing a large black fuel market in Malawi.

Fifty years ago the international community agreed upon a set of rights to which everyone is entitled. As the internet has become more important in our everyday lives and as we’ve seen in Egypt and Tunisia in the last few days, a critical means for people to defend their rights and to fight for them, the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should apply everywhere and at all times – including when people are communicating online, says the Association for Progressive Communications.

ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the announcement by the new Tunisian government of the endorsement of major international commitments relating to human rights and calls on the government to swiftly proceed with these plans. 'We urge the Tunisian government to change their domestic legislation to create an enabling environment for media and civil society, in compliance with international legal standards on freedom of expression,' says Dr Agnes Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. 'ARTICLE 19 stands ready to provide support in making such reforms a reality.'

One thousand eight hundred women and men, members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) turned out for the ninth edition of the Valentines Day protests, the biggest protest since WOZA began these protests in 2003. The huge mass of singing protestors completely closed off 9th avenue for over 30 minutes.

In West Jerusalem, a group of young people attacked two Palestinians in the centre of town, punching and stabbing them, killing one and seriously injuring the other. In Bnei Brak, a group of religious youth jumped two Sudanese refugees with pipes and knives, injuring one moderately. In both cases, the Israeli police did not report the incidents as racist attacks. The two events this past weekend represent a dangerous trend occurring in Israel in recent years, says this article from the Alternative Information Centre.

Alcohol causes nearly four per cent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organisation has warned. Rising incomes have triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said.

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.