Reporters Without Borders has deploreed the fact that a climate of hostility towards the French news media is being encouraged by Côte d’Ivoire’s state-owned radio and TV stations and certain privately-owned newspapers in Abidjan that support President Laurent Gbagbo, such as Le Temps and Notre Voie. 'Our priority is respect for the safety of journalists,' Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. 'We are very disturbed that the national radio and TV have named foreign media and some of their staff and have blamed them for the current turmoil. This is dishonest and dangerous.'

The United States is worried about a 'considerable deterioration' in press and other freedoms in Madagascar. A sharply worded critique by the US Embassy expressed concern about 'the constant harassment of political dissidents and journalists' on the Indian Ocean island. The statement also referred to reports of arbitrary arrests and mistreatment of suspects linked to a failed military mutiny last month.

Sudan's army has said that rebel leader Minni Minnawi's Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) - the only Darfur insurgent group to sign a peace deal with Khartoum - is now a military target. Any clashes between the army and the SLA would be a severe major blow to Darfur's stalling peace process, with other rebel groups sceptical of Khartoum's willingness to honour any accord they may sign.

Makerere University has phased out 80 departments following its move to become a collegiate institution next academic year. The 88-year-old institution had 22 faculties, schools and institutes but will now operate under eight colleges and two schools after the University Council approved the recommendations last month. James Okello, the deputy academic registrar in-charge of Senate, said the current structure was overloaded and the new development would help fight red tape, reduce duplication of roles and optimise the available resources.

A Saudi Arabian investor plans to invest in a 5,000 hectare farm and a fruit-processing plant in Zambia, the African country’s Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said. The contract will be signed in the next three months for the land, which will be leased, Musokotwane told reporters in Riyadh at a conference today. He didn’t identify the Saudi investor.

In its September 2003 issue, and again in June 2005, Alliance put the spotlight on the subject of social justice philanthropy. Five and a half years later, we revisit the subject to find out what if anything has changed. Guest editor for this Alliance special feature is Christopher Harris, formerly of the Ford Foundation, who feels that some real progress has been made in the field and offers seven items worth special mention.

Over 600 new cases of AIDS were recorded during the first nine months of 2010 in Algeria, where the disease has spread relentlessly since the outbreak began in 1985. 'According to the likeliest estimates, there are between 21,000 and 30,000 people living with the virus,' Dr Skander Abdelkader Soufi announced November 24th at an Algiers forum on HIV/AIDS.

Zimbabwean authorities have admitted that they are having serious problems issuing new passports to tens of thousands of nationals in South Africa, just a few weeks before a deadline to get proper documents in place runs out. Co-Minister of Home Affairs, Theresa Makone, said this week that they may need to enlist the help of the South African government, because Zimbabwe is unable to process enough passports on its own. Makone said, after holding talks with her South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, that Zimbabwe could only process 500 passports a day.

Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika has ordered that the electoral commission be suspended amid talks of grave fraud. The suspension follows an audit report detailing some US$ 9 million meant for local government elections scheduled for April next year and cannot be accounted for.

Hundreds of residents from civil society organisations marched in the streets of Bulawayo on 1 December to mark the 16 days of Activism Against Violence Against Women and Girls . But sex workers and members of gay groups were barred by police from joining the demonstration. A dozen organisations took part in the event in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo. The commemoration was organised by the Musasa Project, an organisation that deals with domestic violence, under the slogan 'Structures of violence :Defining safety and security for women and girls'.

The University for Peace (UPEACE) is pleased to offer two online courses in 2011: 'Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Contemporary World' from 17 January to 27 March 2011 and 'Peace and Conflict Studies; The Foundation Course' will be re-offered from 7 February to 17 April 2011. These are both 10 week courses. The courses will be delivered by UPEACE faculty members: Dr. Amr Abdalla and Dr. Victoria Fontan and Professor Mihir Kanade. These courses are offered for three academic credits or for UPEACE training certificates. They will enable individuals who cannot come to the UPEACE campus, to gain new qualifications and skills. For course descriptions and more information, please visit the website.

Reporters Without Borders says it has learned that police in rural areas have for some time been confiscating shortwave radio sets from people caught listening to programmes made by Zimbabwean journalists in exile. The press freedom organisation has firmly condemned the use of such methods to censor information and restrict individual freedom.

The camp of Ivorian presidential challenger Alassane Ouattara vowed on Friday to reject any legal move to overturn provisional poll results giving him victory, warning of a possible return to civil war. The world's top cocoa grower was plunged into uncertainty last Thursday after the constitutional council, whose chief is close to President Laurent Gbagbo, said it did not recognise provisional results and would rule on the outcome within days.

The former ruling ZANU PF party has withdrawn its support for changes to the Public Order and Security Amendments Act (POSA). POSA is a piece of legislation tightened up by a ZANU PF dominated parliament in 2002. The draconian legislation gives untold powers to the police, who apparently opposed changes to the Act. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the police are responsible for the administration of the Act.

Google literally brought Accra - the capital of Ghana in West Africa - to a standstill with the public launch of its new product Google Trader. It is a free online classifieds service that allows Ghanaians to buy and sell products and services, as well as search for jobs or just about anything else. According to Google, Trader can be used by anyone in Ghana, but is expected to have the biggest uptake in major towns and cities across the country. 'Individuals can post short ads to buy and sell items and services, whilst businesses of any size can also use the site to reach more customers and increase their sales,' a statement read.

'Over the past year, the Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, has been praised for his energy in tackling the housing crisis. What the Minister apparently fails to recognise is that for millions of poor citizens (and non-citizens), informal settlements and inner city buildings are the only forms of accommodation available in the city or close to it. These forms of housing have two very important factors that state housing developments have often failed to provide - closer location to employment opportunities and affordability.'

Developing countries continue to drive the global recovery but are not in a position to make up for slowdown in the advanced countries. Consequently, 2011 does not hold out much hope for the world economy, says a new report by the United Nations. The UN report, titled 'World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011' (WESP), finds that because of the slowdown in the advanced countries and the phasing out of stimulus measures, output growth in the developing countries is expected to shrink to six per cent during 2011-2012, down from seven per cent in 2010.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who sometimes resides in Kenya and Tanzania, has severely embarrassed the Obama Administration throughout the past week with the leaking of US diplomatic cables. Worse is, by all accounts, yet to come. The leaked files include material from the 2007 Kenyan election and its violent aftermath. They are much-awaited in some quarters of the Kenyan political sector, especially with regard to the ongoing build-up to the cases at The Hague by International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. There are even those who are hoping that something might crop up in the Kenya cables which could play game changer to the whole ICC process as it stands at present.

Amnesty International has called on all states to commit themselves to end enforced disappearances, following news that a landmark treaty aimed at preventing the practice will come into effect. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Disappearances Convention) will enter into force on 23 December, after Iraq on Wednesday became the 20th country to ratify it. The Convention aims to establish the truth about enforced disappearances, punish perpetrators and provide reparations to victims and their families.

Ten years after the signing of an accord designed to move Burundi from civil war to democratic stability, the country has yet to establish transitional justice mechanisms aimed at enhancing reconciliation and bringing to book those responsible for crimes committed during the country's turbulent years. Human rights activists and political observers say the lack of these mechanisms - a truth and reconciliation commission and some form of criminal tribunal - had perpetuated a culture of impunity, allowing human rights violations to proliferate, especially by state organs such as the police and judiciary.