Trade unionists in Zambia have threatened industrial action if the government goes ahead with plans to impose a six-month wage freeze on civil servants' salaries. Earlier this month the authorities said the austerity measure was part of broader economic reforms aimed at reigning in government overspending.

A constitutional referendum will be held in November in the Central African Republic, followed by municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections from December 2004 to January 2005, a government minister announced on Wednesday when he released a final electoral calendar.

The Nigeria Labour Congress announced Wednesday that it was suspending a nationwide stay away that had been called to protest against a fuel price increase. The strike was scheduled to begin on Wednesday. However, a court of appeal in the capital, Abuja, ordered the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to withdraw its call for a stay away. This followed government's appeal of an earlier judgement that the strike could go ahead. In the latest court decision, Justice Ayo Salami said the strike action could not proceed before Jan. 26, the date which has been set aside for hearing the government's appeal.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder arrived in South Africa this week for a two-day visit to the country. This forms part of a four-nation African tour - Schroeder's first since he became chancellor in 1998. Observers say the trip has been carefully planned to send a message of encouragement to leaders who are viewed as taking Africa in a positive direction. Shroeder began his visit in Ethiopia on Sunday, and then traveled to Kenya. He will also touch down in Ghana later this week.

Zimbabwe's political parties have told the BBC that they are unaware of talks, which South African President Thabo Mbeki says they have agreed to. Mr Mbeki said that President Robert Mugabe had agreed to hold formal talks with the opposition to try to solve the country's political impasse. But a senior official of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party told BBC News Online he could not confirm this reported change of position. And a leading figure of the opposition MDC also said it was news to him.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told his treason trial on Wednesday that he did, as alleged, discuss "eliminating" President Robert Mugabe but was trapped into using a word he only meant in a political sense. Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has denied charges of plotting to kill Mugabe and stage a coup d'etat ahead of the country's controversial 2002 general elections. The state's case against Tsvangirai, who could face a death sentence if convicted, hinges mainly on a videotape of a meeting he held with Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben-Menashe where prosecutors say Mugabe's "elimination" was discussed.

When it comes to saving the planet, the private sector's first official report card can be summarised in just three words: "must try harder". Global business leaders need to triple their efforts if there is any hope of meeting widely agreed development goals, concludes an independent report commissioned by the Davos World Economic Forum, and which provides the first ever attempt at ranking the commitment of the business community to the Millennium Declaration goals. Signed by all 189 UN member states in 2000, the declaration established broad commitments in areas such as health, education, security and human rights, but if any of the world's 104 million unschooled children were able to read the results, they would find little to cheer about.

A paper from the Washington-based CATO Institute critically appraises the 'selective' approach to foreign assistance of the US administration, including the proposed new aid initiative, the Millennium Challenge Account. The selective approach is based on the view that aid directed at countries with good policies is more effective at promoting growth and reducing poverty. The paper concludes that the new aid enthusiasm, though broadly shared, is not justified. It is based on problematic claims about aid's effectiveness and a dubious approach to development.

The messages on the giant banners were powerful on the first day of the World Social Forum, drawing stares from the thousands who streamed into the meeting’s venue on opening day. ‘Africa is Not for Sale’ and ‘Solution to Africa Problems are in Africa’, carefully printed on the white clothing, conveyed the agenda of African participants who say they want to bring an end to the continent’s problems as they gathered at the African stand here. Initiated four years ago, this year’s WSF has seen an increase in the size of the African delegation from about 200 last year to approximately 500 this year, according to Prof Edward Oyugi, an official of African Social Forum (ASF).

The frustrated expression on her face said it all. Mohau Pheko, a gender and economic justice activist from South Africa is up to the neck with World Social Forums. She has attended all four and is definite that she will not be at the next WSF to be held in Brazil about same time next year. "Until and unless more grassroots people, especially from Africa, become part of this process I don’t honestly see the need to come and mix with the same people and say the same things to each other."

For the first time, children's rights issues were raised at the World Social Forum. A number of events ran at the same time at the venue in Mumbai, where a football stadium has been hired for the event. Events included workshops on issues like children in conflict with the law, disability, children's rights, children facing homelessness, trafficking, etc.

Invoking the sentiments of Alan Paton in his book ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’, some African delegates to the World Social Forum 2004 have used the meetings and networking events, to address issues close to home. Their main concerns: the imbalance in the world political and social systems, and the continued exploitation of the Third World by the powers that pull the global strings. For delegates like John Moru – Policy and Research Advocacy Officer with ActionAid, a nongovernmental organization based in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja - the reality, however, is that after Mumbai they return home to face familiar problems. "How fair developed countries have been in their relations with the less developed South, in terms of trade and economic relations, is a sore issue which has sparked debates and demonstrations here in Mumbai," says Moru.

“Our African governments must know that we are watching them”. Pressure is mounting on African governments not to repay hefty external debts owed to donor organisations. Activists from the continent say the money should instead be used to develop the agricultural sector which is the backbone of economies of most countries. Statistics show that 70 percent of populations in these nations are employed by the sector. In a fiery WSF session, over 300 delegates from Africa who gathered to deliberate on the continent’s economic policies, said one of the major reasons African nations boycotted the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks last September, was out of fear for their agriculture.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has sent an emergency team from Switzerland to Burundi to explore the possibilities of opening up more field offices in preparation for the possible return of hundreds of thousands of refugees now in Tanzania, the agency reported on Tuesday. The agency reported that the team, comprising a head of operations, a finance and operations officer and a telecommunications/information technology officer, would join a field staff safety adviser. They will travel to areas bordering Tanzania "to assess the situation, review the needs on the ground and prepare for the possible deployment of additional staff".

Elections were held at the United Nations to choose nine members of an expert panel, which monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Those elected to serve four-year terms include Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. of the U.S, a former government official who dealt with civil rights; José Francisco Cali Tzay, the founder of an indigenous rights programme in Guatemala; and Fatimata-Binta Victoire Dah, a career diplomat from Burkina Faso.

The weather has not been kind to South African maize farmer Tom van Rooyen, but his biggest worry is the political forecast. Standing by a stunted maize crop wilting in the African heat, van Rooyen says farmers are worried about impending land claims by communities evicted under white minority rule. Their concerns centre on a new act which will allow the government to expropriate land for restitution where negotiations on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis fail.

The Landless People's Movement (LPM) - an independent national movement of poor and landless people struggling for land and agrarian reform - has welcomed the announcement that the government plans to return 232,000 hectares of land to the poor and landless through the land restitution programme before the elections expected in April. "The LPM welcomes all moves to speed up the delivery of land reform, and notes that the government's commitment to deliver in four months almost 50 percent of what it has delivered in the past 10 years provides strong proof that land reform in post-apartheid South Africa is possible. Such a dramatic increase in this short space of time also clearly supports the LPM's contention - made to Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza in our meeting with her on 10 January - that the past 10 years of the land reform programme have been an abject failure," said the organisation in a statement.

Some figures speak for themselves. Like the 1.2 billion poor people in the world. More than two-thirds of them live in rural areas, often with little access to basic services such as education, healthcare and communications because they are isolated. 'Education for Rural Development: Towards New Policy Responses', from UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, reviews the status of rural education from the standpoint of public policies and sheds light on "good practice".

Human rights organisations have addressed concerns to businesses for a number of years. Recognizing that economic globalization has expanded the reach of corporate power, advocates have struggled to ensure that companies, no less than other significant actors, are brought within the framework of international human rights rules. A significant step in this direction was taken in August 2003 by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights when it approved the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights. This booklet provides an introduction to the UN Human Rights Norms for Business. It answers a number of questions about the UN Norms and their legal status, and includes an overview of their development, background on the drafting process, and a description of the content and legal status of the UN Norms.

Former Zambian intelligence boss Xavier Chungu, facing corruption charges with former president Frederick Chiluba, was arrested late Monday on charges of vehicle theft, a security source said on Tuesday. Chungu, who with Chiluba is accused of stealing more than 40 million dollars (31.5 million euros) from the state during Chiluba's 10-year presidency from 1991, was arrested at his suburban home in the capital and is currently in detention, the source said. "They have picked him up in connection with theft of motor vehicles which is a non-bailable offence," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.