Gambia's six main opposition parties have opted out of the parliamentary elections, alleging unfair treatment by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which has refused to heed their request for a postponement of the polls from 29 March, PANA confirmed. PANA reports that the IEC insisted that the election date will remain as scheduled. In addition, the IEC received nomination forms for candidates for the exercise between 8-10 March and even went ahead to declare 24 candidates from the ruling party 'returned unopposed'. As it is now, only 24 parliamentary seats remain to be contested for.

The World Socialist Website reports on German study published by the government on young muslims in the country. The study’s publication has become the occasion for a renewed campaign against immigrant communities in Germany. A 'deliberate political campaign seeks to limit the study’s findings to that which can be exploited for the dissemination of xenophobic sentiments. In fact, the 750-page report provides a much more nuanced picture. The fact that the researchers are critical of the government’s integration policy is being swept under the carpet.'

The gist of the paper is how the World Development Report shows that the Bank now acknowledges that '...social and cultural factors make it difficult for women to participate with equal rights in the social and political life of their societies.' This statement isn't groundbreaking in itself, but it shows a sea change in how the World Bank thinks about women's equality. In the past, they viewed gender equality as a natural side effect of bringing greater prosperity to a region.

Moroccan police on Wednesday beat up protesters who were seeking to stage a demonstration in the capital Rabat in solidarity to anti-government protests in the north. A Reuters reporter and photographer saw at least three people injured after dozens of truncheon-wielding policemen chased a few hundred protesters around the streets of downtown Rabat. The demonstrators had been seeking to gather in front of a local government office.

On the 26 September 2009 a political attack took place in Kennedy Road. Nothing has since been offered by eThekwini municipality to Kennedy victims who lost their homes.

There is battle raging across the world over who can better feed its people: small-scale farmers practicing sustainable agriculture, or giant agribusinesses using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It was small-scale organic farmers growing rice for themselves and local markets in the Philippines who first convinced us that they could feed both their communities and their country. Part of what convinced us was simple economics: These farmers demonstrated substantial immediate savings from eliminating chemical inputs while, within a few harvests - if not immediately - their yields were close to or above their previous harvests. From these farmers, we also learned of the health and environmental benefits from this shift.

Gunshots rocked Amuru District as the police tried to disperse about 100 people who had crossed from Adjumani District to the disputed border area of Elegu, to reportedly distribute plots of land among themselves. Although Atiak residents in Amuru District claim legitimacy over the land, the Ofodro clan members in Arinyapi Sub-county district claim the land, that has since become lucrative, belongs to their grandparents and that they only abandoned it during insecurity.

Thousands of members of the Democratic Opposition Coordinatioon (COD) in Mauritania, grouping 12 opposition political parties, mounted a massive demonstration here Monday 12 March, to press for an end to military rule. They also denounced 'the increasingly difficult and harsh living conditions, the exclusion of some tribes in the country and the inability of the government to manage a crisis-ridden Mauritania.'

Ten months after the West African country started to emerge from a presidential election crisis during which almost all hospitals and clinics had to shut down for a good six months because they had been vandalised, looted and occupied, the new government under President Alassane Ouattara is trying to make public health care a priority. But in a country recovering from 12 years of political instability since a military coup in December 1999 that was followed by 10 years of Gbagbo’s autocratic rule, rebuilding a crumbling public health care system takes time.

Former law lecturer and socialist party leader Munyaradzi Gwisai, and five other activists arrested for watching videos of the Egyptian uprisings last year, have filed a $300,000 law suit against the police and both Home Affairs co-Ministers. A total of 46 activists were arrested when police raided Gwisai’s home, where the activists were watching videos of the uprisings in Egypt and North Africa. They were charged with plotting to destabilize the government. The majority were released, but six who remained in custody say they were tortured.

A military court in Egypt has acquitted an army doctor accused of carrying out forced 'virginity tests' on women protesters, state media reports. Ahmed Adel was cleared because the judge found contradictions in witness statements, the state news agency said. The case was brought by one of the women, Samira Ibrahim, who said the 'tests' took place after they had been detained during protests last year. Demonstrators gathered outside the court to protest against the ruling.

The Prison Radio newsletter features posts about - and writing and commentary by - Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is serving life imprisonment without parole in the US for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, but whom many activists consider to be innocent. It also contains other news about prisoner campaigns and solidarity.

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has cautioned against blindly supporting President Jacob Zuma in his court battle with the DA as divisions among the federation’s leaders intensify. The Supreme Court of Appeals is expected to deliver its judgment on the application by the DA to set aside the decision of former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Mokotedi Mpshe, to halt prosecution on fraud and corruption charges against Zuma. In his political report to the federation’s central executive committee, Vavi said they could no longer use political excuses to protect Zuma.

Tanzanian doctors have suspended a nationwide strike after the country's president met union representatives to defuse a row with government, the doctors association said. The more than 1,000-strong Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) is demanding better pay and conditions and the sacking of Health Minister Hadji Mponda and his deputy, whom they accuse of being 'enemies of doctors and the health sector as a whole'.

The Secretary-General of Angolan opposition party Democratic Bloc (BD), Mr Filomeno Vieira Lopes, said he was brutalised by the police during a weekend protest demonstration. Mr Lopes told the Portuguese news agency Lusa that he had received medical treatment for three fractures on his left arm, a severe blow to the head, which required three stitches and for several bruises all over his body. He accused Angolan police of orchestrating the attack during a demonstration against the appointment of Ms Susan Inglês as the National Electoral Commission boss.

Acting deputy chief justice Zak Yacoob has responded indirectly to president Jacob Zuma's concerns about the power and intellectual vibrancy of the Constitutional Court. Zuma has questioned the split decisions emanating from the Constitutional Court: 'It is after experience that some of the decisions are not decisions that every other judge in the Constitutional Court agrees with...How could you say that [the] judgment is absolutely correct when the judges themselves have different views about it?' Yacoob said he would be 'perturbed if the 11 judges of the Constitutional Court agreed with each other, judgment after judgment, year after year' as it would suggest a court lacking in rigour and debate. Yacoob's statements come at a time when there is increasing public debate around the role and powers of the constitutional court. Both the government and members of the ruling ANC have made critical noises about the incursions of the judiciary into the political sphere.

Students in Swaziland will have their scholarships revoked if they engage in political activity, if the Swazi Government has its way. New rules for students presently being drafted state that ‘at its discretion’, the Scholarship Selection Board can terminate a scholarship ‘when a student is a member, supports or furthers the activities of a banned entity’. In Swaziland all political parties are banned, as are a number of pro-democracy organisations, including the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) and the Swaziland Solidarity Network.

Reporters without Borders has said that Egypt remains on the list of countries 'under surveillance' in the area of freedom of internet activity and online content filtering. The North African country steered clear of the newly updated 'internet enemies' list, which along with the report was impacted by the so called Arab Spring. The report cited attacks against cyber dissidents, activists, and journalists seeking to expose alleged violations by military officers against peaceful protest movement trying to organize its second wave against the military rule.

Western companies should guard against high risks involved in doing business as usual with African countries that have recently discovered offshore oil. A new report asks them to be prepared to manage the perils stemming from 'resource nationalism' in institutionally fragile and politically volatile nations. The warning by UK-based Maplecroft risk analysts refers particularly to countries 'where we see a disenchanted poorly educated youth, many of whom following war torn years out of school, are finding reintegration back into society particularly challenging.' New oil frontiers which the risk analysts have in mind include Equatorial Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Gabon, and the Congo, all of which are classified in the index as 'high risk' countries.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has found the Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga, guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers. It is the court's first verdict since it was set up 10 years ago. He will be sentenced at a later hearing. The charges relate to a conflict in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between 2002 and 2003.