An Alexandria court convicted an Egyptian blogger on Thursday for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and sentenced him to four years in jail over his writings on the Internet. Reuters reports that rights groups and opposition bloggers have watched Suleiman's case closely, and said they feared a conviction could set a legal precedent limiting Internet freedom in Egypt.

Nigeria has allocated US$25 million to fund the first site of the African Institute of Science and Technology (AIST). Construction of the Gulf of Guinea Institute will begin on 20 February in Nigeria. Its research will centre on several different fields including biological, environmental and mathematical science.

Reporters Without Borders reports that three Eritrean state media journalists were recently released after being held for several weeks at police station No. 5 in the capital, Asmara, but a fourth is still being held.

Swedish freelance photographer Lars Björk was expelled from Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara on the evening of 20 February, a day after his arrest in the territory’s capital, El Aaiún, RSF reports. The authorities made him take the first bus north to Agadir, where he boarded a flight back to Europe.

Reporters Without Borders have strongly condemned the murder in Baidoa of presenter Ali Mohammed Omar, of Radio Warsan, on 16 February and deplored the “deteriorating security situation” in Somalia which it said was taking a toll on journalists. Omar was shot in the head on his way home.

Reporters Without Borders have voiced concern about a physical attack on Jean-Bosco Gasasira, the managing editor of the independent fortnightly Umuvugizi, who was beaten unconscious on 9 February in Kigali. It followed months of verbal hostility from the Rwandan government towards the more outspoken, privately-owned media.

Airtime selling vendors are to be introduced in Nigeria to meet the growing demand by mobile phone users in the country.

A number of South African media organizations have agreed that the findings of a research project, saying there is limited coverage, as well as a lack of in-depth reporting about LGBTI issues by media are true. The research was conducted by the
Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA), in conjunction with Community Media for Development (CMFD).

The High Court yesterday rejected a requirement by the Government that broadcasting houses seek State approval before airing some of their programmes. The landmark verdict was delivered in a case filed six years ago in the Constitutional Court by Nation Media Group, challenging the directive issued by the minister for Information, Transport and Communication at the time.

Zimbabwe's government "abandoned" its court case against Mail & Guardian chief executive Trevor Ncube on Thursday after it had prevented him at the end of last year from renewing his passport, claiming he was not a citizen of Zimbabwe.
Ncube publishes the Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent in that country.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/mumia-abujamal.jpgListen to radio esssays by activist journalist and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal "Live from Death Row" in the United States. Abu-Jamal was on death row after having been convicted of the murder of a Philadelphia Police Officer, but is now serving life in Pennsylvania Maximum Security State Prison.
For further information on the campaign to secure Mumia Abu-Jamal's release vist .

Fahamu, the pan African social justice organization, and the freedom of expression organization ARTICLE 19, have announced the release of a free, online training material on how to campaign effectively for freedom of information.

Reporters Without Borders have condemned the closure of privately-owned radio FM Liberté by members of the presidential guard, who ransacked the Conakry-based station, roughed up employees and arrested a journalist and a technician. A unit of presidential guard “Red Berets” burst into the studios of FM Liberté in the Conakry district of Kaloum at 11:40 a.m.on Tuesday while the “Matinée Plurielle” programme was being broadcast.

The Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies,Oxford University is pleased to invite applications for the position of Shell Fellow. The Shell Fellow will work within the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. The post is available from June 2007 for three years in the first instance, with the possibility of extension. The closing date for applications is the 2nd March 2007; it is planned to hold interviews in the week beginning 12th March.

Development in Practice, published by Oxfam, is offering free Access to recent Knowledge Management articles in the journal Development in Practice.

Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of journalist and human rights activist Marcel Ngargoto, who has been held by gendarmes in the southern town of Moissala since 31 January. Ngargoto works for Radio Brakoss, a Moissala-based community radio. He is also secretary-general of Human Rights Without Borders (DHSF).

Credible Eritrean sources in Asmara and abroad have told Reporters Without Borders that poet and playwright Fessehaye “Joshua” Yohannes, who was a journalist with the now-banned weekly Setit, died in detention on 11 January. “The death of Fessehaye Yohannes would be an appalling tragedy, one made all the more unbearable by the accommodating attitude of European governments towards Eritrea,” Reporters Without Borders said.

The first years of the new millennium have seen a dramatic change in the production of information and the organisation of the digital environment. The rapid emergence of peer production, social networking, and powerful non-market actors via the Internet and other technologies is reshaping not only the flow of commerce but the means by which information, knowledge, and culture are created and shared between individuals, groups, and societies.

The Asante Akim Multipurpose Community Telecentre (AAMCT) is a Ghanaian solar-powered community centre that seeks to foster the inclusion of Ghana in the mushrooming information technology (IT) movement. Launched in August 2001 in the village of Patriensa within the Asante Akim district of Ghana, the AAMCT provides career development and job preparation services, including both job skills training and job search activities.

A programme of science discussion forums has been launched in Ghana, with the aim of increasing public awareness and understanding of science. Café Scientifique is a series of free events where members of the public can discuss the latest scientific issues informally over a cup of coffee or glass of wine. Originating from the United Kingdom, the events consist of a short talk on a topical science subject and then the topic is opened up for questions and debate with the audience.