Could information communication technologies (ICTs) improve learning in rural Africa? When exposed to new technology, how do children, adults and teachers use it to represent their lives and opportunities? Research from the University of Sussex’s Centre of International Education shows what happened when residents of a Ghanaian village were given their first chance to collect and show digital images of their lives.

A panel of prominent women scientists has argued that African researchers need to get out of their laboratories and enter the world of policy-making if they want to be of real benefit to their fellow Africans. The women say that researchers must also learn to market their ideas.

These are perilous times for journalists working in Africa, where press freedoms are steadily losing ground and the threat of arrest, deportation and even murder is on the rise. "Hardly a week goes by without a journalist being deported here ... or threatened elsewhere," said Herve Bourges, president of the International Union of the Francophone Press, in the Gabonese capital.

The Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising - Education and Training (SAIF:E&T) now offers a train-the-trainer programme that will create a core of trainers dedicated to the delivery of quality education and accreditation in resource mobilisation and funding capacity development. The approach and methodology will be practical and relevant to the target audiences of small, medium and large non-profit organisations. The next course will take place on 24-28 November 2003.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Fahad Assani has attempted, very correctly to put matters to rights so far as the work and performance of one Frank Namangale, a journalist who was only trying to do his job at the Daily Times. It seemed the Police were keen to see him behind bars because the subject of his story was a relative of the State President.

Contrary to recent media reports of an all-out offensive against select media organisations, President Olusegun Obasanjo has denied barring any newspaper from covering activities at the Presidential villa, Abuja. The denial is sequel to reports that the Presidency had barred three national newspapers; The Tribune, The Monitor and New Age from the State House, following the refusal of the authorities to renew their accreditation, according to an article in the latest edition of the Nigerian Media Monitor.

Police officers in Equatorial Guinea arrested journalist Rodrigo Angue Nguema at his home in the capital, Malabo, on November 3. Angue Nguema works as a correspondent for the wire service Agence France-Presse (AFP), as well as several other foreign news organisations, and is one of the only independent journalists in the country. Angue Nguema is currently being held at the central police station in Malabo.

In a statement broadcast on Radio Ethiopia and Ethiopian Television on the evening of 4 November 2003, the Ministry of Justice's Associations' Registration Office said it is preparing to take measures against the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA), which obtained official recognition seven years after its establishment and which for the past three years has been carrying out its work under very difficult and challenging conditions.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has written to authorities in Mali, saying it is disturbed by the continued imprisonment of three journalists working for privately owned Sido radio station. According to local sources, police in Ségou, a city in southern Mali, arrested program host Chériff Haïdara; radio director Mamoutou Traoré; and reporter and program host Gata Ba on October 20, 24, and 26, respectively.

Every day many tens of millions of people throughout the world face the very real threat of eviction and the permanent loss of their homes. Numerous human rights standards equate forced evictions with the violation of housing rights. Nevertheless, too many governments continue to view eviction as an acceptable policy tool during broader efforts of urban beautification, city rejuvenation or economic development. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) identified more than 6.7 million people worldwide who were forcibly evicted during 2001-2002 and acknowledges that the real number of evictees is far higher. African and Asian governments have carried out the largest proportion of the world’s evictions in recent years.

Research into stem cells from human embryos raises a number of ethical and legal issues. On the one hand, the medical profession and the public grapple with the promise that important knowledge could benefit society at large. On the other hand, the moral complexities require consideration - not only the why and how, but also whether there are compelling reasons to limit or prohibit research in this field entirely.

The sharp reduction in the costs of scholarly communication brought about by the Internet has provoked a fierce debate on the costs of access to scientific information. Developing-country scientists are benefiting from the competition this has generated.

Interest in using ICT for development is probably well over 20 years old. But interest in the digital divide seemed to come into sharp focus with the G8 Dot Force three years ago. In this off-the-record briefing, Russell Southwood from www.balancingact-africa.com tries to make sense of the successes and failures up to this point.

The Bulletin will feature material from a range of Africa-focused organisations. It will be limited to an average of 2 to 3 issues a week and offer selected material relevant to promoting international policies that advance economic, political, and social justice and human rights in Africa. Contact [email protected] to subscribe or unsubscribe.

Focus on Trade is a regular electronic bulletin providing updates and analysis of trends in regional and world trade and finance, the political economy of globalisation and peoples resistance and alternatives to global capitalism. Please contact Nicola Bullard on [email protected] if you would like to receive the bulletin.

Thusanang and the Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa (CAFSA) recently concluded research on online fundraising in South Africa. Some of the findings have been distilled into a short report entitled "The pulse of online fundraising in South Africa - lessons and challenges". Some non-profit organisations (NPOs) are raising significant funds via the Internet. But it is generally hard work, with marketing, security regarding online transactions and administration being some of the challenges. And it doesn't work for all types of organisations. The full report is available at: http://www.thusanang.org.za/pdf/The_Pulse_of_Online_Fundraising_in_SA.p…

Technology is needed to generate revenue for existing industries and new businesses in order to achieve growth and development, says South African Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Buyelwa Sonjica.

On 1 November 2003, a team of two plainclothes and two armed and uniformed police officers raided the privately-owned Omega TV station, based in Lusaka, and ordered staff to immediately cease test broadcasts. The officers referred to "orders from above" as the reason for their actions. The station closed until 3 November, when the order was reversed by Lusaka Province Police Commanding Officer Chendela Musonda.

Can World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, particularly the technology related provisions, enlarge the capabilities of African countries to procure and develop modern technologies? A paper by M.D. Ayogu and O. Ogbu attempts to analyse the extent to which this might occur and proposes a research agenda to study the resulting empirical implications, ultimately to identify specific technology policy issues that African countries should emphasise in the continuing debate on the effect of global market integration.

CrisisWatch is a 12-page monthly bulletin from the International Crisis Group designed to provide busy readers in the policy community, media, business and interested general public with a succinct regular update on the state of play in all the most significant situations of conflict or potential conflict around the world. Each month, CrisisWatch briefly summarises developments during the previous month in some 70 situations of current or potential conflict.