The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed that Senegalese authorities have refused to lift an October 6 expulsion order against Sophie Malibeaux, correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI). At the time, the order was temporarily reversed, but Malibeaux has again been ordered to leave the country.

Officers of the Malawi Police Service beat up six journalists on 18 October for attempting to take photographs of a scuffle between police and a motorist at a police roadblock on Zalewa road, between Blantyre and Mwanza districts.

The chief executive and three directors of the Daily News, an independent Zimbabwean newspaper critical of the government, turned themselves into the police on Monday and were charged for publishing without a license.

A regional summit for the New Partnership for the African Development (NEPAD) brought together Heads of State in the Eastern Africa region on 29-30 October 2003. The meeting focused on ways to link countries in the region, including through science and technology.

Ethiopia's Minister of Information Bereket Simon has described the critics of the new draft press law introduced by his Ministry in April as being among other things "ridiculous" and "more Catholic than the Pope". Ato Kifle Mulat, the President of Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association (EFJA), responded that many Ethiopian private journalists face imprisonment and fines and as a result were forced to flee the country and live in exile to "save their necks." The two were making their presentations during the opening of the International Roundtable on Media Law Reform in the Horn of Africa.

Sophie Malibeaux, Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent in Dakar, who was served with an expulsion order on 7 October 2003, must now leave the country. "We are surprised by this measure taken by the Senegalese authorities. For a number of years, this country has been an example to follow in terms of press freedom. The situation is starting to deteriorate in a worrying manner," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to President Abdoulaye Wade.

The government-controlled media’s monopoly of daily news output following the banning of The Daily News and as a result of delays in issuing licences to private broadcasters continues to expose their partisan coverage of topical issues. If these media are not slavishly praising government’s policies, they are churning out selective, distorted and contradictory reports that mislead their audiences into believing the government is in control of the myriad problems bedevilling the country, says the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe.

As Parliament readied itself for business after re-opening last week, one of the major issues that may likely generate hot debate touches on the sovereignty of the country, with the NPP Government trying to get the House to ratify a Bilateral Non-Surrender Agreement (BNSA) Ghana is said to have signed with the United States (US).

Unsure of how to evaluate fundraising costs? Confused with planned giving terminology? Need to know more about Internet fundraising? The Association of Fundraising Professionals has a resource centre on their website where Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are answered.

A new initiative has been launched to provide researchers and academics in some of the world's poorest countries with free or low-cost access to scientific literature in food, nutrition, agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences.

Women are among the poorest worldwide – and not only in economic terms. Millions of them lack the most basic benefits that science and technology can offer, from agricultural advances to distance learning. In this article Shirley Malcom, co-chair of the Gender Advisory Board of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development, says that the gender divide in science and technology education demands a special strategy.

Pop-up adverts, forms that don't work, slow-loading internet sites - the list is endless, as this columnist found out when he asked readers to send in comments on the things they hate most about the web. Click on the link to check it out.

Media in Nigeria is a weekly publication on developments within and affecting the media/communication/freedom of expression sector in Nigeria. It is an initiative of the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lagos, Nigeria. If you want to subscribe, simply send a message to: [email protected] OR [email protected] saying you want to subscribe. If you no longer wish to subscribe, send a message that you no longer wish to subscribe to the same address.

Senior editors from 14 southern African countries will meet in Johannesburg, South Africa, in November 2003 to establish the first of five planned regional chapters for the new Africa Editors' Forum.

The initiative to develop an international Partnership for Regional Media and Peace programme in West Africa, begun in Accra in July, is making good progress. The partnership involves the Media Foundation for West Africa, Accra; the International Media Support, Copenhagen; Panos Institute West Africa, Dakar; UNESCO; UN-OCHA; the Media Action International, Geneva; the International Federation of Journalists, Brussels; and ARTICLE 19, London/Johannesburg. The strategy document for the partnership was completed at a meeting in Copenhagen, October 7-8. Previous information about this initiative from Pambazuka News: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16454

The project reported here investigates what role new information and communication technologies (ICTs) may play in small enterprise development in Africa. Drawing on field research in Botswana, the project analyses the information and communication needs of these enterprises and assesses opportunities for ICT application.

The latest issue of the APC Africa Internet Rights Newsletter 'Chakula' focuses on the recently held PrepCom 3 (preparatory committee) of the World Summit on Information (WSIS), highlighting key issues under discussion and outcomes and making some recommendations for civil society organisations (CSOs) on how to move forward with regard to upcoming and related meetings.

On October 18 2003, journalists from both private and state-owned media were barred from reporting the deliberations underway in various committees of a government organised national convention (National Indaba) taking place in Lusaka, Zambia.

Simbani Africa is a radio news agency project by the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC). Simbani Africa has the objectives of better informing community radio stations and of reducing the digital divide between the North and the South parts of the continent. The agency's mandate is to gather information from various African communities in order to broadcast the many voices of Africa.

The Freedom of Expression Institute's (FXI) Anti-Censorship Programme (ACP)
has just released its second report, which tracks the progress of the programme since the release of its first report in May 2003. The report notes the fact that censorship has now firmly set in, in South Africa.