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.

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.

Strategies that worked well to drive up men's willingness to participate included the use of peer educators, community events and incentives tied to project phases. Less popular were the use of mobile-phone messaging due to frequent phone number changes, and treatment buddies, which sparked privacy concerns among actual trial participants. This was one of the things researchers found out in the world's largest study of preventative tuberculosis therapy.

The national parks of the Lower Omo Valley in Southwest Ethiopia are among 'the last unspoiled biodiversity hotspots in Africa' and constitute 'resources of all people in the world'. These are not the words of tree-hugging foreign environmentalists, but of Ethiopian government officials who recently prepared a report about the region. The Gibe III Dam and the sugar plantations associated with it are now putting these unique biodiversity hotspots at risk.

Sudan and South Sudan have agreed a framework agreement to give their citizens basic freedoms in both nations, African Union mediators say. They have agreed to allow citizens of the other state to live, work and own property on either side of the border, and travel between the two nations. Analysts say deals have been broken in the past, and the two sides have left space to wriggle out of this accord.

A 2008 agreement preventing new Somali-owned shops from opening in Khayelitsha was undermined by bribery and the demands of local residents, it emerged at a meeting called on Wednesday to find a solution to recent tensions between local business owners and Somali traders.Recent, belated enforcement of the 2008 agreement reached between the Zanokhanyo Retailers Association and the Somali Retailers Association in the aftermath of the xenophobic attacks that year resulted in two Somali-owned shops being looted and at least 25 others being forcibly closed over the last two weeks.

An international mining analysis group has warned that platinum mining giant Implats will be unlikely to receive full compensation for its shares, which the group has agreed to hand over as part of Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws. Implats, which owns the Zimplats mining firm in Zimbabwe and is the country’s largest single foreign investor, has conceded to the ZANU PF led indigenisation campaign, agreeing to a 51 per cent share handover.

This report looks at the appropiatness of the International Monetary Fund in dealing with global economic recovery. In April 2009, G-20 leaders designated the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the central vehicle for global economic recovery and tripled the Fund’s lending capacity from US$250 billion to US$750 billion. Civil society and humanitarian organizations expressed deep concern due to the Fund’s checkered record in predicting and responding to crises.

New book uncovers private failures leading cities to take back control of water worldwide.

A total of 120 Nigerians who have been deported from Britain for various immigration offences arrived in Nigeria on Friday (9 March). The 120 deportees, comprising mainly young men and women, narrated their unsavoury experiences, saying that they were brought back home unprepared by the British authorities, the source added.

The latest INTERIGHTS Quarterly Update, a regular email containing summaries of recent news, including updates on litigation, events and publications, with links to full details on their website, is available. It contains news about the repeal of death sentences in Egypt, a ruling on hate speech against the LGBTI community in Sweden and news on resources and publications.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe's romantic partner Gugu Mtshali has allegedly been linked to a scheme to 'buy' government approval for a plan to sell helicopters to Iran, according to a report by the Sunday Times. Mtshali, former De Beers executive Raisaka Masebelanga and others allegedly met with representatives of 360 Aviation to solicit a bribe of R104 million.

At the same time that we increasingly see the advance of new technologies which facilitate communication and information, such as smartphones, tablets, Twitter and Facebook, in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, the People's Wall has emerged: an extensive outer wall of the newspaper Jornal@Verdade, where the population can write letters and direct reflections to the governing leaders. It is an original form of communication, whose effectiveness and accessibility are inherent in its very simplicity. In a way, it acts as an authentic offline Facebook wall.

Civil Society Organisations in Malawi have called on the government to withdraw threats targeted at the media and civil rights groups. Led by Council for Non Governmental Organisations Chairperson Voice Mhone, the NGOs have again denied they are party to any plans to topple Bingu wa Mutharika regime. President Mutharika has accused CSOs of organising a meeting to demand a referendum and/or nationwide protests to unseat the government.

Damaging new claims have emerged about the funding of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign and his links with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The French investigative website Mediapart claims to have seen a confidential note suggesting Gaddafi contributed as much as €50-million to Sarkozy's election fund five years ago. But Sarkozy has angrily denied receiving funds from the slain Libyan dictator.

The lower house of the Egyptian parliament has unanimously approved a text declaring that Israel is the number one enemy of Egypt and calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and a halt to gas exports to Israel. Egyptian MPs voted by a show of hands on the text of a report, which was compiled by the Arab Affairs Committee of the People's Assembly (lower house of parliament).

The struggle for justice, freedom, equality and dignity for all people especially working-class women and men requires leadership based on knowledge of history, politics, economics, science and culture. Historical knowledge is indispensable to constructing the traditions of progressive struggle for freedom and creating new generations of leaders to transform our world, write Thuto Thipe and Zackie Achmat on the blog Ndifuna Ukwazi, in a post that pays tribute to Black women who created a mass movement that came to build the best traditions of the ANC.

Key staff from Al Jazeera’s Beirut Bureau have resigned citing “bias” in the channel’s stance on the conflict in Syria. Bureau Managing Director Hassan Shaaban reportedly quit last week, after his correspondent and producer had walked out in protest. A source told the Lebanese paper Al Akhbar that Al Jazeera’s Beirut correspondent Ali Hashem had quit over the channel’s stance on covering events in Syria.

A strike by health workers entered its 10th day on Sunday as private and referral hospitals struggled to cope. 'I am concerned about the anxiety, including psychological torture, Kenyans have gone through in the last few days due to the industrial action,' Health minister Anyang’ Nyong’o said in a notice. 'We are working around the clock to address the issues and reach an amicable solution,' read the statement, dated March 9.