ZIMBABWE: Mugabe delivers broadside to neighbours, 21/Feb/06
HARARE, 21 February (IRIN) - President Robert Mugabe has called on neighbouring countries not to interfere in Zimbabwe's internal affairs, while signalling that constitutional reform was on the cards, possibly to smooth the way for a chosen successor. ... Full Report... Email Report

SYRIA: US funding offer for NGOs draws mixed reactions, 21/Feb/06
DAMASCUS, 21 February (IRIN) - US funding that has been made available for local pro-democracy NGOs has received mixed reactions from Syrian rights groups.... Full Report... Email Report

UGANDA: Official campaigns end two days before polls, 21/Feb/06
KAMPALA, 21 February (IRIN) - Campaigning in Uganda’s first multiparty elections in 25 years ended on a tense note on Tuesday, after weeks of political activity marked by several violent clashes between security personnel and supporters of opposition candidate, Kizza Besigye.... Full Report... Email Report

SOUTH AFRICA: Govt adopts more focused approach to help orphans, 21/Feb/06
JOHANNESBURG, 21 February (IRIN) - The South African government has begun addressing some of the problems over its delivery of social services, particularly help to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), according to experts. ... Full Report... Email Report

ANGOLA: Ready to play larger security role in Africa, 21/Feb/06
JOHANNESBURG, 21 February (IRIN) - Angola, recently emerged from decades of civil war, is now turning its attention to playing a larger peace and security role in Africa, an analyst told IRIN.... Full Report... Email Report

CAMEROON: Tuberculosis and AIDS soaring in prisons, 21/Feb/06
EDEA, 21 February (IRIN) - Victor N. no longer has the strength to get up from his straw mattress; he is battling tuberculosis, which has struck for a second time in some months. One of his cellmates in Edea prison near Douala is in the same state - too weary even to fight the... Full Report... Email Report

EGYPT: Defiant judges charged with “defamation?, 20/Feb/06
CAIRO, 20 February (IRIN) - Human rights groups condemned a recent decision by the Higher Judiciary Council to strip three members of the Egyptian Judge’s Club of their right to judicial immunity for calling attention to voting irregularities during recent elections.... Full Report... Email Report

DRC: Congo gets new constitution, new flag, 20/Feb/06
KINSHASA, 20 February (IRIN) - President Joseph Kabila has promulgated the Democratic Republic of Congo's new constitution and new flag, a move that paves the way for the beginning of the country's electoral process, expected to end with presidential elections midyear.... Full Report... Email Report

IRAQ: Local NGO documents prisoner abuse, 20/Feb/06
BAGHDAD, 20 February (IRIN) - An NGO established this year to assist former prison detainees who have suffered abuses in prison has received an overwhelming initial response. “This organisation has already received nearly 125 reports of prisoner abuse inside Iraqi prisons,? said... Full Report... Email Report

GREAT LAKES: Regional ministerial meeting opens, 20/Feb/06
BANGUI, 20 February (IRIN) - Foreign ministers from Africa's Great Lakes region began a meeting on Monday in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic to finalise preparations for a heads of state summit due to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, later in the year.... Full Report... Email Report

UGANDA: HRW calls for probe into poll violations, 20/Feb/06
KAMPALA, 20 February (IRIN) - Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged international and domestic observers monitoring this week's presidential and parliamentary elections in Uganda to investigate alleged serious violations that could compromise the outcome of the polls. ... Full Report... Email Report

SOUTH AFRICA: Murder of young lesbian sparks homophobia concerns, 20/Feb/06
JOHANNESBURG, 20 February (IRIN) - As gays and lesbians become more visible in South African townships, they are increasingly becoming targets of homophobia, according to rights activists. The organisations were reacting to reports at the weekend of the murder of a young lesbian in a... Full Report... Email Report

NIGERIA: Muhammad cartoon protests spark attacks on Christians, 20/Feb/06
ABUJA, 20 February (IRIN) - At least 17 people, including a Catholic priest, were killed and 30 churches burned in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri when Muslims protesting cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad turned on local Christians, police said. ... Full Report... Email Report

MOZAMBIQUE: Protest over re-printing of Prophet Muhammad cartoons, 20/Feb/06
MAPUTO, 20 February (IRIN) - Muslims throughout Mozambique are meeting this week to discuss how to respond to the publishing by local newspaper Savana of the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which has stirred violent protest around the world. ... Full Report... Email Report

LIBERIA: Crumbled system leaves suspects languishing in jails without trial, 20/Feb/06
MONROVIA, 20 February (IRIN) - During the final months of the civil war, when rebel fighters bombarded the capital Monrovia, Liberia’s central prison took mortar hits and prisoners scrambled over the rubble to freedom.... Full Report... Email Report

NEPAL: Terrorism or liberation? Life in a rebel-held village, 20/Feb/06
NEPAL, 20 February (IRIN) - When the clock strikes four in the morning, Lambu Lama and his family rush out of their home in a Maoist stronghold of Nepal. Rebels use the storeroom at the back of Lama’s house to clean and repair small arms and construct bombs. During the day, the... Full Report... Email Report

NEPAL: The political context of the crisis in Nepal, 20/Feb/06
NEPAL, 20 February (IRIN) - The 1 February 2005 takeover of executive powers by King Gyanendra has led to a new era of uncertainty in the tiny mountain kingdom of Nepal. The king now rules the impoverished country of 25 million directly as chairman of the Council of Ministers.... Full Report... Email Report

NEPAL: Overview analysis: A people’s war?, 20/Feb/06
NEPAL, 20 February (IRIN) - Nepal’s brutal conflict between Maoist insurgents and security forces has exacted a heavy toll on the civilian population, especially those in contested hill districts, many of whom already live near or on the global poverty threshold.... Full Report... Email Report

NEPAL: Escaping rural violence and hardship – the reality of displacement, 17/Feb/06
NEPAL, 17 February (IRIN) - Since the start of the Maoist insurgency in February 1996, an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 people are thought to have been internally displaced in Nepal. Largely from rural communities, the displaced have fled violence and economic hardship. The... Full Report... Email Report

UGANDA: Appeal for calm after two killed in election violence, 17/Feb/06
KAMPALA, 17 February (IRIN) - Ugandan opposition leader Kiiza Besigye has appealed to his supporters to remain calm after an incident in the capital city, Kampala, in which two people were shot dead and four others wounded by an armed man. ... Full Report... Email Report