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In an open letter to the Guardian newspaper political activist Noam Chomsky along with Tariq Ali, Slavoj Žižek and others have called on the US, Canada and France to resist interfering in Haiti’s democratic process.

The letter explains that the coming challenge to rebuild the country and its economy should be led by the people of Haiti and serves their interests first and foremost. Adding a note of caution of the role played in removing from power previous Haitian governments the letter goes on to say that;

I suppose something like this was going to happen sooner or later.

We ask our elected politician to be more reflective of their voters, but should there be a line between them and us – and where should we draw it?

That’s the question Kenyan voters are pondering today.

A musical about the life of Nigerian Afrobeat founder Fela Anikulapo Kuti is to be staged in his homeland.

'Love Thy Neighbour' a new Channel 4 series stars Phillip Olanipekun, a graduate of OBV’s 2010 Parliamentary Shadowing Scheme.

Phillip who shadowed Minister of State, the Rt Hon Oliver Letwin will be a fixture on our screens when the series starts on Thursday 3rd March at 9pm.

'Love Thy Neighbour' is set in anidyllic village in the Yorkshire Dales where 12 competing families vie to win the chance to move in to their picture perfect lifestyle, and they get to decide who stays. 

Jenni Steele, Waliur Rahman and Orlanzo Cole are three individuals who are  determined to make a change in their communities for the better.

All three are graduates of OBV empowerment programmes who are using their talent and learning in the quest to become local politicians.

I don’t care how famous or talented you are, the English designers behaviour to a Jewish woman and her Asian boyfriend were frankly despicable. In a drunken state he called her “Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead" and then called him, "fucking Asian bastard, I will kill you".

Galliano apologists stated he was abused first, and that he was under a lot of pressure from work.

Well, when he was videoed in another anti-Semitic tirade in the same bar there was no provocation as was probably the case in the first incident.

Operation Black Vote is holding a special event as part of the “Who Runs My City” project. The project gives people the knowledge to take greater control of the governance of their daily lives by providing them with online and print resources, which map out the key public decision-making bodies and civic practitioners in their local area.

There is a newspaper vote to name London's most influential woman. At the moment Leona Lewis is ahead and Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts is a very close second.

Their leads are massive, probably because they both have huge networks that they can activate

There are many brilliant BME women on the list, including Leona, this may be shameless lobbying,  but I would argue the most deserving is Claudia Jones, political campaigner and founder of the Notting Hill Carnival.

Maybe the Prime Minister got a sneak preview of Searchlights research findings that 48% of  those polled would vote for a ‘anti-immigration party’, before he made his speech about multiculturalism in Germany a few weeks ago. 

After all, if the Searchlight poll even begun to reflect the UK voters that’s an awful lot of voters to be harvested if you give them a nod and a wink.  

Zehra Zaidi was a Conservative candidate for the European Parliament in South West England at the 2009 elections and has been a development consultant on governance and democratisation for UNICEF and the British Council. She has also acted as an adviser to Andrew Mitchell, the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.