Ethiopia’s prominent newspaper, Addis Neger, whose editors fled to Europe months back, citing government harassment, will soon be back in circulation following the launch of the paper’s online edition in Europe. The Ethiopian publication said it would begin news coverage of Ethiopia, focusing on religious and political affairs for its Ethiopian readers.

Sudanese security agents detained opposition party leader Hassan al-Turabi and seized a print-run of the movement’s newspaper, supporters and family members said. Turabi, who was close to Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al- Bashir before a bitter power struggle and split in 1999-2000, was arrested in his house late Saturday, a month after his Popular Congress Party (PCP) contested national elections

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has said his case against perpetrators of Kenya's post-election violence is "unstoppable". Luis Moreno Ocampo said his investigation would last about six months and he intended to prosecute up to six suspects in two separate trials.

As the World Bank reviews its energy strategy and the deadlines for its clean energy targets approach, this paper questions what the World Bank counts as clean energy and whether it reports on its energy lending in an accountable way. The concerns set out below demonstrate the need for a far more rigorous and transparent approach, subject to independent monitoring.

The date for Kenya's referendum on whether to adopt the proposed constitution is set for August 4th. Interim Independent Electoral commission Chairman (IIEC), Ahmed Issack, announced the date during a breakfast meeting organized by UNDP on Friday.

Almost half a million (419 144) children in South Africa are growing up without both parents, a Human Science Research Council study has revealed. This is one of the findings from a study, “The Health of our Children in South Africa: Results from a national HIV prevalence population survey”, released in Cape Town on 13 May.

A group of Ugandan human rights organizations called on the Ugandan authorities to commit to improvements to protect human rights as part of their campaign for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. In a letter sent to the Ugandan government yesterday, the organizations, as part of a wider international coalition working around the Council elections, called for national legislation to comply with core human rights treaties.

The People Living with HIV Stigma Index provides a tool that will measure and detect changing trends in relation to stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV. In the initiative, the process is just as important as the product. It aims to address stigma relating to HIV while also advocating on the key barriers and issues perpetuating stigma - a key obstacle to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support.

Human rights groups are expressing outrage over a decision to proceed with the UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences, named after and funded by the controversial president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. Obiang first suggested the award to the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation's executive board in a speech in 2007, promising three million dollars to UNESCO over the next five years, which would come from the Obiang Nguema Foundation for the Preservation of Life. It was approved by UNESCO's executive board in 2008.

Nigeria's ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chair Vincent Ogbulafor has resigned, a few days after he and three others were arraigned on a 16-count fraud charge, the local press reported. The report said Ogbulafor would present his letter of resignation Friday, after addressing the party's National Working Committee in the capital city of Abuja.

The statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) is set to receive applications for registration by media houses with effect from 4 May 2010 in a development that raises hope for the return of the banned The Daily News and other new publications.

There has been fresh fighting in south Sudan between the Southern army and forces loyal to the former general George Athor. The army has denied claims by Mr Athor that dozens of its soldiers were killed in the clashes in Jonglei state.

Every minute, another woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Every minute, the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well-being of surviving children. Evidence shows that infants whose mothers die are more likely to die before reaching their second birthday than infants whose mothers survive. And for every woman who dies, 20 or more experience serious complications.

Disgruntled mobile phone customers in West African nation Ghana are planning a day to switch off their phones for six hours to register their grievances to network operators. Customers have not had quality for their money over the years and are hoping to get heard with the "Ghana Off Phone Day."

UNICEF has welcomed the results of a study by the Human Sciences Research Council suggesting that HIV prevalence has dropped by more than half in children ages 2-14. According to the survey, HIV prevalence dropped from 5.6% in 2002 to 2.5% in 2008.

South Africa has achieved near universal access to health services for pregnant women and their children, but maternal and infant mortality rates have continued to rise making the chances of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on maternal and child health increasingly remote.

The UN refugee agency is alarmed at reports of a dramatic rise in the frequency and brutality of attacks by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) from Uganda against civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Mayuge district has 31,000 farming families served by just nine agricultural extension workers. In Wainha village, an internet centre run by the Busoga Rural Open Source and Development Initiative is more than filling the gap in assisting farmers. Joseph Wangolo is still mesmerised by the computers, six years after he first saw one. "That thing is so clever it will give you information about anything. It knows even our village, can you imagine?" he says.

The month of May started with a great number of activities in support of the Cuban 5. On May 1st hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched on International Workers Day in Havana and other cities. They were joined by hundreds of internationalists in defense of the achievements Cuba has made in the last 52 years and to demand the freedom of the Cuban 5 imprisoned in the United States for 12 years.

Trade unionists are furious after "the suspicious death" and alleged "killing" in custody of Sipho Jele, an activist of the Swaziland Agriculture and Plantation Workers' Union (SAPWU). Unions are the core of opposition in Swaziland. According to South Africa's powerful trade union COSATU, Swazi unionist Sipho Stephen Jele has died in prison in Mbabane under "suspicious" conditions.