The Innovation Africa Symposium will convene a group of internationally recognised experts on innovation systems to share their latest thinking with agricultural researchers and development partners. The symposium will also provide an opportunity for participants to share their achievements in enhancing innovation processes.

The Institute for the Advancement of Journalism is offering several courses for working journalists: sports reporting, interviewing, basic reporting and writing for print, over the next few weeks. Courses will be held at the IAJ, 9 Jubilee Road, Parktown, Johannesburg. Closing date for application is two weeks before the start of the course.

A journalist imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo since April on defamation charges was secretly convicted and sentenced to four months in jail over a week ago, according to a release from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The Kinshasa-based organization, Journaliste en Danger (JED), told the Committee to Protect Journalists that one of its lawyers found evidence of the verdict in a court file while researching a separate case, reports Journalism.co.za.

Lesotho’s communications ministry has dismissed calls by the Lesotho chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa for the transformation of the national broadcaster into a public broadcaster, writes Mzimkhulu Sithetho. In a position paper on the transformation model, Misa Lesotho (Miles) says Radio Lesotho and Lesotho Television should be governed by a board independent of government interference, reports Journalism.co.za.

An SABC radio presenter has gone public on air confirming that the broadcaster banned particular commentators and analysts from its airwaves - and that he was talking from personal experience, writes Angela Quintal in the Cape Argus. This as a SABC spokesman continued to maintain that the broadcaster had no policy blacklisting individuals and that there was merely a discussion document or proposal drafted by news management "which would assist in establishing what kind of analysts were appropriate", reports Journalism.co.za.

Somalia's Islamic Courts Union has blamed foreigners for the murder of a Swedish journalist during a massive demonstration organised by the group in Mogadishu after Friday prayers to support a new peace deal, writes Eric Nyakagwa. The Swedish cameraman, Martin Halder, was hit in the heart by a pistol bullet, according to journalists at the Fagaaraha Tarabunka (Tribune Plaza), where the demonstration was taking place, reports Journalism.co.za.

African Parliamentary officials from eleven countries, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum and the Pan African Parliament will discuss at a United Nations workshop the benefits of applying information and communications technologies to their work in order to promote parliamentary democracy.

US Congress has announced that The Gambia is to be removed from a key development fund, through which most of Washington's foreign aid is channelled, reacting to the severe setbacks for democracy and human rights in the country.

The telecom revolution yet has to reach the Rwandan countryside, but a new project promises to bring infrastructure and business opportunities for local entrepreneurs. A new "Tel'imbere" service is to provide micro-loans to potential rural mobile phone central operators, who are to provide regions currently offline with affordable telecom services.

The trial of the six trustees of the independent radio station "Voice of the People" (VOP), began at the Magistrates' Court, Rotten Row, Harare. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OBSERVATORY), a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), have sent a trial observer to monitor whether the proceedings comply with international standards for fair trial and whether the charges comply with international human rights law.

The Mail and Guardian newspaper reports that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has written a letter to the group chief executive of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), asking him if there was any truth to reports that his corporation had banned four top political commentators. This comes after reports that Aubrey Matshiqi, William Gumede, Karima Brown and Vukani Mde have been banned.

An outbreak of plague in the northeastern district of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed 20 people out of 70 cases identified in the last three weeks, health officials said on Friday. "The figure is expected to rise as more reports arrive," said Lendunga Wapayer, the medical director of the Centre for Surveillance and Control of Plague in the northeast.

State security agents arrested a presenter for Nigeria’s leading private television channel after he hosted a panel discussion about next year’s presidential election, a station manager said.

Telkom is cutting the cost of its high-speed ADSL internet access services by an average of 24%, but the service is still 800% more expensive than comparable international offerings. Users who think the price cuts are generous probably do not realise that SA remains expensive even compared to African countries such as Morocco, say critics. Telkom's fastest ADSL 1024 service is 600% slower than the international average of 6MB/s.

The African ISP runs the risk of becoming an endangered species. Most of them are small, undercapitalised businesses that exist in the rather tight margin between greedy incumbents and price sensitive customers. The introduction of DSL broadband has shifted the power balance decisively against most ISPs and by the time regulators level the playing field again, there will be significant numbers of casualties.

On 16 June 2006, Michel Mukebayi Nkoso, the publication director of the Kinshasa-based weekly "Africa News", appeared before the Gombe Deputy Public Prosecutor, Edmond Isofa Nkanga. One of the country's four vice presidents, Jean-Pierre Bemba, filed a complaint accusing the journalist of defamation.

Omar Bah, news editor of the privately-owned "Daily Observer" has been missing since 12 June 2006. Colleagues of Bah, who are expressing fear that he might have been arrested, said that he expressed concern regarding an impending situation the last time they heard from him.

Premier Wen Jiabao and Ghanaian President John Kufuor agreed to a low-interest loan of about $66-million for a number of projects, including a plan to upgrade Ghana's communications network by increasing phone lines and improving the country's Internet-access. The plan also includes training students and workers in communications technology, finance minister Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu said after the meeting.

On June 12 to 13, 2006, the Coordinating Group of the Network of African Freedom of Expression Organizations (NAFEO) met in Lagos to deliberate on:
- media freedom and freedom of expression in Africa
- ways of strengthening organizations working for media freedom and freedom of expression;
strategies and programmes for defending and promoting press freedom and freedom of expression in Africa; and
- plans for strengthening the NAFEO, and developing action plans for interventions to promote the network objectives in the next one year.

Seven of the nine men in Cameroon whose "crime" was attending a gay-friendly nightclub last year have been found guilty of sodomy and sentenced to a 10-month jail term, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission learned Tuesday. Since the men have already been detained in prison for more than one year, they are expected to be released shortly for time served.