Activista.org is a volunteer search project focused on activist sites and vegetarian/vegan recipes brought to you by resist.ca, protest.net, and riseup.net, and is powered by Software Libre, including aspseek and Debian GNU/Linux. “We believe there is a pressing need for a search engine with a focus on liberatory social change. For example, if you search for "biotechnology" in a typical search engine, you get hundreds of entries for biotech corporations. In activista, the same search returns pages of people working to expose the dangers of biotechnology.”

Rich nations must stop threatening to withhold aid as a way to dictate policies to Africans, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Wednesday. Donors who fund about half Uganda's budget have threatened cuts over delays in the east African country's return to multi-party politics, and a plan to remove presidential term limits that critics say is aimed at keeping Museveni in power. But such attitudes are immoral, paternalistic and partly to blame for the economic stagnation of much of the continent, Museveni told an African investment conference staged by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in 2002 proposed that countries consider adopting a 10% target for energy supply from renewable energy sources. While this proposed target was not adopted by countries, a number of African energy policy makers and professionals felt it would be worthwhile to evaluate the viability of this target, and the benefits that could arise from its realization. This study was therefore initiated to investigate the viability of the target for Kenya. Two technologies were considered – Geothermal and Biomass-based cogeneration, for their potential contribution to electricity supply in Kenya. The study was based on the review of existing literature as well as survey data collection, and interviews with stakeholders.

"The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-South Africa and the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) are deeply shocked by the judgment in the Johannesburg High Court banning publication by the Mail & Guardian of further details of the "Oilgate" scandal. The scandal involves oil company Imvume, state oil company PetroSA, and the questionable gift of R11-million of taxpayers' money to the 2004 election fund of the African National Congress plus a further irregular payment of R11-million of taxpayers' money to make good the shortfall created by the payment to the ANC. The two organisations regard the issue as a matter of great public interest because of the improper use of taxpayers' money and the judgment which has enabled legal censorship to be imposed on the newspaper."

The International Federation of Journalists has condemned a new series of "regular" prison sentences handed down by the Algiers Tribunal every Tuesday against journalists. On 24 May, Ali Dilem, the cartoonist of the daily Liberté was charged with a fine of fifty thousand dinars (approximately 550 euros) "with an offence against the President of the Republic". Mustapha Hammouche, another columnist working for Liberté who is also being pursued for the same "offence", has been acquitted. The former managing editor of Liberté, Farid Alilet, was falsely sentenced to one year in prison and the newspaper was fined 250 thousand dinars (approximately 2850 euros).

Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Ebilmaali, editor-in-chief of the independent daily "Akhbar Nouakchott", was freed on 21 May 2005 after being held for three days. Following his release, he told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the police wanted him to show them the hiding place of Jemil Ould Mansour, an Islamist opposition leader he had recently interviewed.

Veteran journalist Abdallah Nurdin Ahmad was wounded Tuesday night in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, when an unidentified gunman fired three times at close range, according to Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) sources. Nurdin, a senior producer at the private radio station HornAfrik, underwent surgery at Medina Hospital and was recovering. Ali Iman Sharmake, HornAfrik's co-manager, told CPJ it was not clear why Nurdin was targeted, but it could have been for his work as a journalist. Nurdin also owns a snack bar, and some sources said a dispute over that business could have sparked the shooting. The attack occurred at the snack bar.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the criminal charges brought against two journalists from the private weekly newspaper Trumpet. Managing editor Sydney Pratt and reporter Dennis Jones were arrested and were being held at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the capital, Freetown, where the paper is based. Both have been charged with "seditious libel" under Sierra Leone's draconian 1965 Public Order Act, which local journalists have long struggled to have removed from the books.

The International Alliance of Inhabitants is a global network of associations and social movements of inhabitants, cooperatives, communities, tenants, house owners, homeless, slum dwellers, indigenous populations and people from working class neighbourhoods.
The objective is the construction of another possible world starting from the achievement of the housing and city rights. Click on the URL provided to sign up for their newsletter.

For young people living in poverty in coastal Kenya, surfing the internet and learning how to use computers make most sense when these skills mean better economic opportunities and work-readiness. In recognition of this, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) announced on May 26 2005 that the winner of the APC Africa Hafkin Communications Prize for 2004-5 is the "Global Education Partnership - Wundanyi" in Kenya. Global Education Partnership - Wundanyi (GEP) is a not-for-profit organisation located in the Taita Taveta District of Kenya. It has created a 12-week comprehensive training programme that focuses on "entrepreneurship and work-readiness skills" for local youth from 15 to 24 years.

Ndesanjo Macha, 35, a Tanzanian writer and lecturer with a background in law, journalism and socio-informatics, is campaigning in Africa to 'decolonise cyberspace' so that African languages and cultures could flourish in it. In order to achieve his goal, he has become the first African to launch a blog in the African language KiSwahili in June 2004. Macha is one of a group of young Africans who started a movement to place African languages on the internet by blogging novels, songs and poems in African languages and allowing the free use of content under the Creative Commons (cc) project.

Education systems are under the spotlight worldwide today. Many countries are grappling with significant development challenges, such as meeting UNESCO’s “Education for All” goals, as well as other social objectives. The information age is creating economic pressure for countries to develop into knowledge societies in order to become or remain internationally competitive in a global economy. The Toolkit is designed to help education planners and practitioners integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) into education systems.

Anyone wishing to learn Zimbabwe's main language, Shona, now has a new option - the Shona podcast. A podcast is basically a radio show that can be downloaded over the internet and then listened to on a portable digital music player, such as an iPod or an MP3 player.

Accessibility of ICTs requires adequate equipment, information, financing, organization, training and time. As more and more of today's development work and money is channelled into projects that employ ICTs, it's becoming more important to evaluate the differentiated impacts it has on men, women, girls and boys. To understand GEM better, thirty-six ICT-for-development practitioners came together in the land of the pyramids - Cairo, Egypt.

Many developing country leaders have embraced information and communications technology (ICT) as an engine for growth and development. However, translating a grand vision into practical steps that fit the local context, and then executing it effectively, is easier said than done. Decision-makers need to know where the country stands in terms of ICT availability and use, so they can plan toward their goals.

Stay connected with events and happenings. Register now to receive africast eNewsletters hot off the press via e-mail. And, send it to a friend. To recieve weekly summaries of major African news stories by email, go to http://www.africast.com/news.php to subscribe.

What are associations of working children and youth, and others child led organisation doing in the towns of Africa together with their supporting structures, to increase their rights? Calao Express, is a new monthly electronic newsletter edited by Enda TM Dakar. It is made up of the contributions of child led organisations.

This post is based at Amoud community-based University in Borama, which is the first institute of higher education to evolve since the end of Somaliland’s period of conflict, operating between the main campus and the new e-Learning Centre in Borama town. This is an exciting opportunity for a resourceful and dedicated individual to assist in the development and management of information systems, the introduction of e-Learning, and offer necessary support and training to users.

IRIN Radio Southern Africa, in collaboration with Radio National de Angola, has launched a serial drama entitled "Camatondo" to support Angola's post-war reconciliation. The drama explores the stories of refugees and displaced persons, while also providing information related to healthy living and everyday development challenges facing rural Angolans. Camatondo mirrors the evolving realities and challenges faced by the resettling rural population, including storylines about reconciliation, psychological trauma, agricultural modernization, HIV, gender issues, micro-credit schemes, governance and electoral education, among others.

The deadline for applications for bursaries to attend the upcoming International Fundraising Congress is May 30. The bursary will cover the cost of attending the 25th International Fundraising Congress to be held from 19th -21st October in Leeuwenhorst, the Netherlands. The recipients will also have one day post congress training to be held on 22nd October. This training is courtesy of the Guy Stringer Fund founding corporate partner SAZ.