A journalist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Jose Feruzi Samwegele, remains in detention after seven days with no charges brought against him, the international freedom-of-the-press advocacy organisation, Reporters sans frontieres (RSF), reported on 10th April.

Since the declaration of a state of emergency in Madagascar, about ten radio stations have been ransacked or set on fire, and several journalists threatened or assaulted, RSF reports. The recent announcement by a private radio station that it will suspend its news programmes demonstrates that threats and pressures still persist.

Your Excellency, I am writing on behalf of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect freedom of expression around the world, to express our grave concern over the detention of 10 Eritrean journalists currently on a hunger strike.

Parliament is again set to debate the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, which contains contentious sections regarded as being anti-media.

Several thousand Ethiopians on Sunday gathered in Meskel Square, the central square of the capital Addis Ababa, to celebrate a ruling on the border with Eritrea. Both sides were claiming victory, following Saturday's announcement of the crucial ruling on border delimitation by an independent Boundary Commission in The Hague. The countries fought a bloody two-year war, triggered by a border dispute in May 1998 which claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Community representatives have welcomed reports that the UK government could be willing to compensate the families of some
220 Maasai and Samburu killed or maimed on Kenyan firing ranges used by the
British army.

The finalists of the seventh CNN African Journalist of the Year Competition, held in partnership with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and sponsored by a number of pan-African companies, were announced on 8th April by Dr. Doyinsola Abiola, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, of the rested Concord Press Nigeria titles. Abiola is the chairperson of the independent panel.

SANGONeT is offering the following courses during April / May 2002: Troubleshooting, Information Literacy Training, and HTML and Web Publishing.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will embark on a fundraising drive for it's voluntary trust fund. The funds will be used for outreach programmes in Rwanda and programme activities of the Tribunal.

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Transparency International-Kenya's fortnightly newsletter produced by the Public Awareness programme. Adili is a Kiswahili (Kenya's national language) word meaning INTEGRITY.

FREE monthly listings of women's groups & events worldwide.

A digital broadcaster has entered into a partnership to provide information to community development workers.

THE Ugandan press is facing a new threat. It is the Anti Terrorism Bill passed by Parliament recently. The Bill has very serious implications not only for the press freedom but also the freedoms of speech and expression.

By merging the fields of nanotechnology and polymer science, researchers have developed a new, flexible, plastic solar cell. The findings suggest that less expensive and more easily produced alternatives to current high-efficiency solar cells could be manufactured.

Egypt is one of the continent's largest two connectivity markets, the other being South Africa. The country spans both Africa and the Middle East and is therefore a key business centre for both markets. It has used the density of internet access it has already built up to pioneer the possibility of even greater levels of penetration through a free internet access initiative. It has also used its geographically advantageous position to develop an internet data centre offering server hosting among other things. Read about this, and more, in News Update this week.

Amid accusations off financial mismanagement, secrecy, and lack of focus, the anonymous organization that manages the Internet is working to impose sweeping changes to itself that in the long run will fundamentally affect what people around the world can do online.

The First Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court on 3 April 2002 sentenced Ms Lubaba Sa-id, former Editor-in-chief of Tarik newspaper, to one year inprison for disseminating "fabricated news that could have negative psychological effect on members of the Defence Army and cause disturbances in the minds of the people."

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières - RSF) says it is appalled at the three years and two months jail sentence for subversion passed on Hamma Hammami, publisher of the Tunisian Communist Workers' Party (PCOT) newspaper El Badil, calling it "further evidence of the determination of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's regime to muzzle the press."

On Tuesday 2 April 2002, Peta Thornycroft, the Zimbabwe correspondent for the British "Daily Telegraph", was questioned on the status of her citizenship in the continuing saga following her arrest on Wednesday 27 March.