Project Support Group (PSG), Harare, Zimbabwe will from October this year, offer a two week course on Targeted interventions for Vulnerable Communities in collaboration with Regional AIDS Training Network (RATN).

The Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University offers the Internet Course on the International Protection of Human Rights in the Autumn 2001.

The German Foundation for World Population (DSW), has published the new ComNet Guide "Advanced Dealing with Media – A Practical Guide”. The Advanced Guide provides information on how to prepare news releases and feature stories, interviews and presentations, as well as on how to carry out press conferences and press tours. Written by Ms. Joke van Kampen, it is meant as a continuation of the "Dealing with Media – A Practical Guide”. Together, both guides provide a step by step introduction into how to enhance the visibility of local NGOs’ work within the media.

Building and sustaining relationships with the mass media, whether through advertising or the press, are a key component to any communications strategy. Despite increasing use of the Internet, people still pay attention to advertising and mainstream network news. Working with traditional media means understanding their processes and audiences. The Benton Foundation Media Relations Toolkit offer tools and resources to help your nonprofit build relationships with media organizations to promote your cause and advance your mission.

Is this the ultimate nonprofit Internet project, since the Internet itself? The businesses that hope to make loads of money on wireless access call it "parasitic", but the free wireless network movement calls itself the symbiotic grid. I'm proud that one of its origin points in in my Seattle neighborhood.

Self-styled commander of Zimbabwe's farm invasions, Joseph Chinotimba, has threatened to forcibly close the offices of independent newspapers over their alleged negative portrayal of the war veterans and President Robert Mugabe.

In an attempt to strengthen the war waged against corruption in the Southern African region, media practitioners resolved to establish a media network that would facilitate mutual cooperation in journalistic investigation of corruption and other criminal activities.

Scientific American features a special review of Nanotechnology, the science of miniature machines. It includes an article by K. Eric Drexler of the Foresight Institute (author of 'Engines of Creation and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation'). Drexler speaks about the effects of molecular machinery upon society. Another article focuses upon future benefits to medical science.

Three journalists were arrested by police in the Mara region while following up on ethnic clashes in the Tarime district. The arrested journalists are Dismas Ayuke of the daily Kiswahili private paper "Majira", Erick Nampesya of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Richard Mgamba of the Nairobi-based English weekly private paper "The East African".

Freedom of Information experts and activists across Africa will meet in Nigeria in September to map out strategies for establishing a regional network aimed at strengthening campaigns for the enactment and implementation of access to information laws throughout the continent.

As traditional media becomes increasingly repressive in Zimbabwe, the launch of a local web site, www.kubatana.net, is a breath of fresh air. The NGO Network Alliance Project, the energy behind the development of kubatana, has brought Zimbabwean ngos, csos and development organisations together under one online umbrella. Kubatana is a Shona word which means "working together" - an apt name when a strengthened civic response to the current social and political unrest in Zimbabwe needs to be encouraged.

Last year, from January to May 2000, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and The Africa Policy Information Center (APIC, now a part of Africa Action) co-sponsored "International Policies, African Realities: An Electronic Roundtable," which brought more than 500 people together, with African panelists and participants from Africa and around the world, in a structured on-line discussion on a range of African issues. The electronic discussion was hosted by Bellanet. The full report is downloadable from the web site below and the discussion is archived for all to access.

Software audits and licensing expenses are becoming more and more threatening. Or are they? This article mentions a threatening letter which is resulting in changes to open source software. The Business Software Alliance's (BSA) 'Truce Campaign' is not engendering support from users - and many are looking at other options. In South Africa, which is dominated by Microsoft at the end user level, there have also been threats of a 'crackdown'.

There have been a spate of damaging and ubiquitous viruses lately. This article explains the difference between a virus and a virus hoax. It also tells you how both can damage your computer. Throughout the article there are links to online resources: identify whether you are the victim of a virus or a virus hoax, visit websites offering free anti virus software, learn how to delete a virus FOREVER from your PC, and.. keep your anti-virus software up to date.

President Robert Mugabe confirmed that the Zimbabwe government would table a freedom of information and protection of privacy Bill, and replace the notorious Law and Order (Maintenance) Act.

With the introduction of its own national internet hub, Lesotho has cut the umbilical cord with South Africa. The authors of this week's story (for names see the end of the article) describe how this was achieved and Lesotho's future ambitions in this field.

In describing the death of an Odzi settler as murder, the state print media abandoned all the basic restrictions surrounding the reporting of incidents involving criminal charges. The purpose of these restrictions is founded upon the fundamental principle that accused individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The conduct of the state media in this case has pre-empted the court investigation and raises the question of whether the trial of the white commercial farmer involved in the fatal accident may have been compromised by such unprofessional coverage.

Police shootings in Jamaica and Genoa are linked by underlying economic and social issues that don't receive the coverage they deserve, says News Dissector Danny Schechter, who calls for more media and public "overstanding."

Eight months after the murder of investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso, Mozambican journalists are afraid to cover sensitive stories, particularly those involving corruption, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).