A new mailing list for those concerned about things like intolerance, child abuse, the state of religion, minorities, social and cultural integration during their childhood.

The Once and Future Action Network (OFAN), a coalition of more than 100 organizations working on gender, science and technology, has reinstituted its newsletter on Women in Science and Technology. The current issue gives an overview of global GST networks as well as the activities of the OFAN regional focal points. The next issue will have an environmental focus. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please send a request to the new global secretariat, ECOWOMAN, Box 9874, Nadi Airport Post Office.

The function of this newsletter is to keep you abreast of AAI's work and to bring you information and perspectives on Africa-related matters that are not well-covered by other major news sources. One such forthcoming event is the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), to be held next month in Durban, South Africa. Hence, this time we are featuring a piece about the WCAR authored by Lynn Huntley, the founder and director of the Comparative Human Relations Initiative, an examination of contemporary intergroup relations between persons of European or African descent in Brazil, South Africa and the United States.

The Zimbabwe Government has suspended all accreditation of BBC correspondents in the country, accusing the corporation of "distortions and misrepresentation". Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said he objected to a television report by Africa correspondent Rageh Omaar about a speech by President Mugabe earlier this week. The BBC says it stands by the report.

Today, NUMSA NUM and MWU Solidarity signed the proposed collective bargaining wage agreement after the 21000 workers accepted the current revised settlement proposal from the Eskom company. Most of the workers scrutinized and ratified the proposed settlement package as representing the true, genuine and legitimate mandate of all workers.

The School of Journalism and Communication at the National University of Rwanda is looking for a lecturer for the 2001-02 academic year, beginning October 2001 for different undergraduate courses. Courses include Basic Skills for Media Writing; Writing for Broadcast Media and Broadcast production.

The African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) consists of practitioners and promoters who believe the adaptation and adoption of conservation tillage principles is a cost effective method of reducing and reversing the environmental degradation and food insecurity devastating Africa. ACT NOW! is ACT's electronic update on events and findings which may assist accelerate this process.

As the web and e-mail spread, Africans will increasingly want to have information and communicate in their own languages. For the purposes of generating and transmitting text electronically, Africa has three categories
of languages: those that use basically the same characters one finds in the major languages of West European origin; those which use basically that same Latin alphabet but with some added letters; and those which use non-Latin alphabets. The last two pose considerable problems for those wanting to see digital advances as a way of improving communication. Bisharat's Don Osborn
looks at how these obstacles can be tackled.

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has announced the six finalists of the first APC Africa Hafkin Prize. The USD$7,500 prize will be awarded on August 1st 2001 at the ACT (African Computing & Telecommunications) Summit in Johannesburg to the women-led, women-informed, and/or women-inspired initiative that has demonstrated outstanding creativity in the use of information and communications technologies (especially the Internet) in furthering development, mobilising participation and building capacity in Africa.

MIT's famous Media Lab has developed a way to use the internet to link people's 'creative thinkcycles'. The purpose? To work on global design challenges. "ThinkCycle seeks to create a collaborative community of individuals and organizations engaged in working on design challenges posed by our environment and the developing world." In summary, this site offers the opportunity to create a database of shared solutions. It is modelled on the open source software concept. This project's web site is a reason to have internet access. Will people connect to it and use it?

This article from Scientific American reports on current technologies that work using the energy generated by human activity. "Human activity" means everything from the strike of a boot heel to the warmth of your wrist. Will the military research into these technologies be shared immediately with people in developing nations? Will people without access to electronic power grid infrastructures be able to afford the devices? These questions - and their answers - were not part of the article, but they are important to bear in mind.

We are back! Thank you. WEST AFRICA NEWSLETTER (WAN), suspended publication in April because government security agents confiscated the computer that linked us to the Internet through our network. While that problem was being solved our weekly newspaper “The Journalist” was banned by the Ministry of Information, not because of stories we reported, but rather a letter from Human Rights lawyer Benedict Sannoh, who alleged that he had a problem with the Institute’s management. (We had asked the honorable Human Rights Lawyer to serve as Board Chairman of the Institute-publisher of the Journalist newspaper). According to the Minister of Information, since there were internal squabbles, for this reason he banned the publishing of the paper.

From Tuscany to Tibet to Texas, huddling around a short-wave radio to listen to the BBC is for millions a tradition that dates back to the days when the sun never set on the British Empire. But short-wave listeners in the United States, Canada and Australia are about to lose that scholarly voiced BBC welcome - “This is London”- on the hour, every hour, as the service is being discontinued from 30 June.

The Internet Society (ISOC) has published their fifth annual issue of "On The Internet" (OTI), with a special focus on the use of ICTs in developing countries. "Throughout the developing world, small groups of citizens are changing their worlds based on the shared belief that information and communication technology (ICT) can make a difference." Articles include "Paving the way for internet-rich environments in developing nations", "Rethinking Telecentres" and "African Chapters and their role in internet development in African Countries".

The Rosslyn Learning Project and the Timbuktu Multipurpose Community Telecenter (MCT) Project, funded by the International Development Research Centre through its Acacia: Communities and the Information Society in Africa program initiative and other donors, are among the 100 finalists for this year's Stockholm Challenge Awards. The Stockholm Challenge is a global arena for pioneering information technology (IT) projects that focus on the benefits of technology to people and society. The winners in seven categories will be announced in a ceremony at Stockholm City Hall on September 26, 2001.

Since April 2001, Nuffic/CIRAN and the Uganda Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) co-operate in partnership on the development and
maintenance of the Indigenous Knowledge site on the Global Development Gateway, and act as multiple Topic Guides in this field. The purpose of this site is to further stimulate the recognition, utilization and exchange of indigenous knowledge in the development process. The site aims to function as a platform for local communities, NGO's, development practitioners,
policy makers, and academia interested in indigenous knowledge (IK).

A list from the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) on the 33 media workers across the world killed since January 1, 2001.

In this issue: Greenstar to launch village center in Ghana; wireless communications, music, dance, artwork provide an economic model for Africa; Sweatshops and Butterflies: cultural ecology on the edge; Practical Solar Power for Everyone: simple tools for anyone to get started with renewable energy.

Amnesty International [AI] is making an urgent appeal to Italy to fulfil its international obligations and immediately arrest a Rwandese citizen who has reportedly been indicted by the ICTR to ensure that the accused person does not flee.

The suspension of the independent Radio Ecclesia on July 9 and the arrest of reporter Gilberto Neto is one of several recent attacks on Angolan journalists. Freelance journalist Rafael Marques reports from Angola.