As part of our special reports from the World Social Forum, Fikele Vilakazi & Vanesha Chitty spoke to Robtel Pailey from Pambazuka News about their work at the forum and on rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in Africa.

As part of our special reports from the World Social Forum, Abd Mohammed from the Western Sahara talks to Sokari Ekine from Pambazuka News about the ongoing occupation of his country by Morocco. Music in this podcast is brought to you by Freddy Macha.

There is need for African governments to embrace Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to enable internet access in schools. Advocates of Sciences and Technology for the People (AGHAM) chairperson Dr Giovanni Tapang says schools in third world countries need to have alternative models to make internet access cheaper. Dr Tapang said only 38 percent of schools in developing countries are connected to the internet of which less than 1 percent is African countries while developed countries have fully connected their primary and secondary schools to the internet.

The African Media Development Initiative (AMDI), launched a year ago to mobilise international support for the development of African media, has called for increased resources to address the weaknesses dogging the fourth estate on the continent, according to a Pana report posted on Africa News. In a 142-page report unveiled in Nairobi, Kenya, AMDI, noted that while there had been "a massive proliferation of media during the last five years," in the 17 sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, the "professional, technical, ethical and management standards" of the sector "remain low," reports Journalism.co.za.

"Does Microsoft intend to continue to break the law by filing software patents in South Africa?" This was the question Derek Keats of the University of the Western Cape asked Microsoft national technical officer, Potlaki Maine, in an open debate held at Freedom to Innovate South Africa's workshop on software and business method patents last Friday (January 19).

Africa Online is the subject of a takeover attempt that involves rival Internet service provider Wananchi Online. On Monday (15 January 2007), the bidding group released a statement detailing plans to buy the African Lakes Corporation (ALC), Africa Online's London-based parent company.

Fighting between unidentified groups in Central African Republic’s crisis-ridden north has left one million people in need of humanitarian assistance, the majority of which have been directly exposed to conflict, said the country’s Humanitarian Coordinator, Toby Lanzer, on Tuesday (16 January 2007).

A Sudanese member of parliament is taking up the cause of an Al Jazeera cameraman imprisoned by the US at Guantanamo Bay for the past five years. Farouq Abu Issa has asked the Sudanese foreign ministry to say what measures are being taken to save the life of Sami al-Hajj, who recently began a hunger strike.

Several publications on Tuesday (16 January 2007) expressed fears that the current restructuring of the South African Police Service (SAPS) will severely limit the media's ability to access information.

A Nigerian newspaper publisher faces up to 15 years in prison after being charged on Tuesday (16 January 2007) with belonging to the virtually unheard of terrorist group known as the "Nigerian Taliban".

Somalia's government has lifted its ban on four media outlets it had closed, accusing them of biased coverage during the recent war, media owners have said. The interim government, newly equipped with emergency powers, ordered HornAfrik Media, Shabelle Media Network, the Koranic radio station IQK and Al Jazeera, to cease operations in Somalia on Monday (15 January 2007).

A court in Casablanca has handed down three-year suspended jail terms to two journalists for defaming Islam and breaching public morality in jokes published in a Moroccan magazine.

ReConnect Africa is a unique online publication, network and portal with essential information about careers, enterprise and jobs for African professionals around the world. Offering essential services for job seekers, recruitment specialists and people managers, ReConnect Africa brings together the best of Africa.

Between 2001 and 2006 thousands of families were forcibly evicted from various neighbourhoods in the Angolan capital of Luanda. These forced evictions(2) were typically carried out without prior notification or consultation, without due process and with recourse to excessive use of force.

Tuberculosis (TB), malnutrition and African wars were among the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006, the international aid organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Tuesday (9 January 2006). "We know that media coverage does not generate improvements on its own," said United States MSF executive director Nicolas de Torrente.

Press freedom has deteriorated in Central Africa over the past year due to armed conflict, divisive electoral processes and the lack of democratic structures to protect freedom of expression, a new report by Journaliste en Danger (JED) has found.

The Moroccan authorities have called for the jailing of two journalists who published popular jokes about religion, sex and politics. The authorities removed the magazine, Nichane, which means "as it is", from sale last month after Casablanca's state prosecutor took legal action, saying the jokes were an attack on Islam.

The Weblog Awards are a non-profit project created in 2001 to award the best blogs. Pambazuka News encourages readers to vote for Sokari Ekine's blog, Black Looks: . Many of you will aleady be familiar with her work in the weekly blogs round-up in Pambazuka News.

Vote for ‘black looks’ in the "best Middle Eastern and African" section at http://2007.bloggies.com/

The Federal Government in line with its avowed commitment to deploy information and communications technology to accelerate economic growth has signed a three year agreement with Microsoft. The partnership agreement signed in Abuja will ensure the implementation of initiatives that will contribute to effective governance, and to the social and economic development of Nigeria.

"Degree and diploma mills" have been around for hundreds of years, and they are still flourishing all over the world. These are bogus universities and colleges that sell diplomas or degrees - a piece of paper itself rather than the educational experience.