A journalist for Uganda's tabloid Red Pepper has been charged and sent to Luzira prison for demanding money from an MP with intent to steal, according to a report in The Monitor. Mr Julius Odeke, a resident of Namanve is accused of demanding Shs500, 000 from the Busiro East MP, Ms Susan Nakawuzi as inducement to stop publishing negative stories about her, reports Journalism.co.za.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and its partners are pleased to announce the 2006 AISI Media Awards. The AISI Media Awards were introduced in 2003 to encourage more informed coverage of the information society and ICT for development issues in Africa as part of ECA's Information Society Outreach and Communication Programme.

The Zimbabwe Mirror Newspapers Group, publishers of The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror on Friday (July 7) nearly failed to produce an edition of its daily. This comes in the wake of reports that the Mirror group "is in deep financial trouble and is saddled with a staggering debt profile that threatens its survival". Sources at the troubled newspaper group told The Standard that of late, the company has been struggling to meet its financial obligations

The Ugandan journalist and broadcaster Andrew Mwenda is in London telling anyone who is prepared to listen that aid has been a disaster for Africa, fuelling corruption and hindering development. For Tony Blair and the G8 leaders who meet next week in St Petersburg, for Bono, Bob Geldof and all the other celebrity campaigners for generosity towards Africa, Mr Mwenda has a curt message: stop the aid and stop the debt relief.

Swaziland-based ITMC offers dozens of different types of management courses and training to people from all over Africa. These range from Business Management and Project Management through Computer and IT training to Women in Development Action. They continually update course content and develop new courses. See this sight for more information.

The Federation of Arab Journalists has re-iterated its determination to continue to campaign against prison sentences imposed throughout the Arab world against media workers. The federation said in a statement it was opposed to Egyptian draft legislation, related to publication laws.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has appointed a committee to investigate a recent spate of attacks on journalists who have been probing the country's security services, reports the Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP).

Jacob Zuma's defamation claim against the media has risen to R63-million after a Johannesburg radio station "further insulted" him, the Witness newspaper reported on Tuesday.

TrustAfrica is looking for an exceptional individual to serve as its Fundraising and Outreach Manager. The successful candidate will have excellent writing and communication skills and experience fundraising and coordinating networks.

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arbitrary arrests of "Daily Independent" reporter Rotimi Durojaiye and AIT television presenter Mike Gbenga Aruleba on 25 and 26 June 2006, respectively, on sedition charges under a law that was made obsolete by a 1983 appeal court ruling.

From outside, it looks like any other transit goods container, or storage for the popular mitumba (second-hand) clothes. But inside the nondescript structure is the studio of the country's first slum radio station. The container houses equipment and machines of newly launched 101.5 Koch FM, a private radio station owned by youth from the Korogocho slum in Nairobi. The station, launched on June 24, will broadcast in Kiswahili and English in Korogocho and the surrounding areas.

The Freedom of Expression Institute has condemned the decision on the part of the state to subpoena ex-Sowetan newspaper journalists Willie Bokala and Saint Molakeng as reprehensible and a blow to media freedom, according to a release from the FXI.

Access to the internet has been linked to an improvement in children's reading skills, while the use of it has connected them with places around the world, allowing them to have electronic pen pals, and learn about other cultures and traditions. However, Microsoft South Africa, which is hosting its annual National Security Week, has cautioned parents that if your child has full access to the internet, you should be concerned.

The growing increase in the number of mobile devices is encouraging more and more content providers to look to mobile phones as distribution platforms for Internet content. According to Alexa Raad, Vice President for Marketing and Business Development, mobile phones are the appropriate means by which Internet content can be distributed efficiently and at low costs to both providers and consumers.

I am writing from the free speech Index on censorship. At the moment we are introducing a free online subscription program for journalists and people interested in free speech in Africa. I was wondering whether it would be possible to put a post on the fahamu or pambazuka website that would allow Journalists and those interested to sign up.
Regards,
Lex
Email: lex AT indexoncensorship.org

Fourteen centres for orphaned and vulnerable children received computers, open source software and Internet access on South Africa's Youth Day, June 16, as part of the Tuxlabs initiative. The 26 PCs and two laptops will be used by The Heartbeat Centre for Community Development's 5 000 students countrywide.

Next January, the heads of member states of the African Union will meet to discuss science and technology in what will be a unique opportunity to support the continent's scientific renaissance. It is now accepted that scientific and technological capacity is necessary to achieve the widely endorsed Millennium Development Goals, reports SciDev.

The Gambian government has blocked a non-governmental forum of freedom of expression scheduled to take place in Banjul on June 19 and 30, prior to the African Union summit in the Gambian capital. But media freedom groups will still be focusing on threats to free expression in Gambia and demanding an investigation of the murder of Gambian journalist Deyda Heydara, which took place 18 months ago.

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) expresses its deep concern regarding the ruling issued by al-Warraq Misdemeanor Court yesterday morning against Journalist Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of ed-Destour and Sout el-Ommaha newspapers. Ibrahim Eissa, Sahar Zaki (an editor at ed-Destour) and Saed Mohamed Abdullah (citizen) were sentenced to one year in prison with labor, a bail of L.E. 10 000 and L.E. 2001 as temporary compensation.

The Zimbabwe government is reneging on a pledge to invite exiled white farmers back to work the land and is moving to evict the few hundred who survived President Robert Mugabe's six-year ethnic purge. Scores of eviction notices were either delivered or were on their way to productive white farmers last week. The farmers will have 90 days to leave their homes and abandon their businesses.