On the one-year anniversary of her imprisonment by Ethiopia’s Zenawi government, Alemayehu G. Mariam pays tribute to political leader Birtukan Midekksa, ‘an ordinary woman irrevocably committed to the rule of law, freedom, democracy and human rights’. ‘The dictators are not afraid of Birtukan,’ writes Mariam, ‘but they are terrified of what she represents: Ethiopia's bright future.’

Just in time for Christmas, a new low-cost, low-power netbook is hitting the scenes that actually retails for only $99. Cherrypal, the company behind it, has dubbed it “Africa”, as they’re focusing the little computer on developing countries.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) welcome the re-launch of Tanzanian Union of Journalists (TUJ). In a three-day meeting in Dar es Salaam, which ended on 5th December 2009, Tanzanian journalists elected a seven-member committee to steer the Tanzania Union of Journalists (TUJ) into proactive labour union and to convene a congress as a way of re-building and promoting democracy in the union, ensuring better conditions of service and ethical journalism.

The Angolan government should ensure freedom of the press as host of the Africa Cup of Nations, Human Rights Watch has said. The football tournament will take place January 10 to 31, 2010, in four coastal towns in Angola, including in the oil-rich enclave of Cabinda, site of a long-standing separatist insurgency.

MISA-Zimbabwe has been following with particular interest the seemingly contentious issue of shortwave radio stations within the context of the ongoing SADC mediation process.

Four freelance journalists on 17 December 2009 filed an application with the High Court in Harare seeking a nullification of the election of the new Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) executive. The applicants are citing irregularities in the manner that the elective Congress was convened and conducted.

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Permanent secretary for Media, Information and Publicity George Charamba, has conceded that the state has always had a controlling monopoly of radio services. He admitted to this in an interview with the Herald newspaper where he sharply criticized the continued operation of Voice of America's (VOA) Studio 7 amid allegations by his office that there was a government-to-government agreement between the United States and Botswana.

Mozambique's former rebel movement Renamo has banned its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, from speaking to the press. According to a report issue on 2 December 2009 in the local independent daily "O Pais", Renamo has threatened violence against any reporters who try to visit Dhlakama at his residence in the northern city of Nampula.

The time that Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak has spent in a jail in Eritrea, without a trial and without any visits from his family or lawyers, today reached 3,000 days.

An initiative by a mobile phone manufacturer, Samsung, and three non-governmental organisations to train youth from poor backgrounds in Nairobi in ICT and entrepreneurship is beginning to bear fruits.

Multimedia company, Wananchi Group, moved to slash the cost of its internet offering by half, saying it was keen to cash in on its investment in fibre optic technology as it passed on savings to its customers.

JED is calling on the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) National Intelligence Agency (ANR) to put an end to the abuse of authority by officials at its Kasindi and Béni offices after radio reporter Maurice Lutendero was detained in Kasindi on 30 November 2009.

The Journal of Media And Communication Studies (Jmcs) is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published that will be monthly by Academic Journals (www.academicjournals.org/JMCS, JMCS is dedicated to increasing the depth of the subject across disciplines with the ultimate aim of expanding knowledge of the subject.

Software and web-search giants Google on Monday November 1st, 2009 launched the online Google Trader pilot in Uganda to connect sellers and buyers of goods and services, including in agriculture.

The Information Economy Report 2009: Trends and Outlook in Turbulent Times' is the fourth in a series published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The report is one of the few publications to monitor global trends in information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they affect developing countries.

Despite consolidating his vice-like grip on power, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali continues to imprison journalists critical of his regime, say members of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group in a joint action this week.

The growth of cellphone use, particularly in the developing world, is providing health experts with a new channel of communication to provide family planning information.

Africa faces two linked problems that are holding back the extension of mobile services into a wider range of rural areas: diesel supplies are sometimes unpredictable and prices are high. For the first time mobile operators in Uganda this week sought to address the power problem by forming a consortium.

Five Ugandan television stations are switching from analogue to digital broadcasting with 200 viewers receiving the signal in the capital Kampala. They are Kenyan-owned Nation Television (NTV), WBS, East Africa Television and Nile Broadcasting Service.