Full Coverage: Africa

30.03.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Mar 30 (OneWorld) - U.S.-funded abstinence-only programs put millions of young Ugandans at risk of AIDS by denying them information about proven methods to protect themselves, instead offering them unproven advice to abstain from sex until they are married, a leading rights watchdog said Wednesday.

30.03.2005 At the risk of his life, Pius Ncube, Archbishop of Zimbabwe's second largest city, is calling on his countrymen to organize a popular non-violent uprising, like Ukraine's "Orange Revolution," to topple President Robert Mugabe. Similar statements from a political leader would certainly result in imprisonment, but Mugabe is hesitant to take on the church, reports veteran Zimbabwe correspondent Trevor Grundy.

30.03.2005 The UN Security Council is due to vote today on a resolution addressing the crisis in Darfur. It has some catching up to do if credibility is to be restored.

30.03.2005 Obviously elections are not just about what takes place on the day, or two days, on which polling takes place. An election is a process that occurs within a political context. This report describes the electoral environment in Zimbabwe ahead of the parliamentary elections that are scheduled for March 31, 2005.

30.03.2005 Over the next few days please log onto Kubatana to see photographs of the Zimbabwe General Election 2005 as well as election results and breaking news. Please make sure to check the Elections sector under the Archive for a very comprehensive selection of opinion and articles on the Parliamentary Election.

30.03.2005 The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) has condemned in the strongest terms the deliberate jamming of SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, saying its an assault on freedom of expression.

30.03.2005 On 31 March 2005, members of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) will highlight the worrying state of freedom of expression in Tunisia at a panel discussion in Geneva during the annual session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

29.03.2005 A ten-day period to update voter rolls began Monday, as elections to replace the country's late president are scheduled for April 24, but only young people between the ages of 18 and 20 are being allowed to register, according to reports. Free and fair elections cannot be arranged in such a short period of time, opposition supporters said at a weekend rally.

29.03.2005 President Robert Mugabe has pulled out all the stops before elections in Zimbabwe Thursday, spending US$100 million of the state's money on Hewlett Packard laptops that he passes out at schools as he campaigns across the country. Meanwhile, many of the schools receiving the high-tech computers have been without textbooks, electricity, furniture or even roofs for many years.

29.03.2005 The UN meets today to discuss future peace-keeping resources in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where nearly 4 million people have died in the civil war since 1996. Why does Kosovo enjoy the protection of more than double the peace-keeping forces currently in the DRC?

29.03.2005 There appears to be no end to Africa's long string of woes. Whatever dismal category the world finds itself in, Africa is bound to be present there prominently.

25.03.2005 Democratic elections are supposed to be an opportunity for a nation to reflect and choose, but Zimbabwe's votes have been little more than an exercise in muscle flexing by Robert Mugabe's ruling party, says human rights activist Mary Ndlovu, exploring various possible scenarios for next Thursday's crucial poll. Whatever occurs in Zimbabwe in the next few weeks, there is a long road ahead for the building of democracy in Southern Africa, she says.

24.03.2005 The Marburg virus, a cousin of Ebola, is normally lethal in 30 percent of cases, but 96 of the 107 infected in the northern Angolan province of Uige since October have died, owing primarily to the area's dilapidated and underfunded health system. International teams are en route to help stem the epidemic, but with an incubation period of 21 days, sufferers could travel and spread the virus.

24.03.2005 A report from a pair of environmental groups launched at an international conference in Lagos Monday warns that allowing genetically modified (GM) agricultural products to be grown in Africa would put the health, environment and livelihoods of African people at risk. The report also presents new evidence that the multinational corporation Monsanto plans to irreversibly contaminate the world food supply with GM crops.

24.03.2005 Doctors still test for tuberculosis with a test developed 123 years ago, which is less than 50 percent accurate. While 99 percent of all TB deaths occur in developing countries, however, research to develop a new test is focused on more lucrative, technology-driven western markets. A simple and accurate test is needed that can be used far away from a laboratory, says the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders.

24.03.2005 Yet another country is permitting the reaction to terrorism to spill over into abuse of the human rights of its citizens. Amnesty accuses Kenya of treating the war against terror a a "license to torture".

24.03.2005 AIDS activists in Africa, home to nearly two-thirds of the world's HIV infections, appealed to the Indian government to either drop or significantly amend the new patent act. The new act could prevent Indian pharmaceutical firms from producing cheap generic drugs which in turn would affect the supplies of affordable AIDS drugs to Africa considering India is one of the largest global suppliers of generic drugs.

23.03.2005

23.03.2005 Indian lawmakers adopted a new patent law Tuesday that would ban domestic firms from making low-cost generic versions of patented drugs. Health campaigners warned that as a consequence, millions of people around the world would be denied access to cheap life-saving medicines, including those used to treat AIDS in poor African countries.

23.03.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Mar 23 (OneWorld) - Indian lawmakers adopted a new patent law Tuesday that would ban domestic firms from making low-cost generic versions of patented drugs. Health campaigners warned that as a consequence, millions of people around the world would be denied access to cheap life-saving medicines.