CLARION, a Governance and Human Rights NGO based in Nairobi, is seeking an individual to fill the position of a Programme Officer.

cc. Since 27 December 2008, the Zionist state of Israel has embarked on an unprecedented onslaught against the residents of Gaza. The massive bombings have killed over 500 Palestinians and injured over 2,500 more. The Israeli air force has targeted hospitals, schools, roads, bridges, universities, mosques, and even markets. As with previous attacks, the Western media has carried fallacious reports, echoing the Israeli government’s official claim to be responding to, and defending itself against, Palestinian rocket attacks. The Gaza strip has been under both sustained military attack and an inhumane blockade for the last two years since Hamas’s victory over Fatah.

cc. Questioning the validity of the linear from-Martin-Luther-King-to-Barack-Obama interpretation of the US civil rights movement featured within many mainstream channels, Alan Singer argues that the emphasis should in reality be on the role of mass participation in engendering progressive social change. In turbulent times of severe economic downturn, the author insists, it is up to individuals to provide the energy and momentum needed for climbing the mountains of social justice on the horizon.

In this interview conducted by Marc Wuyts, Issa Shivji, one of Africa's revolutionary scholars long before the term public intellectual became vogue, shares his intellectual history, his analysis of Ujamaa, his take on the land question in Africa and the state of African political economy and much more.

In response to Horace Campbell’s : Unfortunately there are a tremendous amount of lies being floated on Cuito and the ramifications of Cuito. Fortunately one can at least find the accurate records of what came out of Cuito by looking at the original UN resolution 430 and the final signed outcome of Resolution 430. By simply reading the history of resolution 430 you can immediately see that it was not the Cubans that won the day for the liberation of Angola, Namibia and even South Africa.

Instead those racist South Africans were able to overturn resolution 430 to ensure that Namibia would be a democratic multi party system based on a capitialist economy and the same for Angola. The reality for all to see is that it was the racist South Africans that changed Angola to a multi-party democracy (based on capitalistic economy), Namibia and South Africa while ensuring that the last bastion of communism (Cuba) was evicted from Africa.

In Horace Campbell writes:

"Obama, unlike many of his predecessors, has the opportunity to recognise the rights of the Palestinian people to real self-determination."

Unlike most of his predecessors? That sentence alone makes your article laughable. Somehow Bush, Clinton, and the rest had less of an opportunity to do the right thing than Obama? Please tell us how. Look, we get that you don't like Obama (or are envious of him? resentful?), but please at least attempt to write a fair and balanced article.

Your bias is glaringly apparent. For the record, I too am in favor of BDS.

I agree fully with Ochieng M. Khairallah in his assessment of . In no area of human endeavor is there a trace of honesty and truth. If anyone feels he has a good conscience, it must surely be the play of a bad memory. Of all things, religion seems to have jettisoned conscience altogether.
Respect the

Simiyu Barasa ‘s reminds us of the extreme care we ought to take as human beings to ensure that sanity is an everyday leitmotif in our existences.

Haply, in every sense, recoursing back to Immanuel Kant, even in the most desperate of our conditions, to reaffirm that we still cherish the 'essence of humanity' and aspire towards a 'highness'.

In response to Horace Campbell’s :

Hopefully our younger generation have a little more integrity that Horace Campbell. If they do some independent research they'll know Campbell is lying. Fidel Castro is at least more honest. At the end of 1988 he gave a two-hour speech to a full Council of State meeting in Havana. The speech was also broadcast in its entirety on Cuba's domestic radio and television services. Here are some highlights of Castro's speech:

# The next day (13 January 1988) the SADF mounted a strong attack east of the river at Cuito, along a very extended frontline defended by three FAPLA brigades - the 21st, 59th and 25th. There was a 5km gap between the brigades. South Africa dislodged the 21st brigade and the other brigades were threatened. # St Valentine's Day, 14 February, South Africa launched its big offensive against the 59th brigade. The South African's smashed through the lines, marched through the 5km gap between the 21st and 59 brigades and began to surround the 59th brigade. Castro said: "A very difficult situation emerged. They could have gone as far as the bridge and cut off three entire brigades." [Note: Castro seems to be a smart guy. The initial plan that was planned for January was to do just that! One deliberate, phased attack by the two SADF mechanised battalion groups would have resulted in the three FAPLA brigades being cut off, routed and destroyed. Pretoria in its "wisdom" countered this approach and opted for a battle concept that relied on a cautious approach over a protracted period].

# Castro continued: A Cuban tank battalion together with FAPLA tanks launched a violent counter attack. The counter attack stopped the SADF but in the process the Cuban/FAPLA company lost all seven of its tanks and 14 Cubans were killed. The three FAPLA brigades retreated towards the river. [Note: Campbell's version would have the SADF basically defeated at this stage with heavy losses].

# Castro sent a cable to General Ochoa (he was executed for his poor performance) saying: "I will not hide from you the fact that here we are bitter over what happened because it had been foreseen and words of caution were issued on several occasions. We insisted on the readjustment of the frontlines for almost one entire month." [Note: Again Castro is correct and honest - 21 brigade suffered heavy losses and was dislodged on 13 January].

# The situation was extremely dangerous for the FAPLA brigades. Castro sent a cable on 20 February which warned that if South Africa broke through the line of defence, the Angolan forces would find themselves with their back to the river and would face casualties from drowning, attacks and the prisoners could be countless. # Castro said he could not understand why, since 14 February, only two battalions of 21st brigade had gone West of the river, whilst about 3500 FAPLA soldiers were still on the East. "What will happen if tomorrow the enemy breaks through the lines and used all ist strength against the river area,"? Castro raged.

This account by Castro concerning the routing of the three brigades, including very heavy losses inflicted on 59 brigade can easily be verified from the recorded speech. The largely ineffective attacks by the SADF in March 1988 to force all or most FAPLA/Cuban forces West of the Cuito river is well-known. By then, the heart of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale had been won by the SADF (from a purely military strategic and tactical perspective) and the stand-off between the two forces would go on for a few months, from which no victor emerged. Of course the geo-political situation led to the demise of apartheid, but then, who's defending apartheid?

Campbell hopes to re-write history. However, Castro, in his bid to boost his own "heroic role" in the Cuito battle, confirms the hiding given to FAPLA/Cuba and gives us a pretty accurate military historical view.

Viva Castro!

While calling on Obama to “pursue a policy change that we can believe in” Tajudeen also argues against our seeing Obama as a messiah who will solve all of the world’s problems. Rather his election should give “both Americans and the rest of us a chance to look at things afresh and probably find a solution that we can all live with even if it may not be perfect.”

cc. The Obama era has begun. Like millions of people in the United States and around the world today I sat glued to the television watching the historic inauguration, relishing the man and the moment, its substance and symbolism. Tomorrow, of course the hard work starts and the harsh realities facing the new president will break today's magical spell. America's daunting challenges will puncture the bubble of messianic expectations invested in the young president. The extraordinary euphoria that has gripped this nation and parts of the world is obviously unsustainable, and it will inevitably evaporate in the predictable whirlwind of stumbles, setbacks, even scandals, not to mention the structural obstacles, the systemic imperatives of this mighty but beleaguered capitalist country and imperial power that will constrain bold changes, truly progressive transformation.

The challenges are immense indeed: ending two foreign wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have depleted the nation of treasure and trust and abandoning the misguided commitment to "war on terror" which even Britain one of America's staunchest allies thinks is a mistake; managing the economic crisis and administering an effective stimulus package that will halt the economic recession and restore growth; expanding access to health care and improving the quality of education and overcoming the inequities of the prison industrial complex that has devastated African American and other minority communities; pursuing sound and sustainable domestic and global environmental policies; and promoting smart foreign policies and allegiance to multilateralism. The biggest challenge facing President Obama is how to manage the relative historic decline of American global supremacy in a world of new emerging powers and growing intolerance against authoritarianism whether within or between nations; in short, a more global and nationalistic world impatient with the old injustices and hierarchies of power and well-being and hungry for development, democracy, and self-determination.

The indefatigable anti-apartheid and human rights campaigner,

From his

He called for bold and swift action and strongly repudiated the policies of the Bush administration and the ideological bickering of the past few decades: "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government. Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good."

But this is a day for rejoicing, not prognosticating the future. In the words of

A point stated with understated astonishment by Rupert Cornwell in the British paper, The Independent: "The most powerful man in the world is black.... Let us savor history today. Tomorrow for Barack Obama the hard part begins - the small matters of largely reinventing his country, trying to bring a semblance of order to an ever more turbulent world, and staving off economic Armageddon.... Today in one sense is a destination, the end of a journey lasting 233 years, from the very foundation of a country with its own original sin of slavery. There have been many milestones along the road: among them emancipation, Jackie Robinson and the integration from 1947 of baseball which truly was then the national pastime. Then came the 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown vs Board of Education, that desegregated America's schools, followed by the great civil rights acts of the 1960s. The dream set out 45 years ago by Martin Luther King on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial - at the opposite end of the Washington Mall from where Mr Obama will speak today - may not have been entirely realized. The color of a person's skin still does matter in America - but how far America has come."

This is a deeply emotional moment for African Americans, unimaginable for centuries, inconceivable to their ancestors who endured the indescribable savagery of slavery and segregation, astounding even to the post-civil rights offspring often hindered by the abiding bigotries and excuses of low expectations. This day is a tribute to their struggles, their unshakeable faith in their humanity, their hopes that they could shift the trajectory of their nation's cruel history. Their noted yesterday, "the scene of hate, oppression, possibility and progress." The paper observed that the new president's triumphant motorcade "will retrace the path of Ku Klux Klan marches and roll past the ghosts of hotels and movie theaters that used to turn away people like him.... This historic stretch, bookended by the Capitol on one end and the White House on the other, has witnessed many of the milestones that made an Obama presidency possible. The Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were signed here. But it's doubtful that even a Harvard-educated wonder can get his arms around the scope of the civil-rights drama that has played out on this 1.2-mile slice of real estate. There are places more infamous for their scars - Selma, Birmingham - but none capture the sweep of the story the way Pennsylvania Avenue does, where laws were passed to enslave people and laws were passed to free them, and at least a dozen of Obama's predecessors would sooner have considered him a piece of property than a peer."

It is a poignant coincidence that President Obama's inauguration came a day after the Martin Luther King Day. The Obama presidency was made possible by the civil rights movement symbolized by Dr. King's leadership. Writing in

This caution was echoed by one of Dr. King's lieutenants and trail blazers for President Obama, the Rev. Jesse Jackson in an op-ed piece in

Clearly, President Obama owes much to Dr. King, but he is not the latter's predictable heir. The two not only belong to different generations, what President Obama himself calls Michael Honey: "Like Lyndon Johnson, Obama risks his domestic agenda by getting bogged down in a quagmire in Afghanistan." Already his lukewarm reaction to the Israeli invasion of Gaza is cooling enthusiasm for him in some parts of the world. Reports

President Obama confronts progressives with challenges they didn't face with the manifestly banal and uncompromising President Bush. They must go beyond making predictable critiques if they wish to influence the new administration, to keep its feet to the fire in carrying out some of its own more enlightened campaign promises. They need to constantly engage both his administration and America. To quote John Nichols: "Obama knows not just the rough outlines of the left-labor-liberal-progressive agenda, but the specifics. He does not need to be presented with progressive ideas for responding appropriately to an economic downturn, to environmental and energy challenges, to global crises and democratic dysfunctions. He has, over the better part of a quarter century, spoken of, written about, and campaigned for them."

He continues: "The way to influence Obama and his Administration is to speak not so much to him as to America. Get out ahead of the new President, and of his spin-drive communications team. Highlight the right appointees and the right responses to deal with the challenges that matter most. Don't just critique, but rather propose. Advance big ideas and organize on their behalf; identify allies in federal agencies, especially in Congress, and work with them to dial up the pressure for progress. Don't expect Obama or his aides to do the left thing. Indeed, take a lesson from rightwing pressure groups in their dealings with Republican administrations and recognize that it is always better to build the bandwagon than to jump on board one that is crafted with the tools of compromise. Smart groups and individuals are already at it."

He concludes with a pertinent historical analogy: "Franklin Roosevelt's example is useful here. After his election in 1932, FDR met with Sidney Hillman and other labor leaders, many of them active Socialists with whom he had worked over the past decade or more. Hillman and his allies arrived with plans they wanted the new President to implement. Roosevelt told them: ‘I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.' It is reasonable for progressives to assume that Barack Obama agrees with them on many fundamental issues. He has said as much. It is equally reasonable for progressives to assume that Barack Obama wants to do the right thing. But it is necessary for progressives to understand that, as with Roosevelt, they will have to make Obama do it."

As I watched the dignitaries from the three branches of government coming to be seated for the inauguration, the members of Congress and the Senate, justices of the Supreme Court, and some of the prospective cabinet secretaries the audacity of the moment was unmistakable: the new black president will be accompanied by only one black justice, the widely despised Clarence Thomas, and one black senator, Roland Burris, Senator Obama's briefly contentious replacement nominated by the impeached Illinois Governor. The contrast between the white faces of power and the colorful sea of people, estimated at nearly two million who stretched for two miles over the Washington Mall and all across the capital, was palpable.

The two images underscore the symbolic significance of this moment that American history had turned, if not a new chapter, at least a new page. The festive crowds had turned out to witness history, to celebrate history, for their rendezvous with history. Their ecstasy on the mall and across the nation was as infectious as it was intense, almost unprecedented and not seen in the inaugurations of any of President Obama's immediate predecessors. That did not stop the pundits from trying to find parallels in past inaugurations, many settling on the mystique of John F. Kennedy, another youthful president with a beautiful family, and much promise. Indeed, for Matt Bai, the inauguration of President Obama marks the end of "America's 50-year quest to find a truly transformational leader" a la Kennedy.

It is easy to be cynical about such theatrical political events as the inauguration, the ritualized performance in the American transfer of power. The claims trotted by pundits and the new president express the typical bombast of American exceptionalism. Writing yesterday, the astute British journalist,

But rituals and celebrations are the poetry in the prosaic lives of individuals, families, communities, and nations, the spice that seasons human existence. The explosive fervor for President Obama is not to be derided. To quote Younge again: "For those on the left who have sneered at this joy, tomorrow is their last chance to join the rest of the people whose liberation they claim to champion. Anxious to get their disappointment in early and avoid the rush, they have been keen to point out the various ways in which Obama will fail and betray. Their predictions may well prove correct. The best is not the same as adequate. He has been elected to represent the interests of the most powerful country in the world. Those will not be the same interests as those of the powerless. And yet, in the words of Friedrich Engels: ‘What childish innocence it is to present one's own impatience as a theoretically convincing argument.' Obama was the most progressive, viable candidate possible in these circumstances. A black American, propelled to office by a mass popular campaign pledging income redistribution and an end to torture and the war in Iraq, has defeated the Republicans and is about to replace the most reactionary president in at least a generation."

President Obama starts office with incredible support, with approval ratings of 83%! The poll ratings are simply dizzying, higher than for any incoming president in recent memory. Writes

The presence of President Obama also recasts struggles and representations of the African diasporas in various parts of the world. We are all familiar with the electrifying impact of President Obama's election in countries in the Americas and Europe with large and often marginalized African diaspora populations. The excitement extends to Asia including Iraq, the burial ground of American imperial hubris, where the country's estimated 2 million Blacks have apparently made , where Indians of African descent tend to be racially despised, the country has "been overwhelmed by the undisguised pleasure of seeing a brown-skinned underdog triumph against all odds over a white establishment.... Many Indians believe Obama's victory makes all things possible for people of color everywhere - including the many American grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins who, thanks to globalization, are part of the Indian extended family."

In another insightful article,

But he does more: his rise challenges Europe and other multiracial societies to look hard at their own histories and societies. "Political conversation in France, Britain and Germany, in particular, went almost effortlessly from how to keep immigrants out to how descendants of (mostly) immigrants could ascend to the highest office in the land - or why they could not... In almost every instance the simple, honest answer to the question ‘Could it happen here?' was no. The Obama story was indeed about race. But at its root it was essentially about white people. Would they vote for him? Would they kill him? It's not clear whether white Europeans would be any more comfortable with electing a black leader in their own countries than some Republicans were here. Having basked in a smug state of superiority over America's social, economic and racial disparities, Europeans were forced by Obama's victory and the passions it stoked to face hard realities about their own institutional discrimination, which was not better or worse - just different...."

*Paul Tiyambe Zeleza is editor of The Zeleza Post where this essay first published.

*Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

For Stephen Marks, given the interdependency between the United States and China, President Obama will have to tread carefully on trade as well human rights issues. He cautions there is a “danger of mounting economic crisis converting into political instability in which the smallest miscalculation, in Washington or Beijing could have unforeseen consequences.”

Inviting member states, regional and international organisations, and professional and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field of journalism and freedom of expression to nominate candidates for the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize. The US$25,000 award honours a journalist or organisation that has made a notable contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially if this involved risk. The prize is awarded every year on World Press Freedom Day. Deadline: January 31 2009

Soliciting 3-minute videos on the subject of how you would prepare for a stay in one of the largest African slums, Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya, if given the prize of a visit. The award is a 10-day stay, "all inclusive", in Mathare, where this Slum-TV project is based. Interested participants need to respond to a video available online (please see the full posting for details). Responses need to be in a video format. Deadline: February 21 2009

Offering a bursary to as many as 6 young Southern African and as many as 5 young German journalists. The Southern African-German Journalists' Programme is an effort to shape an integrated understanding of another country and region and to foster relations between Africa and Germany. Deadline: January 31 2009

In its objections to proposed land and passport regulations at the latest East Africa Legislative Assembly session, Tanzania reveals a longstanding reluctance to fully commit to an accelerated regional integration in the East African Community (EAC). However, is this really about land? What are the options for Tanzania – in or out?

This course aims at giving the students a thorough overview and understanding of international law instruments pertaining to migration movements and to migrant and refugee women and children in particular. The course will have a human rights focus. The course will be structured around an examination of two groups and their rights; women and children. No single international treaty governs migration and migrants’ rights, but that does not mean that there is no “international migration law”.

In this course, participants will increase their understanding of the psychosocial and mental health issues of refugees and learn how to implement effective interventions. Topics will include: Review of international research about the psychosocial and mental health consequences of war and violence; Implications for working with various cultures and contexts; Skills for assessment of need; Culturally sensitive interviewing skills; Methods for working with translators; Introduction to individual, family, group and community interventions; Overview of methods for monitoring and evaluating the impact of intervention; and Specific mechanisms workers and organizations can use to minimize staff burnout and maximize organizational effectiveness.

"We are not waiting. We are moving", says Pilda Modjadji, a founding member of the Pankop Women Farmers Forum in Mpumalanga, South Africa. "We mean business." The Pankop group, which now has 300 members, started with the humble goal of growing fruit collectively and using the proceeds to supplement family diets, raise incomes and pay school tuition fees. But the women quickly realized that the village offered few job prospects for graduates — their children were going off to the cities.

Based on personal interviews with Palestinian families, Oroub El-Abed examines the effects of displacement and the livelihood strategies that Palestinians have employed while living in Egypt. The author also analyzes the impact of fluctuating Egyptian government policies on the Palestinian way of life. With limited basic human rights and in the context of very poor living conditions for Egyptians in general, Palestinians in Egypt have had to employ an array of both tangible and intangible assets to survive.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce the seventeenth competition under its Small Grants Programme for Thesis Writing. The grants are designed to contribute to the development of the social sciences in Africa, and the continuous renewal and strengthening of research capacities in African universities through the funding of primary research conducted by post-graduate students and professionals.

The Seventh Session of India-Tanzania Joint Commission on Economic, Technical and Scientific Cooperation was held in New Delhi from 13-14 January 2009. The Indian delegation was led by Mr. Nalin Surie, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs and the Tanzanian delegation by Hon. Prof. David H. Mwakyusa, MP, Minister of Health & Social Welfare of Tanzania.

Nigeria and Dubai have signed a preliminary agreement worth $16 billion to develop oil and gas infrastructure in Africa’s top crude producer, officials said. The deal will see Dubai World Corporation (DWC) wholly-owned by Dubai emirate, investing in projects in the restive Niger Delta, Africa’s oil and gas heartland, which accounts for nearly all of Nigeria’s around 2.0 million barrels of crude per day.

The Tata-led Neotel consortium and mobile phone giant MTN South Africa have signed an agreement to jointly build a 2 billion rand ($202 million) 5,000-km optical fibre network that will connect all major centres across this country.

Four Chinese contractors have become the latest casualties of a global purge on corruption in World Bank-funded projects with a huge impact on Kenya’s construction scene. Caught in a corruption muddle that was instigated by a construction tender award scandal in the Philippines are two Chinese companies — China Road and Bridge Corporation and China Wu Yi — that control a significant share of the Kenyan construction market.

The first has to do with commodity prices. The second is the seeming retreat from Africa of investors and entrepreneurs from China, which is surprising. Until recently, it appeared that Africa's dependence on commodity exports would not hinder its economic rise. Growth rates of more than 5 percent for the last few years have been fuelled by the large increases in international commodity prices.

The World Bank’s decision to shut out four Chinese firms from taking part in any of its projects around the world is likely to draw a cold reaction from African countries, many of which have turned to the Far East for economic partnerships. Political analysts say the World Bank’s move against the firms – three of which have lucrative infrastructure contracts in Kenya – is bound to be interpreted as a move against China’s growing political and economic clout in Africa by Western economic powers.

Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world. Freedom House functions as a catalyst for freedom through its analysis, advocacy and action. Freedom House seeks a Director for its Ethiopia Human Rights Technical Assistance Program to be based in East Africa.

Kenyan authorities have launched an investigation into the disappearance of $100m in oil imports as part of a corruption scandal that threatens to disrupt fuel supplies to east Africa. According to the Kenyan energy ministry, the oil was allegedly released – and sold – without the authorisation of the banks and trading houses that financed it.

Join Ashoka's Changemakers competition "GameChangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport," a search to identify sport innovations that challenge the barriers girls and women face around the world. Submit your entry by February 11, 2009 at to take advantage of the funding opportunities and global exposure, while contributing to the next big change!

Ghanaian President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday released the initial list of the names of his cabinet and gave an indication that he would fulfil his pledge of 40 per cent of them being women. The list, which included a blend of old and new faces, has been forwarded to parliament for vetting.

One of Mauritania's political parties, the Alternative Party, has nominated its president, Mohamed Yehdi Ould Moctar Hacen, as its flag bearer in the 30 May 2009 presidential election in the country, the party said in a statement here Thursday.

The Chinese Great Wall Industry Corporation is to replace Nigeria's first-ever communications satellite, which failed in orbit 10 Nov. 2008, according to local media reports. The agreement to replace the satellite, tagged 'NigComSat-1', was signed by the Chinese firm and the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited 12 Dec. 2008.

African states will contribute additional troops to the United Nations, African Union Hybrid force in Darfur (UNAMID) in the coming months, with an advance party expected from Tanzania, the force said Wednesday. Some African states, among them Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Nigeria are expected to deploy hundreds more troops within the next two months as part of the Mission's efforts to speed up deployment in Darfur to ensure better safety and protection of local civilians, UNAMID said.

As Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announces a national emergency and declares that 10 million people don’t have enough food to eat, results of an International Rescue Committee survey show that an alarming 22% of children under five are malnourished in one part of the country worst affected by the food crisis. The IRC’s survey in Kakuma division, Turkana north, found that almost 40% of local people were surviving on just one meal a day. Malnutrition rates among children under the age of five were 22% — that’s much higher than the 15% rate which the World Health Organization uses to determine an emergency situation.

Striking Zimbabwe teachers on Thursday vowed to remain on strike until the government pays them salaries foreign currency, a teachers union said. "Our industrial action continues unless we are paid 2,200 US dollars per month,"Takavafira Zhou, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president said at a media briefing.

Zimbabwe media organisations have been licensed to sell their newspapers and other products in both local and foreign currency. With effect from 22 January 2009, a copy of The Herald was selling at US$1 or the equivalent in pound sterling, pula or rand. The Zimbabwe dollar price would be determined by the market rate of the day. On the same day, the weekly privately owned Financial Gazette also started selling its 22-28 January edition at US$2 a copy.

Libya's only internet service provider is launching its first commercial wireless network which it says is one of the most advanced in the world. The state-owned firm said only a handful of countries have rolled out the advanced internet connection known as WiMax on such a wide scale. Libya Telecom and Technology aims to start with WiMax coverage, including a mobile feature, in 18 cities.

Uganda's Supreme Court has ruled in a case involving more than 400 death row inmates that the death penalty is constitutional. However, it said that hanging was cruel and recommended that parliament consider another means of execution. The judges also said it was unreasonable to keep convicts on death row for more than three years.