Pambazuka News 499: New technologies and the threat to sovereignty in Africa

An important new report from Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), 'A nice judge on a good day: immigration bail and the right to liberty', reveals the systemic failures within the UK legal system which consigns detainees to oblivion for months or years, reports this article on the website of the Institute of Race Relations.

Burundian security forces have arrested an opposition official and his wife, his party said. Deo Nshimirimana, a former lawmaker and a Union for Peace and Development (UPD) party official was detained alongside his wife and a businessman. A security official who asked not to be named said the UPD official and even the party are linked to a terrorist group bent on destabilising Burundi, according to AFP.

Development models that harness the potential of specific areas can help solve the problem of regional disparities in social advancement in the world’s poorest countries, according to experts attending a United Nations - convened forum on local development. Participants at the three - day First Global Forum on Local Development, which opened in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, yesterday, stressed the importance of taking a regional or even district or commune - level approach to local developmen...read more

If you are an African journalist or aspirant journalist under 30 and would relish the chance to study on the continent’s premier Journalism Programme and then join the Reuters news team for 6 months work experience, read on. With the FitzGerald Prize, Thomson Reuters is offering a scholarship to do a post graduate BA hons degree at the University of The Witwatersrand ’s Journalism Programme in Johannesburg followed by a stint in a newsroom in Africa.

Around the world, more than 200 million women lack access to basic contraception. Often, these women must travel far from their communities to reach a health facility, only to return home empty handed due to shortages and stock-outs. Family planning is an effective strategy to reduce maternal mortality. The film available through the link provided shows that ongoing challenges in obtaining reproductive health supplies can have devastating consequences for family size, abortion, spacing and de...read more

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