POLITICS-SOMALIA: Harsh Words For Transitional Government

Horn of Africa leaders attending a regional summit have lashed out at Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) for failing to restore peace and order in the war-torn country.

RIGHTS-SUDAN: New Trials Could Condemn more to Death

The number of people sentenced to death for their alleged role in the rebel attacks on Khartoum last May could rise if the government carries through its plans to set up more special anti-terrorism courts, according to human rights lawyers.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Water and Improved Livelihoods

"Sanitation may hold the key to success or failure of the MDGs. It is really a time bomb in terms of health and the environment, waiting to be detonated," Professor Damas Mashauri told participants at a seminar on water and sustainable development taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

POLITICS-ETHIOPIA: A Career In Dissent

Frozen in disbelief on the steps of the courthouse where she presided as a federal judge, Bertukan Mideksa watched as a man she had just ordered released on bail was detained by plain-clothes police with no warrant and no apparent regard for the law.

EDUCATION-KENYA: Nomadic Schools for Mobile Girls

Five years after the introduction of free primary education (FPE) in Kenya, the enrolment of girls in schools continues to lag behind in Garissa, in Kenya's North Eastern region.

EAST AFRICA: Trade Opportunities Turn Out To Be Death Traps

New trade opportunities after 20 years of fighting in Southern Sudan have turned out to be death traps for Ugandan traders because of violence and physical intimidation by the military and civilians alike.

ECONOMY: EU Involvement in DRC Mining Project Draws Protest

The involvement of the European Union in a mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has drawn a chorus of protest from local and international human rights advocates. They say the project is rife with problems relating to transparency and accountability.

KENYA: Biofuels Boom and Bust

The Kenyan government has hailed bio-diesel as an innovation that combines green politics with poverty reduction. But recent drops in biofuel prices have caused concern about the sustainability of alternative fuel production.

TRADE-AFRICA: Customs Union to Be Launched at COMESA Summit

Following the signing of a power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe on September 15, the country seems to be growing in confidence. Harare has announced that it will now host the 13th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

KENYA: Failing Grade For Free Primary Education?

When in 2003 Kenya followed its neighbours Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi in introducing free and compulsory primary education for all, the response from the public as well as international donors was overwhelming.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Time for Joint Action on HIV/AIDS and Violence

The war against HIV/AIDS, it is emerging, will not be won unless sexual and gender-based violence is tackled.

DEVELOPMENT: Signs of Hope for Ethiopia’s Children

Amid the hardship facing Ethiopia's children, there are signs that conditions may be improving and that children's lives are changing for the better.

TRADE-EAST AFRICA: Going Bananas to Fight Poverty and Hunger

Arguably one of the world’s most popular fruits, bananas are poorly marketed as a value-added commercial crop in Africa. But that is about to change as a plan is being conceptualised to transform the way Africa produces and sells bananas.

KENYA: Predicting Weather With Science and Spider Webs

When the magungu bird flies higher in the sky than usual and seems to float in the air in its passage from south to north, the Abasuba people living on the islands of Kenya's Lake Victoria and on the highlands near the lake know the rains are on their way and that it is time to plant.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Renewed Fight Against Old Killer

The key to a new multi-billion dollar strategy to eliminate malaria deaths worldwide by 2015 is to widen availability of existing diagnostic and preventative treatments.

POLITICS-KENYA: Broken Bodies, Unbroken Spirit

It was a sad occasion, and an occasion to rejoice. Sad, said Dr Ludeki Chweya, introducing Flora Terah's new book, because her heart-wrenching story shows that physical abuse and torture are a weapon of choice to deter women's participation in electoral politics in Kenya.

ENVIRONMENT-KENYA: Threat to Pastoralists' Way of Life

Ole Kaparo works as a school teacher in Nairobi, though his family still herds cattle in the Masai pastures of the north Rift Valley province. Five years ago, during a prolonged spell of drought, he left this traditional life to seek work in the city.

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/RIGHTS-RWANDA: Key Genocide Trials Depend On Judicial Reforms

Rwanda is hoping to convince the International Criminal Tribunal to change its mind over refusing to transfer three genocide suspects to face trial at home, paving the way for extradition procedures to start against dozens of others living abroad in freedom.

SOUTH SUDAN: Traditional Authority Seeks Its Place

A lion attempted to devour Dinka chief Makom Majong Makom once. It was during the long years of Sudan's north-south conflict that also saw a militia attack nearly destroy his rural South Sudanese community.

ECONOMY: Kenyan Companies Cautiously Venture Into Regional Market

Dr. Manu Chandaria (79) has been lionised as East Africa’s most respected chief executive officer of a company.

UGANDA: Radio Drama Strengthens Women’s Voices

Fifteen-year-old Taboni's parents are in a bind. Their daughter has been raped by the commandant of the squalid internally-displaced persons camp they call home, and they do not know what to do.