RELIGION-KENYA: Church Severs Ties with U.S. Gay Bishop

The Anglican Church of Kenya has barred all its 28 dioceses from having any involvement with Gene Robinson, the new bishop of New Hampshire in the United States - and the first openly gay clergyman.

POLITICS: UN Mission Faces Strained Ethiopia-Eritrea Relations

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea is facing strained relations with both governments, in the midst of spy charges and its reporting of a shooting incident, while trying to keep the peace between the two Horn of Africa states.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Women Resurrect Debate on Affirmative Action

Kenyan women are challenging a report by a state-appointed taskforce which, they say, has ignored issues that have contributed to their marginalisation.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Making Every Drop Count

The prospect of a future plagued by water shortages in Sub-Saharan Africa is coming under the spotlight this week, in Nairobi.

POLITICS-EAST AFRICA: Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Still Contentious

There seems no end to the troubles that are dogging the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 2000, the two Horn of Africa countries signed an accord in Algeria to end two years of fighting sparked by a border dispute. The indefinite postponement, last week, of the marking out of a border in the contested area posed a major setback to peace efforts.

POLITICS-BURUNDI: One Rebel Group Signs Peace Accord, Another Stays Out

South Africa believes it has notched up yet another Africa conflict resolution success with the signing in Pretoria on Sunday of the final details of a power-sharing agreement between Burundi's transitional government led by President Domitien Ndayizeye and rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza.

/UPDATE/TRADE: Stakeholders Seek To Restore Diamond’s Integrity To The Market Place

Since the discovery of diamonds some four thousand years ago, connoisseurs have marvelled at the four "c’s" of the stones: their cut, colour, clarity and carat. Derived from the Greek word "adamus" which means unconquerable, diamonds indeed seemed unstoppable, generating an industry worth some 70 billion dollars a year.

/REPEAT/ECONOMY-AFRICA: Making Gambling a Safe Bet

Love it or hate it, the gambling industry is making inroads on the African continent. If not closely monitored however, it could bring with it a host of evils such as money laundering and fraud - not to mention gambling addiction.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Battered Men Emerge From Cocoons of Silence

For the first time, Kenyan men are admitting that they are at the receiving end of domestic violence.

HEALTH-KENYA: Price Reductions for AIDS Drugs a First Step, Say Activists

The prospect of receiving anti-retroviral therapy was brought a little closer to millions of HIV-positive Kenyans recently, with the announcement of a price reduction for some of the drugs that are used to treat AIDS.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: 20 Years On, People With AIDS Still Suffer Discrimination

Ugandan Magdalena Achero (not her real name) is a bitter woman. As a school teacher, in a country which has been hailed as a beacon of hope for people living with HIV/AIDS, she has experienced discrimination firsthand.

POLITICS: U.S. Seeks Lasting Peace in Sudan

The American muscle has renewed hopes for a final peace settlement in the Sudan following this week's visit to Kenya by U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: Women Demand Law to Weed Out Domestic Violence

Rights campaigners in Uganda are demanding a law to protect women from domestic violence, which has been blamed for the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among them.

CULTURE-ETHIOPIA: Documentary Captures Audiences Amidst ‘War’ Tensions

A documentary on seven ethnic groups making peace in the southern Ethiopian Rift Valley is capturing audiences in the capital Addis Ababa, as the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea teeters on the brink of collapse.

HEALTH-UGANDA: Measles Vaccination Raises Controversy

Uganda's health officials should heave a sigh of relief following 'successful' measles immunisation campaigns, which targeted 12.7 million children.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Inmates May Soon be Allowed to Vote

Rights organisations are demanding that Kenya's draft constitution be adopted to allow inmates to vote in 2007.

POLITICS: Zimbabwe Could Overshadow Commonwealth Agenda

Don McKinnon hopes that December's Commonwealth summit in Abuja, Nigeria will not be dominated by Zimbabwe, but it appears that circumstances might override that wish.

CORRUPTION-KENYA: Gov’t Weeds Out ‘Rotten Judges’

Kimani Mburu knows what it feels like to hang around court corridors in pursuit of justice.

POLITICS-ETHIOPIA: UN Appeals to Media to Stop War Mongering Comments

The United Nations has appealed to journalists to stop trying to incite war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: Access to Computers Remain a Distant Dream for Women

At 50, Nyende Namisi, a peasant farmer in rural western Kenya, has never seen a computer before.

POLITICS: Ugandans Opt for Talks to End Rebellion

For 17 years, the government of President Yoweri Museveni has failed to crush the rebellion in northern Uganda, which has displaced up to a million people.