RIGHTS-SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS Activists Challenge Discrimination in the Army

While government pins responsibility for its decision to ban soldiers who are HIV-positive from active duty on United Nations regulations, activists plan to fight the state in court.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Gays, Lesbians Fight Conservative Gov’ts, Unkind Society

It can pass for any high-class restaurant in Kenya's capital Nairobi. With the serene environment, soft piped music and colourful lights, curiosity of passers-by is aroused, and some are tempted to get inside for a swig.

POLITICS-ETHIOPIA: UN Alarmed at Illegal Border Crossings by Eritreans

Plagued by the impasse in the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the United Nations peacekeeping mission has a new problem on its hands. It is alarmed at the increasing number of Eritreans crossing the contested border illegally into neighbouring Ethiopia, using UN peacekeeping vehicles.

MEDIA: A Bad Week for African Journalists

The African media had a bad week throughout the continent, as governments closed private radio stations and newspapers, and arrested editors, reporters and publishers in what press freedom organisations consider an effort to eliminate the free flow of information.

POLITICS-EAST AFRICA: Poverty, Insecurity Fuel Small Arms Trade

Yusuf Abdi (not his real name), an illegal arms dealer operating from northern Kenya, knows no better way of making money. For the past ten years, his family has depended entirely on this business for a living.

RIGHTS: Questions Hang Over UN’s Goal of ‘Cities Without Slums’ By 2010

The mud walled shack with rusted iron roofing on one side, and old cartons on the other, caught the attention of human rights workers last week, when they visited Kibera slum in Nairobi, ahead of the World Habitat Day this week.

CULTURE-ZAMBIA: Reality Show Star Under Fire from Media, Women’s Groups

Now in the saddle of 'stardom', Cherise Makubale is finding that perhaps the 106 days she spent in the 'Big Brother Africa House' in South Africa, and the100,000-U.S.-dollar prize was easy pickings compared to the scrutiny her private life is getting now.

RIGHTS-RWANDA: Marriage by Abduction Worries Women’s Groups

Judith Kanzayire, a 29-year-old mother of three children from northern Rwanda, admits that she was the victim of 'marriage by abduction'. "What can you do? It's the tradition here. We have no choice but to accept it," she says.

HEALTH: Male Circumcision, HIV’s Missing Link?

The perceived correlation between low HIV infection and male circumcision is one area that AIDS researchers are yet to be convinced about.

MEDIA-KENYA: Culture of Intimidation Resurfaces

Mitch Odero, a veteran Kenyan journalist, remembers vividly how he used to be locked up behind bars for publishing investigative reports which exposed the government.

POLITICS: Ethiopia, Eritrea Peace Process Plunged Into Crisis

Within a fortnight, the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea has swung from one end of the pendulum to the other - from optimism on all sides to, now, a crisis stage.

POLITICS-SUDAN: Militia Groups Could Derail Peace Agreement

There are fears that militia and small rebel groups in Sudan, who have been sidelined from peace talks, could derail any agreement that might be reached between government and the main rebel group in future.

CULTURE-KENYA: The Last Stand Against Modernity

When prominent personalities die in Kenya, modernity and tradition clash. Most of the times, the conflict is about observing cultural rites.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: Women Vie for Presidency, Defying Patriarchal Society

The mood is joyful as a group of Somali women break into song and dance to crown Asha Abdi's decision to declare her interest in the presidency, the top job in the land.

CULTURE-AFRICA: Cultural Stereotypes Remain Major Hurdles in AIDS Battle

In a remote village in South Nyanza District, western Kenya, Lawrence Orawa is known as "jater", (loosely translated as widow cleanser). His work is to perform a sexual act with women whose husbands have passed away, a ritual meant to "cleanse" the home and chase away "evil spirits".

RIGHTS: Indigenous Peoples Push for Restitution

Their ultimate goal is to set up a truth and reconciliation commission to redress colonial injustices that stripped them of their heritage.

SPORTS-AFRICA: Prestigious Continental Games Kick Off Next Week

Nigeria hosts the 8th All African Games in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, next week. The games, the most prestigious on the continent, will be attended by 7,000 athletes, 1,500 journalists and over 10,000 fans from across Africa.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Demands for Anti-AIDS Drugs Grow Louder

From the UN headquarters in New York to Nairobi, the conference venue for the 13th International Conference on AIDS in Africa, the focus this week fell sharply on extending access to treatment with anti-retroviral drugs.

RIGHTS: A New Wall of Stigma Proving to Be a Setback in the Fight Against AIDS

"I lost my job after my employer came to know my HIV status. My children were chased from school and my relatives stopped visiting me," says Evelyne Apondi, whose husband succumbed to the disease two years ago.

CULTURE-UGANDA: Using Talent to Fight Early Marriages

Dorcus Apecu is a primary seven schoolgirl who keeps her fingers crossed. She is praying that her mother does not take her out of school and get her married due to lack of school fees.

HEALTH-AFRICA: AIDS Activists Push For More Access to Drugs to Reduce Deaths

"We want drugs! You talk as we die," were some of the angry voices by AIDS activists who protested Wednesday against failure by their governments to give them anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).