DEVELOPMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: Land Reform Policies Under the Microscope

Civil society in South Africa has told government that the pace of land reform in the country needs to be speeded up.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: Churches to the Rescue

South African churches sent relief aid to Zimbabwe this week to help more than 700,000 people affected by the country's urban clean-up campaign - Operation Murambatsvina, a Shona term meaning "drive out trash".

ECONOMY-DRC: Helpful Intervention or Meddling?

A controversy has arisen in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over moves for an international committee that is helping oversee the country’s transition to democracy to assist government in managing public funds.

HEALTH-MOZAMBIQUE: Local Production of ARVs – Perhaps

With an HIV prevalence of over 12 percent, Mozambique is one of many African countries grappling with the challenge of supplying treatment to citizens who risk succumbing to AIDS-related diseases.

ECONOMY-ZIMBABWE: Running on Empty

The sight of cars caked with dust, lined up outside filling stations, has become a common one in Zimbabwe. Some of the vehicles have been there for days, even weeks, as motorists grapple with what many view as the worst episode yet in the country's recurrent fuel crisis.

POLITICS-DRC: “Stronger Commitment” Needed for Peace

Ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has underscored the difficulties of bringing lasting peace to this vast Central African country.

DEVELOPMENT-SWAZILAND: Farm More, Farm Better

While Swaziland's soaring HIV prevalence and the spending habits of King Mswati the Third are issues which often land the country in the headlines, problems also loom on another front: about a quarter of Swazis are currently dependent on international food aid.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: To Loan, or Not To Loan

Zimbabwe's decision to seek a loan from neighbouring South Africa has sparked a heated debate in that country. Some have urged South Africa to turn down the request, while others say the loan should be granted - with stringent conditions attached. They fear a refusal to extend this financial lifeline to President Robert Mugabe would exacerbate Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.

POLITICS-SWAZILAND: Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

"We don't want Swaziland to explode like Rwanda, Burundi or Sierra Leone," says Gabriel Mkhumane, founder of the outlawed People's United Democratic Movement - a Swazi opposition party.

HEALTH-SWAZILAND: A Message to Teenagers – Take Charge!

A new advertising campaign aimed at curtailing teenage HIV rates by promoting abstinence is using a combination of traditional and modern values in its appeal to Swazi youth.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Laying Out the Pros and Cons of the G8 Summit

Two years ago, Caroline Sande-Mukulira joined civil society activists in the French resort of Evian to plead Africa's cause.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Two High-Profile Campaigners Tackle AIDS

Former South African president Nelson Mandela and United States First Lady Laura Bush campaigned in two South African cities this week against the spread of AIDS.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Keeping Mom Alive Is the Best Medicine

It is tempting to call it a "no brainer": the idea that attempts to prevent transmission of HIV from mothers to children should be matched by initiatives to keep these mothers alive after they give birth.

G8 SUMMIT: London Blasts Spark Speculation and Sympathy in South Africa

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) major industrialized nations wrapped up their summit in Gleneagles, Scotland this week, amidst images of bloodstained commuters crying and struggling to get away from the scene of blasts that occurred in Britain’s capital – London.

HEALTH-NAMIBIA: “Wanted by Many People” – Cared For by Few

"It's the wrong profession to be in," says Father Herman Klein-Hitpass, with a nervous chuckle.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Sirte Looks to Gleneagles

The African Union ended its annual summit this week with an appeal for substantially more aid from the West and demands for two permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.

G8-SUMMIT: “We Are Making Good Progress, Considering Where We Came From”

Demands for good governance and tough action on corruption could eclipse calls for increased aid to Africa when the Group of Eight (G8) leaders meet this week in Scotland for their annual summit, African academics and civil society groups fear.

POLITICS-DRC: Bullets, Not Ballots

The 45th anniversary of Congo-Kinshasa's independence from Belgium, Thursday, was supposed to have been the day the country held its first democratic election in over four decades. However, it was teargas and ammunition rather than ballot boxes which many citizens were confronted with.

ENVIRONMENT: Poaching Declining In Swaziland

In the little kingdom of Swaziland, a tough animal preservation law has cut poaching by 90 percent since its enactment ten years ago, while the bloody extinction of rhino has come entirely to a halt.

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: “I’m Ready to Stand in Front of the Gun and be Shot”

A coalition of more than 200 African and international civic groups has called on the United Nations and African Union to press for an end to evictions and demolitions that have left people across Zimbabwe homeless.

HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA: AIDS Orphans – a Silent Tsunami

Twelve million and counting: that is the number of children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. This figure is expected to double by 2010.