HEALTH-MALAWI: Being Pregnant is Shrouded By a Shadow of Death

With one in every 15 pregnant women dying from pregnancy and delivery complications, giving birth is risky business in Malawi.

POLITICS-ZANZIBAR: Rape on the Increase as Justice Systems Falter

Tanzania's isles of Unguja and Pemba Isles are reporting an increase in the number of rape cases.

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.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: The Melt Down of Liberty Continues Unabated

"Demonstrations here never last more than 10 minutes before the police move in," photojournalist Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi remarks casually.

RIGHTS-ZAMBIA: Land Rights for Women Still Far From Becoming a Reality

When Lands Minister Judith Kapijimpanga announced recently that government had, with immediate effect, directed local authorities to intensify land allocation to women to empower them through ownership, there was a huge round of applause.

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.

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.

HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Waiting For Death

It's been months since Noma, a cancer patient at Mpilo, the largest government hospital here, has gone for radiotherapy.

ENVIRONMENT: Malawi Launches Ten-Year Plan to Save Rare Fish Species

Alarmed by the dwindling numbers of its rare species of fish, locally known as chambo, the Malawi government has formulated a 10-year plan to restore the fish in Lake Malawi, and its largest outlet, Shire River.

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.

POLITICS-SWAZILAND: Women Fight for a Place in the Constitution

The Swaziland branch of Women in Law in Southern Africa is concerned that guarantees of women's rights that were announced in the draft constitution, soon to be ratified by King Mswati, are not as secure as first thought.

MEDIA: Troubled Zimbabwe Newspaper Looks to ‘Africa’s Bill Gates’

Publishers of Zimbabwe's independent daily newspaper that was closed by the government last month are gearing for a protracted court battle to have the newspaper back on the streets.

RIGHTS: Pressure on Southern African States to Manage Water Resources

Water wars are unlikely to be fought in Southern Africa, but as the region anxiously awaits the return of summer rains to accompany the new planting season, the current ongoing food security crisis has put new pressure on nations to manage their shared water resources.

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.

CULTURE: South African Wins the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature

The award of this year's Nobel Prize for literature to the South African novelist and linguist John Maxwell Coetzee is the cherry on top for the country's writers this year.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Growing Voices Against Anti-Terror Bill

"I cannot see why it is that if an individual uses violence against a state it is seen as terrorism, but if a government uses violence and intimidation against its people it is often viewed as something else. What applies to the one should apply to the other," says senior researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Anneli Botha.

POLITICS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Tutu Urges African Leaders to Deal With Mugabe

Former anti-apartheid activist and leading South African Anglican priest, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, has asked African leaders to mount pressure on Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe to improve the country's human rights record.

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.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Villages Becoming New Tourist Attractions

As tourism becomes a greater economic force in the region, local empowerment agencies and governments are seeking ways for impoverished people to share in the boom.