Gaddafi remains firing on all cylinders, says Gado.

While the South African Department of Trade and Industry has stepped up criminalisation of pirated books, movies, and music, consumer patterns show that obtaining pirated media is widely accepted. In fact, a case study in Hanover Park, a poor neighbourhood outside Cape Town where the Association of Progressive Communication investigated CD piracy, most residents made no distinction between pirated and legal goods. Some people interviewed found the concept of piracy completely foreign, and all respondents felt that their use of pirated goods was legitimate, given their economic situation. Average consumers feel they have no choice but to turn to cheaper alternatives because the price of original goods is simply too high for them to afford.

Gado wonders if a bit of mutual support between Gaddafi and Kenya's leaders might arise.

A dire cash flow shortage in Nelson Mandela Bay, the sprawling municipality that includes Port Elizabeth, Despatch and Uitenhage, has resulted in an R800 million cut in spending on key service delivery projects in the municipality - including a project to put an end to the undignified bucket system. The council’s financial woes are mainly due to World Cup spending that was not recouped, and a drop in the revenue collection rate.

The African Union sends over a special team to advise Gaddafi...

Could what happened in Egypt happen in Uganda?

Museveni blazes ahead of the opposition...

Gaddafi's efforts to seek a host outside of Libya prove fruitless.

With Uhuru Kenyatta making comments about Raila Odinga while on the radio, Kenya's National Cohesion and Integration Commission looks on in shock.

Tunisia's interim government on January 22nd lifted licensing restrictions on the importation of books, publications and films, opening the floodgates to foreign media. The constraints were imposed by the Ben Ali regime to control the flow of information. 'Lifting restrictions on importing books is a key demand that has been called on by voices of enlightenment, modernity and the democracy of culture and knowledge in Tunisia,' said Moktar Kalfaoui, a writer for the website Alawan.

Inspired by events in Egypt and Tunisia, will Kenya witness its own revolution, asks Gado.

In the wake of the Berlusconi scandal, leaders offer advice to the Italian premier.

Gado imagines how politicians across the continent might have taken the news about Mubarak.

Kenya's Kibaki shares his insights with other African leaders...

The poems of Kenyan human rights campaigner Philo Ikonya inspire a sense of urgency and provide a melodious and metaphorical wake-up call to courageous men and women in the struggle for justice, writes Khainga O’Okwemba.

Nilani Ljunggren de Silva reviews ‘Defying the Winds of Change: Zimbabwe’s 2008 Election’, edited by E.V. Masunungure, which she describes as ‘a useful book for anyone who is interested in reading about the Zimbabwean election process and about the political environment in depth’.

Sokari Ekine reviews Shailja Patel’s ‘Migritude’, a collection of ‘beauty’ and a ‘poetic masterpiece’.

With a revolutionary wave continuing across Egypt, the African Union's dubious leaders call a special session, says Gado.

Mubarak's digging in may not be too healthy for his long-term prospects, suggests Gado.

Gado wonders about the depths to which Arab leaders are prepared to change.