The International Federation of the Journalists (IFJ) has strongly condemned the murders of Somali journalist Mohamed Amin Adan Abdulle, a reporter with Radio Shabelle and Hassan Zubeyr Haji Hassan, a cameraman working with Al-Arabia TV who were killed this morning in a bomb attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

People in the West throw away millions of old computers every year. Hundreds of thousands of them end up in Africa, where children try to eke out a living by selling the scrap. But the toxic elements in the waste are slowly poisoning them.

A24MEDIA has scaled the heights in its pursuit to give voice to Africa by letting Africans tell their own stories, their own way. In this end-year roundup, A24MEDIA presents East and Horn of Africa’s most viewed stories in the A24 Media’s online portal. The list however casts an apparently real but unfortunate situation that; even Africans prefer the so-called negative stories.

A new report entitled: Public Broadcast Services in Africa Series has urged the government of Zimbabwe to commit to media reforms. Citing the highly controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which established the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Commission, a body that has immense power to make or break all media in the country; the report, launched in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, urges the government to place top priority in ensuring that: ‘Laws inhibiting the free operations of the media are repealed without delay.’

The Twenty Ten project is inspired by the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the media opportunities this has to offer. It will be the first time that the FIFA World Cup competition takes place on the African continent. Football plays a vibrant part in life in communities across the continent. Taking a cue from this, Twenty Ten aims to give African journalists a voice, both in Africa and worldwide, by offering them an opportunity to express their own views of African reality, as opposed to having to depend on foreign news organizations.

10 tactics for turning information into action' will be launched at the Frontline Club in London, December 4. This event will be the first of a series of global screenings of '10 tactics', the documentary film by Tactical Tech. Locations include Nairobi, Kenya; Berlin, Germany; Beirut, Lebanon Sydney, Australia; Upington, South Africa; Tbilisi, Georgia; New Jersey, USA; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil and Banjarmarsin, Indonesia.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has raised alarm with the safety and protection of the media in Guinea following an alleged plot by the military junta, targeting the independent media.

Somali gunmen have released two foreign journalists who were held for 14 months in the capital city of Mogadishu of war-torn Somalia. Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan and Canadian freelance reporter Amanda Lindhout were abducted in Mogadishu in August 2008 while they were visiting a refugee camp outside of the capital.

A Tunisian journalist has been sentenced to six months imprisonment on for slander and assault after a trial criticised by rights groups. Accused of assaulting a woman in public, Taoufik Ben Brik, 49, was arrested on October 29, four days after Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was re-elected with nearly 90 per cent of the vote.

Kenya could once again find itself in a United Nations agency’s bad books for failing to submit a crucial report on torture. The UN Convention Against Torture and other cruel, inhumane, degrading treatment or punishment (UNCAT) last November gave the government a year to put in place measures to guard against state-sanctioned torture as well as opening avenues for justice to victims.

International Center for Policy and Conflict express concern on the deepen crisis in Kenya of human rights defenders and victims of post-election violence threats and intimidation. This is unacceptable and in contradiction of all human rights instruments ratified by Kenya.

In the wake of the May 2005 Ethiopian parliamentary elections, paramilitary forces under the command of Meles Zenawi orchestrated the massacre of 193 innocent men, women and children and wounded a further 763 people involved in civil protest, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. Ignoring the efforts of the country's regime to besmirch their memory, Ethiopians must honour these victims of oppression as patriots, Mariam stresses, and recognise their sacrifices as profound inspiration for future generations.

Looking back on the historical and political significance of the Ethiopian flag, Etyopian Simbiro considers the role and use of the 'tri-colour' in developments in the country. The flag has proven a double-edged sword in its ability to both divide and unify, Simbiro contends, but should ultimately prove the inspiration for a new Ethiopia based on tolerance, trust and respect for the rule of law.

Three employees with the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH), O’brien Rwafa, Jacob Phiri and Freedom Moyo, were last week suspended for 10 days after being accused of leaking information on a government directive to stop covering government ministers who are members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Chief Resident Magistrate Charles Kafunda on 16 November 2009 acquitted Post News Editor Chansa Kabwela of the case in which she was charged with one court of circulating obscene materials or things that corrupt moral contrary to section 177 1 (b) of the Penal Code chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia. Kabwela allegedly circulated the pictures between June 1 and 10, 2009 in Lusaka and the Zambian Government premised their case on the notion that the images tended to corrupt morals.

Eritrea ranks at the very bottom of Reporters without Borders index of press freedom for 2009, released in October. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains two recent short reports from Reporters without Borders on the situation of journalists in Eritrea, and an account on by exiled journalist Tedros Abraham on his experiences as a journalist in Asmara and and his journey through Sudan to eventual refugee status in Norway.

The growth of cellphone use, particularly in the developing world, is providing health experts with a new channel of communication to provide family planning information.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns in the strongest possible terms the targeted shooting of two Somali journalists working for international news media organizations in Galkayo and Mogadishu.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has denounced the disproportionate sanctions imposed by the National Council of Communication (CNC) in Gabon on November 10, 2009 against eight private newspapers which have been struck with temporary prohibition of publication as well as the suspension of a very popular television program.

James Donkor, a journalist working with community radio station Radio Progress, in Wa, the capital of Ghana's Upper West region, was reportedly assaulted on 24 October 2009 and briefly detained by two policemen in the area. The journalist, who had photographed a man the policemen had allegedly tied to an electric pole, was accused of "disrespecting" the police officers.