University of Botswana (UB) students, armed with bricks and stones, attacked two journalists from the bi-weekly newspaper "Mokgosi" on 5 December 2002.

Diamond miner De Beers marked the opening of a new store in London's West End by threatening legal action against campaigners for the bushmen of the Kalahari in an attempt to stop protests spoiling the opening. The move underlines the way companies are increasingly aggressive in their treatment of those they feel are damaging their brands while being keen to present themselves as socially responsible.

The Botswana government has denied that diamonds were behind the controversial relocation of the Basarwa bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and has accused British advocacy group Survival International of a "campaign of deception." The Botswana human rights group Ditshwanelo, which is part of an NGO negotiating team on the future of the Basarwa, has distanced itself from Survival International's campaign which has focused on the alleged role of diamonds and the firm de Beers. Ditshwanelo said this "confrontational" intervention had stalled talks between the government and the negotiating team.

The Youth League of the Botswana National Front - the left of centre main opposition party in Botswana - has issued a press statement condemning the treatment of the Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).

A desperate plea from a 'Bushman' girl holding out in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve has been received by Survival International. The letter was handed to an Italian tourist visiting the reserve, who passed it to Survival. In the letter the unnamed girl says, 'Tell other countries [about our plight] so that if we die they will know there were people in this area... Margaret Nasha [minister in charge of the relocation] has sentenced us to death because of water... The government of Botswana forced Basarwa (Bushmen) from Central Kalahari Game Reserve to new villages... some people of Gugama (village) we refused to move... Help us with food and water.'

The cultural practice of the extended family caring for orphans is rapidly unravelling in Botswana under the strain of HIV/AIDS, exposing children to possible exploitation.

A senior MEP has demanded the European Union reviews its financial assistance to Botswana, in the light of the forced relocation of 'Bushmen' from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). Richard Howitt MEP visited the reserve last month and has now tabled a European Parliamentary question saying that the EU must not be complicit in the 'abuse of the Bushmen's human rights'.

Groups of Botswana's Gana and Gwi Bushmen, also known as the Basarwa, were reported to be returning to their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in defiance of government attempts at forcing them to settle elsewhere.

HIV-positive individuals from Southern African countries are increasingly travelling to Botswana -- the only nation in the region that provides antiretroviral therapy through its public health service -- in search of treatment, the Financial Times reports. Botswana, which has the world's highest HIV infection rate, with 38.5 percent of people between the ages of 14 and 49 believed to be HIV-positive, began offering treatment this year through a partnership with drug maker Merck and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In the slums of Botswana's capital Gaborone, high unemployment mixed with alcohol and drug abuse help drive unsafe sex, reflected in shocking rates of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among the most vulnerable, adolescent girls.

Compiled by Shelagh Willet & Stella Monageng et.al at the University of Botswana which houses a unique collection of contemporary published and unpublished written material on the indigenous minority of Southern Africa, The aim was to make this literature available in one collection, and thus promote research on, with, and by, this minority. The volume lists over a thousand bibliographic entries covering the social sciences, languages and history, as well as publications from national and regional San organisations. Short abstracts of each entry are linked to a list of keywords and authors.

Residents of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) have appealed against a government decision to cut basic services to those living in the reserve. Heard on 11 July, the appeal by Roy Sesana and 247 other residents, against a previous High Court ruling against them, was referred back to the High Court in Lobatse.

Kalahari Conservation Society, a Botswana based environmental watchdog, leapt to support government's proposal to the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, aimed at selling the country's huge stockpile of elephant ivory, the organisation said on Thursday.

The Botswana, Zimbabwe and South African governments are discussing the establishment of a transfrontier park along the Shashe/Limpopo (Shalimpo) rivers confluence and the Truli block area.

Popular Gabz FM radio presenter and MISA-Botswana Chairperson Solomon Monyame and Gabz FM management have been jointly sued for the sum of Botswana Pula 1.7 million (approx. US$279,330) in damages over announcements broadcast on the station's breakfast show on 6 June 2002. On 6 June, Monyame announced between 6:45 and 6:55 a.m. (local time) that he would interview Radio Botswana 2 (RB2) announcer Gloria Kgosi on allegations that she was harassed by Botsalo Ntuane, executive secretary of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), on RB2's premises, thus delaying the airing of the national news by seven minutes.

Botswana has received 14 million Euros in the second phase of a European Union funded wildlife conservation and the infrastructural development of game parks and reserve initiative. The project, which commences in July, is expected to strengthen the management of game reserves and support communities engaged in natural resource management activities, Botswana's tourism minister, Pelonomi Venson said last Saturday during a luncheon for visiting EU MP, Glenys Kinnock.

The worldwide campaign for the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana, received a publicity boost on the sidelines of an international diamond conference in Canada on Monday. Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group (VIPIRG) demonstrated outside the World Diamond Conference because they believe the real reason the Basarwa are being removed is because of the government's mining interest in the reserve.

The Basarwa hunter gatherers may have lost the first round of their court bid to remain in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, but they still have another chance to fight their removal, one of their lawyers said on Monday.

Botswana has been condemned by the United Nations for its 'discrimination' against Bushman tribes. The UN Human Rights Commission heard that the Bushmen have been the victims of 'discriminatory practices', and are being 'dispossessed of their traditional lands'.

The Botswana government this week left Gana and Gwi Bushmen families in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to cope without water in the desert. The government cut off water supplies to the remaining Bushmen communities in its latest attempt to force them off their ancestral lands. Many of the 700 Bushmen still living in the reserve at the start of this month have now been forced to leave.