Following the so called 'Arab spring', and in the midst of the ‘acampadas’, organised mass mobilisations through social networks in many Spanish cities, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in collaboration with IPS Inter Press Service News Agency launched the book 'Politics, Networks and Technologies in Communications for Development', a tour through the different visions of new technologies and their contribution to information in general and more concretely, to communication for development. The book has contributions from experts who analyse challenges faced by journalism and communication for development, in front of the revolution of new technologies.

Since 2002, the Government of Tanzania has been implementing the Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP) with two specific aims: making education more accessible and improving its quality. While significant success has been made in extending access, improving quality remains a challenge, says a May 2011 brief from Uwazi monitoring. 'This brief is the second in a series about the quality of public schools in Dar es Salaam. The results show that many public schools in Dar es Salaam lack proper playgrounds and face debilitating sanitary conditions.'

Jalaa Writers’ Collective was created in 2009 by ten Nigeria-based writers who came together in an effort to tackle the book production and distribution challenges of the local publishing industry. The business model of Jalaa is based on the premise that there exists 'a gap between professional, traditionally published books that sell in the thousands and amateurish subsidy and self-published books that sell in the hundreds'. As such, the collective aims to engage the weaknesses of the industry by pooling the talent, resources and experience of its members in a systematic and profit-oriented manner.

In a review of Omar Barghouti’s 'Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions', Estelle Cooch praises the author’s profiling of the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement, mixing of the analytical with the anecdotal and emphasis on Palestinian agency.

Tanzanian playwright Ebrahim Hussein’s ‘Mashetani’ woke Kenyans up to the Moi regime’s repressive ways, becoming ‘a bible of a kind for the Mwakenya movement’. But the themes in the book are being replayed today as coalition politicians grapple for power, writes Anthony Muchoki.

Weaving together the stories of three generations of women from the same family, this novel is a patchwork of love, jealousy and human frailty set against a backdrop of war and political ambition. It is a remarkable journey that takes us deep into the heart of a family both fractured and bound together by their love of one man.

‘View from Somewhere’, the new album from singer/songwriter Amira Kheir is now available through her . Originally from Sudan but having lived in Italy for many years and now residing in the UK, Amira 'draws from her own multicultural background to create music that explores themes of home, belonging and transcendental spirituality.' If you are lucky enough to be in London this weekend, catch her performance at the Green Note in Camden on Sunday 15 May.

Reflecting on the life and work of Bob Marley, Horace Campbell discusses the positive messages of hope, mobilisation and self-esteem at the core of the legendary reggae artist’s music.

Uganda has a sense of déjà vu...

‘Cheche: Reminiscences of a Radical Magazine’ should ‘be read by the younger generation of pan-Africanists from Cape to Cairo, so that they may dream, and also so that they may learn,’ writes Yash Tandon.

Will al-Qaida select Osama bin Laden's successor democratically, ponders Gado.

Edited by Yash Pal Ghai and Jill Cottrell, ‘Marginalized Communities and Access to Justice’ is ‘a useful tool for human rights actors’, writes Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua.

South African artists are bowing to the pressure from the ANC Youth League to cut all ties with the Kingdom of Swaziland. After the youth league urged all South Africans invited to Swaziland for the celebrations of King Mswati III’s birthday and his sons’ concert, moves to boycott the tyrannic state have escalated. The boycott is aimed at the Swazi king, his family and friends.

Plans to bring bin Laden back to life?

Wonder whose fault it is this time?

What a difference the decades make!

In a review of ‘Milk and Peace, Drought and War: Somali Culture, Society and Politics’, edited by Markus Hoehne and Virginia Luling, Nilani Ljunggren De Silva highlights an ‘important work for all who wish to understand Somalia and its beleaguered and courageous people’.

Mary Wambui, the wife of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, is considered an impostor, says Gado.

Loga Virahsawmy writes about sexism in advertising and the February 2011 launch of the Association of Advertising Agencies (AAA) Code of Advertising Practice for Mauritius.

A three-month campaign by Addis Ababa's health bureau hopes to boost adherence to antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs in the Ethiopian capital by improving communication between patients and health service providers. A 2009 study by the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office found that on average, 72.3 per cent of patients on ARVs were still on first-line medication one year after starting treatment. 'The remaining are lost...it could be due to any number of reasons such as death or an unannounced change of location but it is a cause for concern,' said Addis Akalu, head of the disease prevention and control department at the Addis Ababa Health Bureau.