APEX 2009 entries double
According to Odette Roper, CEO of the Association of Communication and Advertising (ACA), APEX entries for 2009 have more than doubled compared to previous years. The APEX awards acknowledges leaders in the advertising and communication industry.

Ericsson launches Pixl8r and Social Media Portal
Ericsson has launched a social networking portfolio for mobile network operators, the Pixl8r initiative and the Social Media Portal. The technologies together offer sharing of user-generated content across networks.

AFRICA

2009 TABPI Young Leaders Scholarship
CLEVELAND: The 2009 scholarships are to attend the ASBPE Editorial Conference, scheduled for 15 - 17 July, 2009 in Washington, D.C., USA. The TABPI Young Leaders Scholarship allows younger editors, who might otherwise be unable, to attend this educational b2b editorial event.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Swaziland: Times challenges censorship bid
MBABANE: The privately-owned Times of Swaziland newspaper has opposed a High Court application by the Jericho Church in which the indigenous Christian denomination is seeking to ban the newspaper along with two other media houses from reporting on a split in the church caused by a leadership wrangle.

Egypt: Concerns with draft Broadcast Law
Article 19 and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information have voiced concerns with the draft Broadcast Law released by the Egyptian authorities. An analysis of the draft law conducted by Article 19 highlights these concerns, including the fact that the oversight body, the National Audiovisual Broadcasting Regulation Authority, would be controlled by the government.

AFRICA

Practical Publishing launches Sign Africa 2009
JOHANNESBURG: Sign Africa returns to Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town this year culminating with the Sign Africa Johannesburg and Africa In-store events. Sign Africa is a platform for the sign, design, graphics and marketing arenas.

AFRICA

The African Activist Archive
[Janine Erasmus] A new online resource aims to preserve an important slice of shared African and American history covering 50 years of activism in the US against apartheid and colonialism. The African Activist Archive project has so far collected over 1,300 documents and artefacts, which are now available for perusal on its website.

Zim sanctions discussed at SA, Bulgaria meeting
[Bathandwa Mbola] PRETORIA: The issue of Zimbabwe, in particular the lifting of sanctions imposed by the European Union on that country, emerged in discussions between South African Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin late last week.

MTL partners with bank in credit loading
[Gregory Gondwe] The country's lone fixed-phone line company, Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) has entered into partnership with National Bank of Malawi (NBM) where the bank's accounts holders will be able to top-up their airtime credit using standing orders.

CAMEROON: Farmers “forgotten” by government
ESSE: Nearly a year after the government pledged to help boost agricultural production, farmers told IRIN they have been “forgotten” by their political leaders.