NORTH AFRICA

Rebuilding independent press in Tunisia

A delegation of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) travelled to Tunis in early February 2011 to assess what is needed to rebuild the independent press in Tunisia and ensure freedom of the press and freedom of expression are successfully established. Read more >>

WEST AFRICA

Equatorial Guinea: Blogger, literary magazine editor protests against lack of freedom

MALABO: Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, a novelist, blogger and editor of the arts and literature magazine Atanga, left Equatorial Guinea for Spain early on Wednesday, 16 February 2011, saying he had been "harassed" because of the hunger strike he began on 11 February in protest against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's dictatorial rule. He was planning to continue his protest in Spain. Read more >>

AFRICA

Google makes web search more social

WASHINGTON: Google is making web search more social, weaving posts from Twitter, Flickr, Blogger and other accounts of a user's friends into search results. Read more >>

EGYPT

Egypt military junta launches Facebook page

CAIRO: Egypt's new military rulers have launched their own Facebook page to better communicate with the youth who used the social networking site to organise protests that drove Hosni Mubarak from power. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

HICA introduces Indaba 2011

The Hotel Investment Conference Africa (HICA), formerly known as the Hospitality Investment Conference Africa, will be held in KwaZulu-Natal 5-6 May 2011, preceding the annual tourism Indaba in Durban. The theme will be 'taking stock'. Read more >>

AFRICA

Video making second mobile revolution

BARCELONA: Smartphones and tablets are driving a mobile revolution, allowing video to take the lead in a business once dominated by voice calls, industry players and experts say. Read more >>

ZIMBABWE

ZMC concerned by delays in starting licensed newspapers

[Staff reporter] The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) chairman Godfrey Majonga has expressed concern at delays by licensed newspapers to start publishing, saying this was a "cause for concern to the commission". Read more >>

AFRICA

Google unveils payment platform for online content

WASHINGTON: Google launched an online payment platform for digital newspapers and magazines on Wednesday (16 February 2011), as a subscription service unveiled by Apple a day earlier came under fire for the size of the bite it takes from publishers. Read more >>

AFRICA

Social media: Africa's new musical frontier

[Nadia Neophytou] "When people hear about Africans and the internet, they immediately think of 419 scams," says Ngozi Odita, who runs societyhae.com, a collective of voices that is creating a global network of creativity. The Nigerian-born, Brooklyn-based designer is out to prove there's so much more to the way the continent uses the internet - by highlighting how artists from Africa are using social media to get their music across the world. Read more >>

UGANDA

Radio Uganda dot Net network provides online coverage for 2011 Ugandan elections

Radio Uganda dot Net have announced that it will be providing updated coverage of the presidential elections in Uganda taking place on Friday, 18 February 2011. Updates will be provided via its network of FM stations which includes CBS Radio Buganda, Radio Simba, Kaboozi and Sapientia among others. The radio stations are available on www.RadioUganda.Net.

ZIMBABWE

Zim: Newspaper readership surges, tv slumps in Q4 2010

[Staff reporter] Newspaper readership increased across the board during the fourth quarter of 2010 (Q4 2010) as the liquidity situation under a hard currency economy recovered, improving disposable incomes, the latest Zimbabwe All Media Products and Services Survey (ZAMPS) revealed. Read more >>

AFRICA

U2360° broadcast live from Cape Town

U2's Cape Town concert scheduled for today, Friday 18 February 2011, will be broadcast live on Highveld and KFM in South Africa, alongside a live stream on DStv.com, throughout Africa. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Cannes Lions: SA's Rose chairs Film Craft Lions Jury

LONDON, UK: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced the final two jury presidents for this year's event. South Africa's Keith Rose, director and founding partner of Velocity Films in South Africa will chair the Film Craft Lions Jury while Maria Luisa Francoli Plaza, global chief executive officer of MPG, has been appointed Media Lions Jury president. Read more >>

INDIA

38th FIPP World Magazine Congress 10-12 October 2011

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The FIPP World Magazine Congress is reputedly the largest magazine event in the world with the highest profile of any such event. Virtually all delegates are key decision-makers in publishing and media businesses across the globe. With the Congress taking place in New Delhi, India, for the first time, more than 1000 high-level international executives are expected to attend. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Medieval doctors and merry-go-rounds

[Dominic Rowbotham] LONDON, UK: How has the retail media specialist aggregated the market place to enable brands to deliver better and more joined-up in-store marketing campaigns? With many brands in dire need of getting themselves off the price promotion bandwagon, marketers need to start thinking smarter if they are to get back to building brand equity. Read more >>

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Emirates partners with Vitality to offer discounted flights

DUBAI, UAE: Emirates, the award-winning Dubai-based airline, has partnered with Vitality to extend the travel benefits enjoyed by Vitality members to include 14 new international destinations on board Emirates' internationally acclaimed airline fleet. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Danger danger P.H.Fat releases Dinosaur Blood

[Ruth Cooper] P.H.Fat's debut album "Dinosaur Blood" is swampy mix of gut-stirring bass and sticky psycho-delic dubby beats overlaid with luscious lyrics, which, when experienced, feels like the musical equivalent of a sweaty bone-crushing hug from a sexy alien from outer space. "Dinosaur Blood" is an aural mind f**k for sure. Read more >>