SOUTH AFRICA

Still no Hammerl

NEWSWATCH: On Friday the Libyan government confirmed that it was holding South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, but despite hopes for his early release, it appears he is still being held, reports IOL, while thousands have signed a petition for Hammerl's release, reports Mail & Guardian. Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi's journalists kick-start Press Freedom Commemoration

[Gregory Gondwe] Although the World Press Freedom Day Commemoration falls on 3 May every year, Malawi media started commemorating the day on 23 April 2011. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Concern mounts over missing SA journo as govt scrambles to assist

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] As concern mounts over the fate of Anton Hammerl, a South African photographer missing in Libya alongside two US journalists and one Spanish photographer, the Presidency said yesterday, Wednesday, 20 April 2011, that President Jacob Zuma has been briefed on the attempts made by the SA mission in Libya to locate Hammerl. Reports from Washington DC also suggest that the White House is very concerned about their well-being and it is trying hard to assist them in any way it can. Read more >>

NORTH AFRICA

Photojournalists Hetherington, Hondros dead in Libya

NEW YORK: Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, acclaimed photojournalists who had worked in conflict zones around the world, were killed in an explosion in the western Libyan city of Misurata yesterday, 20 April 2011. Two other photographers were injured. Read more >>

UGANDA

Uganda: Journalists' rights body to sue army for brutality

[Walter Wafula] The Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRN) in Uganda is set to sue the army in Uganda over the violation of journalists' rights. "We are dragging individual commanders to court for these violations, amongst them are Col. David Muhoozi the commandant of Armored Brigade in Masaka and the military police commandant among others," said Robert Ssempala, the HRNJ-Uganda board chairman in a statement last week. Read more >>

NIGERIA

Nigeria: Presidential election being held as attacks on media increase

ABUJA: Reporters Without Borders has recorded more than 30 attacks on media freedom so far this year, despite reforms and the promises of outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the free flow of news during the campaign for the parliamentary and presidential election. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Bizcommunity.com makes three senior appointments

Bizcommunity.com has made three senior appointments as it begins to roll out its 2011 expansion strategy. Read more >>

AFRICA

Social vs search, which strategy is best for your business?

[Shaune Jordaan] The question every marketing department must face is, "Where do I spend my budget this year?". A few years ago this might have been a lot easier; now they need to ask; "Do I spend it on print or online? Where online? Or search? Google, Yahoo? Or social? Which social platform?". The questions, opinions and answers would, in most cases, be subjective and varied. Read more >>

AFRICA

Apple sues Samsung over mobile phones, tablets

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple has filed a lawsuit against Samsung claiming that the South Korean electronic giant's mobile phones and tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab, copy the iPhone and the iPad. Read more >>

AFRICA

Competition in Africa hits Altech profit

[Thabiso Mochiko] Altech is eyeing three to five international acquisitions that it says have the potential to turn it into a global company. CEO Craig Venter said yesterday (20 April 2011) Altech intended to expand globally, with one or two acquisitions that would be substantial. Read more >>

AFRICA

RIM demo's BlackBerry Playbook at Innovation Dinner

Research In Motion (RIM) demonstrated the latest BlackBerry PlayBook tablet this week at the IT News Africa Innovation Dinner held in Sandton, Johannesburg. This was the first public demo of the device in Africa. Read more >>

AFRICA

British royal wedding to be streamed on YouTube

LONDON: British palace officials said on Tuesday (19 April 2011) they will stream the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton live on YouTube, the first such coverage of a royal event. Read more >>

AFRICA

Telecoms firms urged to brave new African frontiers

[Thabiso Mochiko] Analysts say telecommunications operators, especially those that have missed the acquisition trail, should aggressively expand into the enterprise market in Africa, one of the key growth areas that is stimulated by the demand for data services. Read more >>

AFRICA

Airtel puts smile on customer's faces with 16 K/sec call rate during Easter

Leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel put smile on the faces of its customers across Nigeria this Easter with the introduction of a special Easter Offer which allowed them to make calls to Airtel numbers at only 16k/sec during this Easter period. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

New trends in the world of mobile technology

[Kevin Bassett] Suddenly, new mobile technology is in focus. Marketers are scrambling to get a handle on both mobi and micro sites, m-twitter and foursquare, while wondering what other new developments are trending. Read more >>

KENYA

Airtel Kenya accuses Safaricom of derailing MNP process

According to Airtel Kenya, Vodafone's Safaricom has slowed down the three-week old mobile number portability (MNP) process, by erecting technical blockades that have derailed efforts of over 6,500 customers to migrate from its network. In a letter to the Communications Commission of Kenya, CCK, director general Charles Njoroge, Airtel Kenya says Safaricom had now adopted a new tactic to subvert the MNP process. Read more >>

KENYA

yu launch voice SMS service in Kenya

NAIROBI: yu, the mobile phone brand of Essar Telecom Kenya and Kirusa, a global developer of mobile value-added services, this week announced the launch of a voice SMS service in Kenya. The service is available to all yu subscribers, on all mobile handsets, and allows them to send and reply to messages by voice. Read more >>

MALAWI

Malawi: Newspaper apologises for quoting dead source

[Gregory Gondwe] The Daily Times has apologised to the Malawi readership for carrying out a story in its Monday, 18 April 2011 edition that quoted a cabinet minister who died last year but was portrayed as having attended a function that took place last week. To make matters worse, the story also carried a picture of the dead former cabinet minister of health Professor Moses Chirambo. Read more >>

AFRICA

Loerie Awards adds PR category for 2011

The Loerie Awards has introduced a PR category to this year's awards. Public Relations Industry of Southern Africa (PRISA) spokesperson Bridget von Holdt believes the move is indicative of the importance of strategic communication in the overall communication mix and that the inclusion of PR exposes other industries to the real value of strategic communication and its vital role in brand management. Read more >>

AFRICA

Significant shifts in South Africa, Africa's mobile patterns

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] A global study conducted by TNS Research Surveys shows that South Africans' unconditional love for handsets - more than content as it is in developed markets - is beginning to change and will even shift faster as bandwidth improves, and as cheaper smartphones appear on the market - probably from China. Read more >>

AFRICA

Standard Bank explores business opportunities from BRICS

BEIJING: Standard Bank believes it is set to benefit from more dynamic business interactions between Africa and the world's emerging economic powers, with South Africa's inclusion in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Read more >>

AFRICA

SABMiller lager volumes up 2%, revenue up 5%

[Jacqueline Mackenzie] Global brewing giant SABMiller's overall financial performance for the 12 months ended March 2011 is in line with its expectations, the group said on Tuesday (19 April 2011). Read more >>

AFRICA

Smart TV to unveil service in Southern Africa

[Walter Wafula] Smart TV, a promising Pan-African pay-television brand by Sweden's Next Generation Broadcasting, plans to launch services in three new markets in Africa. Read more >>

UNITED STATES

comScore introduces Total Universe Report

RESTON, US: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, has announced the beta release of the comScore Media Metrix Total Universe report, which provides audience measurement for 100% of a site's traffic, including usage via mobile phones, apps, tablets and shared computers such as Internet cafes. Read more >>

AUSTRALIA

Property Radar

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: During a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty, compounded by rate rises from all of the major banks in Australia, the finance industry was suffering from negative consumer perceptions, particularly across the home loan category. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Hospitality and leisure insolvencies show little improvement

LONDON, UK: According to the latest PwC analysis of corporate insolvency numbers, Hospitality and Leisure (H&L) continues to be one of the worst affected sectors with no discernible improvement over the past two years. Read more >>

FRANCE

France Telecom & Deutsche Telekom marry for the money

[Thomas Wehmeier] PARIS, FRANCE / BERLIN, GERMANY: In the first concrete announcement since their statement of intent to cooperate earlier this year, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom announced on 18 April 2011, the establishment of a procurement joint venture that will oversee almost US$13 billion* in combined annualised spend between the two groups. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Cannes Creative Leaders awards bursaries

LONDON, UK: The Cannes Creative Leaders Programme will once again take place in June following the success of last year's programme. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Ladies pick their favourite cars

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Not only in South Africa was the coveted Car of the Year title shared between two cars (BMW and VW) but women journalists all over the world have just chosen two cars to share the 2011 Women's World Car of the Year title with the honours going to the BMW 5 Series and the Citroen DS3. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Diesel adds venom to Audi A8

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Audi has injected some extra venom into its creamy comfortable flagship A8 range with the addition of a new petrol engine and two new diesel engines, including a big daddy V8. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Check those trailers and caravans too before Easter

Most caravans, boats and trailers don't see much action during the year. In fact, it's often only around holiday time that they are rolled off their patch of grass and hooked up to go - but after standing so long, chances are their wheels are no longer in good shape. So before you go off on your Easter break, check! And that applies to any holiday by road you are going on any time during the year. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Tourism Business Index reports worse than expected results for the first quarter of 2011

Results of the second TBCSA FNB Tourism Business Index (TBI) show that the level of tourism business activity was significantly lower than was expected, in the first quarter of 2011. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

R1.4 billion tourism prize for Table Mountain success

An independent impact report has predicted a R1.4 billion annual tourism bonanza for South Africa if Table Mountain is named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Heart Holiday Murray

[Ruth Cooper] I pretty much fell in love with Holiday Murray at first sight and sound, encountering them the first time as support band for The Plastics album launch at The Assembly a good couple of months ago. Combining boyish good looks, quirky yearning lyrics from a time long forgotten, sweet harmonies and a bouncy tightly layered sound, Holiday Murray were definitely on my radar. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Minds drenched with ideas at TEDx Cape Town

[Sue Northam] Last Saturday, 16 April, 2011, TEDxCapeTown (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, with the x for independently organised) was held at Ratanga Junction, Cape Town. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

What's in a name?

[Jordan Scott] To enjoy this performance to its fullest you've got to love listening to people with angelic voices singing. You do? Well then, let me tell you more. I have never seen two people work so well off of each other's energy - it was almost contagious - and when they began to sing, well I was lost to the world of names and their humorous ways of portraying them. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Dancing in the dark

[Johann Smith] The light brightens the bare wooden stage floor and plain black curtains. From the darkness two silhouettes appear of a man and woman. Dressed in simple black long-sleeve shirts and grey trousers, both face each other standing dead still. This scene continues until it becomes an uneasy itch. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Seeds to RTD 2011 successfully sown in Scarborough

[Sindy Peters: Africa editor] Sowing the Seeds was in fine form this year, hosted at the Cape Farmhouse in Scarborough on Saturday, 16 April, 2011. The prelude to Rocking the Daisies 2011 drew an energetic, multicultural crowd en masse. Jeremy Loops & Trak took best act of the day in my book, with Hot Water coming in a close second - particularly for lead vocalist Donovan Copley's intense performance of Tribal Man, which had everyone enthralled. Read more >>