I write in response to a recent *Times of Zambia* article in which Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha is quoted as having said that the government will go ahead and regulate the media ifpractitioners decide not to come up...

We received the following from Henry Kyambalesa. It is gratifying that our President, Mr. Rupiah Banda, had the opportunity to visit the United States of America, after a long while, to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York. I am sure...

Women trafficked from Zambia/Southern Africa are rarely accounted for. The situation has evolved to a sophisticated degree and it can easily be overlooked

honestly, as a student, i don't now what to do. is the government being serious about education or football&the NCC? people need to understand the frustration of the lecturers, workers and the students. I'm being held hostage, YES, hostage, by my government and lecturers. i come here, and they wont teach.when we go, they still continue as usual doing their research and private jobs.NCC can find money to pay consultants, why not pay our lecturers? cant the government go to the stock exchange and get a bond to clear off UNZA? some people have come from sesheke, luapula, and have no money to go back in search of a brighter future.please government, pay these people.and they wonder how PF wins. lets ave some priorities. also lecturers, don't use us as hostages, we are your children. we are innocent, in fact we pay our fees to pay you.so lets not use one another.if we have a class boycott, u want to close the institution.do we always have to stone cars or burn tires?must we parade ourselves on MUVI TV to get an audience? cant we peacefully resolve our differences. government???????must i erect football posts on the great east road and play UNZA social to get sponsors from companies. find a solution. infact, read this and put pen to paper and sign sum checks!!!!!

We'd like to move to Zambia - either possibly to start a business, buy a business or run your lodge or bar for you. We are "people" people, and have made a total success of our pub in SA, we want to see and live in the "real Africa"! Any offers or info would be highly appreciated!

24 Onshore Construction Company employees in Chingola have been sent back to India for gross misconduct and inciting fellow employees to strike following Monday's protest...

20 Zambian Basketball Coaches graduated after undergoing ten days of training under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee and the International Basketball Federation. The programme was a FIBA/IOC Advanced basketball coaches course held at the National Sports Development Centre in Lusaka conducted by Kenyan instructor Ronnie Owino. Prominent among the participants were Aggrey Kabalata, head coach of the 2007 Sprite Challenge Champions Green Eagles, Assistant men's national team trainer Johnny Zimba and Kenneth Nkandu of Lusaka City Council Basketball Club.

Zambia's president urged regional states on Monday to bar a Chinese ship carrying arms to Zimbabwe from entering their waters, saying the shipment could deepen the country's election crisis. Zimbabwe announced a delay on Sunday in a partial recount of votes in March 29 parliamentary elections, extending a deadlock in which the opposition says 10 of its members have been killed and hundreds arrested.

Established in July 2003, the programme, an initiative of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), is the highest policy level framework for the development of agriculture in Africa. The purpose of the CAADP roundtable, to be hosted by the Zambian government and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, is to reach consensus among key stakeholders on Zambia's agricultural development agenda, forge the necessary partnerships to implement it and secure commitments and resources from partners to make the necessary investments. According to a statement from the Comesa secretariat in Zambia, Zambian stakeholders under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives and the Agricultural Consultative Forum met on March 27, 2008 to agree on priority programmes "that will bring the required higher growth in the agriculture sector." Further, outgoing Comesa secretary-general, Erastus Mwencha, on April 3, met Zambian Agriculture minister Sarah Sayifwanda and discussed the agreement, which will be signed by the African Union, the Zambian Ministers for Agriculture and Finance, co-operating partners, Comesa and the private sector under the Zambia National Farmers Union and Agri-business Forum.

Objective: To characterize the envelope (Env) glycoprotein of HIV-1 in mother-infant pairs (MIP) that underwent near simultaneous or acute-phase seroconversion, we examined the Env sequence of the transmitted viruses and compare viral evolution within the pair. Design: Three MIP from a Zambian cohort that seroconverted at the same sampling time were identified and followed longitudinally. Methods: The V1-V5 region of the HIV-1 Env gene was sequenced for each sample collected. Phylogenetic and population genetics analyses were carried out to subtype the viruses, estimate relationships among viral genotypes, and compare molecular evolution between the viral populations. Results: Genetic analyses demonstrated a close intrapair relationship between viral sequences from each MIP. Transmission involved several closely related viral genotypes and did not result in a reduction in viral diversity. Amino acid changes were not evenly distributed along Env V1-V5 but concentrated in concordant areas within each MIP. Several positions under positive selection were shared between the MIP viruses. Interestingly, selective pressure on the virus was higher in the infants than in the mothers.

For the past eight months, 34-year-old Regina, a mother in Zambia's Luapula Province, has been waiting anxiously for the final test results that will decide her daughter's future. It is possible that her child may test positive for HIV. Regina's local clinic runs a prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program. By providing both the mother and newborn child with doses of the antiretroviral drug Neviropene, the program can reduce the chance of the virus being transmitted to the child. "During childbirth, they gave me and my baby Neviropene, and because of that I hope that my baby will be HIV-negative," said Regina.

White House official Jay Hein from the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives attended a recent youth rally in Lusaka, Zambia. The two-day rally, called "Purity Beyond Abstinence," was sponsored by World Hope International and is part of HopeFest, a series of events that educates youth about HIV/AIDS prevention. It also focuses on living a life of purity because it "pleases God's heart." Hein was impressed by the resolve of the youth as hundreds took a stand for purity. They were also introduced to a yearlong discipleship program in southern Africa called Reach4Life aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS. HCJB Global Voice added weekly Bemba programs in 2000. The programs air on Zambia's Radio One Network, covering the country and much of Malawi, going out via shortwave, AM and FM.

A little celebration is in order: this morning we got up and ready and were on the road, all in under an hour! We even had time to savour the hot coffee in the new flask (me) and complete a final spin cycle on our washing (Matt). Setting up/putting down the tent is almost like second nature now, and every bag, equipment, piece of paper and even shoes have their own place in Foxy. There is still a lot of gear and equipment (and food) we could get rid of but it is definitely a huge improvement from a week ago. With breakfast on the go (smoked kudu and cream cheese sandwiches, courtesy of deli in Maun), we were off!

Hello dear friends! We're so happy to report that as of today we finally have power and internet again. Praise the Lord! It was an interesting week. Last Tuesday night around 11:00 our power went out, which was very unusual. Power outages are normal, but they usually happen at either 6:00 am, or 6:00 pm and usually last no more than 2 or 3 hours. This time it was out all night and we knew something was wrong. It turns out the transformer for our block blew. Apparently this takes 4 days to fix in Zambia! The power came back on Saturday morning and we are most grateful! During our time without power we had to cook over charcoal as you can see in the pictures. We also ate a lot of PB&J! We lost almost everything in our fridge, so this will be a rough month on the grocery budget, but we're just grateful to have the means to replace what we lost. Many here would not.

From last Thursday to Sunday we were in the North West province of Zambia teaching and preaching to the church leadership in the city of Mwinilunga. On the 9 hour drive there - over some very rough roads, I questioned my sanity in wanting to make this trip. However, once arriving and spending time around God's word for a few hours - the long trip became well worth it. The leadership of Mwinilunga all came together for this conference. It was a time of revival. A time of renewal. A time of repentance. Each teaching session and each preaching session seemed to build on itself as if the Spirit of God orchestrated it all. As I looked across the congregation - many had notebooks and pens working overtime to keep up with all they were being taught. It is a real joy to see the joy of the Lord and the commitment of faith in the life of believers!