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The cost of AIDS drugs keeps going down in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. Yesterday, the giant pharmeceutical company Merck announced that it would lower prices for three important AIDS drugs, and just after that, two other companies that make generic AIDS drugs offered to sell their versions to the government of South Africa. There's a price war going on. NPR's Brenda Wilson in Johannesburg talks with host Robert Siegel about the issue.

NPR's Brenda Wilson reports on 11-year-old Nkosi Johnson, South Africa's youngest AIDS activist. At last summer's International AIDS conference, Nkosi made a moving speech, a plea really, for acceptance of people with AIDS. Now, he's in a coma, dying of the disease. But his courage and activism have left a mark on the country.

Later this month, the Democratic Republic of Congo is scheduled to hold its first free elections in almost a half a century. They're the most expensive elections ever held in Africa, with international donors spending more than $400 million on the polls.

Fernando Meirelles, director of the Brazilian film City of God, joins us to talk about his latest movie The Constant Gardener. Based on the John Le Carre novel, the movie tells a story of love, betrayal and big pharmaceutical companies set in East Africa.

Near the southern tip of Africa, penguins have taken over some of the most valuable real estate on the continent. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

A Catholic bishop in South Africa has become a leading opponent of the church's ban on the use of condoms. Bishop Kevin Dowling presides over Rustenburg, an impoverished mining town that has been ravaged by HIV/ AIDS. With so much suffering caused by the virus, Dowling considers the Vatican's ban morally unacceptable.

The latest action movie, Tears of the Sun, finds actor Bruce Willis portraying a veteran officer of a Navy SEAL unit in Africa who finds himself conflicted between following military orders and his own conscience. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan says the film is actually a humanitarian action flick.

U.S. Marines patrol Port-au-Prince, as rebels enter the Haitian capital. A day after resigning, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is in exile in Africa. A U.N. peacekeeping force is headed to the troubled nation. Some U.S. lawmakers fault the Bush administration for turning its back on the democratically elected Aristide. Hear NPR's Martin Kaste and NPR's Michele Kelemen.

We've heard this week about the G8 summit of world leaders, including many from Africa, and the setting: Sea Island, off the coast of Georgia. It's part of the Sea Islands -- plural -- and it's rich with what's known as black Gullah culture. Reporter Allison Keyes spoke with Emory Campbell of Gullah Heritage Consulting about Gullah history, traditions and language.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government launched Al Hurra, an Arabic-language news and information channel that broadcasts to the Middle East and North Africa. The channel has gained some fans, but still struggles to dispel the notion that it is a U.S. propaganda outlet. Hear NPR's Steve Inkseep.