A Sudanese court in Khartoum state sentenced a 23-year-old woman to death by stoning for adultery, a human rights group, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, has reported (ACJPS). Sudan is one of few countries that implements death by stoning as a punishment. Rights groups condemn this cruel method of execution because it is designed to torture the victim and increase their suffering.

The final report on the Global Commission on HIV and Law presents a coherent and compelling evidence base on human rights and legal issues relating to HIV. The report entitled 'HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights and Health', cites various laws that obstruct global responses on HIV and calls for their repeal in order to better address factors that increase HIV transmission and infection.

The SACP's national conference ended in a political game of cat and mouse between general secretary Blade Nzimande and Kgalema Motlanthe. The conspicuous absence of top SACP leaders – including its general secretary Blade Nzimande – at the party's fundraising gala dinner in Durban, has been interpreted by some within the ANC-led alliance as a calculated political move to embarrass Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe ahead of the ANC's crucial elective conference in Mangaung in December. Nzimande is a vocal Jacob Zuma supporter and is being pushed by some of the president's backers to stand for ANC deputy president in Mangaung. Motlanthe, meanwhile has the backing by a significant faction within the ANC, particularly its youth and veterans wings, to contest Zuma for the top spot as party president.

The full Supreme Court bench has thrown the coalition government into political turmoil after it ordered President Robert Mugabe to call for a string of by-elections before the end of next month in a shock ruling which could change the current composition of parliament and collapse the Global Political Agreement (GPA).The court’s judgement could lead the country into a mini-general election or leave the main political parties engaged in renewed combat and negotiations over the timing of full general elections. It could also have far-reaching implications, not just for the GPA and inclusive government, but also Sadc facilitation and resolutions.

Abdirahaman Abdiwali, a leader in the local Somali community, in an interview with the website says the Somali community has contributed to Cape Town’s local economy, but that Somalis are vulnerable to crime when conducting their business. 'Most of these crimes are happening in townships such as Khayelitsha, Delft, Philippe, and Nyanga. For the past three months, sixteen people were killed. Some are still in hospital critically wounded and some were left paralysed. Thirty-six armed robberies were also reported. The criminals operate as a team. They target Somalis who will be coming from the Cash and Carries or other big wholesalers after buying goods for their Spaza shops. Normally they rob them of their goods and bakkies before they reach their shops, or they attack them while they are busy off-loading.'

Malawi's president Joyce Banda and her People's Party led government clock 100 days in office tomorrow amid calls from the civil society and political commentators for her to declare her assets to the public to ensure transparency and accountability in her administration. It is not yet known whether Banda has yet adhered to the Constitutional requirement of declaring assets but since assuming office, Banda, through her private Joyce Banda Foundation and Hilda Mtila Foundation has given out millions of kwachas.

Following the increasing resort to indecent expressions among political activists in elections-related and general political discussions, particularly on radio, and their possible implications for peaceful elections, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) embarked on the project 'Promoting Issues-based and Decent Language Campaigning for a Peaceful, Free and Fair Elections in Ghana in 2012.' Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has now made available the first quarter report of the project, which is available from their website.

Somalia's population exodus has crossed a new threshold, hitting the one million mark as more people continue to flee to the surrounding region, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said. The most recent arrivals continue to cite insecurity and dwindling food resources as the main reasons for their flight. Despite last week passing the 1 million mark for the first time since Somalia descended into violence in 1991, data compiled by UNHCR for the main arrival countries of Kenya and Ethiopia also shows lower but steady numbers of people leaving Somalia.

Every Friday, mothers and their children gather at the community nutrition centre in the little village of Rantolava, 450 kilometres north east of Antananarivo, the Malagasy capital, to learn more about a healthy diet. The weekly workshops are part of the 3.5 million dollar National Community Nutrition Programme (PNNC) being implemented at 6,000 centres across the country. Madagascar is among the six countries suffering the worst rates of malnutrition in the world – half of all children under five on this large island nation suffer from chronic malnutrition, and diversifying their diet is a key element in the national programme.

Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz warned in Maputo against following advice by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would make the fight against inflation the number one priority of economic policy. Addressing an overflowing public meeting organised by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), Stiglitz, who is also a former chief economist at he World Bank, said he had been 'appalled' to discover that the IMF wants to impose 'inflation targeting' on Mozambique. He argued that, while low inflation might be desirable (and he praised the Bank of Mozambique for its handling of inflation, currently at historically low levels), it could not be the main goal of economic policy, which should also take into account such considerations as growth and employment.

Google is launching a new campaign, Legalize Love, to pressurize governments into recognizing and decriminalizing homosexuality. With Legalize Love, the search giant wants to ensure its staff have 'the same inclusive experience outside of the office as they do at work', and that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) communities can feel safe and accepted wherever they are. The campaign will focus on countries like Singapore (in which male homosexuality is illegal) and Poland (which doesn't recognize same-sex couples). Dot429 quotes Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, Google's head of Diversity and Inclusion, explaining how this initiative will work: 'Singapore wants to be a global financial center and world leader and we can push them on the fact that being a global center and a world leader means you have to treat all people the same, irrespective of their sexual orientation.'

Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health on Friday declared a cholera outbreak in the country following the death of five people from the disease. Deputy minister of Health and Sanitation Mahmoud Tarawalie, made the confirmation on Friday while stressing that the authorities were putting measures in place to stem the disease. This follows reports of two deaths because of cases of severe diarrhoea in the provinces. But one of death cases was recorded in one of the slums of the capital, Freetown.

Voters in the oil-exporting Central African state of Congo Republic have turned out to elect a new parliament, with the ruling party of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and its allies seen holding the majority. Opposition parties have complained about a lack of access to state media during campaigning, and voter turnout was thin at a number of polling stations in the capital Brazzaville, some of which stayed open up to two hours late during the voting on Sunday.

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed in principle to allow a neutral international force to patrol their borders, reports say. The proposed force would tackle militia groups in the eastern DR Congo. The deal was reached by leaders of the two countries on the side lines of an African Union summit, Rwanda's Paul Kagame told AFP news agency.

Togolese Prime Minister Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo has resigned. Although no reasons for the resignation were given, TVT said President Faure Gnassingbe accepted the resignation. His resignation comes at a time when the country was preparing itself for the general election to take place at the end of this year.

Civil society groups have challenged a recent news report on increased transparency in Uganda’s oil sector and repeated their call for the government to publish all oil deals. An article that appeared in The New Vision on 30 June noted in its headline that 'Government discloses oil deals'. However, campaigners argue, only limited information - on petroleum royalty rates - has been released to MPs.

Reporters Without Borders has unreservedly condemned the abduction and continuing detention of Libyan cameraman Abdelqader Fosouk and Youssuf Badi in Bani Walid (150 km southeast of Tripoli), one of the last pro-Gaddafi strongholds to fall to the rebels during last year’s war. They have been held since 7 July, the day of nationwide parliamentary elections which they had gone to cover in Bani Walid for Tobacts TV, a station based in Misrata, 100 km north of Bani Walid.

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has started a new project 'End violence: women’s rights and safety online' based on the experience and knowledge gathered in the past years. 'What this experience has shown, and what organisations providing support services to victims of violence have indicated, is that for evidence-building to be effective, a more systematic system for documenting technology-related violations is needed. While trends show that women around the world experience similar kinds of online violence, the lack of systematised data collection and analysis weakens responses to it.'

The Africa Union Commission (AUC), an administrative branch of the African Union (AU), will push leaders at the bloc's summit in Addis Ababa this week to adopt the final implementation of the development Strategy Plan (SP) for the continent. This is because the AUC three-year Strategic Plan developed in 2009 expires this year and a new one needs to be implemented. The AU has had two plans since it was transformed from the Organization of African Union 10 years ago.

The World Bank should ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples and the environment are rigorously protected before funding a power transmission line connecting Kenya to a controversial dam in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. The World Bank's board of directors was scheduled to meet on 12 July to consider the project. The World Bank project has the important goal of improving electrical service to people in Kenya, where more than 80 per cent of the population does not have access to electricity. However, the bank has been unwilling to apply the institution's social and environmental safeguard policies.