The final draft constitution, earmarked to replace the Lancaster House Constitution, will criminalise homosexuality and ban same-sex marriages according to the views of the majority of Zimbabweans, it has emerged. In an interview, Constitution Select Committee (Copac) co-chair Mr Edward Mkhosi (MDC) said Zimbabwe had unequivocally affirmed that homosexuality should be outlawed. 'During the outreach programme, everyone said ‘no’ to gays and lesbians and, as the drafters, we heed what people say,” he said. “Contrary to media reports that the homosexuality issue was causing infighting, the people were clear; we did not waste time on it.'

Sala Aminata, a housewife from Logone and Shari Division in Cameroon’s Far North Region, looks at her six kids with apprehension as she tries to figure out how to feed them with her meagre salary. Rising food prices come after a drought late last year destroyed the majority of the harvest in the Sahel – the arid zone between the Sahara desert in North Africa and Sudan’s Savannas in the south. Rural populations throughout the region have started to run out of food since early February, six months before the next harvest is expected. And all governments in the Sahel, except for Senegal, have appealed for international assistance as 12 million people in the region are threatened by hunger.

State prosecutors in Beitbridge recently refused to handle a case involving MDC-T officials, who were arrested over the weekend for attending a party workshop. The prosecutors said the case was ‘too sensitive’ to handle, but our correspondent in Bulawayo told us they feared the powerful co-Home Affairs Minister and local MP Kembo Mohadi.

The Horn of Africa is one of the least connected regions in the world. Nevertheless, digital media play an important social and political role in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia (including South-Central Somalia and the northern self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland). This paper published by the Open Society Foundation shows how the development of the internet, mobile phones, and other new communication technologies have been shaped by conflict and power struggles in these countries.

The challenges facing Haiti are discussed in this Q&A with Ambassador Rodolfo Mattarollo, Special Representative of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Technical Secretariat in Haiti, who was interviewed by Claudia Florentin, the Spanish Editor of the Latin America and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC).

Britain is involved in a secret high-stakes dash for oil in Somalia, with the government offering humanitarian aid and security assistance in the hope of a stake in the beleaguered country's future energy industry. Riven by two decades of conflict that have seen the emergence of a dangerous Islamic insurgency, Somalia is routinely described as the world's most comprehensively 'failed' state, as well as one of its poorest. Its coastline has become a haven for pirates preying on international shipping in the Indian Ocean.

In just one week the city of St. Petersburg could pass an outrageous bill that will make it a crime to read, write, speak or meet to discuss anything considered 'Gay'. St. Petersburg is one of Russia's number one tourist destinations. That's why an international storm of bad publicity will force the Governor to think twice about the cost of signing this bill. This campaign on is calling for your signature to protest against the bill.

The recent rush to acquire farmland in order to meet rising global demands for food and fuel is putting African countries at risk of bearing the social, economic, and environmental costs of global resource scarcity, says a new study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Many of these costs threaten to arise from the rising direct competition between established land uses and plantation monoculture. At the local level, this can be manifested in environmental degradation, loss of access to socially and economically valuable land resources, and conflicts between subsistence and commercial agriculture.

Former Liberian first lady Jewel Howard Taylor has introduced a bill making homosexuality liable to a death sentence. Jewel is a senator and former president Charles Taylor’s ex-wife. Uganda re-tabled a similar controversial anti-gay bill recently. Homosexuality is outlawed in 38 African countries and it can be punishable by death in Mauritania, Sudan, and northern Nigeria. This Global Voices post summarises the reactions from the blogosphere.

Following controversial utterances made by the Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini during a speech at the KwaZulu Natal legislature opening, there have been concerns raised about the implications this may have on what are already strained relations between South Africans and foreign nationals, particularly Congolese nationals. He was quoted in the Sowetan newspaper as saying: 'I understand that South Africa is a democratic country and welcomes people from different countries who have run away from their countries for different reasons. As a result, South Africa is home to many Africans but I must express my disappointment at the behaviour of these people.' He said this in reference to the recent marches by the Congolese Freedom and Justice Fighters living in South Africa who marched to the Union Building; ANC’s headquarters, Luthuli House; and parliament in Cape Town to show their dissatisfaction with the South African government's involvement or lack of in the Congolese elections processes.

ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has reiterated the league's stance that it would ignore any suspensions the ANC handed down to him or his fellow leaders in the league, as such sentences would amount to political persecution. The controversial youth leader's statements are the latest in the ongoing battle between the youth league and the ruling party after Malema and several other leaders were suspended by the ANC's national disciplinary committee (NDC) in November after being found guilty of sowing division within the ANC.

Votes are being tallied in Senegal in what is shaping up to be a race for the line between Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall. Wade's former protégé and prime minister Macky Sall's camp said early results showed the two were 'neck-on-neck' and headed to a second round. Spokesman Jean-Paul Dias said Wade was polling between 34 and 36 per cent, while Sall stood between 32 per cent and 34 per cent. 'The second round could thus take place between Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall.'

Experts say that the increasing trends of illicit financial flows are posing a great threat to Africa’s fragile growth as they pump back more dollars to developed countries than those sent to poor African states. Alezar Dessie, a consultant with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, notes that out of every dollar channelled to poor countries, as much as ten dollars may have left going back to rich countries, a back flow that leaves Africa begging.

has launched an 'events' listing. This listing -http://farmlandgrab.org/events - allows you to publish and browse short notices about events related to land grabbing and what people are doing about it. These may be investor summits, film screenings, mobilisations, rallies, conferences, workshops, fact-finding missions or other. 'We hope this new feature will be particularly useful to activists and social movements who are struggling to stop land grabbing all over the world.'

Africa Today with Walter Turner recently hosted Southern African activist Prexy Nesbitt, who spoke about developments in South Africa. Nesbitt speaks about the origins of his work and his connection with Southern Africa.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has welcomed the release of an independent report on Togo that examined allegations that members of the Togolese intelligence agency tortured individuals accused of taking part in an attempted coup d’état in 2009. 'Togo’s national human rights commission found that the prisoners were subjected to physical and moral violence of an inhuman and degrading nature,' Ms. Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR spokesperson, said in a statement.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italy violated the rights of Eritrean and Somali migrants by sending them back to Libya. The 13 Eritreans and 11 Somalis were among a group of about 200 people who left Libya on three boats in 2009. Two of the 24 have since died. The court ordered Italy to pay each migrant in the case 15,000 euros (£13,000; $20,000) in damages.

From 27 February to 9 March ministers and civil society delegates will meet at the United Nations for the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). This year’s meeting is especially critical because it will assess how governments have made good on promises at the 52nd session in 2008 to boost financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women. In this Q&A, IPS Correspondent Mathilde Bagneres spoke with Stephanie Seguino, an economics professor at the University of Vermont in the United States, about how women are particularly affected by the current economic crisis, and the role of government in crafting policies that promote not only women’s equality but sustainable development for society as a whole.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

Egypt’s ruling military council pushed ahead on Sunday with plans to begin drafting a new constitution before transferring power to civilian rule, announcing that parliament will meet this week to select the panel tasked with writing the document. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' statement that parliament will begin choosing the 100-member panel on March 3 marked a setback for activist groups who have demanded the military relinquish power before a constitution is written.