Scientists have come up with a test for the virus that causes AIDS that is ten times more sensitive and a fraction of the cost of existing methods, offering the promise of better diagnosis and treatment in the developing world. The test uses nanotechnology to give a result that can be seen with the naked eye by turning a sample red or blue, according to research from scientists at Imperial College in London published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

The more we live our lives online, the greater the temptation for governments and private companies to spy on us. News Editor Padraig Reidy highlights the dark side of our increasing dependence on digital communications. While the internet offers opportunities for mass communication and social interaction unprecedented in human history, the chances for governments to monitor and control how we communicate are also ample.

Civil war has broken out in the former ruling ZANU PF over interviews given by senior party figures saying that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will not be allowed to take over power should he win next year’s presidential elections. Recent statements by party heavyweights Patrick Chinamasa and Rugare Gumbo, that the army will stage a coup in the event of an MDC-T victory, have sharply exposed the deep splits within the party.

Gold is now the primary source of income for armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and is ending up in jewelry stores across the world, according to a report published on Thursday by the Enough Project.

Spain's maritime rescue service has found 14 bodies in the sea and rescued 17 people after a boat carrying migrants from Morocco began to sink in the Mediterranean. Search operations are continuing because one of the migrants said about 70 people had been on the boat, a rescue official told the Associated Press.

A recent wave of protests by Togolese opposition groups and a heavy-handed clampdown by security forces have set the scene for a tense struggle for reforms in a country that has been ruled for 45 years by a father and his son. Since April, the opposition has been holding demonstrations to press for electoral reforms ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for an as yet undeclared date this month.

Adverse imbalances in international trade were exacerbating the impacts of the global economic and financial crisis, especially for developing countries, Algeria’s representative said today, as the Second Committee took up macroeconomic policy questions. Speaking on behalf of the 'Group of 77' developing countries and China, he said the turbulence in international trade was costly and disruptive, especially for least developed countries and African States. He described international trade as a 'vital tool' for long-term sustainable growth, emphasizing that developing countries should be spared from protectionist barriers, especially agricultural subsidies, and calling for the extension of trade-related technical and capacity-building assistance to them.

A young woman was stoned to death in Somalia after being convicted of engaging in out-of-marriage sex, reports say. Residents of Jamama town, 425km south of Mogadishu in Lower Juba region, said that militants loyal to Al-Shabaab carried out the stoning at the town’s main square in late afternoon.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has visited victims of the violence that followed Kenya's 2007 election. Fatou Bensouda says she was concerned about ICC witnesses being intimidated ahead of a criminal trial at The Hague in the Netherlands. In her first official visit to Kenya, Bensouda sat surrounded by some of the 350,000 people displaced by the deadly violence in 2007-2008, still living in a camp of tightly packed tents known as 'Pipeline Camp' in the Rift Valley, one of the hardest-hit areas.

A suicide bomber has driven a vehicle packed with explosives into a Catholic church in northern Nigeria, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 100, triggering reprisal attacks that have killed at least two more, according to officials. The attack happened in the Malali neighbourhood of Kaduna, a city on the dividing line between Nigeria's largely Christian south and mainly Muslim north, where religious rioting has killed hundreds in recent years.

As experts from Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt met to discuss an under-construction Ethiopian hydropower project, a Wikileaks report stated that Cairo authorities reached an agreement with Khartoum to build an airbase in Sudan, to launch attacks on the Addis dams. Although denied by Cairo, the information allegedly from the Texas-based global intelligence company, Stratfor, is a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in Nile Basin politics.

Controversy is brewing as Parliament ignored an overwhelming number of submissions made by the public into the controversial Traditional Courts Bill. When MPs enquired as to why the other submissions were not considered, committee chairperson, Tjheta Mofokeng dropped the bombshell about irrelevance to the Bill. This is the abuse of power by department, said Independent Democrats MP John Gunda.

During the uprising that toppled Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak women stood shoulder to shoulder with men in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, pressing the revolution’s demands for freedom, justice and dignity. But those who hoped the revolution would make them equal partners in Egypt’s future claim they may be worse off now than under Mubarak’s authoritarian rule. 'After the revolution, most of Egyptian society – and especially the Islamists – began attacking women’s rights,' says Azza Kamel, a prominent women’s rights activist.

South African President Jacob Zuma has dropped a four-year-old lawsuit claiming nearly $600,000 in damages from a cartoonist who depicted him poised to rape "Lady Justice", his office said. The Sunday Times, named as a defendant in the case, also said on Sunday it had reached agreement with Zuma's lawyers for the suit and all claims to be ended.

A top human rights lawyer in Equatorial Guinea has gone missing, fuelling concern that he has been illegally detained, a rights group has said. Fabian Nsue Nguema was last known to have visited a jail on Monday to see a client, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Equatorial Guinea's government has not yet commented on his alleged detention.

Although FNB is the bank of choice for refugees as it allows them to open an account, many refugee account holders are struggling to get their money out again. Three refugee rights organisations said refugees – particularly asylum seekers – who wished to withdraw more money than the limit imposed on their ATM card, were told they first needed to obtain a letter from the Department of Home Affairs verifying their asylum documents.

The Kenyan government should ensure a speedy and transparent investigation of alleged police attacks on villagers in Kenya’s North Eastern province, Human Rights Watch said. Numerous witnesses have told Human Rights Watch that the police beat and mistreated villagers following attacks by suspected al-Shabaab supporters on Kenyan security officers. Officials implicated in abusing villagers should be brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said.

Africa could feed itself if trade restrictions were reduced and fertile land was put to good use, according to the World Bank. Just 5% of African cereal imports come from other African countries, it said. Removing cross-border barriers would free up trade, reduce prices and generate billions of dollars for African governments, it added.

Corruption poses a serious threat to the country’s oil resources, the United Nations Resident Representative in Uganda has warned. Ms Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie’s caution comes as the parliamentary committee investigating bribery claims in the oil sector is visiting several countries and banks that were named during an emergency oil debate in October last year. The corruption allegations have dogged the nascent oil sector since Western Youth MP Gerald Karuhanga tabled documents in Parliament alleging that Tullow Oil had bribed Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa, and former Energy minister Hilary Onek to influence their decisions on oil deals.

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga caused a diplomatic stir on Monday on her official trip to Canada, getting involved in a spat with the host Foreign Minister, Mr John Baird, whom she accused of attacking Uganda’s human rights record in respect to sexual minorities. Mr Baird had demonised Uganda on allegations of persecuting sexual minorities.