An investigation by the Conflict Awareness Project has exposed an active arms trading network of associates of former trafficker Viktor Bout that involves companies from the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom, among other countries. All are cross-linked in a complex system with its centre in the island of Mauritius. The traffickers’ ultimate goal was to access countries such as Iran, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and possibly Syria, researchers say.

Sudanese refugees who fled fighting between rebels and Sudan's military are suffering in primitive camps without enough aid because the international community has not provided the needed funds to help, a top United Nations official said. Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, urged donor nations to ease 'the enormous humanitarian tragedy'. Sudanese troops are fighting rebels, who were once aligned with what is now South Sudan, in two states near the countries' shared border. Guterres said more than 200,000 refugees have fled the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile and into neighboring Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Three lawyers were arrested in Nyala after they met with the government of South Darfur. During a meeting with the head of security and head of police they handed over a petition in which they demanded President Omar Al Bashir to stop the use of excessive violence against peaceful protesters.

Child mortality rates have slowly come down, although they are still significantly high. Health experts say this is attributed to huge inequalities that exist in accessing health care. According to health experts at a Peoples’ Health Movement conference in Cape Town, last week, poverty and high unemployment rates are some of the barriers that prevent people from accessing quality health care. Director of the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape, Professor Dave Saunders, says child mortality in South Africa is still high and it has a direct link to the levels of unemployment and rising poverty.

The verification report into Limpopo’s textbook debacle, compiled by professor Mary Metcalfe and her team, has unearthed even more rot in the education department. The report estimates that 280 schools in the province are still without the required textbooks. The verification team sampled 411 schools – 10 per cent of the total number of schools in the province. They could only get proof of delivery receipts from 93 per cent of the schools sampled.

Green Berets from the famous 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Fort Carson, Colorado, trained with the Botswana Defense Forces Special Forces (BDFSF) on marksmanship, close quarter battle, medical and tracking training in an effort to strengthen relationships and to promote and support Special Operations Capabilities. This was all part of field training exercises called 'Eastern Piper 12'. Exercise Eastern Piper 12, conducted by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Special Operations Command, Africa (SOCAF), was a three week Foreign International Defense (FID) structured counter-terrorism base exercise, which took place at the Thebepatswa Air Base in Gaborone, Botswana.

The website features a photo essay by Phumeza Mlungwana that shows the effects of winter flooding on RR and TR sections in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

Sudanese security forces broke up a protest in central Khartoum on Tuesday 17 July by dozens of people demanding the release of relatives jailed for taking part in four weeks of anti-government demonstrations, a witness said. The demonstrators began gathering in front of national security headquarters in the centre of the capital, but police and security agents quickly dispersed them, the witness said. Some 2,000 people have been detained since small protests began last month.

Nigeria's army has warned thousands of Plateau state residents to leave their homes as it begins an operation against those accused of a recent spate of deadly attacks. Some 100 people were killed recently after attacks on villages inhabited by Christian ethnic groups. Two senior politicians then died after gunmen opened fire at a funeral for some of the dead. Reports say thousands of Muslims are refusing to leave. Plateau state straddles the dividing line between the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria and its largely Christian and animist south.

The British Government on Tuesday 17 July acknowledged that colonial forces in Kenya tortured and abused detainees during the Mau Mau rebellion. Queen’s counsel Guy Mansfield made the first ever official acknowledgement in the British High Court during the hearing of a case filed by three elderly Kenyans. Mr Mansfield told the Kenyans suing for damages that the British Government did not dispute that 'terrible things' happened to them. Before cross-examining witnesses, the lawyer said he did not want to dispute that civilians suffered.

For months now East Africans have been expectantly waiting for an economic revolution to begin as they anticipate the launch of a new standardised payment system that will integrate the electronic transfer of money in the region. But continued delays in the launch of the system have economists fearing that the weak financial infrastructure here is hindering its implementation. The system, a replica of the Single Euro European Payments Area (SEPA), will make all electronic payments in the East African Community (EAC) domestic ones through harmonised laws, policies and regulations within the region.

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.