The first batch of 700 South Sudanese have returned to Juba from Israel, as part of a policy to deport Africans and protect the state's Jewish identity. Israel and its military ally South Sudan, which gained independence in July 2011 after decades of civil war, both claim that the process has been one of 'voluntary repatriation'. While some among the first planeload of 124 people were very guarded about their feelings of returning to their new but still extremely impoverished nation, several people said the South Sudanese are being forced out.

Tens of millions of people worldwide will be condemned to long-term joblessness unless global leaders make significant changes to address unemployment and worker training, according to a new study. Between 90 and 95 million low-skill workers - or 2.6 percent of the global workforce - will not be needed by employers by 2020 and will be vulnerable to permanent joblessness, according to a report released by the McKinsey Global Institute.

Renowned author and political activist accuses Jewish state of apartheid and persecution of Palestinians.

Sudanese riot police armed with batons and tear gas fought with students protesting for a fourth day against tough austerity measures the finance minister set out in detail on Wednesday 20 June. Student groups, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, have led rallies in Khartoum against planned government spending cuts and sought to galvanise anger over price rises into a wider movement to topple military ruler Omar Hassan al-Bashir who has been in power since a 1989 bloodless coup.

The new Senegalese government must demonstrate its commitment to safeguarding human rights by addressing the rampant impunity which undermines the judicial system and the rule of law, Amnesty International said. In a report entitled ‘Senegal: An agenda for human rights’, Amnesty International highlights key challenges the new government must overcome to ensure human rights are enforced, respected and protected.

Activist Adolfo Campos André, aged 32, survived an attack on 15 June. Two Toyota Landcruisers blocked his car, a Chevrolet Spark, in Petrangol Road in Luanda. According to his statement, two of the individuals struck him on the face with the ends of their guns at the same time, leaving him with injuries next to his right eye. Adolfo André has organised youth demonstrations against the long tenure of president José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in office since 1979.

South Africa has agreed to contribute around R16,6-billion to an International Monetary Fund 'firewall' meant to prevent future financial crises. President Jacob Zuma committed some of South Africa’s reserves at the G20 summit, a meeting of the world’s greatest economies, in Los Cabos, Mexico, spokesperson Jabulani Sikhakhane said.

It is reported that several bars and clubs in the major cities have declared an all out war against persons who are perceived as gay, lesbian or transgender. From reports gathered in Nairobi, Nakuru and Mombasa, popular drinking joints are now enforcing a strict no-entry rule on men who are deemed too effeminate or women seen as too ‘masculine’ or ‘butch.’

Swaziland soldiers sprayed the house of the kingdom’s main opposition leader with bullets in what pro democracy activist believe was a planned attack. The home of Mario Masuku, President of the banned People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), at Makhosini near Nhlangano was hit by bullets fired by members of the kingdom’s army, known as the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force.

South Africa is getting two-thirds fewer applications for asylum than a few years ago, but researchers say officials make such bad decisions that the whole system is now meaningless. Department of Home Affairs (DHA) officials are so biased and administratively unfair that asylum-seekers are systematically rejected, resulting in an asylum system which 'functions solely as an instrument of immigration control', according to a report by researcher Dr Roni Amit, of the African Centre for Migration and Society at Wits University.

Rwanda on Monday officially closed the 'gacaca' community courts, the controversial tribunals both credited with easing tensions and criticised for possible miscarriages of justice. 'Today's event is not simply to mark the closure of the courts, but also to recognise the enduring value of the process,' President Paul Kagame said at the closing ceremony in Kigali.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has halved food rations to refugees living in camps in at least four African countries citing a funding shortfall. The cuts have already affected 16,000 refugees in Malawi’s Dzaleka camp who have been on half rations since March, while a further 120,000 refugees in Uganda began receiving half rations of cereals in May.

Indigenous peoples’ organisations and activists are calling on governments to fully implement their commitments to uphold human rights, including rights to lands and resources as an essential cornerstone for achieving socially just and ecologically sustainable development.

This issue of the South Bulletin focuses on the Rio Plus 20 Summit to be held in 20-22 June in Brazil. Twenty years after the Earth Summit the world faces even more serious crises in the environment and the economy. Will Rio+20 do better in rising to the challenge of tackling the global crises? This issue of the Bulletin analyses the key issues to be decided at Rio, including reaffirming the Rio commitments, the Green Economy, sustainable development goals, finance and technology.

Uganda said on Wednesday 20 June it was banning 38 non-governmental organisations it accuses of promoting homosexuality and recruiting children. Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo told Reuters the organisations being targeted were receiving support from abroad for Uganda's homosexuals and accused gays and lesbians of 'recruiting' young children in the country into homosexuality.

Plan International says it is deeply concerned at new proposals by the Egyptian parliament to reduce the legal age for girls to marry to 14 - just four years after a successful campaign increased the age limit to 18. 'Early marriage can have a devastating impact on girls’ lives – they are more likely to be forced out of school, live in poverty, have early pregnancies and endure health complications or die during childbirth.'

Reuters reports on a London court case that 'has been given a glimpse into the opaque world of Angolan diamonds, in a battle between a Russian-Israeli tycoon and his one-time partner that has also thrown up how modern-day buccaneers are building fortunes from Africa's resources.' Reuters suggests Angolan officials have tried to stop the case because of the embarrassment it may cause in an election year.

The death toll of campaigners, community leaders and journalists involved in the protection of forests, rivers and land has risen dramatically in the past three years, said Global Witness. Brazil – the host of the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development – has the worst record for danger in a decade that has seen the deaths of more than 737 defenders, said the briefing, which was released on the eve of the high-level segment of the Earth Summit.

Police in Kampala, Uganda on Monday raided a gay rights meeting and arrested several LGBT activists gathered at the Essela Hotel in Najjeera, a Kampala suburb, accusing the participants of 'propagating gay issues in Uganda'. East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, the organization behind the workshop, said that police interrupted the meeting and began questioning attendees at the event, including activists from Canada, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

This report is the result of the work of an amazing group of women from Asia and Africa who came together to research into the conditions of women in same-sex relations in their countries. 'With great determination and courage this group of women set about revealing the many obstacles, humiliations and indignities these women face. They uncovered not only pain, invisibility and silence, but also the pleasures of bonding and the beauty of love,' says the preface. Major themes in the research were female masculinity, the silencing and invisibility of Women-Loving-Women (WLW), and attempts at organizing on the basis of non-normative sexualities.