"I think my country Sudan has really hit rock bottom." Those were the last public words uttered by Usamah Mohamad, a 32-year-old Sudanese web developer-turned-citizen journalist, in a video announcing he would join protests against President Omar al-Bashir. Mohamad, popular under his Twitter handle "simsimt," was arrested the same day his video was aired. For the next month, his family had no idea where he was. Finally they learned he was in Khartoum's high security prison and were allowed to visit him last week.

The said newspaper reported that at least six heads of Namibia's diplomatic missions will be recalled back home if a proposal drafted by presidential advisor on foreign affairs, Tuliameni Kalomoh, sails through unopposed.

One reason for this is the issue of global power relations, which influence how markets are organised and who benefits from technological progress. Innovation systems are not neutral — the effects of purely market-led science and technology efforts and associated innovations tend to aggravate existing inequalities.

Somalia is set to strengthen and reinvigorate its public diplomacy and trade relations with the Republic of South Africa, announcing plans to open an Embassy in Pretoria...The newly appointed Somali ambassador to South Africa, Sayid Hassan Sharif, has been meeting the Somali community in the Western Cape province since taking up the post at the beginning of this month.

A push to get more AIDS treatment to the world’s poorest, hardest-hit countries is paying off as deaths inch down — and new infections are dropping a bit, too, the United Nations reported Wednesday. “I personally believe it is a new era, new era for treatment, new era for prevention,” said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS.

The National Assembly approved on Thursday the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Strategic Partnership between Angola and Brazil, as well as the draft resolution on Cooperation between the two countries in defense domain.

Chinese president Hu Jintao on Thursday pledged African governments 20 billion in credit over the next three years and called for more China-Africa coordination international affairs to defend against the "bullying" of richer powers.

The episode was a reminder not only of the prevalence of the internet even in the world’s failed states, but, more importantly, it underscored how social media might be used as a tool in the conduct of international wars – or in the pursuit of peace.