Ghanaians recently went to the polls to elect a new President to succeed outgoing president Kufuor. This was the second time under the country’s nascent democracy, that one political party was handing over to another without violent dispute. Ghana can be said to have redeemed Africa’s electoral image after the carnage the world witnessed during the Kenyan and Zimbabwean elections. - Monday 26 January 2009

As Kenya steps up its campaign to ride on the current wave of publicity as the heritage of the new US President Barack Obama, prominent American personalities have endorsed the country as the next major destination for American tourists. - Saturday 24 January 2009

Did you know that Michelle Obama only agreed to support Barack Obama’s decision to run for president of the United States only if he gave up smoking? Well, Obama made a vow to quit, a deal was struck, and Michelle gave him her absolute support. And with that support, a spectacular change has come to America and world at large as history books in the West open a new chapter. - Saturday 24 January 2009

An anti-rape group in South Africa on Friday slammed comments by ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, who suggested that the woman who accused ANC leader Jacob Zuma of rape had a "nice time" with him. - Saturday 24 January 2009

Another African summit on Zimbabwe’s political soap opera on Monday is unlikely to break deadlock over a power-sharing deal between Robert Mugabe and the opposition. - Saturday 24 January 2009

The arrest of Laurent Nkunda, the Congolese rebel leader, by his erstwhile allies in Rwanda marks a dramatic turn in relations between Congo and its tiny but militarily powerful neighbour. - Saturday 24 January 2009

A candidate vaccine against malaria has recently undergone two promising clinical studies. The first produced a 65% drop in the number of infections and a 59% reduction in malaria attacks following infection. The second, which focused on a particular adjuvant, also reduced the number of episodes of malaria. - Saturday 24 January 2009

More than 50,000 Somalis were smuggled through the Gulf of Aden to Yemen in 2008, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said in its latest report obtained on Friday. - Saturday 24 January 2009

The police in Nigeria’s central Kwara state have paraded a goat they claim was one of the two armed robbers who attempted to steal a Mazda car, the local press reported Friday. - Friday 23 January 2009

The World Food Programme has halted its food shipments to Somalia in a high-stakes attempt to press local warlords to rein in violence that has killed two of its employees this month. - Friday 23 January 2009