The Liberian Cabinet is working twenty-four around the clock to make sure that development, as it is unfolding at a full-scale level, remains its foremost focus far beyond 2011.

A court in the capital, Antanarivo, has sentenced former president Marc Ravalomanana and two officers to life imprisonment with hard labour for the part they played in the deaths of about 30 protesters before he was forced from office in 2009.

Former president Ibrahim Babangida said yesterday that the PDP was being dishonest when it said President Jonathan could run for election next year on his initial joint ticket with the late Umaru Yar'adua.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said on Sunday that Kenya was mistaken to invite Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to last week's signing ceremony for the country's new constitution. Odinga said despite efforts to "foster good neighbourliness" it was "wrong".

A gang of four armed men last Friday night kidnapped the son of first Republic Prime Minister, Dr Jhailil Tafawa Balewa in Abuja. Dr. Jhailil is also the leader of one of the Goodluck Jonathan 2011 campaign groups.

The Kidnappers who are still keeping the medical doctor turned politician in their hideout as at the time of filing this report are said to be demanding a ransom of N100m.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on Friday made a surprise appearance at the Uhuru Park celebrations, defying International Criminal Court arrest warrants against him.

The Sudanese leader is subject to two arrest warrants issued by the ICC over atrocities committed in Darfur in Sudan, but the Kenyan government said that it would not arrest him.

The case against a 23-year-old man accused of killing Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter in a car crash was postponed by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Friday.

The case against Sizwe Mankazana was postponed until November 5 for further investigation and an outstanding forensic report. He faces charges of drunk driving and culpable homicide.

Fighting in Somalia's anarchic capital Mogadishu entered a fourth day Thursday, as African Union-backed Somali interim government forces continued street clashes and artillery exchanges with Islamist insurgents, Radio Garowe reports.

A plane which crashed whilst trying to land in western Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday has left at least 19 passengers dead.

An official of Kinshasa's small city-centre Ndolo airport, from which the flight took off, confirmed the crash, but did not provide any additional information.

A major blow was yesterday evening dealt on the federal government amnesty programme when the leader of "Outlaws" and major urban guerrilla, Mr. Soboma George, was killed by four men while two of his close aides were injured.

Conflicting reports said two girls who were in his company also lost their lives though it is not yet clear what led to the attack and by which group.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has sounded the alarm over the complete absence of safety for journalists in Somalia following the death of veteran journalist, Barkhad Awale Adan.

Awale Adan was killed in the afternoon of Tuesday, 24 August 2010, during gunfire exchange between the Transitional Federal Government and the Islamists group, Al-Shabaab, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The Sudanese government Tuesday came to an agreement with an international watchdog over discrepancy in oil productivity figures.

A statement from the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi said Global Witness acknowledged that confusion over the actual figures was caused by the use aggregate figures without taking into account the export-oriented net figures.

Kenyans can now cancel trips to India or South Africa for kidney surgeries, and instead head to Kenyatta National Hospital where doctors have transplanted 14 kidneys in less than a year.

Normally, they do one or two a year. Another 20 patients are on the queue after new kidney donors were found.

Benin's President Yayi Boni is inching towards a legal battle he could not win over an allegation which links him to a financial scandal that is rocking the tiny West African country.

For several weeks now, many of the country's lawmakers have been championing the cause of an estimated 70,000 victims of some financial conmen alleged to be excellent bedfellows of the president.

The overwhelming support for the new constitution has increased the chances of Prime Minister Raila Odinga bagging the presidency in 2012, according to a new opinion poll published on Sunday.

The survey conducted by pollsters Infotrak Harris also shows that the winning candidate will have to carefully select his or her running mate in order to claim victory.