The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is providing local hospitals in Zimbabwe with critical medical supplies and money to treat pregnant women, amid a collapsing health system and the worst cholera outbreak in the sub-Saharan African country's history which has now claimed over 1,500 lives.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the reported release from house arrest of the President of Mauritania, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who was overthrown by the country's military in August, and called for the restoration of constitutional order as soon as possible.

While the whole of the Southern African region earlier this year united in blocking an arms shipment from reaching the murderous regime of Robert Mugabe, a United Nations investigation has revealed that Chinese weapons are getting to Harare, via the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

High food prices and continued market volatility will increasingly make the UN World Food Programme (WFP) tap non-traditional donors like China and the corporate world for funds, as it warned that it would run out of cash by March 2009 to feed millions in hunger hotspots across the globe.

A South African aid package of R300m for Zimbabwe would be withheld until a representative government was in place, the cabinet said yesterday.

Government spokesman Themba Maseko said the cabinet was "extremely concerned" about the political impasse that had deepened the humanitarian crisis there.

Slavery officially ended 200 years ago - and until 1965, when the Civil Rights Act was passed, blacks were not allowed to vote in the Southern part of the United States. But the reality today is that Americans have voted for a black man, for the first time in their history, to lead the most powerful country in the world.

Kenya is ecstatic at the news of Barack Obama's historic election as president of the United States. Upon hearing news of their beloved "son's" win Wednesday morning (East African time), residents of Kogelo village burst into song and cheers of joy.

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on aid groups working there, imposed ahead of the country's controversial presidential run-off election.

President Robert Mugabe's government ordered a suspension on all field operations by international humanitarian agencies and private volunteer organizations working in the southern African country nearly three months ago.

USA: The US Naval Central Command has ordered Coalition naval forces to establish a 'Maritime Security Patrol Area' in the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant shipping.

Navy warships will patrol the area with aircraft support, under the command of Commodore Bob Davidson of the Canadian Navy.

Australia: Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Foreign Affairs staff have arrived in Nairobi to help consulate staff trying to free Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan, who was kidnapped in Somalia on Saturday.

Manila: The Philippines is looking into the possibility of banning Filipino seafarers from boarding ships that will pass through "pirate-prone" areas, the country's foreign secretary said on Tuesday.

Addis Ababa: Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed said Tuesday all steps were being taken to free two foreign journalists and their local fixer seized in the war-riven country at the weekend.

"We are undertaking every possible measure for their release, including negotiations. We are confident that they will be released very soon," Yusuf told AFP in Addis Ababa.

Philippine: A ranking official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) admitted Monday that the abduction of Filipino seamen in Somalia is difficult to stop but the Philippine government is now looking for ways to avoid kidnappings.

Nairobi (Kenya): The UN children's fund (UNICEF) said on Saturday that a recent conflict in the town of Belet Weynein central Somalia needs humanitarian response due to massive displacement of people.

Somalia: The African Union said on Thursday a pact between Somalia's government and some opposition figures was a very significant step, but fighting in the southern port of Kismayu dented hopes of a breakthrough.

President Abdullahi Yusuf's interim administration signed the peace agreement on Monday at U.N.-led talks in Djibouti.