/UPDATE/POLITICS: Zimbabwe Holds Its Breath Over Election Results

With more than a day having passed since polling stations for Zimbabwe's general elections closed their doors, complete official results for the ballot have yet to be released.

KENYA: Free Secondary Schooling Policy Faces Testing Times

When Kenya's government introduced free primary schooling in 2003, vast numbers of additional pupils were brought into the education system overnight, putting it on a steep learning curve.

POLITICS-DR CONGO: In a Governmental Vacuum, Yearnings for a Lost Empire

On a broad hillside high above the meandering flow of the Mpozo River, a handful of policemen guard a ruin.

POLITICS-KENYA: An Intractable Land Dispute Grinds On

More than a week after the launch of an army operation to flush out the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) in Mount Elgon, a district along the border with Uganda, the fugitive chief of the outlawed militia has reportedly urged an end to the campaign, but remained defiant towards government.

POLITICS: Parliamentarians to Tackle Poverty

The link between global warming and poverty, and the effects of poverty on women, will be among the topics put in the spotlight during the 118th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which takes place next month in the South African port city of Cape Town.

KENYA: Education Amidst Displacement

With the new academic year in Kenya underway, teacher Moses Simiyu Kalenda is once again instructing children - just not in the place where he expected to be doing so.

DEVELOPMENT-EAST AFRICA: Promise and Peril in Going – and Staying

Justina Bkole (38) was just a toddler when her parents fled to western Tanzania in 1972, to escape ethnic clashes in neighbouring Burundi. Like thousands of other refugees who made the same journey, she stayed in the East African country: a place to which she now has strong ties, even if her roots are in Burundi.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Training Anaesthesiologists to Do, And To Train

The need for a global effort to address the shortage of anaesthesiologists in Africa was highlighted over the past week during the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists - which took place in Cape Town, South Africa.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Anaesthesiology on Life Support

A discussion about anaesthesiology and anaesthesiologists is something that could bring on drowsiness, even sleep...Until, that is, the talk turns to shortages of anaesthesiologists in Africa and how this can increase surgical mortality. Statistics on this matter are frightening enough to keep anyone awake.

WOMEN&#39S DAY-KENYA: Equal Pay in Theory, Not Always in Fact

On Mar. 8, a century ago, thousands took to the streets of New York in demonstrations aimed at improving life for women. Burning issues of the day included the need for better working conditions - higher pay, a shorter work day - and winning the right to vote.

DEVELOPMENT: A Humanitarian Disaster Unfolds in Eastern DRC

In a mist-shrouded valley between the Mount Nyiragongo volcano and a pair of its dormant cousins looming in Rwanda to the east, nearly 3,000 souls wait in limbo, having fled a conflict that has succeeded in making this lush corner in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) nothing less than hell on earth for its people.

POLITICS-KENYA: From Suspension of Talks to Fragile Success

The signing of a power-sharing agreement to end the political crisis in Kenya has elicited a variety of reactions.

POLITICS-KENYA: "It Will Not Be Machetes and Arrows Any More, But Firearms"

Political analyst Kwamchetsi Makhokha has warned that failure of talks to address Kenya's political crisis could prove explosive. The East African country is trying to resolve a disputed presidential election that has already cost more than 1,000 lives - and displaced up to 600,000 people.

ECONOMY-KENYA: Amid Political Crisis, Food Shortages Loom

Elizabeth Mutai, who farms passion fruit in the Keiyo district in Kenya's Rift Valley, is worried. Sales of the crop has dropped significantly since the eruption of violence after the election held in December 2007.

Q&A: "Before We Single Out the Media… What About Politicians?"

The messenger may not have been killed, exactly, but (s)he has had a rough time of it over the past few days in Kenya.

POLITICS-KENYA: What a Prime Minister Might – and Might Not – Do

A fifth week of talks to end Kenya's violent election dispute is scheduled to begin Monday, with the extent of power to be exercised by a new prime minister one of the key items on the agenda.

RWANDA: Cutting Edge HIV/AIDS Prevention Presents Challenges

Certain medical workers in Rwanda have expressed concern about the country's campaign to promote male circumcision as a means of curbing the spread of HIV. They fear that in a country with low levels of knowledge about sexual health, people could mistakenly believe the procedure offers complete protection against the virus.

POLITICS-KENYA: Rice Lobbies for Power-Sharing Government

U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told feuding political leaders in Kenya that power-sharing is central to pulling the country out of its post-election crisis.

POLITICS-TANZANIA: No Spending on Those Who Steal, Says Bush

U.S. President George W. Bush, on a five-nation tour of Africa, has showered praise on the anti-corruption efforts of Tanzania's president, Jakaya Kikwete - whose government is receiving substantial aid from Washington.

POLITICS-KENYA: One More "Frightening Step" To Go

Efforts to defuse the post-election crisis in Kenya have entered a decisive phase, with negotiators appointed by President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga close to agreeing on a power-sharing government, chief mediator Kofi Annan said Friday.

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Giving Ethnic Divisions the Boot

Anthony Njoroge passes the ball to David Onyango, whose shot makes it past the goalkeeper to a thunderous cheer from spectators at Huruma Stadium, in Nairobi's Eastlands slum area.