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The South African coastal city of Cape Town becomes the centre of the footballing world this week as preparations for 2010 FIFA World Cup draw hit overdrive. (AllAfrica)

For the first time in years, Nigeria's Niger Delta seems to be looking up. (AllAfrica)

DARK clouds of anxiety, frustration and confusion hung over most parts of Namibia late yesterday as the Electoral Commission of Namibia failed to release any official election results on the first day after the polls closed in Namibia's fourth post-Independence Presidential and National Assembly elections. (AllAfrica)

An apparent surge in the purchase of African land by foreign companies and governments to grow food and other crops for export has set alarm bells ringing on and off the continent. The headlines have been strident: "The Second Scramble for Africa Starts," "Quest for Food Security Breeds Neo-Colonists," "Food Security or Economic Slavery?" (AllAfrica)

So confident is President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of the outcome of Equatorial Guinea's election on Sunday that he expects to win by the same margin as in 2002 - with 97.1 percent of the vote, reports Le Pays of Ouagadougou. (AllAfrica)

Rwanda and France have agreed to restore diplomatic relations three years after the two countries severed ties after an incident triggered by controversial indictments issued by a French Judge. (AllAfrica)

The theme for World AIDS Day 2009 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights', and the efforts of the continent's developing countries to reach some of the key indicators of universal access are under closer scrutiny than ever. Will they do it? (AllAfrica)

The government yesterday responded strongly to international criticism over the proposed anti-gay law, saying the process would continue uninterrupted. (AllAfrica)

Somalia's militant group Al-Shabaab has seized control of Dobley, a southern border town located between Somalia and Kenya, witnesses said. (AllAfrica)

It has been called the next golden commodity by investment firms, and 'neocolonialism' by the now repentant director general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Jacques Diouf. (AllAfrica)

About 25 political parties in Nigeria will form the new proposed mega party, the Mega Summit Movement, LEADERSHIP has gathered. (AllAfrica)

WhenThe President Ails..."Even if Yar'Adua resigns or cannot continue in office, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan cannot be president because we shall not relinquish power until 2015. The Northern caucus of the PDP will meet and another northerner will be chosen in a special PDP convention." -- Godwin Dabo (AllAfrica)

African countries are ready to conclude the Doha Round on the basis of current proposals, but warn against any attempt to renegotiate them at the seventh ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that opens in Geneva today. Meanwhile, the Africa Trade Network demands a moratorium on the Doha talks. (AllAfrica)

The recently signed East African Community Common Market Protocol will also address social and cultural matters, according to a senior East African Community official. (AllAfrica)

US Senator Russ Feingold's statement - Senate committee passes Feingold Bill requiring new strategy to confront the Lord's Resistance Army rebellion in Northern Uganda. (AllAfrica)

British firm Solo Oil will spend $10.7 million to fund a buyout agreed upon with Aminex for a 12.5 per cent interest in the Likonde-1 well in Southern Tanzania. (AllAfrica)

A Chinese energy firm has chosen Kenya as its entry point into East Africa, where it expects to invest millions of dollars in the next three years. (AllAfrica)

Commercial banks in East Africa are losing billions of shillings annually through rogue dealers who are engaging in private foreign currency trading online, taking advantage of improved Internet connections and the 24-hour nature of the business. (AllAfrica)

ONE of the most significant developments regarding the Government's role of economic management has been the implementation of a budget cycle that will run from January to December of every year. (AllAfrica)

THE Immigration Department is today expected to commence the screening and interviewing of 22 Somali juveniles believed to be victims of an international syndicate in human trafficking. (AllAfrica)

A high powered South African delegation is expected in Zimbabwe to speed up talks among the three governing parties who are racing against time to meet a Saturday deadline to conclude negotiations. (AllAfrica)

It's going to be a Christmas of political intrigue, as MPs on Sunday stepped up the war of words over the conservation of Mau forest and deal-making ahead of an election which is still three years away. (AllAfrica)

Somalia's al-Shabaab insurgents have captured a key town close to the border with Kenya. The al Qaeda linked rebels are said to have driven out combatants of Hizbu-Islam, another Islamist group opposing the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG), to take control of Dhobley, the border town. (AllAfrica)

Four political parties that contested the November 2009 Presidential and National Assembly (NA) elections issued a joint statement to voice their great concern and dissatisfaction about alleged irregularities during voting. (AllAfrica)

Barring any further serious dislocations in the global economy which could affect domestic financial system, the revenue of the Federal Government will hit the N7.59 trillion-mark by the 2012 fiscal year while the aggregate expenditure will hover around N4.65 trillion. (AllAfrica)

The Ministry of Defence (MINADEF) announced yesterday that Rwanda is now a mine - free country, after it completed a demining campaign ahead of the December 1, 2010 deadline set by the Ottawa Convention. (AllAfrica)

A committee set up by about 40 organisations of people living with HIV/Aids is investigating reports of ghost patients receiving anti retroviral drugs from the Ministry of Health's certified Aids treatment centres. (AllAfrica)

UGANDA has welcomed the entrance of Rwanda into the Commonwealth, becoming its 54th member. The decision was announced at the end of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. (AllAfrica)

Ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it is not aware of any pressure being mounted on Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to resign on the account of the health of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. (AllAfrica)

Debt forgiveness to prominent Nigerians and companies is generating furore among shareholders, banking officials and other stakeholders who see it as politically-motivated and undue favour to beneficiaries. (AllAfrica)

Pirates seize a supertanker carrying oil from Saudi Arabia to the US - one of the largest ships captured off Somalia. (BBC News)