African countries that have partnered with South Africa in its Square Kilometre Array bid met in Ghana recently to step up their efforts to trump a competing bid from Australasia to host what will be the world's most powerful radio telescope.

"The sharing of information and the commitment and enthusiasm shown by the partner countries has emphasised Africa's strengths in providing the best site for the SKA science," South Africa's Department of Science and Technology said in a statement last week.

Africa and Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) are the short-listed rivals to host the SKA.

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Liberians in the United States have welcomed the news that Delta Airlines has launched direct flights from the United States to Liberia.

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Arrangements to help thousands of refugees who fled from conflict and disaster areas to reunite with families and friends through the use of mobile technology have been finalised.

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Increasingly erratic rainfall patterns related to climate change pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, water experts said on Monday, arguing for greater investment in water storage.

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Ivory Coast's presidential candidates have all accepted a voter list produced by the electoral commission, the prime minister said on Monday, a sign that a poll delayed for five years may finally take place.

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The inaugural African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) has reportedly ended with a series of outcomes that will move a united Africa forward in the quest to transform agriculture and tackle food security.

Closing the forum in Accra, Ghana, AGRF Chair, Kofi Annan, praised the efforts of public and private institutions, development organisations, the donor community and farmers, to accelerate the green revolution in Africa.

"Today we move forward, strongly united and passionately committed to the concrete actions that we have jointly developed," said Annan.

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South African archaeologists have found what is believed to be the earliest evidence of human-made stone-tipped arrows, 64 000-year-old stone tools that throw light on humanity's cognitive development.

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Zimbabwe produced 119 million kg of tobacco in the 2009/10 season, double the previous year's output, an official said on Friday, as the sector recovers from the damage to commercial farming associated with land seizures.

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Angola announced on Friday an $18 billion plan to overhaul its dams and power grids and end all power cuts by 2016.

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The two rivals in Guinea's September 19 presidential run-off agreed in writing on Friday to respect the final result of the landmark election intended to bring civilian rule to West African state.

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Foreign visitors to South Africa had risen by more than 350 000 for the first four months of this year as compared to the same period in 2009, according to South African Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

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Ivory Coast's electoral commission said on Thursday it had produced a final voter list for the first time, raising the chance that an election which has been delayed six times in five years might go ahead.

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An experimental Novartis drug can clear malaria infection in mice with a single dose and scientists say it shows promise as a possible future treatment for one of the world's major killer diseases.

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The twin-pronged political and peacekeeping approach to ending almost two decades of civil war in Somalia is beginning to pay dividends, a senior United Nations official said on Thursday.

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For more than a year now, Rwanda has been immunizing its children against pneumonia. Its goal is to save the lives of 6,000 kids every year. This week, health officials and others are checking on the program's progress.

Pneumonia is the leading killer of children under age five worldwide. Over one and a half million die every year from the disease, mostly in developing countries.

In April 2009, Rwanda, with help from the GAVI Alliance and other partners, started a vaccination program against pneumococcal disease.

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The president and CEO of the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa has told VOA that important stories about Africa continue to feature less prominently in mainstream American media outlets.

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Nigeria is building a multi-billion dollar free trade zone with Chinese investors on the edge of its commercial capital Lagos to try to develop a local manufacturing base and help reduce its import dependence.

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The South African Department of Transport says it is working on a massive rail investment programme to improve the country's aging rail network.

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The Rwanda Legal Aid Project is a four-year initiative managed by the group Lawyers without Borders (Avocats sans Frontieres). The project is designed to give free legal advice from professional Rwandan lawyers to vulnerable Rwandans.

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Africa is turning into a fashionable post-crisis investment destination as investors regain their confidence and start to focus on the continent's lack of direct involvement with the global market's volatility drivers and trouble hotspots.

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