Toronto - Billed as one of the surprise packages in the World Cup qualifying rounds, the high flying Ethiopian national team lived up to its expectations beating the Central African Republic 2-1 in neutral Congo Brazzaville to secure a World Cup playoffs berth.

London - Officials at Gatwick Airport, south of London, have impounded “tens of thousands” of desiccated caterpillars, estimated to weigh some 207 pounds (94 kilograms), from a traveler who claimed they were for “food” and “personal consumption”.

Johannesburg - South African President Jacob Zuma yesterday called in on the former anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg and found him “comfortable and relaxed watching television”.

Bamako - While the French, together with Malian forces, have managed to retake much of the territory formerly occupied by rebels, there has been little coverage of what is happening from anywhere near the front.

French airstrikes against Islamist revolutionaries in Mali have killed scores of rebels as well as at least 11 innocent civilians.

News has been coming over the wires all day about a large convoy of Gaddafi forces, possibly hundreds of vehicles, arriving in neighboring Niger and some say heading for Burkina Faso.

France’s reputation for influence-peddling and widespread corruption in Africa is nobody’s secret, but Nicolas Sarkozy's reactions to the current electoral deadlock in the Ivory Coast indicate that France's shadowy African era may be coming to an end.

New York - People are the real wealth, reiterates the 20th anniversary edition of Human Development Report (HDR) 2010. It also comes up with three new measures for discussing poverty and inequality.

Alger - One day before the expiration of the ultimatum, the terrorist group ‘Al Qaeda in the Maghreb released an audio message by Sergio Cicala, the Sicilian abducted with his wife last December, in the desert of Mauritania, on the border with Mali.

The embattled representative from the state of Florida, Alan Grayson found himself on the verge of being caught in a coup in Niger earlier this week.

Salifou Sawadogo, Burkina Faso's environment minister, told a special forum on climate change Africa requires $65 billion to deal with the effects of global warming.

Guineans are coming forward with their stories of Sept. 28, the day the army brutalized protesters. Note: This story contains graphic content.

Despite readily available vaccines, death rate of sickle-cell anemia in African children remains to be a growing concern, researchers said Thursday.

In the newest HIV/AIDS study conducted by various researchers from Oxford University, the Population Council of Ghana and the Kenya Medical Research, they found how men who have sex with men have no safe access to relevant HIV/AIDS information.

The construction of a controversial clinic to offer surgery to victims of female genital mutilation is under way in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Fasso, West Africa and is expected to be completed by September this year, taking only six Months to construct.

Fifty-three million children under five are expected to be reached across eight West African countries in a coordinated polio immunization campaign.

Kenya's internal security minister George Saitoti has ordered a terrorist alert, tightening up security at airports and borders. The east African countries of Kenya and neighbouring Tanzania were hit before by terrorist attacks from El-Qaeda linked cells.

Google has added multiple sites and services to its various properties for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The company gives the latest updates and information that can be accessed worldwide.