AFP - Nigeria has set off on what some may consider a near impossible task in Africa's most populous nation -- holding fair elections -- and has upped the ante by giving itself only four months to prepare. (full story...)

One dead, the other seriously injured in crash one month after moment of passion was controversially published in newspaperTheirs was a kiss that stunned a conservative town. When a moment of passion between two men was published on a newspaper front page, it provoked fierce debate in one of South Africa 's oldest com....(more) (full story...)

Annual figure drops by 8.6% and assaults, robberies and car hijackings also downMurders in South Africa have dropped to their lowest level since the end of apartheid, police figures show.The police minister, Nathi Mthethwa, said the annual murder rate fell by 8.6% to dip below 17,000 for the first time since nationwide r....(more) (full story...)

Despite its sporty image, the country is 'slowly eating itself to death' says drug firm as research is publishedIt is renowned for surfing, rugby and the great outdoors, but South Africa is among the fattest countries in the world, a survey has found.The rainbow nation is "eating itself slowly to death"....(more) (full story...)

AP - Tropical Storm Igor is drifting in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands. (full story...)

The murder rate has fallen by 8.6% over the past year in South Africa, the latest statistics show. (full story...)

AP - Oxford's new Zulu-English dictionary is the first update in four decades for one of South Africa's most widely spoken languages, the university publisher said Thursday. (full story...)

AFP - US energy giant Chevron will explore for oil in three deepwater oil wells off Liberia in West Africa, a region which has yielded massive oil finds in recent years. (full story...)

AP - Police say South Africa's murder rate, one of the highest in the world, has dropped by 8.6 percent. (full story...)

AP - Tropical Storm Igor is barely moving in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands. (full story...)