Textbooks may soon be available online if a pilot project yields results. The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has entered into an agreement with the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) meant to provide learning materials to schools in soft copies as well as online. According to the deal, the CCK will fund digitalisation of 11 Form One subjects at an initial cost of Sh15.2 million.

Zambia's ruling MMD party chose the country's Vice President Rupiah Banda as its candidate for a presidential election due in November, a party official said on Friday.

Zimbabwe’s power sharing talks looked set to completely collapse on Thursday after Mugabe issued an ultimatum to the MDC to join a proposed unity government or be left out. The ZANU PF leader threatened to appoint a new cabinet if the MDC did not sign up. “If after tomorrow (Thursday), Tsvangirai does not want to sign, we will certainly put together a cabinet. We feel frozen at the moment,” Mugabe told the state owned Herald newspaper.

The top United Nations humanitarian official has begun his three-day visit to Ethiopia, where he is holding talks with Government officials, relief groups and individuals affected by the country's drought and food crisis. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, travelled to Ethiopia's Konso Special Woreda in Southern Nations Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) today to review humanitarian efforts.

United Nations humanitarian agencies are expanding their relief efforts across West Africa, where rising flood waters have displaced hundreds of thousands of people in seven countries, damaged major infrastructure and sparked the threat of widespread outbreaks of infectious diseases.