The African Union on Tuesday extended the mandate of its top official Jean Ping after an election, in which he was challenged by South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, deadlocked. "We have decided to prolong the mandate of the current commission until the next summit in Lilongwe Malawi" in June, bloc chairman, Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi, said at the end of a two-day summit in Addis Ababa.

I told my son not to take after me; break tradition chains, remove old edicts, and create new rituals. Take after Mandela, Gates, Jobs, or Einstein. Take after someone who has changed the world. You and your peers across Zambia must create razor sharp focus and straighten the curvature of African history by doing something spectacular, something that will bring pride to Africans. Look at a piece of metal and bend it with the power of your will. Cast it into innovation so the world can see. You all can do it!

Uranium miner Paladin Energy on Tuesday reported a net loss of $120.2-million for the six months to the end of December, as it wrote down the value of its Kayelekera mine in Malawi.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved $41 million funding to improve the employment prospects of graduates and students in Malawi through training and skills development.

Johannesburg – The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and the Zimbabwean Exiles Forum (ZEF) have launched a landmark case in the North Gauteng High Court to compel South Africa to abide by its legal obligations to investigate and prosecute high level Zimbabwean officials accused of crimes against humanity.

They call the Third World the lazy man’s purview; the sluggishly slothful and languorous prefecture. In this realm people are sleepy, dreamy, torpid, lethargic, and therefore indigent—totally penniless, needy, destitute, poverty-stricken, disfavored, and impoverished. In this demesne, as they call it, there are hardly any discoveries, inventions, and innovations. Africa is the trailblazer. Some still call it “the dark continent” for the light that flickers under the tunnel is not that of hope, but an approaching train. And because countless keep waiting in the way of the train, millions die and many more remain decapitated by the day.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. It’s good to be back here in Munich for this important conference and the first time that the American delegation includes both the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, which I think speaks volumes about the importance of our transatlantic relationship.

As I said this morning, I have now traveled to Europe 27 times as Secretary of State. President Obama has visited ten times. So when President Obama says that Europe remains the cornerstone of our engagement with the world, those are not just reassuring words; that is the reality. Europe is our partner of first resort.

In a speech spouting western views on gay rights, The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon over the weekend insulted African leaders by suggesting they ignore long standing traditions and upbringing to support call by the west for the legalization of homosexuality on the continent. To add insult to injury, this was at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.