More than 200 African migrants are feared dead after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says.
The boat carrying around 250 people is reported to have capsized 50km (30 miles) north of the Libyan coast in stormy seas and high winds.
Libyan officials say 21 people are confirmed dead and 23 rescued.
A second boat with around 350 migrants was rescued, an official from the IOM told the Associated Press news agency.
The IOM's Laurence Hart said the rescued boat and all of its passengers were now safely back in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
"Rescue was quick because they were near an oil platform that notified the Libyan coastal guards who quickly rescued the migrants," he said.
The missing boat is believed to be in the same area.
Coastguards are believed to be looking for two other boats, which reportedly left for Italy in recent days.
"This is the typical route for migrants from Libya to Italy," Mr Hart said.
Italy is to start joint sea patrols in May with Libya, aimed at stopping the heavy influx of illegal migrants.
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6,800 Tunisians, 6,000 Nigerians and 4,000 Somalis arrived in Lampedusa in 2008.
In 2007, by contrast, only 1,000 Tunisians were recorded arriving on the island, with even fewer Nigerians and Somalis.
The change could be attributed to increased Spanish efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants entering the Canary Islands.
Migrants from some African countries may have changed their approach as a result, choosing to focus on Lampedusa.
Source: IOM
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According to IOM figures, more than 31,000 people crossed from North Africa to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2008 alone.
The UN's refugee agency reports that two boats, carrying more than 450 people, have arrived in Italy in the past week.
Mother and son
Libyan media report that among the dead was an African woman found lifelessly clutching an infant to her bosom, says the BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli.
The missing vessel reportedly ran into difficulty shortly after setting off on Sunday from Sidi Bilal, near Tripoli.
"Libyan search and rescue operations led to the recovery of the bodies of those who drowned as a result of the accident, among them the bodies of 10 Egyptians," said Egyptian official Ahmed Rizk.
The nationalities of the migrants are reported to have included Egyptians, Tunisians and Palestinians.
High risk
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres expressed his "great sorrow" at the loss of life.
He said it was the latest tragic example of "a global phenomenon in which desperate people take desperate measures to escape conflict, persecution and poverty in search of a better life".
Hundreds of migrants have died in the last few months crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Europe, and the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen.
They are at the mercy of unscrupulous smugglers, unseaworthy vessels and the elements but many take these risks for the lure of a better life.
The smuggling season normally stops in October, and resumes again in April.
But the IOM says there has been no lull this year and the smuggling boats have been sailing right through the winter.
The boat capsized on one of the main migration routes from Libya to Italy
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Two of the men accused of murdering South African reggae star Lucky Dube are in hospital after trying to escape from custody, said the pair's lawyers.
The duo were injured in a struggle with police - meaning another delay for the verdict at the Johannesburg High Court.
Sfiso Mhlanga and Mbuti Mabe allegedly assaulted a police officer with a brick during their failed getaway attempt as their prison van arrived at the court.
Dube's 2007 killing in a Johannesburg carjacking shocked the country.
The judgment was due to be finalised by Tuesday afternoon but their co-accused, Julius Xowa, cut a lone figure in the court.
The nature of their injuries was not known but the case has been delayed until it is ascertained when they will be fit to appear again before the court.
"Accused one [Mr Mhlanga] attempted to escape and he got injured in the process and was taken to hospital," said lawyer Vuyo Jack, reported Sapa news agency.
The same had happened to Mr Mabe, said his advocate, Mpho Milubi.
The police officer allegedly attacked by the pair was taken to hospital for treatment.
Before adjourning the case on Tuesday, Judge Seun Moshidi said security should be stepped up in the courtroom.
"I suggest, in view of this development that security should be beefed up," he said, reported Sapa.
"People going into this court should be safe and court orderlies must do their work... They have been too relaxed."
The judge had begun to deliver his lengthy verdict on Friday to a packed courtroom, including Dube's widow and son. The verdict was then expected to finish by Monday.
Dube was shot dead in front of his son and daughter in Rosettenville, a suburb south of central Johannesburg.
South Africa's best-selling reggae artist, Dube recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans during his 25-year career.
The court has heard the three men did not know the identity of their alleged victim until they read about it in the newspapers the following day.
The killing led to renewed domestic calls for the restoration of the death penalty in a bid to stem one of the world's highest murder rates.
The BBC's Mpho Lakaje in Johannesburg says South Africa's international image has been tarnished by its alarming crime levels.
Nearly 19,000 people were murdered last year, according to official statistics.
Millions of visitors are expected for next year's football World Cup.
BBC NEWS REPORT
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Madonna adopted David Banda (foreground) from Malawi in 2006
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Pop singer Madonna has travelled to Malawi in a bid to adopt a second child from the country.
Four-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James is in the same orphanage that was once home to David Banda, adopted by the singer in 2006.
Madonna's decision take a second child has already been criticised by international charities but now a human rights organisation in Malawi is threatening to try and stop the adoption from taking place.
YOUR COMMENTS
Bravo Madonna once again.
I've lived in Malawi for the entire 27 years I have been on earth and luckily so, I have had a chance to live in families which I consider poorest and richest by Malawian standards.
My simple opinion is that those who are opposing the adoption do not really understand what poverty is. Maybe they just read about it.
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 What Madonna has done is very selfish 
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Denying these children adoption is denying a chance to be given family and hope. Should the courts and insane Malawians oppose her second adoption, please give her my contacts... she can adopt me and my wife too!!!
Owen, Lilongwe, Malawi
Oh dear. I'm sure she feels she has the best intentions, but you can't help feeling these are more than a little misplaced. Is a chaotic life traipsing the world being looked after by nannys, albeit in luxury, what this child really needs?
She should spend her money supporting foster parents in Malawi or move there herself and open an orphanage. Pete, London
Malawi does not approve adoption for single/divorced people, so why is Madonna any different? Yes she is raising awareness of the problem but the solution is not to send another child to live with a workaholic mum that relies on nannies, chefs, etc to care for her children.
The child needs a normal environment with a loving family who will be able to spend time with them.
Kerry, Bedford, UK
Why not? Millions of African children live in absolute poverty. Here is a women who will provide a future for an orphan, not any orphan, but for an orphan living in the one of the most poorest of African countries.
After all, what would you have dreamt if you were an orphan? I bet you would of wished for someone rich like Madonna to take you away from your everyday plight. At least someone's doing something!
Stop judging her and worry about your own life.
Andy, Cape Town, South Africa
I think Madonna is doing a very selfless thing by wanting to adopt Mercy James. I highly doubt it's a publicity stunt. I think she decided to adopt Mercy so that David can have someone to relate to, I know he is receiving more than enough love from Rocco & Lourdes, but it will be nice to have a sister from his home country.
I am based here in Lilongwe, and I can say that 98% of the people are in favour of her actions. Madonna, you're welcome in The Warm Heart of Africa any day!
Eleanor, Lilongwe, Malawi
David Banda was just one year old when Madonna adopted him
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I think the Material Girl has shown the world that it's okay to be a user, materialist, and home breaker.
If the Malawi authorities had any self-respect they should out of hand reject her request for adoption and find a better home for her for a better family, perhaps one with family values.
ZT, Khobar, Saudi Arabia
I think it's great Madonna wants to adopt another child. No one human being, no matter how wealthy or famous, can solve all the children's problems but arguing that because there are larger issues you're not allowed to make a difference to one child's life is utterly ridiculous.
I wonder at the motives of 'Save the Children' targeting Madonna like this and not Angelina Jolie for instance?
EK, Oxford
I think what Madonna's done in both cases is a very selfish action. If she really had the best interests of David at heart, rather than her own, would it not have been better to sponsor his father to enable him to bring up his son?
That way he could have remained with his family and in his own culture. Madonna is setting a dangerous precedent whereby anyone who has sufficient wealth can side-step the adoption laws of a country to achieve their own ends.
I admire Madonna for setting up a charity to help the children of Malawi but she should leave it at that and not remove children from their country of birth unless it is absolutely essential. There are plenty of children in Britain in need of adoption, but perhaps this would not be as fashionable or provide enough publicity for Madonna. Vicky, Newcastle, UK
Why is Madonna being criticised so much? Critics from the UK ought to focus their attention on UK adoption policies/laws and ask the question, why does it take so long for children in care to be found homes?
Why does it take so long for prospective parents to be approved? Hopefully Save the Children will consider answering this question honestly. I hope it will campaign on behalf of UK children in care and persuade government and all the agencies involved in UK adoptions, to make the process speedier, more efficient and succinct. Yes it would be great if all people could be adopted by extended family, but this is not always possible.
Ultimately there is only one race, the human race. Cultures and differences need to be acknowledged (positively, encourage and develop links)within the wider family context.
Liz, London
I think that if one sets foot in Malawi and see all the children that need a loving family, all the doubt will fade. Think of the children, everything else is just politics.
Madonna has chosen her role and she should not be crucified for it. Ask yourself, "what are you willing to do for the children". Then do it.
Charina, Reykjavik, Iceland
bbc news report.
A former Somali minister and four other people accompanying him have been killed in Mogadishu.
The car carrying Abdi Rahman Mohamud Jimaale and the others was attacked with automatic weapons.
Meanwhile, a senior officer in the Islamist al-Shabab group was reportedly killed in Baidoa by forces loyal to the town's former administration.
Sheikh Hassan Deerow, the head of the Baidoa police station, was killed in fighting which left six others died.
Al-Shabab captured Baidoa, former seat of the Somali parliament, in January.
They moved in after the pullout of Ethiopian forces, which invaded in late 2006 in an effort to prop up Somalia's fragile interim government.
Al-Shabab, which its leaders say is allied to al-Qaeda, now controls much of southern and central Somalia.
Last week, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Ali Omar survived an apparent assassination attempt in Mogadishu.
The minister was passing through the capital's bustling Bakara market - an al-Shabab stronghold - when a landmine went off.
The government, installed in January after UN-brokered talks, can only work in parts of Mogadishu.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Gaddafi has angered leaders with sharp words at previous summits
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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has stormed out of the Arab League summit in Qatar having denounced the Saudi king for his ties with the West.
He disrupted the opening session by criticising King Abdullah, calling him a British product and an American ally.
Col Gaddafi has angered Arab leaders in the past with sharp remarks at summits.
Meanwhile, leaders have been urged to reject an international arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur.
Arrest first "those who have committed massacres and atrocities in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon", Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said.
The summit is also expected to discuss Iran's influence in the Middle East.
A number of countries are particularly concerned about Iran's support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and for Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Col Gaddafi's grudge against King Abdullah goes back to an Arab meeting shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, when they exchanged harsh words.
"Now after six years, it has [been] proved that you were the liar," said the Libyan leader.
He added that he now considered their "problem" over and was ready to reconcile.
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SUMMIT FACTS
17 out of 22 heads of state attending
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is absent
Sudan's president is flouting an ICC arrest warrant to attend
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is attending
Iran is not a member of the organisation
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But when the emir of Qatar switched off his microphone, Col Gaddafi insisted that he could not be denied the right to address the summit as - he called himself - the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims.
Splits among the Arab League nations have become glaring, says the BBC's Katya Adler who is in Doha, over Arab nations' differing attitudes to internal Palestinian divisions between the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist militant group Hamas.
Our correspondent says Western-backed Sunni nations fear the spread of Iranian influence - in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq and among marginalised Shia communities in the Gulf States - and are suspicious of those they regard as Iran's Arab friends, such as Syria and Qatar.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is attending the two-day summit, criticised Sudan's decision to expel aid agencies in Darfur taken after the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant was issued.
"Relief efforts should not become politicised," he said.
In his remarks, President Bashir of Sudan thanked the Arab League for support against the ICC warrant.
"This support will continue, God willing, through resolutions... demanding that those who fabricated it, revoke it... so that the Arab and African peace initiative in Darfur can get a strong base to stand on," he said.
Qatar has not signed the ICC charter, which obliges a member state to arrest those indicted by the court when they enter its territory.
Many African states, along with Sudan's key ally China, have called for the ICC proceedings to be suspended, arguing it will hamper efforts to bring peace to Darfur.
In other opening remarks, President Assad said the Arab Middle East peace initiative launched in 2002 was ineffective because the Arabs did not have a real peace partner in Israel.
The peace initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia, offers Israel full recognition if it withdraws from all the land occupied in 1967.
The plan proposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and also a "just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem", based on people returning to their homes or the payment of appropriate compensation.
One notable absentee is President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt; correspondents say he is unhappy with Qatar's stance during the recent Gaza conflict.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Ticketless fans will not be allowed near the stadiums at the World Cup
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The organisers of the 2010 World Cup have insisted that the problems that often lead to stadium stampedes in Africa will not be an issue in South Africa.
Danny Jordaan, the president of the World Cup organising committee, was speaking a day after a stampede at a 2010 qualifier in Ivory Coast.
At least 19 people were killed before the Elephants game with Malawi.
Jordaan says many African fans buy their tickets only when they reach the stadium, and often arrive late to do that, creating an impatient crowd outside that can spark an incident.
When the World Cup comes to South Africa in 2010, match tickets will have to be purchased well in advance.
Jordaan says those without tickets will be "stopped kilometres away," and fans will be urged to arrive early.
BBC SPORTS REPORT.
"WHEN YOU LOSE,
DONT LOSE THE LESSON" !
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By Lucy Fleming
BBC News website, Johannesburg
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Swishing a wildebeest tail and wearing a fez-like hat adorned with goat's gall bladders, Amanda Gcabashe seems an unlikely figure for a web-savvy African healer.
But from her plush home in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, she is the face of a modern sangoma, as a traditional healer is known in South Africa.
The 34-year-old former South African business executive has set up a website to try to debunk the myths and secrets surrounding healers and their powers.
Her practice in the middle-class suburbs has attracted people from across the racial divides - part of her aim to bring sangomas, who tend to be a hidden part of rural and township life, out into the open and to address their bad image.
"Whenever you read media reports or any kind of publicity around an African healer, it's always in the negative and for me that was the starting point," she says.
The recent killing of albino people in Tanzania and Burundi for get-rich quick potions are a case in point.
South Africa too has experienced grisly killings for body parts used in traditional cures - so called "muti murders" - which, Ms Gcabashe says, all sangomas should condemn.
Amanda Gcabashe's website has a glossary of Zulu terms
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"We need to stand up and have our voices heard: We don't kill people and we don't subscribe to killing people. We all get lumped together as healers when there are healers and there are those who use their medicines and abilities for other kinds of things," she says.
"I'm from a corporate background. I realised the power of the internet to get information out there and to start a conversation and a dialogue about what we do."
The glossary of terms on the website describes a sangoma as "one who has the inborn ability to decipher the language of amadlozi [ancestors] including the interpreting of dreams".
"We believe our ancestors give us guidance," says Ms Gcabashe, who became a traditional healer eight and half years ago.
As a child, her family never used traditional healers and it was in her twenties that she found her calling - prompted in part by visions of herself dressed in the white and red regalia of a sangoma.
Now her online mission is to show that sangomas are relevant in the 21st Century, much like counsellors, and should be taken seriously along with other forms of complementary therapies.
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VISITING A SANGOMA
Women advised not to wear trousers
Shoes to be left outside consulting area
Turn off mobile phones
Expect to sit a grass mat on the floor
Not all sangomas use bones to communicate with the ancestors
Silver coins sometimes required as part of the payment
Find out if candles or other items are required
If consulting on someone else's behalf, bring an item of that person's clothing
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"When someone comes to see a sangoma you basically discuss whatever problem they are having and try and offer solutions - from a spiritual point of view - and give them tools that they can use to make their lives easier or help them health wise," she says.
"We don't promise instant riches, a fulfilled life is what we try and achieve for people."
People are not able to book appointments on her website - www.mphutungwane.co.za - but there is a query form.
She answers emails every day - varying from how to deal with a miscarriage traditionally to curious inquires from as far a field as France - so much so that she is now setting up a "Frequently Asked Questions" section.
The website also advises first-timers and people trying to reconnect with their cultural roots about what to expect when consulting a sangoma - and how to behave
Women should not wear trousers, shoes should be removed and mobile phones turned off.
And while all consultations take place on a grass mat, not all sangomas throw bones to communicate with the ancestral world.
Ms Gcabashe says she speaks directly to her ancestors - something she learnt to do during her nine-month initiation.
For my consultation, I sat on the floor as she stood sideways before me, flicking her fly whisk as she addressed her ancestors in Zulu.
After some minutes she said my mother's mother's grandmother - an elderly Irish lady, bent over double - had hobbled forward to give advice.
As nothing is known about my Irish grandmother's family, I was surprised at her appearance on the scene - it even felt like an impudent intrusion.
"She asks that you should light a candle for her later," Ms Gcabashe said.
I softened and we proceeded - after one or two false starts - to discuss my career, affairs of the heart and ended with some health advice.
In my case, no medication was prescribed - and not all sangomas, who say they can communicate with the spirit world, are able to dispense medicines.
This is done by inyangas - practitioners trained to collect and prepare herbal cures.
Ms Gcabashe is an inyanga too and has ambitions to open an African healing centre.
Frustrated with the lack of reference books on African medicine, she also hopes her website will be a start towards compiling such information.
She believes sangomas have an important role to play in fighting HIV/Aids - by far South Africa's biggest health issue - especially addressing the stigma of HIV and making people understand that it is manageable if treated as a life-long condition.
Amanda Gcabashe was not always a sangoma
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But she disputes the controversial claim by a former South African health minister that remedies such as eating African potatoes can combat HIV.
She says traditional medicines can be used along with Western medicine in the treatment of HIV/Aids - by increasing appetite and strengthening the immune system.
"If someone's on ARVs [anti-retrovirals] I never say: 'Throw them away and take my medicine.'"
The day after our interview I received a call from the taxi driver who had delivered me to the appointment in the upmarket gated estate - agog to hear how much "the sangoma in the suburbs" had charged.
In the townships, he said, a visit to a sangoma costs about 50 rand (£4), cheaper than a visit to the doctor.
Ms Gcabashe's fee is 200 rand for an hour-and-a-half session.
But with an average of five clients a week and daily queries on her website which do not necessarily translate into physical consultations, it is not a lucrative business.
"It's my gift and I can't run away from it," she says, adding that she is a consultant on traditional customs, such as weddings, to supplement her income.
"We're all very Westernised but when we come to get married, we want to do the traditional thing."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
At least 11 people are feared dead after a collapse at a gold mine in north-western Tanzania.
Miners were using hand tools to dig a shaft when a wall gave way as they reached a depth of around 140m (460ft).
Eleven miners were registered as being inside the pit when Sunday's tragedy happened at the town of Geita.
But officials say the true death toll could be higher as it is common for some prospectors not to bother registering when they descend.
Geita has attracted miners since gold was discovered during colonial times in the early 1900s.
But correspondents say the prospectors' activities are highly unregulated, resulting in dangerous practices.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
At least 15 people have died after a passenger train ploughed into a stationary cargo train in Tanzania.
Bodies of other victims may be trapped in the wreckage in the Dodoma region of central Tanzania, officials say.
William Lukuvi, Dodoma's regional commissioner, said he feared the number of dead would rise.
He said cranes had been ordered to move the wreckage of the trains after the crash, which occurred around midday local time on Sunday.
"We are investigating the cause of the accident, which has already claimed at least 15 lives," Mr Lukuvi told the Associated Press news agency.
"Cranes have been ordered to help separate the crumpled wreckage and retrieve bodies."
Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation said the accident happened in Pandambili, in Dodoma's Mpwapwa District.
In 2002, more than 200 people were killed and hundreds more wounded when a freight train collided with a passenger train outside Dodoma, the worst rail accident in the country's history.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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At least 22 people have died in a crush at a football stadium during a World Cup qualifier in Ivory Coast.
More than 130 people were injured in the stampede at the Houphouet-Boigny arena in the West African country's city of Abidjan.
About 36,000 spectators were in the stadium, where hosts Ivory Coast beat Malawi 5-0.
The BBC's John James says it was packed for the return of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who scored twice.
Our correspondent says the authorities tried in vain to control the panicking crowd. One report said the police had fired tear gas to control the stampeding fans.
The ministry of sport and the Ivorian Football Federation have confirmed the number of deaths and say the incident occurred when thousands of fans tried to squeeze into the city's main stadium.
The stadium was packed for the return of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba
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A wall collapsed, reportedly under the weight of the supporters, causing those already trying to squeeze into the stadium to panic.
Interior Minister Desire Tagro told state television: "Lots of fans showed up," reported AP news agency.
"They started pushing to get in because the match was about to start and each and every one of them wanted to get in."
The incident occurred before the game began but the fixture was allowed to go ahead.
The stadium was reportedly sold out in advance of the game after cut-price tickets went on sale.
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AFRICA FOOTBALL DISORDER
May 2008: Two-day riot over club's relegation in Algerian city
May 2001: Stadium crush in Ghana's capital Accra kills 126
April 2001: Match stampede at Congolese city leaves 14 dead
April 2001: Crush at Ellis Park in Johannesburg leaves 43 dead
July 2001: Disorder at World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe kills 13
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The arena has just been refurbished but our correspondent says at this stage it seems the sheer number of people who wanted to get into the match proved too much.
Other European-based stars playing in Sunday's game were Drogba's Chelsea team-mate Salomon Kalou, as well as Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue of Arsenal.
The home side also featured Tottenham's Didier Zokora, Sevilla's Ndri Romaric and Marseille forward Bakari Kone.
Hundreds of fans have died during riots and stampedes at football games across Africa over the last decade.
Correspondents say poorly-equipped security forces are often unable to control the crowds.
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BBC NEWS REPORT.
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Only half of those infected in South Africa by HIV - the virus that causes Aids - have access to life-saving medicines and as Claudia Hammond found out, the care for those dying can still fall on children.
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The walls of the primary school are daubed with red paint saying 'HIV kills! Always wear a condom or die!'
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The little girl comes into the headmaster's office to meet us and she is smiling, wearing her school uniform of shiny turquoise blue tracksuit bottoms and a white short-sleeved shirt.
She looks about nine or 10, but that is the consequence of malnutrition during her time growing up in the shanty town of Lower Crossroads in Cape Town. In fact she is 14.
Zenthu lives in a shack where she sleeps in the same room as her father and adult older brothers. She says that they are often drunk and sometimes there is no food for the family in the evenings.
The moment I ask her about her mother she bursts into tears, sobbing and sobbing.
We stop recording and try to comfort her, not easy when you don't speak the same language and have to talk via the school secretary's translations.
Then very fast and without stopping she is determined to tell us her story.
Her mother gave birth to her baby sister two years ago, but months later still looked pregnant.
A traditional healer said her swollen body was the result of an evil spell cast on her by people who were jealous.
Doctors told her she had excess fluid around her heart, but soon stopped treating her, saying there was nothing more they could do.
Despite the presence of other adults in the household, the care for both the new baby and her dying mother fell to Zenthu, then just 12 years old.
She began skipping school to tend to her mother.
Eventually, in Zenthu's words her mother "succumbed to the excruciating pains".
She had died from HIV/Aids. One in three pregnant mothers in some townships has the virus - so everyone must surely know someone with HIV. But the stigma means it is not discussed
The walls of the primary school are daubed with red paint saying "HIV kills! Always wear a condom or die!"
Children are bombarded with information, yet to admit to having the virus is different.
It is important to keep everything within the family shack, even if it means your child becoming a 24-hour nurse.
Children cannot always rely on relatives to nurse their dying parents
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Couple this with the fact that families who have moved from rural areas have lost the community they once knew, and you can see why children like Zenthu are left to nurse their dying parents alone.
We meet the researchers commissioned by the government who are going door-to-door in the township to assess the number of children caring for their sick parents.
This Oxford University run study will be the largest in the world ever conducted into child carers.
They want to know why young carers are more likely to contract HIV themselves.
The children might catch it while tending to parents' personal care without wearing gloves.
Or perhaps once they have been orphaned they are more likely to develop relationships with older men who can give them clothes and mobile phone time, but whose age makes them more likely to have HIV.
Or that without their parents' protection they might be more vulnerable to rape, a crime so common that some mothers living in the townships take their daughters to have long-lasting contraceptive injections at the age of 12 or 13, not because they think they're going to choose to have sex, but because the likelihood they'll be raped is so high.
Their mothers can't protect them from HIV, but they can stop them getting pregnant.
But when it comes to HIV/Aids there are signs that things might be changing.
The previous health minister was nicknamed Dr Beetroot for suggesting that garlic, olive oil and beetroot could cure HIV.
But her replacement, Barbara Hogan, has already spoken out about HIV in scenes unthinkable in South Africa just six months ago.
She was even serenaded outside her home by the Treatment Action Campaign, an organisation which has fought vigorously against the government to make HIV drugs available.
Some of the academics I spoke to believe that the future for children all depends on the new president's choice of health minister. (Elections are being held next month.)
After pouring out her heart to us, Zenthu gets up to go back to her class.
She is clearly still grieving for her mother, but at no time did she complain that it was unfair that she had to care for her or imply that anyone else should have done it.
She wanted to look after her and tells me that she will never forget her mother as long as she lives.
But when I ask what she wants to do when she leaves school, she answers that she wants to help the next generation of children in her position, so that they don't have to do what she did.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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By Karen Allen
BBC News, Iten
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In Iten in Kenya's Rift Valley, people do not walk - they run.
This is the so-called athletics capital of Kenya. The high altitude and clean air produces some of the best athletes in the world.
But as the economic downturn slashes sports sponsorship, their livelihoods are at risk.
Most of the athletes you spot across the valley are modelling the very latest sports clothing.
Nike, Adidas and Puma are household names here. Extraordinary
when many of the people survive here on less than $1 (70p) a day.
Product endorsements, appearance fees and big prize money have enabled athletes to carve out a living.
But now the money is drying up and the entire community is feeling vulnerable
"Athletics is the main industry here," says Martin Keino, a sports marketing specialist and son of athletics icon Kip Keino.
"It has transformed [people's] lives tremendously, they can build homes, invest in real estate and in turn, positively affect the communities they live in."
But now athletes are "having to review their options", he says.
No-one has been able to put a figure on the value of international sports sponsorship in Kenya, but a handful of elite athletes can expect to earn between $3m-$5m a year.
Most, though, are on more modest sums.
The harsh chill of the economic squeeze is beginning to bite even the hardiest of high-altitude runners.
Marathon champion Elias Maindi was due to take part in the Vienna marathon next month, but he has been told not to come.
The sponsors have slashed their budget and they cannot afford to have established athletes appear at their events.
He cannot even go and fund himself - if he breaks his contract with his manager, which sets out his appearance fees, he would face a $5,000 fine.
"I'm disappointed," he says.
"I've taken months to prepare for the race, now I've now got to go and find another event. This could last several years."
It is the same for Helen Kimutai, one of Kenya's top female athletes. She and her husband Kenneth now rely on income from their farm rather than profits from the race track to put their four children through school.
Still modelling their branded gear, just back from a run, Kenneth spoke for both of them.
"The crisis is hitting the athletes hard, so we thought that getting some other business would allow us to continue with our daily living," he says.
Helen Kimutai and her husband have turned to farming to boost their pay
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Other athletes are now setting up small shops, buying plots of land - anything that will yield an income that will enable them to continue to run.
The influence of Kenya's athletes on their neighbourhood is apparent everywhere you look in Iten.
Many of the schools, clinics, petrol stations and hotels here are funded by athletes' money.
So Asbel Kirprop, Kenyan silver medallist in the 1,500 metres at the Beijing Olympics, says any fall-off in sports investment will be far-reaching.
He is putting seven promising youngsters through school and says Kenyan athletes have to meet the high expectations of their community.
Athletics Kenya, the body that represents the country's athletes, is keen to play the crisis down.
But for those who are already seeing their sponsorship cut, the impact could go way beyond the sporting community.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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A team of clowns has started a tour of refugee camps in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than half of those displaced are children.
The four performers, from the Spanish organisation Payasos Sin Fronteras (Clowns Without Borders), are on a 25-day tour of seven camps around Goma.
A spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency told the BBC that the clowns could help the children overcome their trauma.
Some one million Congolese have fled their homes after years of unrest.
UNHCR spokeswoman Francesca Fontanini said that the team of clowns had achieved good results working with those displaced in Syria and the former Yugoslavia.
She said it was the first time that they had visited camps in DR Congo.
The seven camps to be visited by the clowns hold almost 100,000 people - of whom 55%-60% are children, Ms Fontanini said.
Various rebel groups, as well as the armies of neighbouring countries, have been active in eastern DR Congo for the past 15 years.
Clowns without Borders was founded in Barcelona in July 1993 and its first missions were in the former Yugoslavia.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
"TALK SLOW BUT THINK QUICK " !
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As the G20 summit in London draws closer, African leaders have warned of an economic "tsunami" poised to hit their continent. Our Africa correspondent, Andrew Harding, has been to the mining centre of Likasi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the global slowdown is already causing havoc.
No freight is leaving Likasi's abandoned mines and factories
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In the gentle green hills around Likasi, the global economic meltdown makes a pleasant, twittering sound.
Thousands of excited birds have begun nesting in the abandoned mines and factories that now litter the region - their songs abruptly replacing the throb and roar of machinery.
"All gone. Factory is closed. No jobs," says Mr Radju, guarding an empty Indian-owned copper processing plant on the edge of Likasi. He shrugs and wanders away past a giant pile of dark, broken rocks.
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G20 LONDON SUMMIT
World leaders will meet next week in London to discuss measures to tackle the downturn. See our in-depth guide to the G20 summit. The G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the US and the EU.
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Since December, more than 60 enterprises in this one town alone have shut. Many Chinese businessmen simply locked their gates and fled the country, as the price and demand for copper collapsed spectacularly.
In Katanga province as a whole, the authorities estimate that 300,000 people have lost their jobs virtually overnight.
"It's a shock - a brutal shock," admitted Denis Kalundgi, the urbane mayor of Likasi, surveying the town's deeply potholed streets, now crowded with unemployed and frustrated men. Mr Kalundgi said he was concerned that social tensions could quickly boil over. "We're suffering. Fifty per cent of the economy has gone. For now, we are managing [to pay salaries]. But only just."
The world's economic storm has hit DR Congo just as this vast, dilapidated, conflict-ridden country was beginning to shrug off decades of turmoil and decline.
Largely thanks to soaring mineral prices, the DRC's economy was projected to grow by up to 12% last year. Around the continent as a whole, it was a similar story. Despite some glaring exceptions, Africa has enjoyed a decade of impressive growth.
But today, Adelard Kihoho is discovering just how vulnerable the continent remains to a sudden downturn. The 37-year-old mine worker lost his foundry job in December last year.
Adelard Kihoho has big family responsibilities
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"The foreign owners just told us to leave one day," he said. "I don't know how long this will last. Before, I was earning about $250 a month, but now I am just trying to sell a few things on the street to survive."
Adelard has seven of his own children and two of his brother's children to support. They sleep together in a small, dark room on the outskirts of Likasi.
With no welfare state to fall back on, Adelard has been forced to make some painful choices since he lost his job. Since he can no longer afford to send all the children to school, seven-year-old Naomi and three of her brothers now spend their days at home, waiting for the mines to reopen.
"They say the great powers are to blame for this," said Adelard. "But it is we who are suffering." He wondered out loud whether "President Obama can fix this".
Like many African countries, the DRC is looking to the IMF for urgent new loans to help it weather the current storm. The G20 summit is expected to hear calls for at least $30bn in outside help for Africa. But grim as things are, it's still possible to find optimists here.
It is a 20-minute helicopter ride from Likasi to Boss Mining's giant new copper and cobalt mine. From the air, you can see where huge hills have been peeled and sliced apart by armies of mechanical diggers.
"It's been really tough," concedes Gordon Thompson, the chief operating officer of Boss Mining's parent company, the British-registered Central Africa Mining and Exploration Company. Work has come to a virtual standstill, but none of the workforce has been laid off.
The impact of the new mine is best seen from overhead
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"This is a very challenging environment. But Congo has to [bounce back]. It doesn't have an option, does it? We're seeing it as an opportunity," he says.
"We expect to be operating again in the next few weeks.
"Our business will recover and grow, and it's going to get stronger."
He acknowledges Congo's need for a "leg-up" from the IMF, but warns against "handouts", saying: "The money will just be spent and we'll be knocking at the door again for more in no time."
Back in Likasi, Mayor Kalundgi is racing between meetings, trying to end a strike by unpaid railway workers. But he, too, is defiantly upbeat.
"We didn't want this, but now it's happened, we can't just fold our arms. This crisis can have a positive effect," he says. "There is a need for foreign help, but there's also the mobilisation of internal resources.
"We have learned a lesson from this - it's made us realise that we can't just rely on copper and cobalt exports. We need to diversify." Warming to his theme, he speaks of persuading mining companies to start plant corn.
"The real problem we have right now is that we produce what we don't consume and we don't produce what we do consume. We need to change this state of affairs throughout the country."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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The Kenyan police have released a man they wrongly detained on suspicion of being the alleged Bosnian Serb war criminal, Ratko Mladic.
The man was identified instead as a Croat, Igor Majeski, who works at the tourist resort of Mombasa.
Mr Majeski's mother told reporters that he was coping with health problems and also facing a bad tourist season.
She said the last thing he needed, in the circumstances, was to be falsely branded as a war criminal.
Officials at the international police organisation, Interpol, have confirmed that Igor Majeski's fingerprints did not match those of Ratko Mladic, the former commander of Bosnian Serb military forces who is being sought by a UN tribunal on charges of genocide and other crimes against humanity.
In particular, General Mladic is accused of leading the massacre of several thousand Muslim men at Srebrenica in 1995.
General Mladic's capture is a key requirement of the European Union for closer ties with Serbia.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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Mamadou Tandja is to stand down in December
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Niger's President Mamadou Tandja has ruled out attempting to amend the constitution to allow him to seek a third term in office.
Mr Tandja was re-elected in 2004 and there have been public demonstrations calling on him to stand again.
He made his remarks at a joint news conference with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in the capital, Niamey.
The two leaders discussed France's significant mining interests in Niger, which is rich in uranium.
Ethnic Tuareg rebels are demanding a greater share of the wealth generated by uranium, which is mostly in the desert north of Niamey, where the Turegs live.
French nuclear giant Areva is the largest private employer in Niger, reports the AFP news agency.
It recently signed a contract to expand uranium production.
While Mr Sarkozy was in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this week, Areva signed a deal to exploit that country's uranium.
Niger is the third and final leg of Mr Sarkozy's two-day African tour.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Raila Odinga (r) said neither he nor the president (l) were corrupt
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Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has defended the power-sharing government and blamed the judiciary and police for continued corruption.
Many Kenyans are losing faith in the unity administration set up a year ago but Mr Odinga said it was impossible to "undo the ills of 45 years" so quickly.
He said the agreement had always been a "marriage of an odd couple".
Mr Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki agreed to share power to end violent unrest after disputed 2007 elections.
Both men have pledged to fight the corruption which has plagued Kenya for many years but their administration has recently been beset by allegations of graft.
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We cannot hope to contain corruption while our judicial system is so inadequate
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Meanwhile, Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai said four human rights activists had fled the country and others were in hiding because they feared for their safety.
Earlier this month, two activists who had accused the police of extra-judicial killings were shot dead in the capital, Nairobi.
They had testified to a UN enquiry into the police and Ms Maathai said all those who had helped with the report were now being silenced.
Mr Odinga said the government was doing its best to tackle corruption but it was held back by the judiciary and police.
"I have no time for corruption. Neither does President Kibaki, and we both intend to continue leading by example.
"But no-one can wave a magic wand and suddenly free our society from the corruption scourge."
He said corruption cases had been deliberately delayed to protect those accused.
"It is a pathetic record by the attorney general's office and the entire judicial system," Reuters news agency reports him saying.
"We cannot hope to contain corruption while our judicial system is so inadequate."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Morgan Tsvangirai has long criticised the land invasions
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Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said that anyone invading farms will be arrested - in an apparent challenge to Robert Mugabe.
Mr Tsvangirai said the recent land invasions "are actually acts of theft".
President Mugabe has said that the government would continue to seize white-owned farms as part of his land reform policy.
Veteran opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai joined Mr Mugabe in a power-sharing government last month.
The seizure of white-owned land is one of Mr Mugabe's defining policies but his critics say it has destroyed the economy.
The occupation of farms resumed shortly after the power-sharing government was sworn in, with some accusing hard-line allies of Mr Mugabe of trying to scupper the deal.
"This government is aware that most of the ongoing disruptions of agricultural production, which are being done in the name of the land reform process, are actually acts of theft," Mr Tsvangirai told a meeting of diplomats, civic society and business leaders, in one of his first public appearances since the death of his wife in a car crash earlier this month.
"Those continuing to undertake these activities will be arrested and face justice in the courts.
"I have tasked the minister of home affairs to ensure that all crimes are acted upon and the perpetrators arrested and charged."
However, there are two home affairs ministers in the unity administration, as neither side would cede control of the ministry which is responsible for the police.
Last month, Mr Mugabe said there would be "no going back" on land reform, despite a ruling from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) tribunal last year that the seizures were illegal.
The government's seizure of white-owned land since 2000 was often accompanied by violent invasions by supporters of Mr Mugabe.
Mr Tsvangirai has long criticised the way land reform was carried out.
But a commitment to continue the policy was a key part of the power-sharing agreement.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
