Ethiopian polls open

Voting is underway in Ethiopia, in legislative elections that are set to be a stiff test of the country's democracy.

Menes Zelawi, the current prime minister, is expected to be returned as leader, after 19 years in power.

But the opposition is already crying foul, with memories of the 2005 election that led to widespread bloodshed still fresh in the minds of many Ethiopians.

While the opposition parties are already making claims of unfairness, the public mood does not seem to be in any way as charged as it was in the disputed 2005 poll.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from Addis Ababa.

afrol News - Huge diamonds found in DRC : "A Canadian mineral exploration firm, Mexivada Mining Corp, has reported the discovery of two large diamonds in its 100% controlled Malambani Permis de Recherche concession, located near Mayoko in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mexivada described the first stone as a white, modified octahedron 7.5 milimetres in diameter while the second stone was a shiny 6 milimetre greenish-white coloured dodecahedral diamond. Each of them weighs 0.1 gram"

Dream takes off for unemployed man who built helicopter

News24 : "Rustenburg - The unemployed man who built a helicopter from recycled material outside his shack in the Siza informal settlement near Rustenburg is beaming with excitement after News24 users offered to change his life."

SmallShop....Africa News