SmallShop....Africa News

Economic analyst says Wal-Mart's plan to buy its way into the South African market is a sign of confidence in the country's growing economy. Independent economist Mike Schussler says Wal-mart's plan to tap into the South African market is a sign of confidence and will boost Africa's biggest economy.

GUINEA: Conakry stadium massacre, one year on On September 28th 2009, thousands of Guineans joined a peaceful protest against the military government in Conakry. Bu the army intervened and violence broke out. Over 150 people were killed, thousands were injured and dozens of women were raped.

South Africa is home to about 80 per cent of Africa's rhinoceros population. But they are increasingly under threat from poachers, who are trying to cater to a high Asian demand for rhino horn. The World Wildlife Fund says more than 200 rhinos have been killed by well-organised gangs this year alone. Barnaby Phillips reports from Limpopo province.

The United Nation is hosting a special summit on Sudan this Friday, which will discuss the planned referendum vote in South the country. Barak Obama, the US president, will be among the leaders attending the meeting in New York. The referendum will determine whether the south should be independent from the north.

South Africa's ruling party is holding a critical meeting to decide its future direction. There is a huge debate over plans to tighten control of the media, in addition to a proposed re-classification of important information. That decision is seen by many journalists as a blow to transparency. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from Johannesburg.

Business leaders from Africa meet with potential investors on Wall Street to explore financial opportunities. VOA's Mariama Diallo reports.

Nigeria's independent election commission has requested that January's presdential polls be postponed. Officials say they need more time to overhaul the country's electoral register. But critics are already up in arms over the proposed delay. Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege reports from Abuja.

Somalia's prime minister resigned following a power struggle with the country's president. Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke had been under pressure to quit from Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the country's president, and other government ministers, who have also been threatening to hold a vote of confidence. Al Jazeera's journalist, Abdi Aynte, provides more insight into the issue.

Sudan's progress on organising a key referendum on the future of the south is too slow - according to those instrumental in ending decades of civil war in the country. Will the vote in January be a referendum that can go either way in Africa's largest state, or is it just a formality before the declaration of independence for the south of Sudan

Election fever hits Egypt - The parliamentary elections will be held in late November but the 2011 presidential elections are already the talk of the town in Cairo. Will Hosni Moubarak, who's ruled the country for the last 29 years, seek a seventh term in office? Will his son Gamal, a business man turned politician, inherit the power as many analysts and opponents suspect? Will Mohamed El baradei, former director of the IAEA, manage to lift the legal obstacles to his candidacy to Egypt's top job?

EGYPT -- Cairo: The return of queues in front of bakeries? A situation reminiscent of spring 2008. A global rise in wheat prices led to a shortage that went on for weeks, leading to deadly riots between Egyptian police and a population pushed to the edge. The Egyptian government insists it has dealt with the crisis by finding alternative sources for wheat imports, such as France, Canada and the United States. But another sharp rise in global wheat prices could revive fears of trouble.

Police in Nairobi have unearthed a bizarre syndicate in which male organs are chopped off from bodies at a mortuary and sold off at a fee. Two people, a mortuary attendant and a driver of a city funeral home were arrested today as they attempted to make an exchange of the body parts, rising fears of the existence of a wider body parts syndicate.-

Tanning is an ancient art in Morocco, but it pollutes the environment heavily. Chouara is part of this tradition. It is one of the three tanneries in Medina and Fes that continues to use organic materials, a method that is dying out as modern tanneries use chemical processes. Waste products all go to the same place, the Sebou river system, which also gathers all the city's untreated water and other local industrial waste.

A man was shot dead on the eve of his wedding. 27 year old Alex Mwaura, son of former Defence P.S Zachary Mwaura was gunned down by unknown assailants just hours before his wedding which was to take place today in Nairobi. The motive of the killing is unclear as the gunmen never stole anything from the deceased.

Since the 1930s, leprosy patients in Egypt have been rounded up and placed in the town of Abu Zaabal. The Egyptian government has now offered the inhabitants the right to return to their villages and cities. But many have refused, preferring to live and work away from the social stigma that often comes with their disease. Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Abu Zaabal, one of the world's last leprosy colonies.