Nairobi/Johannesburg  - While markets in the United States, Europe and Asia were receiving their worst battering in decades last week, Africa's economy, which has been relatively unscathed by the global financial meltdown, came in for some rare praise.

British liberal weekly, the Economist, which once described Africa as "the hopeless continent," was suddenly "cheerfully positive" at developments in Africa.

Nairobi/Kinshasa - The Democratic Republic of Congo has accused Rwanda of planning to attack the eastern Congolese town of Goma in support of Tutsi rebels, reports said Thursday.

The UN-backed Radio Okapi said that Atoki Ileka, DR Congo's ambassador to the United Nations, late Wednesday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to ward off the alleged impending attack.

Nairobi/Abuja - Nigeria's main militant group Wednesday threatened to unleash anarchy in the oil-rich Niger Delta should government officials accused of siphoning off funds in one of the region's states not be dealt with harshly.

Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Tuesday it had arrested the chief of staff to the governor of Rivers state and the secretary of the state government as it probes irregular withdrawals of large sums from government accounts.

Nairobi- The freight manifest of a Ukrainian ship hijacked by Somali pirates suggests that its cargo of tanks and other weapons is bound for South Sudan, contradicting statements by the Kenyan government, reports said Tuesday.

The MV Faina, which was seized almost two weeks ago, is currently surrounded by international warships off the coast off Somalia as negotiations to secure its release continue.

Nairobi - The American author of a controversial book lambasting US presidential hopeful Barack Obama was Tuesday detained by Kenyan immigration authorities as he prepared to launch his book in the East African nation.

Jerome Corsi was picked up by immigration authorities at a Nairobi hotel just before he was due to present "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality" to the public.

Immigration authorities refused to comment on the exact reason for Corsi's detention and what the next step would be.

Nairobi  - A coalition of 52 aid agencies Monday said they were extremely concerned about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in conflict-stricken Somalia and accused the international community of failing Somali civilians.

Almost daily battles have blighted the Horn of Africa nation since Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 to kick out the Islamist regime and put the transitional federal government back in power.

Islamist insurgents have since fought back, but civilians have borne the brunt of the fighting.

Almost 10,000 are believed to have died since the insurgency began in early 2007.