Madagascar Swears in Young President
 Andry Rojoelina, a 34-year-old former opposition leader and DJ, was sworn in as president of Madagascar this weekend. The inauguration was held at a soccer stadium in the nation’s capital, Antananarivo, and was broadcast on national television, reports CNN. Until last week the nation had been undergoing political upheaval for months. Earlier this year citizens hit the streets in several deadly protests over the nation’s rising food prices, and what they saw as dictator type tendencies from ousted President Marc Ravalomanana. Under mounting pressure, Ravalomanana was forced to step down last week and gave power to the nation’s military. The military then handed power over to Rojoelina and he was confirmed by the country’s high court, reports the news service. But the Southern African Development Community along with U.S. officials are rejecting the government’s legitimacy due to Ravalomanana’s forced resignation. The United States will even temporarily stop sending non-humanitarian aid to the nation. While he has his share of fans, about 4,000 to 6,000 critics of Rojoelina (former mayor of Antananarivo) protested his inauguration at the Place de la Democratie in Antananarivo carrying signs that read, “We do not want a hooligan government.” They also call attention to the fact that the 34-year-old is too young; the nation’s constitution says that 40 is the minimum age for the presidency. 

 
Massive Crowds Converge in Angola for Pope
At his last stop Africa, Pope Benedict XVI gave an outdoor Mass in Angola in front of hundreds of thousands, his largest crowd on the continent yet, reports the BBC. In his speech, the Pope spoke out against the “destructive power of civil strife” on the continent and asked Africans to reach out to believers of witchcraft and spirits and bring them to church. “When God’s word … is neglected, and when God’s law is ridiculed, despised, laughed at, the result can only be destruction and injustice,” the Pope said, speaking about the civil upheaval across the continent. Catholics make up 55 percent of Angola’s population. Sunday’s Mass saw scorching temperatures and several in the crowd suffered from heat stroke. The Pope’s Saturday appearance, however, turned deadly when two women died in a crush of people trying to get into the stadium. At Sunday’s mass the Pope conveyed his sympathy over the losses. “I express my solidarity to their families and friends and my deep sorrow because this happened while they were coming to see me,” he said. The Mass marked the last day of the Pope’s week-long visit on the continent, which also included a stop in Cameroon.

Kidnapped Sudanese Charity Workers Freed
After being kidnapped by gunmen in Darfur last Wednesday, three foreign charity workers were released this weekend, reports the BBC. The workers, part of the charity Doctors Without Borders, included an administrator from France, a nurse from Canada and a doctor from Italy. After they were taken at gunpoint last week from the group’s office, the captors reportedly had asked for a ransom. But both Sudanese and Italian officials insist that there was not any ransom paid. According to Osman Yusuf Kibir, governor of North Darfur, the kidnappers were part of a group called the Eagles of Bashir, and carried out the kidnapping to protest an international court’s move to issue an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir for his alleged war crimes. “They released them for the country’s sake, and they kidnapped them for the sake of the country,” Kibir told the news service. Soon after the kidnapping, the charity had pulled out of the area due to security concerns, and, according to a high-ranking official, they are still not sure whether they’ll be able to continue their projects in Darfur due to security concerns.

Rabies Outbreak Kills More Than 80 Angolan Kid
An outbreak of rabies in the African nation of Angola has killed at least 83 children in three months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Some say the number could be much higher.  “The children were brought to our hospital and are the only ones we know of, so the number could be higher,” Dr. David Bernardino, who works at Hospital Pediatrico, told CNN. Some children were brought in too late to be saved by doctors, and some could not be saved because the hospital had run out of vaccines to treat the illness. “It is a sad moment for us. I think it was probably that no one was prepared for such a high case load,” he said. Stray dogs in the slums of the country’s capital, Luanda, could be behind the tragic epidemic.  “We have had some sporadic cases in other provincial capitals in the country; we think the virus was brought into Luanda and then spread through the dogs – Angolans love dogs,” the doctor told CNN. Recently, though, the nation has seen a drop in cases; perhaps due to the fact that the infected pack of dogs have died, according to one expert. More than 95 percent of rabies deaths are in Asia or Africa, according to stats from WHO. The illness, transmitted through saliva, can be treated after exposure, but the disease is deadly once symptoms start showing. Francois Meslin, a rabies expert from WHO, told CNN that costs might prevent some poor families from getting treatment. “One dose of vaccine costs about $10 and five of those have to be administered, which makes the total cost of treatment $50, which is more than a month’s salary for families in most developing countries,” he said. 

Bermuda Celebrates 400 Years
The Caribbean island Bermuda is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. The island was settled by the English back in 1609 and is one of the oldest British overseas territories. Activities to celebrate began this past weekend with a cultural program attended by hundreds of people, including Bermuda’s governor, Sir Richard Gozney, and Premier Ewart Brown, who talked about the island’s survival in the face of the world wide financial crisis, reports Caribbean Net. “If one country can deal with economic hardships, it’s Bermuda. If there is one country on the face of the planet who will survive in these circumstances, they are the people of my country,” he told a local paper, adding that 400 years of survival is already an amazing accomplishment. Gozney predicted a bright year ahead, saying 2009 was “set to be as special as the last 50 years, if not 100 years.”
 
Congo’s Ebola Outbreak Puts Angola on Alert
In response to an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, neighboring Angola has decided to close its border with Congo, reports CNN. Since November, there have been 41 cases of the virus in the nation and 14 people have died, according to the World Health Organization. There are still 183 cases still being investigated, and two people have been quarantined. Angola’s Health Minister Jose Van-Dunem recently announced the “suspension of migratory movements” at a border between the nations as a precaution.  The organization believes that the outbreak may be due to people having contact with infected dead monkeys in the forest. The Ebola cases are in the western Kassi province in the nation.

Angola’s long-awaited election was a “disaster.” Angola’s historic election, the country’s first in 16 years, was a poorly organized disaster, says an observer from the European Union. Not enough ballots and the lack of ink used to mark voters’ fingers to keep them from voting more than once were just a couple of problems, reports CNN. “Voting was a disaster in Luanda [the nation's capital] following woeful organization,” said Luisa Morgantini, the chief of the EU observer mission after visiting polling stations Friday. Hundreds of people waited for hours for some stations to open, and in some instances the polling officials didn’t even show up, reports CNN. Half of the country’s almost 16 million citizens registered to vote. The last election, held in 1992, was disputed and led to another civil war in the nation. But this year, the campaigns were peaceful. Angolans voted for parliament members on Friday; presidential elections will happen next year.  “We have now stared a new political era, a new way of using politics to obtain our goals,” said President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Dos Santos’s Popular Liberation Movement of Angola, is expected to keep control of the parliament, despite corruption claims from international rights groups. Results will be released this week.