World Lens: Barack Obama’s Kenyan grandma shows her support, flood waters leave Haitians stranded and Usain Bolt is still dominating. Get these pictures and more here.

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Nigeria is hooking up HIV positive couples. One Nigerian state has decided to match up HIV positive couples in an effort to slow the spread of the disease. “Suitors who have tested positive and are willing to wed each other, can reduce the spread of the virus and also cushion the psychological trauma of isolation,” the executive secretary of the Bauchi Action Committee on AIDS, Dr. Lirwan Mohammed, told the BBC. In recent weeks, about 70 couples have been matched by the country’s Bauchi state government. The couples are (confidentially) hooked up during counseling sessions and have the freedom to accept or reject prospective mates.  Under the Islamic laws the state operates under, condom use is not encouraged. But members from UNAids not only think this is a bad idea, but also a dangerous one. “There may be a very big danger in terms of the spread of the disease,” a spokesman said. Since two people could have differing strains of HIV that could interact, they should still use condoms, he added. He also believes it would be bad for kids. “The chances are that child would become a double orphan, they would lose both parents.” At least one HIV groom is happy, though. “If we should fear God, we should stop spreading the HIV virus through indiscriminate marriage, thereby infecting innocent people,” he told the news service anonymously. An estimated 2.4 million Nigerians are living with HIV.

Thousands of Zambians mourn late president. Thousands came out in Zambia Wednesday to pay their final respects to late President Levy Mwanwasa. After suffering a stroke in June, Mwanwasa passed away at age 59 last month in a French hospital. The ceremony brought the country to a standstill – businesses closed and millions of Zambians watched a live telecast of his funeral on state television, reports Reuters. As he was buried, Mwanawasa was honored with a 21-gun salute by five air force jets. “The flag has been lowered and a gallant fighter is gone, but Zambia must pick up the bits and pieces and forge ahead so that his legacy can live on,” Zambian pastor, Peter Ndhlovu said. Mwanawasa, respected for his strong financial reforms in his country, was a strong critic of longtime Zimbabwe leader, Robert Mugabe, whose country is in financial crisis. Mugabe, along with other African leaders (including presidents of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi) attended Mwanawasa funeral. “Mwanawasa was a very courageous leader. He was very frank and wanted to change not only his country but the entire southern African region. We will greatly miss him,” Mugabe told a Zambian radio station. Mwanwasa left behind his widow Maureen and six children. At the service, she spoke of her late husband’s willingness to take care of orphans at his church. “He was the father of all. It is the orphans he took care of that bring pain to my throat, they are orphaned again,” she said. Rupiah Banda, the country’s vice president, is currently serving as acting president.

.Zambia’s president passes away at 59. President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia died Tuesday at a hospital in France, reports CNN. Mwanawasa, who was 59, suffered a stroke about two months earlier. He had originally gotten sick at June’s African Union summit in Egypt. He was taken to a hospital in Egypt, then to an intensive care unit at Percy Military Hospital near Paris. Zambia’s vice president announced Mwanawasa’s death on television. “In order to prepare for the funeral, I suspend business of the house until further notice,” he said. He also announced seven days of national mourning. French President Nicolas Sarkozy described his death as “a great loss for the Zambian people who respected and had great affection for him,” reports the news service. “It’s a great loss for the African continent as a whole, which appreciated his political courage. It’s a big loss for democracy, for which he was an ardent defender his whole life.” Mwanawasa was only Zambia’s third president, and earned worldwide praise for slowing his county’s inflation and controlling spending. “As president of Zambia, President Mwanawasa launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign and dedicated himself to improving the welfare of all Zambians,” President George Bush said in a statement. Mwanawasa was also chairman of the Southern African Development Community and an outspoken critic of Zimbabwe’s controversial longtime leader, Robert Mugabe, reports the AFP. “Sadly he has left us at this most trying time. … His passing on is a sad day [for] the Zimbabwe people,” oppositional leader and Mugabe rival Morgan Tsvangirai said. Mwanawasa, a lawyer before entering politics, was one of the founders of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy, which ousted former leader Kenneth Kaunda in 1991. He was vice president until 1995 when he retired, then was elected president in 2001. Elections for his replacement will be held in 90 days, in accordance with Zambia’s constitution.

Zimbabwe’s inflation shot up to 11.2 million percent. With a rate at a staggering 11.2 million percent in June, Zimbabwe has the highest inflation in the world, reports United Press International. The African nation’s inflation rate was already very high, 2.2 million just in May, but the government’s attempt at price control did not keep it from shooting up. However, Zimbabwe’s government is pointing the finger elsewhere. “While our case has been aggravated by the illegal sanctions imposed by the Western powers, rising food prices are a world phenomenon because of the use of bio-fuel. But we will continue to fight inflation by making sure that prices charged are realistic,” said the country’s finance minister. Many in the nation have resorted to exchanging goods instead of using money, since the value of the money is quickly sinking, reports Bloomberg. Zimbabwe has suffered hard financial times since the government implemented land reforms, which kicked White farmers off of their land. And the problem might be even worse than the government is admitting. Kingdom Bank, one of Zimbabwe’s top institutions, claims that the country’s inflation rate is actually over 20 million percent and predicts the situation will get worse. Zimbabwe’s longtime leader, Robert Mugabe, is in talks with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to form a power-sharing government after a violent and turbulent election season. Some believe the election dispute is directly connected to the nation’s current financial difficulty. “That is the stumbling block. If they resolve the political crisis, there’s no doubt they’ll get the balance of payment funding they need,” economist Victor Munyama, who works at a prominent African lender, told Bloomberg.

African media wrongly reports president’s death
After Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa suffered a stroke last week, reports of his death surfaced at a South African radio station. The station had even quoted a spokesman who claimed he was from Zambia’s High Commission, and South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki called for a moment of silence during a public ceremony, reports the BBC. The problem is Mwanawasa is not dead and Zambian leaders say they are angry that media outlets would come to such an unsubstantiated conclusion. “It’s extremely unfortunate,” said Zambia’s information minister, Mike Mulongoti. “It’s malice.” Mwanawasa, 59, is actually in intensive care at a French hospital; his vice-president says he is in stable condition. “We expect people to be sensitive to issues like that, because the death of the president of a republic is a serious matter, and in so doing they’ve caused a lot of panic and damage in the minds of the Zambian people,” Mulongoti continued. The reports were later retracted and South Africa’s ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement saying that Mbeki was remorseful for the “misunderstanding” and wished Mwanawasa a quick recovery. Mwanawasa suffered a stroke back in 2006 as well, but officials say they are optimistic about his recovery. “The doctors attending to [him] are happy with progress he has made so far and his condition remains stable,” Vice-President Rupiah Banda said in a statement.

The African nation’s election crisis was a hot topic at this year’s summit.

Following last month’s controversial presidential runoff elections in Zimbabwe, U.S. and U.K. leaders are pushing for sanctions against the nation. “I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe. I am extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labeled a sham election,” President George Bush told other world leaders at the G-8 summit in Japan, reports CNN. Longtime Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe won re-election last month in a runoff against Movement of Democratic Change opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai and many human rights groups in the nation allege that there was widespread violence against his supporters in the weeks ahead of the runoff, so much so that Tsvangirai says he had to drop out of the race out of fear for his and his supporters’ safety. Mugabe ended up being the only candidate in the election. And because many nations are refusing to recognize his government, “there is growing support for sanctions against the Mugabe regime,” said UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking at the summit. The president of Tanzania and head of the African Union, Jakaya Kikwete, has a different approach on how the situation in Zimbabwe should be rectified; he supports a coalition government. “We are saying no party can govern alone in Zimbabwe and, therefore, the parties have to work together in a government and look at the future of their country together,” he told The Associated Press.