Zambians cast their ballots for president. Voters in Zambia headed out to the polls Thursday to elect a new president, a successor to late President Levy Mwanawasa, who died of a stroke in August, reports Reuters. Although the campaign season has been generally peaceful, Patriotic Front opposition leader Michael Sata has accused the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy of rigging the vote. “I have never seen this type of panicking and this is because they have rigged the election,” said Sata as he was casting his ballot in the nation’s capital Lusaka. “They have rigged the election in favor of Rupiah Banda. It is the first time that the army commander, who is supposed to protect people, is predicting violence.”  Rupiah Banda, who is currently serving as acting president, has a lot of experience. The nation’s election monitoring group, the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP), has said that there were a few issues with voter identification and verification. But they also said that while an army chief threatened people who misbehaved after voting, it did not amount to a threat to all citizens. “For sure, it was unnecessary for the army commander to issue threats, it does intimidate, it does create fear in some ordinary citizens,” an FODEP official said.

Charity leaves Niger after lack of government response. The charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) is set to pack up its bags and leave Niger, a region where they say they are desperately needed, reports the BBC. The charity was suspended from working in the country months ago but just recently decided to throw in the towel on charity work in the nation. “As we have not received a response from Niger authorities and in view of government statements, the French section of Medecins sans Frontieres cannot help but leave the country,” the group said in a statement. But Niger’s government says MSF is making the problem of malnourished children in the nation seem bigger than it really is; they also say the charity refuses to work with the government. And the country’s health minister said that the child hunger is something they are equipped to take care of;  a statement that charity officials couldn’t disagree with more. “Maradi is one of the regions in Niger most affected by malnutrition. Since MSF’s activities in southern Maradi were halted, and despite an increase in admissions into other health centers and MSF projects in the surrounding areas, thousands of children are not receiving treatment,” said the president of MSF’s international board, Christophe Fournier. “It is shocking that a government, after having allowed innovative programs to be established, would ignore the needs of thousands of children.”

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.