VOA Africa News Summary

Here are today's top stories from VOA Africa. To listen or watch one of our programs or to read more visit our website at www.voaafrica.com.

Tension Rises Between North, South Sudan Over Abyei Region About 30,000 people who fled civil war can not return home because of dispute over oil-rich area Nigerian Government Announces Currency Reform Central Bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo says plan, an effort to reform country's financial sector, involves dropping two zeroes off the naira Preliminary Sierra Leone Vote Count Shows Tight Presidential Race First results from National Electoral Commission show presidential candidate Ernest Koroma of opposition All Peoples' Congress Party in lead with about 200,000 votes South African Government Denies Criticizing Britain Over Zimbabwe Mbeki presents report soon on his Zimbabwe mediation efforts to SADC Opposition Candidate Maintains Lead in Early Sierra Leone Results As Ernest Koroma holds on to lead in early results, there are speculations that the economy might have played a role in how Sierra Leoneans voted 'Democracy in Dakar' Film Shows Power of Hip-Hop Among Senegalese Youth Documentary on role of hip-hop in shaping political discourse in Senegal getting rave reviews Malawi's President Threatens to Close Parliament The political standoff between Malawi's President Bingu Wa Mutharika and the opposition-controlled parliament has taken a dramatic turn with the president threatening to close parliament Wednesday if the budget is not approved. African-American Journalist Pens "New News Out of Africa" Charlayne Hunter-Gault says her book looks past disaster and despair to the continent's renaissance