At meeting in Dakar, Ecowas says it is ready to deploy forces to Mali as soon as Malian authorities request them.

South Africa: Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil unveils bust of Mahatma Gandhi at prison in Johannesburg. 

Kenya: Inspired by the great champions region has produced, runners from Kenya and beyond are coming to train in remote northern Turkana. 

South Sudan: Finding enough food for their children is a daily problem for many mothers in newly independent nation where a quarter of the children are underweight. 

Egypt: Demonstrators vow to stay in Tahrir Square to protest military government's exclusion of prominent candidates from presidential elections later this month.