Africa's longest serving head-of-state, President Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, died today at 73. [AFP]

You know what's always cute? Kids doing crazy adult stuff. Like these German tykes who wanted to get married in Africa. We smell a movie deal.

The job of Somali pirate continues to grow ever more alluring! Not only do they run around making millions, doing drugs, and collecting pirate groupies, now they are actually able to change the course of the world oil market. Can't say that about working at Barnes & Noble, suckas!

The news media has tracked failed VP candidate Sarah Palin to the wilds of Alaska to get her reaction to the LOL-legation that she thought Africa was a country rather than a continent. Her forceful rebuke of the charge can be summed up as: It, uh, sounds like some bitters are saying I maybe, uh, didn't know the answer to a question so, uh, who was it that said that, anyhow? Click to watch the mush-mouthed meanderings of a geographically challenged woman.

Page Six Magazine's Kelly Killoren Bensimon, your source for both trendsetting woman-about-town news and the latest dispatches from poverty-ravaged Africa, unspins the saga of her almost-trip to the Third World in her column this past weekend: "Last week I was supposed to go to South Africa with the group CC Africa, which has arranged safaris for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the past. I was very excited to go-I was going to help open a school there-but I missed my flight by 10 minutes!" OMG OMG what happens next? The answer will sadden you, shock you, and make you despair for the future of Africa and New York high society alike:

NPR newscaster Jean Cochhran recently described President Bush's trip to Africa as a visit to the "dark continent." Some NPR listeners took the retro phrase the wrong (read: racist) way, and, as they are predisposed to do, wrote in."I had no idea the term would be found offensive," Cochhran said. Yeah, there's a no reason a term that casts and entire continent of people as the Other should bother anyone. [NPR]

"I'm here to see Dave Eggers."

Sub-Saharan Africa had between 1.4 and 2.4 million new HIV infections in the last year, according to the most recent UNAIDS report—back in 2001, new infections were higher, between 1.7 and 2.7 million. HIV prevalence in adults is estimated at 5% in sub-Saharan Africa, down from its almost-6% estimate in 2000. That's one reason why there's something really, really odd about the conclusion of Michael Specter's fascinating piece on viruses in the New Yorker.

A correspondent from the UK notes that this month's Bono-produced pro-Africa issue comes bundled with a separate 74-page magazine devoted to diamonds and other "jewellery." (Click to enlarge.) It appears to be a UK exclusive.

Hey, so the Vanity Fair Africa issue hit newsstands today! Guest-edited by Bono! We rushed out to get our copy and brought it to the office where we realized that, you know, we're kind of shallow. Isn't Africa kind of last fall? We don't have the attention spans for that stuff. You know what we do care about, though? Celebrities! And with twenty different celebrity-studded covers, the magazine kept up involved for a good five minutes looking at the Annie Leibovitz compositions. Each one blends one subject from the previous cover, so you've got your Don Cheadle and Barack Obama giving way to Barack and Muhammad Ali. Here's a handy guide to who you'll want to look for at the newsstand.

"I'm just saying, it seems like a lot of money for mac-and-cheese."
Wow, the plight of Africa must really be important: Graydon Carter, who rarely produces theme issues or hobnobs with celebrities, has turned over editing duties for the July issue of Vanity Fair (although, let's be honest, it's not like he does a ton of editing in the first place) to Bono, an Irish musician who is on something of a mission to reduce poverty on that continent. David Carr profiles the odd couple in today's Times, and there are shocks a-plenty.

For the two of you who still care what America's favorite YA author copykitten has been up to lately, this video finds her on the Dark Continent. Watch for the scenic shots of wildlife, the glamor shot of a windswept Kaavya listening to her ipod and looking bored in a Jeep, and the money shot of the text that asks if we're "tired of seeing the same images again and again."
Ahh, that's our Kaavya. Ever questing for originality.

• Actress Kate Hudson didn't separate from Black Crowe husband Chris Robinson because he's a crunchy dirtman and she's, well, Kate Hudson. Us Weekly reports that Hudson's affair with Owen Wilson led to the split — once you climb on the Stallion, there's no climbing off. [Us Weekly]
• Damn the man: the IRS pushes to tax celebrity swag bags. [TMZ]
• Africa is hot! Rapper Eve ends her relationship with the son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, where citizens live on $1 a day, at the urging of Sunday Styles. [R&M]
• Blind item guessing game: "Which major magazine executive probably isn't hungry when he goes home to his wife, since he's having Chinese at the office??" Send in your guesses if you've got 'em. [Gatecrasher (last item)]
• 57-year-old actor Bruno Kirby died yesterday. He had been recently diagnosed with leukemia. Honor him tonight by ordering the Shrek doll episode of Entourage on HBO On Demand. [People]
• After 63 years of ongoing renevations to her W. 71st Street townhouse, Ann Curry's neighbors are suing her for over $900,000 because of the constant noise and disruption. Does that mean we can sue NBC? Because whenever Curry is on the screen, we feel a little disrupted, too. [Page Six]
• Justin Timberlake isn't signing up for the Soul Patrol anytime soon. [Scoop]
• Joey Buttafuoco shops a book proposal. Written in crayon. [Page Six]