Mogadishu, March 11 – At least 30 people were killed and 83 injured Thursday as fierce fighting continued between government forces backed by African Union peacekeeping troops and Islamist insurgents in the Somalian capital.
The fighting, which erupted Wednesday, resumed Thursday after a brief lull overnight with both sides claiming control over Mogadishu.
‘As many as 30 [...]
Nairobi/Lome (Togo). March 7 – Togo’s president has won a second term in office, according to provisional results by the West African Nation’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) Saturday.
Faure Gnassingbe received 1.2 million votes, compared to almost 700,000 cast for his nearest rival Jean-Pierre Fabre, the BBC quoted CENI as saying.
Fabre Friday claimed victory, raising [...]
Nairobi, March 5 – A research centre that has provided valuable insights into wild elephant behaviour has been destroyed by flash floods in Kenya, Save the Elephants (STE) said Thursday.
Heavy rains burst the banks of the Ewaso Ng’iro River, sending water crashing through the research facility and a safari camp in Samburu National Reserve.
‘A wall [...]
Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Feb 26 – Like many of the jet set, some humpback whales swim to the Atlantic off the Dominican Republic coast to mate.
No one really knows why they do it, but as exact as a clock, the giant cetaceans swim, court and pair near Samana Province, says a Prensa Latina report.
The [...]
Nairobi/Abuja, Feb 25 – Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua returned home Wednesday after months of treatment for a heart complaint in Saudi Arabia, but officials said he would not return to work immediately.
Yar’Adua’s three-month absence sparked a political crisis, which was eased this month when the National Assembly authorised Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to run Africa’s [...]
Dajabon (Dominican Republic), Feb 24 (IANS/EFE) An official with the Catholic charity Caritas and a chemical engineer have been kidnapped in eastern Haiti, the organisation Solidaridad Fronteriza and a Jesuit group that aids migrants said here.
They said the incident occurred Saturday in Ouanaminthe, near the Dominican border, and the perpetrators are demanding a ransom of [...]
Nairobi/Niamey, Feb 19 – Soldiers have seized power in Niger and dissolved the government after kidnapping President Mamadou Tandja, who last year raised tension with his attempts to cling to power.
The dissident soldiers stormed the presidential palace Thursday afternoon.
Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing smoke rising from the area. Confusion reigned for hours until Colonel [...]
Port-au-Prince, Feb 19 (IANS/EFE) To the rhythm of the music, at a huge open-air concert, several thousand Haitians temporarily forgot about the tragedy that has gripped them since the Jan 12 earthquake that devastated the capital.
‘It’s a way of thanking God for the fact that we’re alive,’ one of the concertgoers, Rene Maurice, 32, told [...]
Niamey(Niger), Feb 19 – The fate of Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja remained unclear Thursday after the presidential palace in the capital Niamey came under attack in a coup attempt.
President Mamadou Tandja last year rode roughshod over parliament and the constitutional court to extend his rule and allow himself a chance at another term, raising tensions [...]
Nairobi/Niamey (Niger), Feb 18 – Gunfire has broken out in the Nigerien capital Niamey in an apparent coup attempt, reports said Thursday.
President Mamadou Tandja last year rode roughshod over parliament and the constitutional court to extend his rule and allow himself a chance at another term, raising tensions in the uranium-rich nation.
Radio France International reported [...]
