The plane carrying 11 people including tycoon, Ken Talbot, and the entire board of the Sundance Resources mining company went missing over the jungle Saturday on a flight from Yaounde, Cameroon's capital, to Yangadou in Congo-Brazzaville. - Alphonse Pepa of the Congolese Transport and Civil Aviation ministry told AFP that ten bodies have been taken out of the wreckage. The search is continuing for the last, but the decision on where the bodies will be taken will be made Tuesday. Six Australians, two British, two French and one US national were on the twin turboprop Casa C212 plane, which had been chartered by Sundance. Ground controllers lost contact with the plane shortly after i…

Over 3,000 Sudanese refugees in Imvepi and Rhino camps in Arua district, Uganda, have refused to return home, a refugees desk officer who pleaded anonymity told AfricaNews on Sunday. - The refugees were sceptical of the future of their country and refused to go home because of the services in terms of health that Uganda provides. Some are on antiretroviral drugs, while others have children going to Ugandan schools,” he said. “They are not willing to go back home. Some fear that Sudan is not safe until after the 2011 referendum, which will determine the destiny of their country,” he said. Although refugee repatriation begun in 2005, to date, they are still encouragin…

The private security firm in charge of four World Cup stadiums, Stallion, has abrogated its contract with the Local Organizing Committee. - The cancellation of the contract to provide security services to the Cape Town Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, Ellis Park and Soccer City in Johannesburg came after a series of strikes by security personnel. The strike spread to the other stadiums after guards at the Moses Mabhida stadium demanded for wage increment. Police had to fire grenades and rubber bullets at the striking workers to quell the situation on Thursday.

- By Raphie Kampala Accra-The Barclays and international development organisations CARE International (CARE) and Plan have joined together in a three year, £10 million initiative, called Banking on Change, which is aimed at reaching over 500,000 people in ten countries across Africa, Asia and South America. In Ghana the partnership is targeted at poor people, especially women in the Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Central, Greater Accra and Volta Regions. However, nearly 90% of the support is going to the three Northern regions of the country. A total of about 63,000 will benefit from the programme. The Managing Director of Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited, Mr. Benjamin Dabrah, said:…

The UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo MONUC began withdrawing from the African country on Wednesday, according to Alan Doss, head of the force. - The withdrawal was part of a small but symbolic troop reduction before the 50th anniversary of the country's independence on June 30. The government had previously asked for a total withdrawal of MONUC's nearly 21,000 troops -- the U.N.'s biggest force -- in 2011, but said in May it was satisfied with immediate plans for 2,000 troops to leave before the 50th anniversary of independence from Belgian colonial rule. The Senegalese battalion has been based in Kisangani, capital of Orientale province where rebels of the Ugandan Lo…

UPDF’s Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, Monday confirmed that Sudanese militia, the Janjaweed, not LRA rebels, probably killed over 10 Ugandan soldiers in the Central African Republic (CAR) recently. - “They were around 300 heavily armed militias that attacked UPDF. The UPDF were few. They were patrolling before they were attacked and overpowered,” the sources said. Lt. Col. Kulayigye insisted he was not aware of the militia attack. “I don’t have that information,” he said. Nyakairima added that Kony, who fled to the DR Congo and later to the Central African Republic, after the UPDF flushed him out of Uganda, had “no capacity t…

Ivory Coast coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said Didier Drogba would have to decide if he has recovered sufficiently from a fractured elbow to play against Portugal in their World Cup Group G opener on Tuesday. - Eriksson told the media: “If Drogba will play or not, I don't know. I'm honest about it, I really don't know. Probably we'll take the decision just a couple of hours before the game... And I think the only one who can tomorrow say yes or no is himself." The Elephants’ inspirational skipper broke his forearm last week in the Ivorians' last warm-up game against Japan during their training camp in Switzerland but travelled with the squad to South …

The Canadian government has invited seven African leaders to attend a special session at the G8 Summit, according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They include Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa alongside Haiti, Jamaica and Colombia. - "We will be engaging African leaders as well as key hemispheric partners in order to broaden representation and maximize results on international development and peace and security issues," Harper said in a statement on Sunday. The G8 meeting of major industrialized countries will be held June 25-26 in the resort community of Huntsville, Ontario. It will be immediately followed by a meeting in Toronto of the Group…

- By Raphie Kampala Algeria-The Algerian government is waging a campaign to stamp out Islamist insurgents affiliated to al Qaeda. They mount periodic ambushes and bomb attacks against government targets, although the violence has been declining. This has come just after an explosion partially destroyed a paramilitary police barracks in the country living cases of casualties, according to the media and local people at the scene on Friday. "We heard an explosion at about 3 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Friday morning at the barracks, which is next to a major highway in the village of Ammal, about 60 km (40 miles) east of the capital Algiers,"said the two people. "There was no of…

- By Raphie Kampala Mogadishu -African Union peacekeeper has lost two Ugandan soldiers in Somalia (AMISOM) during a fighting between the AU soldiers with rebels for control of north Mogadishu this week, according to an AMISOM spokesman yesterday. The incident is reported to have left at least 11 people died and Dozens more were injured when the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels and government forces shelled each other's positions in the north of the city. Manirakiza Adolphe AMISOM's deputy public information officer reported to the Africa news reporter,"Two of our soldiers died in Thursday fighting and 5 others were injured and the rebels also burnt two of our vehicles.…

- By Raphie Kampala Nigeria-To be like any other nations, Ex-militants in Ondo State on Tuesday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to expedite action on the implementation of all recommendations on post-amnesty programme. "Goodluck, apart from giving the nation credible polls next year, is to make sure that the post amnesty programmes achieved the desired results",according to the group under the aegis of Association of Ilaje Dynamic Patriots [GWAMA]. They also lamented that the region had been seriously neglected in the past, due to crude oil exploitation,after the swearing-in of its new executives at Igbokoda, Headquarters of Ilaje local government, said the stable tranquil…

- By Raphie Kampala Nigeria-Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Aliyu Idi Hong, who was speaking at the opening of the ECOWAS two-day Council of Ministers meeting in Abuja yesterday, said the barriers include the inability to fully implement the 1979 protocol on Movement of Persons, Goods and Services, as well as Right of Residence and Establishment. Though he noted that the technical formalities in the procedures for the construction of five joint border posts, including the Nigeria-Benin border post, have been completed, the minister said the project handled under the auspices of the ECOWAS and the European Union would help remove the identified trade impediments. He pointed out…

- By Raphie Kampala Kampala-The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon,speaking at the opening of the ICC review conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo yesterday,said with the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), those who commit the worst human crimes will be held responsible. The UN boss said “Whether they are rank or military commanders, civil servants following orders, or top political leaders, they will be held to account”,no government or justice system complicit in international crimes can shield criminals from justice. He also said that when the ICC was established 12 years ago, few believed that the court would investigate and try war crime…

- By Raphie Kampala Cape Town-South Africa is one of the world's top coal exporters, driven increasingly by demand from India and China. The environmental minister reported on Tuesday that the proposed the Vele coal mine in South Africa could increase pollution and put the Mapungupwe World Heritage site at risk. As we all know that Africa's largest economy rely on premier national wildlife park,Kruger National Park and Mapungupwe being closely located might be criticised by environmentalists like Vele colliery in Limpopo. The colliery was estimated to cost 2.1 billion rand over three years. The project has an estimated 721 million tonnes in situ resource, with life of m…

- Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Gordon Bristol, told journalists that Mr. Jonathan was nominated by Mr. Sarkozy, the convener of the summit, because of the pivotal role Nigeria played in peace, security and conflict resolution in Africa and the world. Mr. Jonathan, who is attending the summit on the invitation of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, arrived the Southern French city during the 25th Africa-France Summit in Nice on Sunday. “From Kosovo to Middle East, we have sent peace keeping troops under the banner of the UN and AU. Nigeria has co-invented new approaches to peace keeping as evident in Liberia and Sierra-Leone, using the instrumentality of sub-regional organi…

- By Raphie Kampala Kampala- The Ugandan Government will receive $1.97 billion in concessional loans from the World Bank for over the next five years to help finance the country's newly-launched National Development Plan (NDP). The World Bank also continued to say that the East Africa's third largest economy has been praised for weathering the impact of the global economic slowdown and maintaining a relatively strong growth momentum. "The International Development Association (IDA) will commit an estimated $1.97 billion to support development projects and programs in Uganda," said the statement which was seen by Reuters on Thursday. The development plan was laun…

The crème de la crème of Africa's media are gathering in Uganda's capital Kampala for the prestigious 2010 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards on Saturday. Already some of the 27 finalists from 15 countries had started arriving. They include Uganda's Halima Abdallah Kisule of The EastAfrican and NTV sports reporter Leon Ssenyange. - Maggie Eales, the senior vice-president and managing director of Turner Broadcasting (owners of CNN) and teams from London and South Africa have been in the country since last week, overseeing preparations, according to AfricaNews reporter. The first ceremony took place in Ghana on August 11, 1995, with six winners, including Ugandan Erich…

- By Raphie Kampala Mogadishu-A medical officers has reported on Sunday that about 20 people and wounded 30 this weekend were killed in a fighting between Islamist al Shabaab rebels and Somali troops in the capital Mogadishu. Ali Yasin Gedi, the vice chairman of Mogadishu-based Elman rights group told the media that "More than 20 people died and scores of others were injured on Saturday and Sunday". But the residents in the north of Mogadishu said government troops and rebels fought fiercely in Shibis neighborhood and that both sides suffered several defeats in back and forth shelling. There are about 30 people had been wounded in the past two days of clashes. "Most…

- By Raphie Kampala Ethiopia -On Friday,residents of the northern Somali town of Buhoodle on the border of the northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland, reportd that least seven people were killed when Ethiopian soldiers clashed with residents. This is the first time soldiers from the neighbouring country are fighting militia in the semi-autonomous and breakaway regions in the north. Mohamed Elmi, an elderly man in the town said "the Ethiopians have been on our side in Buhoodle for seven days. I don't know how the fighting began but I have seen 11 wounded people being taken to hospital". He added that the Ethiopian troops routinely venture across the border and cl…

Landslides and floods have left close to 1,500 homeless and 721 others camped at Nawire Primary School in western Uganda. At least eight people have been confirmed dead in the Mbale and Sironko districts, according to the Red Cross. - A Red Cross eastern field coordinator Kevin Nabutuwa said the mudslides swept through villages of Makyese, Bumadanda, Bunandudu, Bunabuloli, Bukwaga and Makyese trading centre displacing about 320 people. In Sironko, three people were buried by another devastating landslide that struck Bugiboni parish in Bugitimwa sub-county on the slopes of Mountain Elgon. Also, in Kabale a second year university student Regan Kwarijuka, 20, passed away after a landslide cr…

China has agreed to provide $5 billion in loans to private mining companies in Zambia according to a statement signed by President Rupiah Banda. - The state-run ZANIS news agency quoted Banda to have said: "The medium-term and long-term loans would be provided to private companies operating in Zambia under an agreement signed between the ministry of mines and the China Development Bank". Zambian private sector should work with their Chinese counterparts in order to access resources from the $5 billion funding, according to Banda’s statement at a signing ceremony for the lending facility in Livingstone, about 500 km south of capital Lusaka. He said a number of Chinese c…

The President of Rwanda Paul Kagame proudly said on Tuesday that he will run for a second term after the August vote in case his ruling party Rwandan Patriotic Front party confirms recent primary results showing massive grassroots support for his leadership. - Kagame told the media at State House: "It looks like I will stand and will continue with the mission of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) to continue with development of the country. I am confident RPF is going to win these elections". Kagame won the presidency in 2003 after securing 95 percent of the vote, although analysts say he had been in de facto control of the country since 1994 when his Tutsi rebel army put an end …

The Soccer World Cup trophy has gone on display down in Cape Town, South Africa. The Football's biggest prize made a 130 000km journey across the world before arriving in the 2010 host country. - The trophy has been a day earlier to Johannesburg and was unveiled in the Khayelitsha township on Friday following an unexpected visit of South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela. The World Cup will visit 38 towns and cities in South Africa ahead of the tournament's June 11 kickoff. This is done to make sure that all the citizen of SA get ready for the world cup competition and make the fall in love with the game.

Namibia and Angola have partnered to build a US$1.1 billion hydropower plant on a river that runs along their common borders. The move is to help end power disruptions that have plagued their economies for decades. - The head of Namibia's state-utility firm NamPower Paulinus Shilamba said in a Reuters report: "After a series of delays of the project, which includes a hydropower station and a storage dam in the Kunene river, is expected to be ready by 2017. "It's a joint venture project between the two countries and 50 percent of the cost is covered by Angola and the other 50 percent by Namibia. "So there are no private parties but I don't exclude the possi…

The late president of West African nation Nigeria Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was born on August 16, 1951. - He started his education at Rafukka Primary School in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962. He attended the Government College at Keffi from 1965 until 1969. He was the 13th Head of State and the first graduate Nigerian leader and was married to Turai Yar Adua. He became the governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 28 May 2000. He won the controversial Nigerian presidential elections held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007. He was a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). Umaru was born into an …