Khartoum (Sudan) About 100 people have killed while another hundred were injured in floods that have ravaged Sudan over the last two weeks, a crisis centre in the capital, Khartoum said here on Thursday.

The sources said an estimated 25,000 homes have also been destroyed in the worst floods to have hit the country since 1988.

Caused by rising waters of the Nile and Gash rivers due to the rainy season, the floods inundated large swathes of land in eight of Sudan’s 26 states over the past two weeks.

The crisis centre said its priority was to provide victims with accommodation, food, medicine and pumps, and it intends building a dyke.

Local authorities, UN agencies and neighboring countries including Egypt, Syria and some Gulf states are mobilising help for the flood victims.

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Nairobi (Kenya) The president of the Council of International Civil Aviation Organization, Roberto Gonzalez, on Thursday urged African countries and aviation organizations to work along with global partners to ensure aviation safety in the continent.

Addressing a meeting of the African Civil Aviation Commission in Nairobi, Gonzalez said the major international organizations are willing to support well-planned and well-executed safety initiatives in Africa

Gonzalez said that at the same time, the aviation community needs assurances from African countries that require assistance so that “they (international organisations) will do their share to improve safety.”

Gonzalez also noted that in order for African states to deal with technical, operational or political problems there must be political will on their part in order to bring their safety record to world standards.

He said political will also applies to the international community which must also come to the assistance of African states that are willing to employ safety standards in their aviation industry.

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London (UK) A joint team of British, French and Spanish rescuers Friday confirmed 50 African migrants missing after a wooden boat carrying them capsized in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.

A total of 48 of the migrants were rescued, but rescuers and merchant ships; assisted by a French aircraft carrier that happened to be in the region, continued through Thursday night till the following morning searching for the missing African migrants.

A Spanish ship first saw the open vessel about 90 miles south of the Canary Island just before dawn.

Rescuers said they tried to calm the migrants down as the crew prepared to pluck them from the boat in rough seas and gushing winds. “But some of them (migrants) panicked and stood up as a wave of about 16 feet hit the boat, sending 50 or so migrants into the sea”.

The 48 rescued Africans, officials said, are in good health and are being taken to the Canary Islands, while search still continues for the rest.

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Bamako (Mali) A low voter turnout and several sporadic incidents were reported during the second round of the Malian parliamentary polls to elect the 134 new MPs out of the 147 due to sit in the country’s future parliament.

Throughout the day, voters turned up a few at a time to the polling stations which had opened at 8pm GMT while local radio correspondents reported several incidents.

President Amadou Toumani Touré, who cast his ballot more than half an hour after voting began, was preceded by only six voters in his traditional Bamako airbase polling station which was expected to receive some 500 voters.

Analysts sent by local media both to the capital, Bamako and upcountry have further reported several incidents that resulted in arrests by security forces.

The chairman and all the assessors of a polling station in the Malian capital were arrested by the police who accused them of detaining hundreds of voters’ cards.

In several places in the capital, security forces had to call for backup to secure the polling centre or end conflicts erupting between rivals.

48 constituencies out of the 55 across the country were involved in this second round of election for the 134 new MPs as 13 others were elected in the first round of the election.

The parliament, ending officially its mandate on 10 August, has 147 MPs, 14 of whom are women.

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Yaounde(Cameroon)

The Cameroonian opposition has denounced irregularities in the parliamentary and municipal polls organised on Sunday across the country.

In the western district of Tonga, several sources joined on the phone by APA alleged that outgoing MP Claude Fetheu of the ruling Cameroon’s People’s Democratic Rally (RDPC) issued certificates for the loss of id cards to several youngsters who went round polling stations to elect him by an overwhelming majority.

Reliable sources in the western district of Fontem noted that polling stations opened at 3 pm (2pm GMT) rather than 8 am (7am GMT) due to the absence of ballot papers for the opposition parties.

In the Bakassi peninsula which Nigeria recently handed over to Cameroon, an official of the opposition Cameroon’s Democratic Union (UDC) said that party’s scrutineers as well as those of other opposition parties had been driven out of polling stations by supporters of the RDPC.

In the capital, Yaounde, no major incident was however reported and several polling stations visited recorded less than 40% turnout by closing time at 6 pm (5 pm GMT).

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Dakar (Senegal)

Ibrahima Ndione dubbed “Gris Bordeaux” on Sunday in Dakar, defeated Serigne Dia alias “Bombardier” within 35 seconds in a heavyweight clash (as the wrestlers altogether weigh at least 250 kg) in wrestling with body punching.

Right from the start, both wrestlers involved in a hand-to-hand fight which eventually saw “Gris Bordeaux” (120 kg) take the upper hand over his opponent whom he knocked down with a strong uppercut in the face.

With this victory, Gris Bordeaux avenged his team leader, Moustapha Gueye better known as “Tigre de Fass” (The Tiger of Fass) who lost to “Bombardier”.

Even better, “Gris Bordeaux” is set to be the leader in the Fass team, a populous district on the outskirts of the city centre, Dakar, known to be a breeding ground for wrestlers. He should face the “King of the arena”Yakhya Diop alias “Yekini”.

The defeated man, “Bombardier” (130 kg), from Mbour (80 km from Dakar), has thus suffered his second consecutive loss.

As a mixture of culture and sport, wrestling with body punching is highly appreciated in Senegal where it rouses a lot of enthusiasm and advertisers the reason why it is overhyped.

The wrestlers earn dozens of millions of CFA francs.

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Libreville (Gabon) About 40 civil society experts from eight central African countries on Monday began a three-day forum to discuss the management of armed conflicts in the sub-region, APA has learnt.

The meeting aims at seeking constitutional capacity to actively take part in the conflict prevention process, and seek financial assistance to fight poverty in Africa.

“The Greats Lakes region, which mainly comprises DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, is faced with a disastrous situation that is bound to arouse the sympathy of peace lovers for a greater development of humanity,” regional steering committee chairperson Ferdinand Mafolo Ladha told the opening session.

The meeting will also discuss capacity building and peacekeeping as well as security and stability.

Besides Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, all the sub-regional countries have experienced conflicts, especially Burundi, Congo, DR Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic and Rwanda.

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Mogadishu (Somalia) At least three civilians were killed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and five others wounded when soldiers indiscriminately opened fire after a land mine that was aimed at an Ethiopian convoy exploded, witnesses said on Sunday.

The incident took place near an abandoned milk factory in the southern suburbs of Mogadishu as a landmark peace parley is being held in the north of the city where more than 1,200 elders are discussing an agenda aimed at pacifying Somalia.

“We heard a huge explosion and then we saw government soldiers in a vehicle about 200 meters ahead of an Ethiopian convoy that was covered by dust and smoke, they the soldiers immediately fired indiscriminately at the people, killing three people and five others were wounded”, said. Mustaf Dhuhulow, a shop owner.

“The landmine had targeted our soldiers passing there and they responded with fire, they survived but I do not know the number of civilians killed,” said Col. Farah Abdulle of the government forces.

The attacks are aimed at disrupting the clan reconciliation meeting and the hope for peace, Col. Abdulle continued.

In a related development, a man was killed and three others wounded in three hand grenade explosions at the Bar-ubah junction in the Howlwadag District on Sunday, the latest in a string of grenade attacks that have rocked Mogadishu’s main Bakara market over the last week.

“The hand grenades were hurled at the government soldiers, who were carrying out security operations there; but so far we were told that one civilian was killed and three others wounded,” Mogadishu’s police commissioner, Col. Ali Sa’id told APA by telephone on Sunday.

The attacks come as Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers beefed up efforts to secure the capital during the National Reconciliation Congress.

Since the start of the conference on Saturday, troops sealed off the lieu and have mounted heavy guard on many parts of the capital.

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