Voters braved heavy rains brought by Cyclone Jaya on Wednesday to have their say on revisions to Madagascar’s Constitution, criticised by the opposition for giving more power to the president. Meanwhile, Mozambican coastal towns have been placed on blue alert as authorities fear the same tropical cyclone could hit late on Wednesday.
Angola was on Wednesday celebrating five years since the end of its brutal, three-decade-long civil war, with veteran President Jose Eduardo dos Santos identifying a ”rebirth of hope” in the oil-rich nation. A national holiday has been declared to mark the anniversary of the signing of a peace accord on April 4 2002.
A cargo ship escaped seizure at Somalia’s main port in the restive capital, Mogadishu, three days after pirates captured another vessel in the same harbour, a maritime official said on Wednesday. Gunmen in speed boats opened fire at the MV Nishan, a United Arab Emirates-registered vessel, late on Tuesday.
Stellenbosch deputy mayor Khulile Shubani has been questioned by police in a probe into a driver’s-licence scam, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation. It said Shubani confirmed he was summoned to the Bellville South police station to explain how he obtained his licence.
A strike by Johannesburg’s Metrobus drivers could end on Wednesday with both parties to the dispute optimistic that an agreement would be signed. ”There’s a strong likelihood that today we will be entering into an agreement,” said Dumisani Langa, the Johannesburg branch secretary of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union.
Sick of the hullabaloo over India’s dismal performance at the Cricket World Cup, a string of villages in the north of the country have banned the game. Elders from 28 villages in Jind district decided enough was enough, the Asian Age reported on Wednesday.
The Central African Republic faces a mounting humanitarian disaster, with the lives of a quarter of its people disrupted by civil and regional warfare, the United Nations children agency said on Wednesday. Unicef said the north of the country is engulfed in a growing conflict between government forces and rebel groups.
The extent of multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) strains of TB in South Africa was not currently known, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday. ”We know there are quite a lot of MDR and XDR-TB, although we don’t know the extent,” said Dr Fabio Scano, a tuberculosis expert from the WHO.
Inflation in crisis-riddled Zimbabwe is projected to reach at least 2 500% this month, the official Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday. The annual inflation rate in once-prosperous Zimbabwe is already at 1 729,9% — the highest rate in the world.
Liverpool won their second straight away game in the Champions League, beating PSV Eindhoven 3-0 on Tuesday in the first leg of the quarterfinals. Bayern Munich twice came back with goals from Daniel van Buyten to hold six-time European Cup champions AC Milan to a 2-2 draw.