Mozambique

Four people died in the powerful earthquake on Thursday that forced thousands of panicked residents from their homes, Mozambique’s government and state radio reported on Friday. The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck on Thursday at 12.19am local time with a magnitude of 7,5.

A powerful earthquake struck Mozambique early on Thursday morning, shaking buildings and forcing people from hundreds of kilometres around to dash into the streets for safety. There were no immediate reports of injury. The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude 7,5 quake had an epicentre 224km southwest of Mozambique’s main port of Beira.

Muslims throughout Mozambique are meeting this week to discuss how to respond to the publishing by local newspaper Savana of the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which has stirred violent protest around the world. The independent weekly on Friday reprinted eight of the 12 cartoons.

Floods in central Mozambique have killed at least 15 people in two central provinces and left thousands homeless after heavy rains in the Southern African country since Christmas, officials said on Wednesday. The heavy rains in the former Portuguese colony follow a lengthy drought that has left nearly one million people in need of food aid, mostly in the south of the country.

Storms and flooding have killed at least 13 people since torrential rains started in the central Mozambique province of Sofala last week, state-run radio reported on Tuesday. Eight of the victims were struck by lightning and five drowned in floods unleashed by the storms, Radio Mozambique reported.

A man accused of masterminding the killing of Mozambique’s leading investigative journalist went on trial on Thursday after twice escaping from jail. Anibal Dos Santos Junior, known here as Anibazinho, was convicted in 2003 of murdering Carlos Cardoso and sentenced to 28 years in prison.

In the sandy compound of his extended family’s home, six-year-old Manuel Rafael is playing with his cousins. He doesn’t know he is HIV-positive, and doesn’t understand his grandmother’s explanation in Portuguese about how he could have died but for the anti-retroviral treatment he began when he was just a year old.

Mozambique’s livestock authorities announced a ban on Saturday on poultry imports from several European countries that have reported cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. A ban already in place on imports from Asia will be extended to cover several countries in Europe.

African health ministers meeting in Mozambique on Wednesday described a planned 30% increase in spending on their continent by the UN’s World Health Organisation as important, but not enough, given the massive problems to be faced.

A new, independent anti-corruption office will be created to stamp out graft in the public sector, Mozambique’s attorney general said on Saturday. Francisco Madeira told state radio that the National Council for the Fight against Corruption will be autonomous, with no interference from the government.

The success of the first mass immunisation campaign against cholera in Mozambique’s port city of Beira has prompted calls for greater access to an oral vaccine. Needle-administered cholera vaccines have generally provided about 50% protection for just two months, but the oral vaccine has proven far more effective.

At 9am on a Monday morning, the used clothing vendors at Chiquelene Market in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, are still unpacking their wares. The sale of clothing donated to charities in Europe and North America has supported Angelina Arnaldo and her seven children for 17 years. On a good day, she takes home around $10. "It’s easier than selling food because it doesn’t go off," she explained.

Mozambique’s newly elected President, Armando Guebuza, on Wednesday took over the reigns from long-serving leader Joaquim Chissano with a pledge to step up the fight against poverty, bureaucracy and corruption. ”We want to bring about a more accelerated rhythm towards a better future, which translates in a sharp reduction of poverty,” Guebuza said.

Armando Guebuza, one of Mozambique’s richest businessmen and a stalwart of the ruling party and the country’s fight against Portuguese colonial rule, crowned his political career on Tuesday by being elected president in key polls. Guebuza inflicted a crushing defeat on main opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama in the polls.

Mozambique’s ruling party and its presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza, have secured a landslide victory in polls to choose a successor to veteran leader Joaquim Chissano amid opposition outrage and demands for new elections. Opposition party Renamo and 20 smaller parties on Tuesday demanded fresh elections.

Former rebel leader and opposition candidate Afonso Dhlakama on Friday demanded fresh elections in Mozambique, accusing the ruling Frelimo party of ”criminal fraud” during two days of voting for a new president and Parliament. Dhlakama accused Frelimo of preventing millions from casting their ballots.

The Mozambican Parliament on Tuesday unanimously adopted a new Constitution for the first time since the advent of multiparty politics in the Southern African nation. The new Constitution adopted on Tuesday will come into force after elections on December 1 and 2 to elect a successor to President Joaquim Chissano.

Mozambique’s National Elections Commission has announced it will not give observers access to all stages of the vote counting in December’s presidential and parliamentary elections. The decision has prompted an angry objection from the European Union, which plans to send one of the largest observer missions to the election.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe wrapped up a three-day state visit to Mozambique on Wednesday by playing down the economic and social turmoil in his country. Mugabe told journalists the meeting with Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano was very fruitful and the two had discussed the state of his own country.

Mozambique’s national police chief on Wednesday called on armed members of a former rebel movement to surrender their weapons following a gun battle in Sofala province last week that left one policeman dead. ”It’s about time the Renamo men give up their weapons and join the police as the [1992] peace accord envisaged,” he said.

A ,2-billion natural-gas project led by South Africa’s petrochemical giant Sasol in neighbouring Mozambique has fuelled hopes for the economic recovery of the country’s once-vibrant southern hub. With the Matola gas project, Mozambique also hopes to cut its annual fuel imports by about -million.

Police in northern Mozambique have enlisted the help of local hunters to kill lions and other wild animals following a recent spate of attacks on locals, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. ”The populations of these areas have lived in an atmosphere of fear because of the high presence of wild animals out of control,” police said.