Maputo - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is on his first visit to Africa, on Sunday pledged to boost ties with resource-rich Mozambique, signing a raft of agreements on key sectors including energy.

Parental catfish of Lake Malawi feed and care for their young in a way similar to birds. Both parents defend the nest and the female sheds unfertilized eggs which are eaten by the catfish young. Another fish species takes advantage of this unusual trait.

Pretoria - There is a real danger that George Santayana’s famous aphorism about those forgetting the past being doomed to repeat it could be seen at work again in Africa, with the increase in the gap between rich and poor and strident revolutionary voices.

The directors of the Limpopo National Park (PNL) in Mozambique have announced that poachers have wiped out all the rhinos in the park. Poachers traffic in rhino horns to meet the Asian market demand for preparations believed to have medicinal properties.

Malawian President Joyce Banda announced that Malawi would renounce the mediation efforts with Tanzania currently conducted by the Forum of Former African Heads of State and Government and would appeal to the courts to solve the re-activated dispute.

The killing of the world's endangered rhinoceros has increased at a rate of 50% in only 5 years. It takes only 48 hours for smuggling syndicates to get rhino horn from the time of the kill, out of South Africa and into Asian markets.

Mbabane - A security police force in Swaziland has begun a clampdown on pro-democracy protests in the Swaziland capital, Mbabane. Leaders of one of the main trade union movements in the southern African nation have been arrested and detained.

Durban - The naval leadership of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) says although international efforts in fighting piracy are important, it can take care of its own waters, as long as the region can develop its shipbuilding capacity.

Kariba dam, on the Zambezi river between Zimbabwe and Zambia, was built in the late 1950's to provide hydro-electric power. Now it seems the dam wall on the Zimbabwean side is cracking and is in danger of collapsing.

Johannesburg - South Africa's Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says there has been "an increase in conflict on the African continent" and defence ministers of the Southern African Development Community are debating ways of dealing with this.

Tropical depression 'Dando' brought high winds and torrential rains to the southern part of Mozambique on Jan 17 and Jan 18 causing flooding and misery for the population.

Geneva - Originally meant to be built in Waxahachie, Texas, under the nickname of Desertron, Switzerland-France's CERN states it has seen "tantalizing hints" of the elusive Higgs boson, also called the "God particle," in two of their experiments.

An old hoax has surfaced in Mozambique that claims 'flesh-eating bananas' have been imported into the country and placed on the market, spiking fear.

Pretoria - Southern African Development Community (SADC) Chiefs of Defence and Intelligence are holding a ground-breaking meeting in Pretoria to thrash out a comprehensive regional maritime strategy against piracy.

An explorer has completed his journey from coast to coast across Africa. Julian Monroe Fisher arrived in Angola after travelling across the continent, largely on foot, from Mozambique.

An explorer who set out to walk across Africa was forced to take a motorbike for some sections for safety reasons. Julian Monroe Fisher aimed to walk 4,000miles from Mozambique to Angola but was advised to take a motorbike due to danger from elephants.

Maputo - Brazilian mining giant, Vale, opened a new $1.7 billion coal mine in Mozambique on Sunday tapping into the country’s 23 billion tons coal reserves, AFP reported.

At dawn tomorrow an explorer will set off from a deserted beach in Mozambique to walk across Africa. Julian Monroe Fisher, 56, will walk 4,000 miles across the continent to finish his journey in Angola.

Nacala - Mozambique is building an airport at a cost of $102 million US in the northern city of Nacala in an attempt to attract tourists and investments, Times Live reported.

Maputo - A Mozambican airline has continued to fly to Portugal despite the EU banning air carriers from that country, the Voice of America reported.