At least 14 people have been killed in a tropical storm that hit Madagascar’s eastern coast on Wednesday, officials said on Friday.

Madagascar’s National Office for Disaster Preparedness said a total of 32,000 people have been affected by Tropical Storm Hubert and ensuing flooding. There were also lots of property damage.

Located in a major storm path of the Indian Ocean, the island nation is hit by violent storms and cyclones in most years.

More than 100 people were killed in Madagasca …

Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore reshuffled his government on Friday, replacing three ministers, said news reports from Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso.

The three new government members are Minister of Labor and Social Security Amadou Adrien Kone, Minister of Trade, Promotion of Enterprise and Handicraft Leonce Kone and minister in charge of budget planning Francois Marie Didier Zoundi.

Jerome Bougouma, the former labor and social security minister, resigned over love affair s …

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai appear to have found common ground with regards to the issue of black empowerment, with both agreeing that the policy should enhance indigenous participation in the economy.

However, they still have to agree on how best to implement the policy as they try to strike a balance between black participation in the economy and the need to attract foreign investors.

Mugabe remains vociferous, to the extent that he has become …

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&$Hundreds of families flee the renewed fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia, March 12, 2010. (Xinhua/Ismail Warsameh)&$&$
About eight people were killed and more than 32 others were wounded Friday in renewed fighting between Somali government forces and Islamist fighters in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses and medical sources said.

The fighting broke out after Islamist fighters attacked Somali government p …

The Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced on Friday the appointment of Michael Taylor, a British national, as its chief of investigation.

A statement released by the prosecutor’s office said that Taylor has extensive experience in criminal investigations, adding that he brings “a wealth of expertise in counter-terrorism investigations.”

The statement quoted Taylor as saying that “I am honored that I was selected for this very important position, particularl …

Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali met on Friday with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the latest Israel settlement decision aimed at hampering the deadlocked Middle East peace process, official radio reported.

“The meeting had been fruitful and constructive and turned on the various current issues, notably those pertaining to the negotiations which should have been resumed but have been disrupted by the recent Israeli measures,” Abbas said in a statement carried by the …

Hundreds of Palestinians Friday demonstrated in the West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip against the Israeli construction of separation wall and the expansion of Jewish settlements.

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian demonstrators clashed during the protests against the separation wall that dominated several West Bank areas, said a source of anti-war group in Ramallah, adding that several demonstrators were hurt by Israeli soldiers’ fire.

The source and witnesses said the demonstrations …

The UN Interim Forces in Lebanon ( UNIFIL) deputy spokesperson Andrea Tenenti denied Friday that Israeli tanks crossed the blue line and entered the Lebanese territories in the south.

Earlier in the day, local MTV TV channel reported that two Israeli tanks crossed into Lebanese territories and stationed at Talet al-Wazzani, while al-Mustaqbal news site said six Israeli tanks were deployed around the Wazzani River.

Tenenti confirmed Israel military movements on the borders with Lebanon, but …

The State of Law bloc led by incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is leading the parliamentary elections in southern province of Muthanna, according to partial results from the electoral commission on Friday.

The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced that the State of Law bloc is in the lead with 14,981 votes in Muthanna, an Iraqi southern province which borders Saudi Arabia.

Maliki’s bloc is followed by the Iraqi National Alliance led by Shiite cleric Ammar …

Israel is mulling to amend a law to require a representative from prime minister’s office to take part in the discussion on approving construction projects in the future.

The initiative of the amendment comes after an announcement of authorizing a 1,600 housing project in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem by an Israeli regional planning committee, which embarrassed then visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release a statement exp …