Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has resigned, bringing an end to 37 years of rule and sparking jubilant celebrations in the nation’s streets.

A letter from Mr Mugabe read out by the speaker of parliament said the decision was voluntary and he had made it to allow a smooth transfer of power.

The news abruptly halted an impeachment hearing that had begun against him.

The ruling Zanu-PF party says former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa will succeed Mr Mugabe, in power since 1980.

Mr Mnangagwa’s sacking earlier this month triggered a political crisis.

It had been seen by many as an attempt to clear the way for Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband as leader and riled the military leadership, who stepped in and put Mr Mugabe under house arrest.

After the resignation announcement, lawmakers roared in jubilation.

Mr Mugabe, 93, was until his resignation the world’s oldest leader. He had previously refused to quit despite last week’s military takeover and days of protests.

According to the constitution his successor should be the current vice-president, Phelekezela Mphoko, a supporter of Grace Mugabe.

But Zanu-PF chief whip Lovemore Matuke told Reuters news agency that Mr Mnangagwa would be in office “within 48 hours”.

Speaking from an undisclosed location earlier on Tuesday, Mr Mnangagwa said he had fled abroad two weeks ago when he learned of a plot to kill him.

Robert Mugabe won elections during his 37 years in power, but over the past 15 years these were marred by violence against political opponents.

He presided over a deepening economic crisis in Zimbabwe, where people are on average 15% poorer now than they were in 1980.

However, Mr Mugabe was not forced out after decades in power by a popular mass movement but rather as a result of political splits within his Zanu-PF party.

The leader of the influential liberation war veterans – former allies of Mr Mugabe – said after the army takeover that Mr Mugabe was a “dictator”, who “as he became old, surrendered his court to a gang of thieves around his wife”.

BBC News Africa•November 21, 2017

• Zambian Police Service spokesman Danny Mwale said the tourists got too close
• Dutch and Belgian media said victims watching the elephants from a distance
• Dutchman reportedly died when he tried to rescue her from the elephant

A 64-year-old Dutch tourist and his 57-year-old Belgian friend have been trampled to death by an elephant while on safari in Zambia.

Zambian Police Service spokesman Danny Mwale said the Belgian woman and Dutch man were killed after getting too close to an elephant in a bid to take pictures.

But family members of the deceased denied the duo had put themselves in danger. They said they were looking at the giant mammals from a distance when one of the animals suddenly ran out of the herd towards them and trampled them both. According to reports in the Dutch and Belgian media, the Dutchman died when he tried to rescue his female friend from the attack. The family said she was ‘very familiar’ with elephants.

The shocking incident occurred at the Maramba River Lodge in Livingstone, Southern Province, Zambia. According to the Zambian police, both tourists had multiple injuries all over their bodies after being trampled by the elephant. The bodies of both tourists were brought to a mortuary in Livingstone.

Zambian authorities have previously warned tourists about the dangers of elephants. According to Zambian media, a week ago a security guard was trampled to death by an elephant in the country’s most popular city among tourists while he was on his way to work.

By Iain Burns For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 13 November 2017 | UPDATED: 13 November 2017

Death toll from Ecuador earthquake surpasses 650

QUITO (Reuters) – The death toll from Ecuador’s devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week has risen to 654 people, the country’s emergency management authority said on Saturday.

Last Saturday’s quake, the worst in nearly seven decades, injured around 16,600 people and left 58 missing along the country’s ravaged Pacific coast. One hundred and thirteen people were rescued from damaged buildings.

“These have been sad days for the homeland,” President Rafael Correa said during his weekly television broadcast earlier on Saturday. “The country is in crisis.”

Several strong tremors and more than 700 aftershocks have continued to shake the country since the major quake, sparking momentary panic but little additional damage. Tremors are expected to continue for several weeks.

With close to 7,000 buildings destroyed, more than 25,000 people were living in shelters. Some 14,000 security personnel were keeping order in quake-hit areas, with only sporadic looting reported.

Survivors in the quake zone were receiving food, water and medicine from the government and scores of foreign aid workers, although Correa has acknowledged that bad roads delayed aid reaching some communities.

Correa’s leftist government, facing mammoth rebuilding at a time of greatly reduced oil revenues for the OPEC country, has said it would temporarily increase some taxes, offer assets for sale and possibly issue bonds abroad to fund reconstruction. Congress will begin debate on the tax proposal on Tuesday.

Correa has estimated damage at $2 billion to $3 billion. Lower oil revenue has already left the country of 16 million people facing near-zero growth and lower investment.

The country’s private banking association said on Saturday its member banks would defer payments on credit cards, loans and mortgages for clients in the quake zone for three months, to help reconstruction efforts.

Reuters•April 23, 2016

Security worries grow in Mozambique after rebel attacks
In Mozambique, rebels have blocked traffic along a key artery and a mining company has suspended coal exports. And now, the friction between former civil war foes threatens to worsen.

Cars and lorries are caught in a traffic jams stretching back kilometers. The drivers have been waiting all night for the army escort which will accompany them on their way at the break of dawn. These are scenes which most Mozambicans remember from the civil war, which ended when a peace deal was signed in 1992.

More than twenty years later they are being repeated on the main EN 1 highway, or rather on the section of the road north of the bridge over the River Save. Renamo, the former rebels and the country’s biggest opposition party, declared this a prohibited area last Thursday (20 June 2013).

In the meantime there have been ambushes on cars, lorries and buses. At last three people have been killed and several others injured. Renamo itself has not acknowledged responsibility for the attacks.

Other strategic arteries
Renamo leader, Afonso Dhlakama, has taken refuge in the small village of Satunjira near Gorongosa National Park. To prevent any attacks on him by the Mozambican military or police units, Renamo is attempting to block traffic on the EN1.

The section they are obstructing normally carries very heavy traffic. All road vehicles travelling from southern Mozambique to the center of the country and on to the north use this road. There is no alternative route.

The sparsely populated hinterland of Sofala province with its dense vegetation makes it ideal terrain for the former rebels. They had their headquarters in Gorongosa National Park during the civil war. It is familiar territory. With a few well-planned attacks, they can cause a lot of damage.

In addition to the EN1, there are other strategic transport routes in the vicinity of the park. To the south lies the Beira corridor, through which road and rail freight is taken to Zimbabwe and Malawi. To the East is the Sena railway line, along which coal from the Tete region is brought to the port of Beira. Both lines are no longer used by passenger trains, because the Mozambican rail operator CFM is worried about ambushes.

In the last few weeks in Mozambique, attacks have become almost a daily occurrence. The most deadly was a raid on a Mozambican army weapons depot in Savane. The assailants, as yet unidentified, killed seven soldiers.

Over the last few months, the government and Renamo have repeatedly met for negotiations in Maputo. Their seventh, inconclusive round of talks was held on Monday (24 June 2013).

Sultan Mussa works for a German think tank, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, in Mozambique. He said the key issue over which they are divided is the establishment of parity in the National Electoral Commission in which Renamo has fewer seats than Frelimo. “Frelimo has access to almost everything its needs. The media are on their side. They should give some ground,” he said.

Seats in National Electoral Commission (known by its Portuguese acronym CNE) are distributed in proportion to the relative strengths of the parties in parliament. Frelimo, the governing party, has five, Renamo, two, the opposition party MDM, one. Three further seats are allocated to members of civil society.

Renamo’s grievances
More than twenty years after the end of the Rome General Peace Accords which ended the civil war, Renamo believes it has got a raw deal. It accuses the former Marxist Frelimo of dominating the state and enriching itself. Many ex-Renamo rebels want better access to careers in the armed forces and would like to be shortlisted for jobs as civil servants or directors of state-run enterprises.

Municipal elections are due in Mozambique on November 20. Renamo has so far refused to participate in the electoral process and is threatening to boycott the poll. If it makes good on this threat, Mozambique may be entering choppy waters.

DW Africa•June 27, 2013

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) – Wildlife rangers in Zimbabwe put the northern resort town of Kariba on full alert Wednesday after rogue lions mauled to death two people near a suburb there.

The National Parks and Wildlife Authority said fliers were being handed out in the town and volunteers were using a loudspeaker to caution townspeople on the dangers of lion attacks on the shores of Lake Kariba, a man-made hydroelectric dam popular for fishing and tourism.

It said one man escaped from a lion attack on Tuesday, but the woman with him was savaged to death. An arm and a few remnants of a second corpse were found by rangers hunting for the lions. The predatory animals had eaten most of one corpse but did not devour the body of the dead woman, rangers said.

The wildlife authority warned people against walking at night and crossing through thickets of bush where lions conceal themselves. It urged people in the area only to use wide and established roads.

Lion attacks are not common close to urban settlements. In the past, elephants have roamed into Kariba’s suburbs, causing several deaths in recent years. Victims were often heading home from late night taverns and bars.

Wednesday’s lion alert fliers also warned “beer drinkers to avoid moving at night on foot.” With the recent growth of outdoor Christian groups and religious and other tribal sects, the authority advised their followers to “stop going for secretive prayers in thick vegetation” in and around Kariba.

Rangers said the hunt for the rogue lions was continuing late Wednesday.

It is known in common conservation practice that lions that have eaten human prey will continue preying on people until they are hunted down and killed.

By Angus Shaw, Associated Press•March 6, 2013

Antananarivo, Madagascar (CNN) — Renegade military officers who declared a coup in Madagascar earlier this week surrendered Saturday following 15 hours of negotiations with authorities, ending the three-day standoff.

The talks were led by Madagascar’s Chief of Staff Gen. Ndriarijaona Andre and Gen. Noel Rkotonanadrasana, who represented the renegade soldiers holed up since Wednesday in a military compound near Ivato International Airport.

Witnesses said there were some exchanges of gunfire during the negotiations, but a government soldier stationed outside the compound called it a “misunderstanding,” saying the rebels were not aware of the ongoing talks.

A total of 30 rebel soldiers ultimately surrendered. There were no reports of casualties, the military said.

Six of the renegade officers have been arrested and taken to Tsiafahy prison, outside the capital city Antananarivo, government officials said. The remaining 24 were taken to an unknown destination, the officials said.

“The case is now in the hands of justice, which will act in full independence,” Prime Minister Gen. Albert Camille Vital said at a news conference Saturday night.

The coup attempt occurred as the country voted on a referendum on a new constitution that would allow current President Andry Rajoelina to extend his term in office.

The officers were demanding an end to Rajoelina’s interim government. They want a committee of officers to rule the nation.

Rajoelina ascended to the presidency in 2009 as part of a power-sharing deal, ending months of political wrangling that rocked the island nation off the east coast of Africa. Under the deal, he was to serve with two new co-presidents.

Rajoelina, 35, a former disc jockey, ousted President Marc Ravalomanana with the help of the military in March 2009. The United States condemned the toppling as a coup. U.S. officials deemed it “unconstitutional and undemocratic.”

CNN•November 20, 2010

An Icelandic volcano, dormant for 200 years, has erupted, ripping a 1km-long fissure in a field of ice

The volcano near Eyjafjallajoekull glacier began to erupt just after midnight, sending lava a hundred metres high.

Icelandic airspace has been closed, flights diverted and roads closed. The eruption was about 120km (75 miles) east of the capital, Reykjavik.

About 500 people were moved from the area, a civil protection officer said.

“We estimate that no-one is in danger in the area, but we have started an evacuation plan and between 500 and 600 people are being evacuated,” Sigurgeir Gudmundsson of the Icelandic civil protections department told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

The area is sparsely populated, but the knock-on effects from the eruption have been considerable.

A state of emergency is in force in southern Iceland and transport connections have been severely disrupted, including the main east-west road.

“Ash has already begun to fall in Fljotshlid and people in the surrounding area have reported seeing bright lights emanating from the glacier,” RUV public radio said on its website.

“It was a bit scary, but still amazing to see,” Katrin Moller Eiriksdottir, who lives in Fljotshlid, told the BBC News website.

“The ash had started falling and we couldn’t leave the car.”

Three Icelandair flights, bound for Reykjavik from the United States, were ordered to return to Boston, RUV radio reported.

Domestic flights were suspended indefinitely, but some international flights were scheduled to depart on Sunday.

There had initially been fears that the volcano could cause flooding, as it causes ice to melt on the glacier above it, but that scenario appears to have been avoided.

However, it could cause more activity nearby, scientists say.

“This was a rather small and peaceful eruption but we are concerned that it could trigger an eruption at the nearby Katla volcano, a vicious volcano that could cause both local and global damage,” said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland’s Institute of Earth Science, Associated Press news agency reported.

As the eruption is taking place in an area that is relatively ice free, there is little chance of a destructive glacier burst like the one that washed away part of the east-west highway four years ago, after an eruption under the vast Vattnajoekull glacier.

Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the highly volatile boundary between the Eurasian and North American continental plates, with quakes and eruptions.

The last volcanic eruption in the Eyjafjallajoekull area occurred in 1821.

BBC News•21 March 2010

GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organisation (WHO) urged Ugandans and tourists on Friday to avoid entering caves with bats in the East African country after a Dutch woman died of Marburg hemorrhagic fever.

The unidentified 40-year-old woman died overnight in Leiden University Medical Centre, Dutch authorities said.

Health experts fear bats in caves and mines in western Uganda are a reservoir for the Marburg virus, a cousin of Ebola. Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a severe and highly fatal disease whose victims often bleed from multiple sites.

People who were in close contact with the victim, who visited two caves during a three-week trip to Uganda that ended on June 28, have been monitored daily but none have shown any symptoms, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said. “It is an isolated case of imported Marburg. People should not think about amending their travel plans to Uganda but should not go into caves with bats,” he said.

In a statement, Uganda’s Health Ministry advised people entering caves or mines in the western district of Kamwenge to take “maximum precaution not to get into close contact with the bats and non-human primates in the nearby forests”.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the contagious disease, spread through contact with blood, semen or other bodily fluids. At least 150 people died in an epidemic in Angola in 2004 and 2005, which followed an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo which cost 128 lives between 1998 and 2000, according to the WHO.

The Dutch woman was believed to have had direct contact with a fruit bat in the cave in the Maramagambo Forest, a popular tourist attraction between Queen Elizabeth Park and Kabale, but also visited another cave at Fort Portal, the WHO said.

“Marburg virus infection has been demonstrated by laboratory tests …,” the U.N. agency said in a statement. The woman suffered fever and chills four days after her return home and was admitted to Leiden hospital on July 2.

A local tour guide was the only other person on her cave visits and Dutch authorities have alerted the tour operator, WHO said. “No measures were taken with respect to the passengers on the flight from Uganda as the flight occurred four days before the onset of symptoms in the patient,” it said.

July 11, 2008 by Stephanie Nebehay;
Additional reporting by Niclas Mika in Amsterdam and Daniel Wallis in Nairobi; editing by Mariam Karouny