Africa (except North Africa)

YAOUNDE, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 hostages held by separatist fighters in Cameroon's restive Anglophone region of Northwest have been rescued by security forces, a local official said Wednesday.

Menyong Gilbert Sunday, prefect of the Bui division of the region, said troops conducted an operation overnight into Wednesday, leading the rescue of 10 men and one woman who were held hostage in "a terrorist camp" in Kikaikom locality of the division.

KINSHASA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday inaugurated the Sakania dry port in the DRC, a Chinese-built megaproject and currently the largest of its kind in Central Africa.

During his field inspection, Tshisekedi described the dry port of Sakania as a modern one, hoping it could serve as an example for other ports of the DRC.

Bordering Zambia, the dry port, located in southeastern Haut-Katanga province, is a main border post of the DRC and constitutes an important mining channel.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan lawmakers said Wednesday that parliamentary approval is required before the deployment of police to the Kenya-led peacekeeping mission in Haiti to combat gang violence that was approved by the U.N. Security Council this week.

Opposition lawmaker Anthony Oluoch told a session of Parliament’s lower house that the conditions for foreign deployment hadn’t been met under the National Police Act.

MONROVIA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Liberian government has declared that stringent security measures will be in place to ensure the safety and integrity of the democratic process during the forthcoming presidential election.

Speaking to the media in the national capital of Monrovia Monday, Minister of Justice Frank Musa Dean warned citizens of the West African country against fomenting troubles during the election process.

MOGADISHU, Oct 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A suicide bomber blew himself up at a shop selling tea in Somalia’s capital, killing at least seven people, police and witnesses have said.

The explosion occurred inside a tea shop in Bar Bulsho Mogadishu near the presidential palace in central Somalia, said police spokesman Sadik Dudishe.

“All the casualties were people spending time to drink tea,” Dudishe said.

The cafe is frequented by members of the Somali security forces, as well as civilians.

KIGALI, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Jean Paul Kubwimana, a Rwandan resident, is engaged in a lucrative greenhouse farming venture after receiving support from the Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Food Security Project (SAIP), a project funded by the World Bank.

"I thank SAIP for supporting me to acquire a greenhouse through a matching grant and for providing training on how to maintain it, enabling my crops to thrive. I cultivated tomatoes in the greenhouse, and the yield is extremely amazing," Kubwimana, a father of two, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Cape Town, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The South African parliament has described the 9th BRICS Parliamentary Forum as "a seminal moment" of harmonious unity and collective ambition for the BRICS nations.

In a statement on Friday, the parliament said the forum, which kicked off in Johannesburg on Wednesday, represented a progressive journey and mutual dedication to reinforcing global dialogues and alliances.

JUBA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Tuesday night appointed Angelina Teny as minister of interior.

Kiir, who announced the appointment in a presidential decree broadcast on the state-owned television, the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, also replaced Deputy Minister of Interior Peter Puok Koang with Marial Gumke.

Teny, who is the wife of First Vice President Riek Machar, was sacked by Kiir in March as minister of defense and veteran affairs.

DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Monday that the country has opened its doors wide to more Chinese investors to support the East African nation's industrialization drive.

"Tanzania is ready to do business with you; our doors are wide open," Majaliwa assured the Chinese investors as he closed a one-day China Tanzania Investment Forum Zhejiang (Jinhua)-Tanzania Trade and Investment Conference held on Monday in the port city of Dar es Salaam.