OVER fifty passengers  aboard a plane from Lagos to Benin City  escaped death, Saturday, when the aircraft  failed to land after hovering in the Benin airspace for about 15 minutes.

South African President Jacob Zuma has announced an inquiry into violence at a mine in the north-east of the country, calling the deaths there "tragic".

One person was injured when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded near the Rikkos Police Post in Jos on Friday.

South African riot police opened fire on striking miners armed with machetes and sticks at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine on Thursday, killing several men in the deadliest episode of a week of union violence.

At least six suspected militant gunmen have been killed by the Egyptian army in the Sinai peninsula, officials say.

Namibia's Supreme Court on Friday backed the decision by competition authorities to impose conditions on Wal-Mart's purchase of South African retailer Massmart, which has three local subsidiaries.

Tanzania said a shipping agent based in Dubai had reflagged 36 Iranian oil tankers with the Tanzanian flag without the country's knowledge and approval.

Militant Islamists in northern Mali have cut off a man's hand as punishment for theft.