Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will take part in a political conference in the North today.

President Abdoulaye Wade led 14 contenders today as election officials began counting results from a vote many hoped would cement Senegal’s image as an example of democracy in Africa, despite its poverty.

The first African peacekeepers to help the government assert its authority in Somalia are expected by the end of January, the prime minister said today.

President George Bush, on a day of new violence in the Middle East, expressed determination to see Iraq hold elections on January 30 and said they would show that terrorists cannot stop the march of democracy.

US President George Bush began his Africa tour today with a tribute to slaves who he said had endured the “one of the greatest crimes of history”.

Heads of state of leading developing countries gathered in Switzerland today for a series of meetings on the sidelines of the summit of Group of Eight leading world powers.

THE death toll from Senegal’s ferry disaster could top 1,000 after President Abdoulaye Wade conceded yesterday that children under five would have gone un-ticketed – and thus apparently uncounted in the death toll.

The death toll from Senegal’s ferry disaster could top 1,000 after President Abdoulaye Wade conceded today that there probably many more passengers on the overloaded boat than on the manifest.

THE toll of victims missing and presumed dead in Senegal's ferry disaster has soared

The toll of victims missing and presumed dead in Senegal’s ferry disaster has soared by nearly 250, with the government now saying 1,034 passengers and crew were on board the doomed vessel.

MORE than 750 passengers and crew were feared drowned last night after a packed ferry sank in a fierce Atlantic storm off West Africa.

Five African heads of state and thousands of mourners paid their last respects to Senegal’s founding president, Leopold Sedar Senghor, who was buried today.