Maputo- Sub-Saharian African countries are currently losing more than 1 billion dollars yearly due to illegal fishing in their waters, a senior government official in Mozambique revealed this week.

Mozambique Deputy Fisheries Minister Victor Borges said that foreign fishing vessels were regularly spotted fishing illegally in African waters, depleting fish stocks.

"Our countries are witnessing without acting the destruction of fisheries in the region. Every year, we estimate that we lose over one billion dollars to illegal fishing."

Washington, Jan. 19 : Two Methodist churches, which have stood on the same block on Capitol Hill for close to two centuries -- one congregation black and the other white, will create history on Tuesday, when they open their doors for the first time to all communities, ending decades of racial segregation.

New Delhi, Jan 19: Inaugurating a two-day India-Africa Business Partnership summit in New Delhi on Monday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee called for increased cooperation and dialogue with African nations on crucial global issues, including Jihadi terrorism.

Mukherjee also referred other issues like climate change, food and energy security, health, marine piracy and democratization of financial institutions.

Nairobi- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Friday appealed for 470 million dollars to feed 10 million people facing a food shortage in the East African nation.

Kibaki called a national emergency, blaming the shortages on drought, a disruption to planting by last year's post-election violence and high fertilizer costs.

However, the government is also investigating a scandal in which millions of bags of maize imported to address the crisis were allegedly sold on to South Sudan by a cartel involving agricultural ministry officials.

Nairobi/Mogadishu - The last of the Ethiopian troops that have been propping up Somalia's transitional federal government for the last two years have left the Somali capital Mogadishu, reports said Thursday.

Witnesses and officials said that the Ethiopians emptied out all of their bases and quit the capital overnight.

"I can confirm there are not any Ethiopian soldiers in the capital Mogadishu," Abdifitah Ibrahim Sabriye, deputy governor of Banadir Region, told Radio Shabelle.

Ethiopian forces invaded in late 2006 to help kick out the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a hardline Islamist regime that was in power for six months.