At least six fighters were killed in clashes between Somali militants linked to local warlord Mohamed Said Atom and security forces of the breakaway Puntland state.

On Friday, fighters led by Atom raided a military base near the Galgala mountains which had been lost to Puntland on Wednesday.

Nine in every 10 Kenyans are satisfied with the outcome of the referendum, which ushered in a new constitution.

According to the latest opinion poll conducted by Synovate, between August 7 and 9, a majority of the 9.1 million people who voted for or against the draft constitution, are of the view that the results were a true reflection of what Kenyans wanted.

Preliminary election results from the Diaspora released, late Monday, showed that the incumbent, President Paul Kagame, earned a landslide victory of 96.7 percent.

Announcing the results, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) Chairman, Chrysologue Karangwa, said that, out of the 17,824 registered voters in the Diaspora, 14,242 (78%) were valid while 151 (0.8) votes were void.

South Sudan's referendum on independence, scheduled for January, should be delayed to allow more time to prepare for it, a member of the referendum commission warns.

"The time that is remaining is not enough to hold a referendum," Tarek Osman al-Taher says.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it would issue next week the guidelines for the forthcoming 2011 general elections even as it revealed that about 360,000 personnel would be recruited for the exercise.

The 'Yes' camp was leading with slightly more than 6 million votes while the 'No' side had 2.7 million votes on Thursday night.

Interim Independent Electoral Commission official Winnie Guchu said the final result was expected to be announced later.

GOVERNMENT ministers who disclose information to the media on cabinet meetings and proceedings will be arrested together with offending journalists in a move calculated to stem "damaging leaks", the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.

There are growing fears that increasing numbers of women candidates and voters may not participate in the 2011 general elections because of an upsurge in election-related violence.

Less than 12 hours after the polls closed in Wednesday's referendum in Kenya, provisional results showed supporters of a new constitution headed for a landslide win.

According to results from the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC), the Yes side had 4,141,521 votes (67 per cent) against the No camp's 2,054,946 (33 per cent).

SEVENTY-three people are feared dead after their boat capsized on Lake Albert on Saturday night. The mishap occurred at Kakoma in Runga village, Kigolobya sub-county in Hoima district.

By press time, the Police, assisted by local residents, had rescued 17 people. A body of an adult female and those of four children were recovered.

THE Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger Delta deployed soldiers with two Armoured Personnel Carriers to quell a clash in Warri between the second batch of ex-militants invited for training at Obubra, Cross River State, and the group that had not yet enrolled for the programme.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki's push for an endorsement of a new constitution has received a major boost this weekend. Prime Minister Raila Odinga hit the campaign trail again after a month out because of health problems.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has lashed out at churches that allow same-sex marriages, and said gay rights would not be included in a new constitution being written for the southern African country.

Somali pirates on the early morning hours of Thursday released the Maltese flagged merchant vessel MV FRIGIA that they were holding for the past four months, Radio Garowe reports.

The ship was hijacked on 23 March 2010 and the crew held hostage for 128 days.

TRADE union leader Apollo Nyangasi was yesterday charged and remanded to Luzira Prison over the murder of his wife, Christine Dambio Nyangasi.

The 45-year-old Nyangasi is the national chairman of the Uganda Health and Allied Workers Union.