Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- King Mohammed VI of Morocco Thursday chaired in the southern city of Agadir the 9th session of the Supreme Council on Water and Climate (CSEC), a body in charge of directing the country's national policy on water and climate. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Some families in Lusaka Thursday afternoon shut up themselves for fear that they may get blind even if they did not look directly to the sun when the eclipse of the sun appeared over Zambia. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Millions of South Africans watched in awe on Thursday as the moon's shadow swept across the country, casting semi-darkness over most regions. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Ministers for environment and land matters in the Southern Africa Development Community meet at the weekend in Windhoek to review progress made in implementing the subregion's environment management strategy. Full text...

Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- The death of a second Botswana traditional chief in five days overshadowed the eclipse of the sun Thursday. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambian President Frederick Chiluba was among hundreds of thousands of people, including some 20,000 foreign tourists, that witnessed a three-and-a-half minute grand spectacle of the total eclipse of the sun in Lusaka Thursday afternoon. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The World Food Programme (WFP) has said more pledges were needed to continue assisting internally displaced people in Tigraye State. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya's ministry of Health has threatened to sue the Nairobi city council for failure to ensure proper garbage collection. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- A regional conference on the elimination of lead-contaminated petrol in sub-Saharan Africa will open next Tuesday in Dakar, the Senegalese News Agency (APS) reported on Thursday. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Friends of the Tahr, a Cape Town-based group, has appealed for help to save the lives of the remaining 50 or so Himalayan tahrs that live on Table Mountain in the city. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Oil spills continue to be the scourge of the world's marine environment and only an internationally co-ordinated effort can stand between pollution and certain death for many of the planet's most endangered species. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- DR Congo Health Minister Leonard Mashako Mamba has appealed to his fellow citizens not to look at the solar eclipse expected Thursday with their naked eyes. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Environmental Affairs and Tourism minister Valli Moosa has announced South Africa's admission as member of the Foundation for Environmental Education, thus earning the right to fly the internationally acclaimed Blue Flag at its beaches. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia has declared Thursday a national holiday to enable workers observe the solar eclipse. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Lands and environment experts from the Southern African Development Community Tuesday began preparations in Windhoek, Namibia ahead of a conference of SADC Environment ministers coming up next Friday. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The 12th meeting of the Sahelian Pesticide Committee (SPC), a body instituted by the nine-member States of the Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), opened in Bamako Monday to examine applications for the approval of certain pesticides. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- King Mohammed VI of Morocco will Thursday chair the 9th session of the Supreme Council on Water and Climate, charged with the country's Water policy decisions. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Delegates from 13 West and Central African countries have called on their respective governments to ratify the Kyoto (Japan) Protocol on the reduction of environmental pollution, before the "Rio+10," meeting scheduled for 2002. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Some 60 participants from Benin's northern regions of Aliborie and Borgou began a meeting Monday in Cotonou, on how to reverse environmental degradation on the Niger River Basin. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya's Trade and Industry minister Nicholas Biwott Monday stressed the importance Nairobi placed on environmental laws, affirming that the government will not condone businesses that flout such legislation. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare has donated 150 million CFA francs for the improvement of the Bamako Biological Park, as part of activities marking the National Environment Week. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Though knowledge and technical skills exist to halt the destructive trends in land management, the UN environment agency says only political and economic factors would determine application of that knowledge. Full text...

Walvis Bay- Namibia (PANA) -- Namibian President Sam Nujoma Friday unveiled a major Waste disposal facility for the country's Walvis Bay port city and commended the Municipal Council for its pivotal role in the town's development. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- On June 21, Mars will make its closest approach to Earth since 1988, with the distance between the two planets narrowing to just 67 million km, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) said. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- A Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) policy brief issued here this week calls on policy makers in private and public sectors to access up-to-date information in order to identify priority environmental issues. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- The Mozambican police has confirmed that the arrest of Mozambican poachers Monday was the culmination of a joint operation between the Mozambican and South African police forces. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- Mozambique's Ministry for Environmental Co-ordination (MICOA) has been largely paralysed since the start of the year because donors have withheld funds on the grounds of financial mismanagement. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Flamingos on the shores of Lakes Nakuru and Bogoria in Kenya have been dying in their hundreds due to high levels of heavy metals that have polluted the waters. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- Some 40 experts from 14 Francophone sub-Saharan African countries open a sub-regional workshop Thursday in Yaounde on the catalytic roles of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP). Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- Cape Verde President Pedro Pires Tuesday received a delegation from the Sahel Drought Control Commission (CILSS) led by the Executive Secretary Musa Mbenga. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- A national seminar opened Monday on the Santiago island, to discuss Cape Verde's environmental policy. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has announced draft regulations to control the off-road use of vehicles for recreational purposes on the coast. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- The head of Sierra Leone's missions in the US and Canada, John Leigh has described Freetown as "very filthy with over fifty million flies", and called on the health ministry and municipal authorities to "clear this health hazard in this city". Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- A US group advocating animal welfare has taken exception to the fisherman merit badge of the South African Scouts Association, urging for its withdrawal. Full text...

N'djamena- Chad (PANA) -- The government of Chad and the Regional Centre for Environmental Education and Training to Combat Desertification (CREFELD) have signed an agreement for CREFELD to set up station at the southern town of Sarh. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa and Lesotho are set to sign an agreement on the conservation of the Maloti- Drakensberg area. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Namibia plans to ratify the revised Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on shared water courses so as to be it in line with the United Nations convention. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kakamega Forest, the only surviving equatorial rain forest in Kenya and home to rare species of birds, snakes and primates is on the brink of extinction due to human activity. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Mali has enacted a law on water management setting strict rules for the use, conservation and protection of water resources to meet the present and future needs of the population, an official statement said. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- A meeting to review the ratification of the Montreal Protocol has called on South Africa, Africa's biggest user of methyl bromide, to solicit for multilateral funding for technical assistance to phase out the use of the chemical. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Wednesday called for the integration of housing issues in the agenda for economic and social development, especially in the efforts to reduce poverty in the world. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritian environment minister Rajesh Bhagwan said that he hoped "that when we meet on World Environment Day next year, Mauritius would have got rid of all its eye-sores, polluting industries and damaged lagoons. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritian environment minister Rajesh Bhagwan said that he hoped "that when we meet on World Environment Day next year, Mauritius would have got rid of all its eye-sores, polluting industries and damaged lagoons. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritian Prime minister Anerood Jugnauth announced Tuesday night that the government has devised 72 projects worth 670 million rupees (29. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The Nigerian government has approved the country's ratification of the Vienna Convention on the protection of the ozone layer, according to the Minister of State for Environment, Ime Okopido. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- A major project to study the state of the world's environment and its impact on human health and economic well-being was launched Tuesday in New York by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- A Zambian woman has been nominated for the prestigious 2001 Audi Terra Nova Award for her commitment to care for injured and unwanted chimpanzees. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- Burundi was once nicknamed "the Switzerland of Africa" because of its ever-green hilly terrain and numerous lakes. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyans Tuesday joined the rest of the continent to observe the 2001 World Environment Day, with leaders and environmentalists decrying that there is an environmental crisis facing the country that needs to be given attention. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Environmental and Cultural Affairs Minister Glen Adams Tuesday officially launched a Western Cape Clean-up Operation to coincide with World Environment Week. Full text...