by Angus Shaw

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)—Zimbabwe’s president on Sept. 30 told foreign investors that they must accept Black Zimbabweans as the major shareholders in their projects—or stay away from the southern African nation.

FIERY SPEECH—Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe delivers his speech at the National Heroes Acre in Harare, Sept. 30. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Strict empowerment laws scheduled for phased enforcement over the next five years require Black Zimbabweans to control 51 percent of each business.

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—A 16-year-old who believes she was kicked out of class for speaking her first language at school has prompted government investigations, and the case is demonstrating how volatile the issue of language in education remains in South Africa.

School officials insist a disciplinary problem and not racism sparked the case, but it’s now making headlines a generation after hundreds here were killed when students revolted over being forced to learn in Afrikaans, the language of their White oppressors under apartheid.

VOLATILE SITUATION—This photo taken Sept. 22, shows 16-year-old twin sisters Luthando and Lusanda Nxasana in their Johannesburg home after a day at school. (AP Photo/Tawnada Mudimu)

(NNPA/GIN)—All South Africans will enjoy national health insurance under a program scheduled to kick off in 2011 and be implemented during a period of 14 years.

Details of the program were discussed recently at the mid-term conference of the African National Congress.

Thousands are attending the week-long review of the party’s progress in the port city of Durban which featured health care high on the agenda.

by Bashir Adigun

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP)—President Goodluck Jon­athan announced Sept. 15 on Facebook that he will run in the oil-rich nation’s January election, ending months of speculation over his plans after he assumed power following the death of Nigeria’s elected leader.

ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY—In this May 31 file photo, Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan waves as he arrives for a dinner at the Prefecture in Nice, southern France, during the 25th Africa-France Summit.

Jonathan’s announcement, as well as a campaign rally last Wednesday by former military dictator Ibrahim Babangida, signaled the start of campaigning ahead of the Jan. 22 presidential election in Africa’s most populous nation.