News briefs

A Nigerian airliner with 104 people on board slammed into the ground moments after takeoff yesterday and aviation authorities said six people survived with the rest feared dead.

It was the third deadly crash of a passenger plane in less than a year in this West African nation known for its troubled air industry.

The Boeing 737 crashed one minute after taking off from Abuja airport, said Sam Adurogboye, an Aviation Ministry spokesman. President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the crash, his spokeswoman Remi Oyo said.

Among those killed was the man regarded as the spiritual leader of Nigeria’s Muslims and the sultan of Sokoto state, Muhammadu Maccido. He headed the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria. The panel determines when Muslim fasts should begin and end, and decides policy for Nigeria’s overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims.

Maccido’s body was immediately flown to Sokoto, where thousands of people were at the airport to receive it. He was buried yesterday according to Islamic custom, and the Sokoto state government declared six days of mourning.

KINSHASA, Congo
Ex-rebel, incumbent face off in tense Congolese elections

A runoff election between a president and a powerful rebel warlord climaxed a four-year postwar transition for Congo yesterday, with voters holding onto hope they will soon see the end of a decades-old cycle of war and despotism that has shadowed the heart of Africa.

The voting was largely peaceful, but there was no guarantee the violence was over. Forces loyal to 35-year-old President Joseph Kabila and 44-year-old Jean-Pierre Bemba – a former rebel leader who is now a vice president in a power-sharing government – battled with tanks and heavy weapons in the run-up, and at least two deaths were reported yesterday. Kabila and Bemba have pledged to accept the results of the vote, which were not expected for weeks.

NEW YORK
Wind knocks out power in Northeast

Thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity yesterday from Maryland to Maine as a storm system blasted the region with winds gusting to more than 50 mph, knocking over trees and a construction crane. The storm was blamed for at least two deaths.

Gusts of 70 mph were possible yesterday in northern New York state, the National Weather Service said.

A falling tree killed a motorcyclist in Massachusetts, police said. In New Hampshire, one man was missing after falling off a cruise ship on Lake Winnipesaukee during the storm late Saturday, and one man drowned when his kayak overturned on a rain-swollen river, state officials said.

HAVANA, Cuba
Cuban TV shows Castro mocking rumors of his death

The ailing Fidel Castro appeared on Cuban state television for the first time in more than a month Saturday, looking thin and tired but walking around and ridiculing recent rumors of his death.

The 80-year-old Cuban leader, who temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul in July following intestinal surgery, had not been seen since mid-September when photographs of him receiving world leaders at a summit in Havana were released.

-Compiled from Daily wire reports