Party leader and Chinese president Xi Jinping is addressing more than 2,000 delegates in the capital.

The closed-door summit, which takes place once every five years, determines who rules China and the country’s direction for the next term, reports the BBC.

Mr Xi, who became the leader in 2012, has been consolidating power and is expected to remain as party chief.

The congress, which also decides on a roadmap for China for the next five years, is expected to finish next week.

Shortly after the congress ends, the party is expected to unveil the new members of China’s top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee, who will steer the country.

In his speech, Mr Xi listed China’s recent achievements, saying that “socialism with Chinese characteristics in this new era” meant China had “become a great power in the world”, and added that the country should not copy foreign political systems.

He aarned against separatism – in an apparent reference to movements in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong – and reiterated the government’s principle that Taiwan is part of China

Said also China “would not close its doors to the world” and promised further economic reform, including lowering barriers for foreign investors.

Keneth Sanga, head of central Tanzania’s anti-poaching unit, told Xinhua that the suspected poachers were arrested in different parts of central Tanzania’s regions of Singida and Dodoma between 2016 and this year.

He revealed that most of the suspects were found in possession of weapons, government trophies. Some poachers were found inside the Rungwa-Kizigo and Muhesi game reserves.

“But, we’re optimistic that during the period poaching incidents have gone down compared to the past 3 years,” the official said, adding that anti-poaching operations have been bearing fruits as there are more poachers arrested compared to the past.

He also said some of the suspected poachers were being found with elephant tusks, bush meat and others with timbers.

According to Sanga, some of the suspected poachers are now serving their sentences in different prisons, while others their cases are in advanced stages in different courts across central Tanzania.

Sanga said the Tanzanian government has impounded all transport vessels such as vehicles and motorcycles used by the suspects in accomplishing their poaching missions.

He, however, unveiled that between 2016 and 2017, six people have been killed by elephants in the two regions of Singida and Dodoma.

“Those people were killed due to little knowledge on how to deal with elephants in terms of their characters,” Sanga said.

“We’re now educating people particularly those who are living close to the sanctuaries on how to deal with wildlife once they storm into their localities.” said Sanga.

I advise Sheikh Ponda to surrender himself because even if he runs away it wont help him because we will arrest him. He knew he was breaking the law, when he uttered seditious words now he should be ready to face legal action, Special Zone Police Commander (RPC) Lazaro Mambosasa told reporters in his office yesterday.

According to the RPC, the clerics language ridiculed the government. Mr Mambosasa added that he had to surrender himself between Thursday and Saturday or else he would find himself in serious trouble.

However, Mr Mambosasa didnt disclose the exact words uttered by Sheikh Ponda.

The cleric has been finding himself in trouble on several occasions following his public utterances.

In December 2016, he was set free after staying in remand prison for more than two years over charges of incitement and instigating religious hatred.

We have reached an agreement and our pilots and aircraft engineers will start training between November and December, this year. The training will be on operations of the new Bombardier aircraft after they arrive, ATCL Managing Director, Mr Ladislaus Matindi said yesterday during the during the signing ceremony.

He said 12 pilots and seven aircraft engineers will operate on the new Bombadier Q400 and Dreamliner 787 expected in the country soon.

Expounding further, he said the aim of the training is to increase the number of qualified pilots and aircraft engineers who will serve with the national carrier. According to him, the MoU will help its employees to get capacity building training at affordable costs.

Ethiopia Airlines has well equipped training and maintenance facilities and we can benefit from their expertise. The training will be for new pilots and those in service, he noted.

Speaking at the same occasion, Ethiopia Aviation Academy Managing Director, Solomon Debebe, said the deal will provide a win-win situation between the two airlines. He pointed further that for a long time the two companies have been co-operating to improve the capacity of their workforce and operations.

The co-operation was heightened during discussions between President John Magufuli and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn during his visit to Tanzania in March, this year.

Justice John Mativo directed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to amend a gazette notice it had issued on presidential candidates to contest in the repeat election to include Mr Aukot’s name. Aukot polled less than 1 percent in presidential elections in August, on the ballot in the event of a re-run.

Despite the withdrawal of top opposition candidate Raila Odinga over allegations of bias, President Uhuru Kenyatta may still have a challenger on Oct. 26, when the re-run is scheduled. I find nothing to bar the petitioner from contesting the fresh election, said Mativo.

Mr Odinga on Tuesday announced that his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka will also not take part in the repeat election.

After deliberating on our position in respect of the upcoming election, considering the interests of the people of Kenya, the region and the world at large, we believe that all will be best served by Nasa vacating its presidential candidature in the election scheduled for 26 October 2017,” said Mr Odinga.

All indications are that the election scheduled for 26 October will be worse than the previous one, he said.

He took a swipe at President Uhuru Kenyatta-led Jubilee Party for pushing for election laws changes saying the move shows that it had no intention of competition on a level playing field.

On his side Kenyatta says he is ok with Raila Odingas withdrawal from the repeat presidential election.

The National Super Alliance (Nasa) leader exercised his democratic right to withdraw from the repeat poll, Mr Kenyatta said on Tuesday.

Mr Kenyatta said while Mr Odinga has a right to pull out of the election, he should know that Kenyans have a right to choose their leaders.

He termed Mr Odingas withdrawal as injustice, saying more than Sh12 billion has been spent to prepare for the repeat poll.

On 28th March, 2017, IPTL submitted the application seeking for an extension from 16th July 2017 to 15th January 2022. A statement issued yesterday by the EWURA management explained that after deliberating on the application, the board rejected the application basing on three factors.

Firstly, he explained, was the exorbitant capacity charges. The effect of allowing the application for licence extension to the electricity price to be paid by consumers including the continued payment of USD 2.667 million per month as capacity charges, stated the statement.

The board decision also based on objections received from the public and other stakeholders and pending legal disputes involving IPTL. The rejection of IPTLs application comes a few months after the arraignment of two alleged key players in the infamous 306bn/- Tegeta escrow account scandal.

The two, the Director of VIP Engineering and Marketing, Mr James Rugemalira and Mr Harbinder Singh Sethi of Pan Africa Power Solutions Tanzania Limited (PAP), have appeared at the Kisutu court facing six counts of economic sabotage and occasioning a loss of US $ 22.1 million dollars and 309bn/-.

The prosecution informed the court that between October 18, 2011 and March 19, 2014, in Dar es Salaam, they conspired to commit offences in South Africa, Kenya, India and elsewhere.

The court heard that between November 28 and 29, 2011 and on January 23, 2014 at the Stanbic Bank headquarters at Kinondoni and Mkombozi Bank, St. Joseph Branch, the two businesspersons through deceit, received the said amount from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).

Before the arraignment of the duo, the Director General of Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Valentino Mlowola, told a news conference that the agency had all along been investigating the scam which rocked the country in 2014.

The scandal involved the transfer of 309bn/- from an escrow account at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), where it was jointly opened by Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) and IPTL, pending legal wrangles over capacity charges between the parties before domestic and international courts.

IPTL which operates dieselfired turbines at Tegeta in Dar es Salaam was initially founded through a joint venture between a Malaysia company, Mechmar (70 per cent) and Mr Rugemaliras VIP Engineering and Marketing Limited (30 per cent).

It is still unclear how Mechmar sold-off its shares to another company PiperLink of British Virgin Island which later allegedly sold its stake to Mr Sethis PAP. Billions of shillings were then paid to Mr Sethi from the account after he convinced officials that he had acquired the 70 per cent stake in IPTL.

He then proceeded to acquire the 30 per cent stake which was owned by VIP Engineering and Marketing. To reach a deal with Mr Rugemaliras company, it is said that Mr Sethi had to pay a whopping US $75 million dollars (about 165bn/-) to acquire the 30 per cent.

During the parliamentary session in November 2014, the august House made eight resolutions, one of which was for investigations and arrest of all people who were involved in the scandal. The resolution followed a report by a special committee of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which was formed to probe the affair.

As the scandal ravaged on with calls for actions from Parliament and subsequent investigations by PCCB and audits by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), several top government officials were sacked while others resigned.

Among those who resigned were the then Minister for Energy and Minerals Sospeter Muhongo and Attorney General Fredrick Werema, while Prof Anna Tibaijuka, then Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, was fired by former President Jakaya Kikwete.

The former UN Habitat boss was fired after it emerged that she had been paid 1.6bn/- by Mr Rugemalira. The funds were suspected to be part of monies from the escrow account. The list of other individuals said to have pocketed some of the funds include former Minister for Energy and Minerals William Ngeleja and former Attorney General Andrew Chenge.

Ngara is a strategic point, which borders four countries — Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and DRC and, therefore, starting nickel mining would greatly help transform the regions economy.

The presence of nickel puts the region at a vantage position due to the fact that when investment starts, a number of factories would also be put in place thus creating more employment opportunities.

Government would base on industrial economy by creating an investment-friendly environment that would attract investors from within and outside the country. The Kabanga Nickel is an active mine exploration project 130 km south west of Lake Victoria.

Barrick Gold and Xstrata now Glencore created the Kabanga Nickel joint venture in 2005 and there has been progress made with a significant investment to date of over US$250 million in drilling and evaluation studies.

The Kagera Regional Mining Development Officer, Mr Daniel Mapunda told the Daily News in an interview that implementation of the Kabanga Nickel project was delayed due to logistics problems,. We inspected the mining camp in April, this year.

The mining company is yet to complete some logistics including improvement of the infrastructure, he said without revealing when the exact drilling work will begin. Kabangas 58 million tonne nickel resource is regarded as one of the best undeveloped green field nickel sulphide deposits in the world.

In 2004, Barrick Gold formed a partnership with Canadian-based Falconbridgeon. In 2006, Falconbridge was acquired by Xstrata PLC of Switzerland, which was later acquired by Glencore Plc in 2013.

In June, a Tanzanian government delegation, while on a trip to Canada voiced their concern over the delays in the project to Glencore Chief Executive, Stephen Flewelling who revealed that they had put more than $250 million into the project and promised mining activities were likely to start between 2018 and 2020.

The pressure by the government is a result of non-fulfilled previous promises by the Kabanga investors. The investors had high hopes in the project. In February 2007 then Barricks partner, Xstrata Nickel, committed a further $95 million for pre-feasibility studies on top of the initial $50 million that they had spent on updating the resource model for the project.

Ian Pearce, then CEO of Xstrata Nickel and Greg Wilkins, then Barrick President and CEO had described Kabanga project as having the potential of becoming a world class nickel sulphide deposit.

Despite spending over $250 million in the project, Barrick Gold Corporation and Glencore Plc are reported to be seeking an investor on whom to offload the project. According to analysts, the investors have been frustrated by the falling price of nickel in the world market after the Chinese invented nickel pig iron.

The project which is implemented by Jain Irrigation Company from India will be completed on November 16, this year. At the weekend, the Minister tasked the companys administration to increase pace in the implementation of the project so as to beat the deadline.

You only have three months remaining, we will not extend the deadline and that is why I want you to have the required speed.

Jain Irrigation Company President, Mr Anil Vitankar promised the Minister that despite the few challenges that the companys engineers were facing, the company was ready to meet the November 16 deadline.

We are working day and night and our team is fully committed to ensure that we accomplish the work within the given deadline, he insisted.

During the weekend working tour, the Minister was accompanied by DAWASA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr Romanus Mwangingo and Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation (DAWASCO) officials, among others.

The 72bn/- project will among other things, put up nine big water tanks that have a capacity of maintaining between 3.0 and 6.0 million litres of water as well as putting up other four centres of pumping water, according to Eng Lwenge (pictured).

The areas that will benefit from the project include Salasala, Bunju, Wazo, Makongo, Changanyikeni, Bagamoyo, Mpiji, Zinga, Kiromo, Kitopeni, Ukuni, Kerege, Buma, Mataya and a special Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), which are receiving services from Ruvu Chini water station.

Others are Mbezi Luisi, Kiluvya, Kibamba, Mbezi, Msakuzi, Makabe, Malamba mawili and Msigani. These areas receive water from Ruvu Juu water station that was inaugurated by President John Magufuli on June 21, this year.

The major aim of this project, according to the Minister, is to ensure that all residents and factories of the Dar es Salaam and Coast regions receive water services after the completion of the expansion of Ruvu Juu and Ruvu Chini water stations.

Appearing before the Kisutu Resident Magistrates Court, Lissu was required to produce two sureties who were supposed to sign a 10m/- bond each, conditions which the outspoken lawyer met and was released.

The Singida East MP was arrested at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in the city almost a week ago and was charged with sedition.

Magistrate Wilbard Mashauri said there is no objection on Lissus bail, but the politician has been restricted to travel out of Dar es Salaam without permission.

Watu hao wameuawa jana , Jumatatu kufuatilia mwanamke mmoja kudaiwa kujilipua kwa bomu katika msikiti nchini humo.

Mkuu wa shirika la usimamizi wa dharura, Ahmed Satomi, alisema mlipuko huo umejeruhi watu wengine kumi na tano, London Ciki Maiduguri.

Msikiti ulikuwa unalindwa na raia wa JTF wakati wa sala, aliwaambia AFP

Kulikuwa na wasichana wawili ambao walitaka kushambulia msikiti, ambaye mmoja alinaswa kwenye uzio wenye umeme mwingine alifanikiwa kukimbia huku akikimbizwa na polisi, alisema Danbatta Bello.

Alikimbilia msikitini na walinzi walimuamuru asimame ili wamkague lakini ghafla mwanamke huyo alikimbilia ndani ya msikiti na kutegesha bomu lake la pili.

Msikiti ulianguka baada ya bomu kulipuka na hadi sasa polisi hajasema chochote kuhusiana na mlipuko huo.

Wanawake wengine wawili nao waliouawa kwa kupigwa risasi baada ya kushukiwa kuwa ni miongoni mwa kundi hilo la kujitoa mhanga huko Maiduguri baada ya mlipuko wa msikitini, alisema Bello.

Boko Haram wanasadikiwa kuhusika na tukio hilo na pia inasemekana kuwa kundi hilo linawatumia wanawake na wasichana wadogo kufanya mashambulizi mbalimbali.

Hivi karibuni mabinti waliofanikiwa kutoroka kutoka kwa kundi hilo walisema wasichana hao waliokamatwa na Boko Haramu hupewa dawa za Kulevya na kulazimishwa kufanya matukio ya kujitoa muhanga.