The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Friday rejected attempts by the opposition Renamo-Electoral Union coalition to change the legislation governing presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections.

THE UN Secretary General's special envoy to the LRA affected areas, Joaquim Chissano, has said opportunities for a peaceful resolution of the northern Uganda conflict should be equally pursued along side the military action.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Thursday swore the chairperson of the Constitutional Council, Luis Mondlane, into office as a member of the Council of State.

Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido on Thursday revealed that so far this year Mozambique has received no disbursements from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

As of last Friday, 10 July, the voter registration brigades operating throughout Mozambique had registered 144,143 new voters, according to data provided to AIM on Thursday by the press office of the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the electoral branch of the Mozambican civil service.

Mozambican rice production in the 2009 harvest has risen to 260,000 tonnes, a 37 per cent increase on the 2008 figure of 190,000 tonnes, reports Thursday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".

The Mozambican government intends to impose a quota system for employing disabled people on all state bodies.

The Mozambican armed forces (FADM) are to receive a million condoms a year, as part of the drive to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Mozambique's main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, on Thursday claimed that district administrations are refusing to issue residence certificates for its candidates for October's elections to provincial assemblies.

Despite the international financial crisis, the Mozambican economy has continued to register strong growth.

Local officials in Cheringoma district, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, have been accused of demanding bribes in order to allow projects to be approved for funding from the government's Local Initiative Investment Budget (OIIL).

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Wednesday opened a two day conference on investment and trade between Mozambique and the United States, intended to explore opportunities for current and potential American investors.

The management of the Port of Maputo predicts that cargo using the port will rise from the current figure of 7.8 million to 40 million tonnes a year within the next 50 years, according to Antonio Almeida Matos, co-chairperson of the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI).

THE UN Secretary General's special envoy for the LRA war affected areas, former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano, will today brief the Security Council on the effort to end the 23-year-long conflict.

The American Embassy in Mozambique - in collaboration with the U.S.-Mozambique Chamber of Commerce, Center for Business Promotion, and the Confederation of Business Associations - is hosting a two-day Trade and Investment Conference in the capital Maputo this week.

In the last two weeks, 105 people have died and over 200 have been seriously injured in traffic accidents on Mozambican roads, according to Pedro Cossa, the spokesperson for the national police command.

The Mozambican business community is increasingly confident about improvements in the country's business environment, according to the latest issue of the Business Environment Index published by the consultancy company KPMG, and launched in Maputo on Monday.

The Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the electoral branch of the Mozambican civil service, says that the repeated breakdowns of computers used in the current voter registration are due to poor working conditions.

The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Tuesday passed amendments to its own regulations (known as its "organic law"), which will allow it to recruit more staff.