Munich  - Legislators in the German state of Bavaria elected a new premier, Horst Seehofer, 59, on Monday after the party he leads, the Christian Social Union (CSU), lost its absolute majority at the polls.

He comfortably won the vote by a 104-71 margin, though four members of the new state coalition, comprising the CSU and the small pro-business Free Democrat Party
(FDP), did not vote for him.

The election marks the end of a 46-year era when the CSU, sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, ruled the prosperous southern state alone.

Harare, Johannesburg - Zimbabwean riot police broke up two demonstrations by hundreds of women and students Monday outside a hotel in Harare where talks were under way to salvage a crucial power-sharing deal.

The police used force to disperse at least 300 women activists, who were calling for President Robert Mugabe and prime minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai to quickly form a unity government to allow for the rebuilding of the tattered economy.

At least 11 women were treated for injuries after being beaten by the police and 47 were arrested, according to the Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe.

Windhoek, Johannesburg - Ivory tusks will be sold for the first time in nearly 10 years in southern Africa on Tuesday as four one-off auctions of ivory stockpiles to Chinese and Japanese buyers kick off in Namibia.

South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, all of which have booming elephant populations, have been given permission by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to sell off stockpiles of ivory from their national parks.

Berlin - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was flying to Pakistan Monday at the start of a four-day diplomatic tour that will also take in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The onslaught of terrorist attacks and the growing financial crisis in Pakistan are expected to dominate his talks with Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, in Islamabad on Tuesday.