NEWCASTLE EAGLES, fresh from last weekend's victory at the defending Budweiser League champions, Greater London Leopards, have taken their line-up to new heights by capturing the 6ft 9in British-Canadian forward Chris Webber.

FEARED BY his enemies, respected by his peers and a hero amongst his own men, the former chief- of-staff of the Angolan rebel movement Unita, Arlindo Pena, died a broken man.

A CONVOY of 16 United Nations trucks was ambushed by armed bandits in northern Angola and UN escorts returned fire, the UN said yesterday. Three people were injured, though not seriously.

FROM THE capital, Kinshasa, government victory may seem at hand. But from rebel-held eastern Congo, insurgents plotting their next move say time is on their side.

DAVID GINOLA, the footballer, promised to carry on Diana, Princess of Wales's battle to rid the world of landmines yesterday as he flew into war-ravaged Angola.

Diana TV; The Dianaphobes are beginning to get tiresome.

TROOPS loyal to Laurent Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, were struggling yesterday to repel the rebel onslaught on the capital, Kinshasa, while Zimbabwe sent more troops to the heart of the conflict.

Optimism about Africa has withered in the face of calamities across the continent

ANGOLAN and Zimbabwean aircraft yesterday bombed rebel positions in the Democratic Republic of Congo as President Laurent Kabila returned to the capital, vowing to strike back against the insurgents. His motorcade - a caravan of black limousines flanked by pick-up trucks filled with commandos - zipped through Kinshasa's rutted streets past cheering and waving crowds.

ON THE back of military assistance from his Angolan and Zimbabwean allies, Congo's embattled President, Laurent Kabila, returned to his capital Kinshasa yesterday and rejected any conciliation or negotiation with the rebel army seeking to depose him.

ANGOLAN AND Zimbabwean aircraft bombed rebel positions in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday as President Laurent Kabila returned to the capital, vowing to strike back against the insurgents. His motorcade - black limousines flanked by pick-up trucks filled with commandos - zipped through Kinshasa's rutted streets past cheering crowds.

ANGOLAN TROOPS were last night pouring into the Democratic Republic of Congo in an advance that dangerously fanned the flames of the fast- growing crisis in central Africa.

RWANDAN-BACKED rebels, trying to overthrow Congolese President Laurent Kabila claimed yesterday Angola had raised the stakes in the war by sending troops into the conflict and capturing the key town of Kitona on the Atlantic coast.

CONGO'S NEIGHBOURS yesterday appeared to be wading into battle against each other in the chaotic central African nation, dooming peace talks almost before they had begun.