CENTRAL Africa’s Congo River, fed by unusually heavy rains, has burst its banks, flooding the Demcoratic Republic of the Congo’s capital of Kinshasa and making 10000 people homeless, government officials said. Health Minister Mashako Mamba told a news conference that 15 of Kinshasa’s 24 districts have been hit by the floods, which started on Monday. […]

MOZAMBICANS look set to re-elect President Joaquim Chissano at weekend elections, but he could lose the parliamentary majority that has helped him jump start the economy after a 16-year civil war. Although opinion polls are hard to come by, local political analysts see the 60-year old Chissano as a clear favourite to win the presidency, […]

MOTOR vehicle exports helped push total exports in October to a record high of R14,946-billion, according to an analyst quoted in The Star on Wednesday. Trade figures released by the South African Revenue Service Tuesday showed exports in October were 8,3% higher than in September. The advance was due mainly to a R688,6-billion in the […]

MARTIN WOLK, Seattle | Wednesday 3.50pm US President Bill Clinton arrived in Seattle to scenes of devastation early on Wednesday after huge protests in which anti-trade demonstrators battled with police and threw global trade talks into chaos. The streets of this port city were littered with glass and other debris after activists smashed storefront windows, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.00pm. NIGERIAN striker Nwankwo Kanu has won the African Footballer of the Year award, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Wednesday. It is the second time the 23-year-old Arsenal forward has won the award, following his triumph in 1996 when he captained Nigeria’s under-23 team to the Olympic […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.00pm. FAST bowler Chris Silverwood seized two wickets in three deliveries when he made his first appearance for England on their tour of South Africa on Wednesday. Silverwood, drafted in recently when paceman Dean Headley returned home early with a stress fracture in his back, helped England to beat a […]

VIRGIN Atlantic said it stands to loose around R60-million in the first year of operating once-a-week flights from London to Cape Town. Richard Branson told a media conference in Cape Town that although the flights are 65% booked, Virgin will lose money because of the once-a-week restriction. He said four flights a week are necessary […]

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki and Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma will leave for Tanzania on Tuesday to attend a two-day meeting aimed at reviving the peace process in Burundi, presidential spokesman Parks Mankahlana said. The meeting in Arusha is aimed at reviving the peace process in Burundi following the death of Julius Nyerere, the former Tanzanian president […]

MOZAMBICAN President Joaquim Chissano assured foreign investors on Tuesday his country would remain stable even if his ruling Frelimo party lost its parliamentary majority in elections due this week. But he told a southern African investment conference in Maputo that he was still confident his party would strengthen its parliamentary position after the December 3 […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 6.00pm. GOVERNMENT said on Tuesday it plans to float majority state-owned Telkom in 2001 and is proceeding with plans to sell off a stake to a black-owned partner and company employees. The cabinet sub-committee on the restructuring of state assets said in a statement it has approved the start of […]