THE United Nations Commission on Human Rights urged the Rwandan government on Wednesday to free about 125000 people who are languishing in jail and at risk of contracting diseases. “The conditions of detention remain deplorable in Rwanda,” where tens of thousands of people are awaiting trial on charges of involvement in the 1994 genocide, special […]
THE government of Chad this week admitted that it faces a new armed insurgency in the desert north of the country, but has played down the scale of the rebellion, claiming to have the upper hand.In a first acknowledgement of unrest in the Tibesti region on the border with Niger and Libya, Defence Minister Oumar […]
THE Department of Justice has confirmed that two French magistrates are in the country to investigate the whereabouts of former senior Elf Aquitaine oil executive Alfred Sirven. Magistrates Eva Joly and Laurence Vichnievsky are investigating Sirven, who fled France in 1996 after his boss, Loik Le Floch-Prigent, was detained for alleged fraud while he was […]
NIGERIAN footballer Peter Rufai prefers football to the prospect of becoming king of a million people in succession to his late father. Spanish press reports said on Tuesday that the 35-year-old reserve goalie for Spanish first division side Deportivo de la Coruna is being urged to return home to become king of the Idimu in […]
INFLATION in Nigeria rose sharply in the second half of 1998, hitting an estimated annual rate of 15% in December, according to a government report published on Wednesday. “Inflation rose from a low level of 6% in the 12-month period ending March 1998 to an estimated 15% in December 1998,” says the report prepared by […]
THE Democratic Party’s only black woman MP, Dr Bukelwa Mbulawa, defected on Wednesday to the African National Congress. Mbulawa was the DP’s first black woman MP and her defection follows that of former deputy party leader William Mnisi, who opted to join the National Party last year. The DP is now left with one black […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 7.00pm. KAIZER Chiefs face a determined Bush Bucks squad in their BobSave Super Bowl quarterfinal match in Umtata and will need to be firing on all cylinders to make the semis. Surprise quarterfinalists Ria Stars face SuperSport United, who are odds-on favourites to move through this round to face the […]
REAL wholesale trade sales (excluding diamonds) rose 2,4% in the three months to January, compared to the corresponding period a year ago, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. Seasonally adjusted sales rose 0,4% in January compared to December. Five of the nine wholesalers categories reflected increases. The largest percentage increase was reflected by wholesalers in […]
SOMALI gunmen shot and killed a United States woman working for a church aid organisation in southern Somalia on Saturday, a Kenyan police statement has confirmed.Deena Marie Umbarger of the United Methodist Committee had gone to Kiamboni area of Somalia on a humanitarian mission. She was eating with Adqwani sub-clan elders in a restaurant when […]
ANOTHER 160 government soldiers fleeing the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrived in northern Zambia, bringing the total to more than 900, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said. UNHCR spokesperson Dominik Bartsch said on Tuesday that the deserters crossed the border over the past two days. Last week, more […]