NINE African countries will send advisers to the Comoros within 10 days to prepare for a peace conference in the strife-torn Indian Ocean archipelago. OAU chief Salim Ahmed Salim said in Pretoria on Thursday that the first task of the team, led by South Africa, will be to evaluate security on the breakaway island of […]

THE five victims of a slaughter carried out by Islamist extremists on Friday night in the Algerian town of Bekhaitia were all children aged from five to 14, press reports said on Sunday. Security services had not given any details of the victims or the killings, which took place 200km from Algiers.Press reports said the […]

NORTHERN Bulls coach Eugene van Wyk expressed concern on Thursday about a lack of depth in player resources for the Super 12 league. Van Wyk said most of the Northern Bulls side will come from the Blue Bulls of Pretoria. Only two props and one backline player from the smaller provinces in the region — […]

ZIMBABWE Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) is planning to extend its operations into Namibia and is considering the possibility of setting up a steel smelter plant. The firm has already entered the Namibian market through Ondangwa-based Lancashire Steel Namibia, a joint venture with Zebra Holdings. Ziscosteel CEO, Dr Gabriel Masanga, said that expansion into Namibia […]

FIFA has announced the soccer rankings for African nations, placing South Africa second, and Nigeria a surprising 10th. Morocco snatched first place from Bafana Bafana, while current holders of the African Cup of Nations, Egypt, are fourth. The full list of rankings is: 1 Morocco, 2 South Africa, 3 Tunisia, 4 Egypt, 5 Zambia, 6 […]

ERNIE LETS IT SLIP AFTER three good rounds at the Heineken Classic, Ernie Els finished with a disappointing round of 3 over par 75 to slip back into 2nd place. Australian Jarrod Moseley shot a 3 under 69 to get to 14 under and take the title, one ahead of Ernie, Berhard Langer and another […]

A TANZANIAN magistrate rejected a defense request on Friday that charges against two defendants in last year’s bombing of the US Embassy in Dar es Salam be dropped because the trial should have began earlier. Egyptian Mustapha Mahmoud Said Ahmed and Tanzanian Rashid Saleh Hemed were charged on September 21 with 11 murder counts each […]

REBELS in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have seized the northern Katanga province town of Lubao, killing ”many” soldiers of Rwanda’s routed Hutu army, a top rebel leader said on Sunday. ”The town was taken on January 27,” Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, the head of the rebel’s political wing, the Congolese Rally for Democracy […]

A TURN-of-the century law that spares rapists punishment if they marry their victims should be scrapped, Egypt’s mufti Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel said on Sunday.”A rapists’ offer to marry his victim should not replace the punishment which he should face otherwise he will be violating the sharia (Islamic law),” said the cleric, whose views are […]

Friday night: Ferial Haffajee It’s neither the hood nor high society. But a Friday night in Johannesburg’s suburbs of Mayfair and Fordsburg is an evening in a community. At the Fordsburg Square entire families are out at play. There is no strict age policy. The very old and the very young mingle with teens out […]