COMOROS interim President Tadjidine Ben Said Massonde has postponed the election for the successor to Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim who died last November. Tadjidine said on Wednesday: “My interim period was to last for three months and enable the organisation of the presidential vote,” he said. “But … it is impossible to organise elections in which […]

South African Hendrick Ramaala scored his first major international success when he won the men’s IAAF cross country challenge event in Belfast, Ireland on Saturday. Road running specialist Ramaala was 30 metres behind at the beginning of the final lap in the eight kilometres event but won a sprint finish ahead of Kenya’s Laban Chega […]

FRENCH oil company Total has taken control of Forzando coal mine in South Africa by purchasing shares in the mine from South Africa’s Anglovaal Minerals (Avmin), Total announced on Tuesday. Total previously had a 50% stake in Forzando. The mine has been operational since 1996, last year producing some 1,1-million tons of coal. Output is […]

CASUALTY figures in the Sierra Leonean capital rose dramatically on Wednesday as mortar fire was heard on the western edge of the Freetown peninsula. This comes a day after the Nigerian-led intervention force warned it would launch an offensive against the rebels. In the first official death toll since fighting broke out in Freetown on […]

SENIOR public service managers will have to work for pay rises in future, according to Public Service and Administration Minister Zola Skweyiya. Signing a performance agreement with his director general, Paseka Ncholo, on Tuesday, Skweyiya said he believes the new regime will improve relations between directors general and ministers and reduce the temptation for ministers […]

DISSIDENTS of Angola’s Unita movement, who last year disavowed rebel chief Jonas Savimbi, on Tuesday elected the leaders of the group they have named the Unita Renewal Committee. The dissidents, including ex-aides to Savimbi who formed a splinter group as Angola plunged back into civil war last year, elected Silvestre Gabriel Samy the secretary-general of […]

NONE of the nine people aboard a United Nations-chartered plane that crashed in central Angola early this month survived, the UN said on Tuesday. On January 13, the rebel Unita movement, which denies charges that it shot down the Hercules C-130 on January 2, said everybody on board was killed. A rescue team on Monday […]

President Nelson Mandela left Pretoria late on Wednesday for a brief visit to Germany and Switzerland.

THE Cameroonian national football championship began in various parts of the country on Saturday. In Douala, Union Sportive de Douala beat Bamenda Free Boys 4-0 and Port FC won 2-0 against Badjoun Stadium, while in Yaounde, hosts Tonnerre Kalara Club (TKC) drew with Baham (2-2). In Ngaoundere, Canon de Yaounde, which will play in this […]

TWO Namibian wrestlers — Wynand and Nico Jacobs — are the only wrestlers from Africa to participate in a two-year Olympic Solidarity scholarship scheme in Canada. The youngsters will leave for Canada on Tuesday night, and will immediately start the programme upon arrival, Namibia National Olympic Committee secretary-general Gerhard Roux said. The scholarships were awarded […]