THE Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday set out the rules governing the February 27 election to choose Nigeria’s first civilian president in more than 15 yearsr. Thenext president of Africa’s most populous country must be a Nigerian citizen, aged 40 or over, and educated to at least School Certificate level, under rules announced on […]

WAYNE Ferreira, apparently back in form after a string of injuries, beat Czech Daniel Vacek 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 in Melbourne to advance to the third round of the Australian Open. Ferreira looks forward to a third round clash with ninth seed Richard Krajicek. Krajicek made the semis in the 1992 Aussie Open, and won […]

MOZAMBICAN riot police were called in to rescue 30 senior Concor site managers after they were taken hostage by 400 striking construction workers at the R7,5-billion MOZAL aluminum smelter near Maputo city on Tuesday, African Eye News Service reports. The demonstrators held the group of Mozambican and South African managers hostage for seven hours after […]

ROSE-MARIE BRUBALLA, Freetown | Wednesday 8.00pm. THE West African intervention force Ecomog on Wednesday “liberated” an area east of Freetown considered to be the last bastion of the rebels who stormed the Sierra Leonean capital a fortnight ago, a spokesperson said. In a simultaneous offensive in the north-west of the West African country, Ecomog is […]

THE 944 families illegally living in the Dukuduku State Forest near the protected St Lucia estuary in northern KwaZulu-Natal have agreed to resettle on alternative land provided by the government. Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Kader Asmal said on Tuesday that the police and the army have been requested to assist with resettling the community. […]

MOPPING up began in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday after a tornado killed 21 and left 309 injured in Kokstad, Mount Ayliff and Tabankulu on Monday. SABC TV news reports that most of the dead were crushed when the walls of their homes collapsed. Others were hit by flying corrugated iron while fleeing their houses. […]

MOZAMBIQUE registered minus 1,3% inflation in 1998, according to the Bank of Mozambique. Bank spokesman Adelino Pimpao, cited in Tuesday’s issue of the daily paper, Noticias, said the rate was much better than the government had expected, even in December. Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi had then told the Mozambican parliament that the government expected 1998 […]

THE Law Commission has released a discussion paper on the need to pass a law on Aids-related offences. The move follows reported incidents of deliberate transmission of HIV, the virus that causes Aids. A number of political parties have called for legislation making willful spread of HIV a criminal offence. The Law Commission was formally […]

MALAWI’S sole cigarette manufacturing company, British American Tobacco, has halted production, citing a 40% decline in sales volume. Reacting to the closure of the factory, the Consumer Association has blamed the government for pursuing unfettered liberalisation. It argues that it is better to protect the industries which are already in the country and Malawi cannot […]

FLOODING on the Pungue and Buzi rivers in the central Mozambican province of Sofala has continued to worsen, reports Tuesday’s issue of Noticias, the Maputo-published daily. The Pungue river water has covered and inundated a 2-3km stretch of the Beira-Zimbabwe highway, making it unadvisable for anything other than four wheel drive vehicles to attempt to […]