THE International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday that it will establish an independent commission to investigate allegations of corruption in the sport. ICC chief executive David Richards said cricket’s nine test-playing nations unanimously agreed to relinquish some of their sovereign powers by handing jurisdiction over to the ICC. Richards said the countries also agreed […]

FODAH Sankoh, the leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel movement whose forces invaded Freetown last week, is in protective custody in Conakry, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday. Fighting between his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Nigerian-led West African ECOMOG intervention troops continued on Wednesday in the Sierra Leonean capital, according to the missionary agency Misna. […]

FORMER Western Cape Premier Hernus Kriel is in a stable condition in the Panorama Medi Clinic near Cape Town after undergoing heart bypass surgery on Wednesday morning. He will remain in the hospital’s intensive care unit for the next few days. Kriel (57) suffered a heart attack at his holiday home in Kleinmond on Monday.

CONGO’S President Denis Sassou Nguesso reshuffled his government on Tuesday and named a defence minister as part of his battle against rival militiamen of the previous government. The main change in the reshuffle, officially announced late on Tuesday, is the naming of one of Sassou Nguesso’s aides, Lekounzou Iti Osetoumba, to run defence affairs with […]

POLICE have arrested suspects in two serial killer cases. Gauteng police commissioner Sharma Maharaj and Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi announced the breakthrough on Tuesday, saying a suspect who was arrested in Orlando, Soweto, on rape and hijacking charges has been linked to 14 of the Nasrec serial killings. Maharaj added that Pretoria police […]

FORMER Japanese premier Ryutaro Hashimoto flew into Johannesburg on Wednesday at the start of a four-day visit that will focus on establishing a partnership between his country and South Africa. Hashimoto, who became a senior foreign adviser to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi after resigning in July, arrived in the country from Kenya where he was […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.30am. GAUTENG’S Education MEC Mary Metcalfe denied on Tuesday morning that jobs would be lost as the result of downsizing initiatives in the department. Colette Clark, acting director of labour relations for the department, said on Monday that Gauteng’s education department plans to cut 2800 posts, resulting in 1500 teachers […]

THE Namibian defence ministry has lifted the media blackout on the country’s involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Namibian newspaper reported on Tuesday. The decision to lift the press restrictions was taken after discussions between Defence Minister Erikki Nghimtina and the editor of The Namibian on Monday. The government imposed […]

GAVIN RELLY, former chairman of Anglo American, has died aged 72 after a short illness. Relly was chairman of Anglo American from 1983 to 1990, succeeding Harry Oppenheimer. Among his notable accomplishments was his decision in 1985 to lead a delegation of business leaders to Lusaka to meet with the ANC, in defiance of the […]

THE diplomatic missions of Britain and the United States in the Ugandan capital were closed to the public Monday after anonymous callers made bomb threats. Workers, mainly guards, at the building housing both missions on the main street leading to the Ugandan parliament said they had only been told that the offices would remain closed […]