OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 1.30pm. NON-governmental organisations have warned that foreign funding is shrinking and that many of them face closure unless government legislates for increased tax exemption and deductibility for local donors. Parliament responded on Monday by promising to speed up the process of deciding whether NGOs should get more tax breaks. […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Monday 5.15pm. TAKING its cue from stronger Asian markets, local stock rose like a battered Phoenix as investors returned to the market on Monday. Gold again led the charge, with the index rising 78 points (8,51%) as the gold price soared $1,85 an ounce to $288,70 from its London morning fix. […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nairobi | Tuesday 10.00pm. KENYA on Tuesday deregistered six international Islamic non-governmental organisations as a direct result of the August bombing of the United States embassy in the capital, Nairobi in which 240 people died and 5000 were injured. Announcing the decision, government-appointed NGO Co-ordination Board chairman John Etemesi warned that the board […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 9.15am. FORMER Springbok and Griqualand West rugby coach Andre Markgraaff will quit as coach of Griquas at the end of the year, and may take over the coaching position of the Golden Cats Super-12 team. Markgraaff was recently appointed managing director of Supersport Rugby Holdings, comprising Griquas, Boland Cavaliers and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 3.00pm. DEPUTY President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday slammed teachers for toyi-toying and drunkenness, and urged them to be dedicated to their profession. Speaking at the fourth annual congress of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, Mbeki asked the teachers to be less militant and to improve their responsibility and consciousness […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 10.15am. TWO South African athletes competing in the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia injured themselves on their first day of practice for the Games on Sunday. Gymnast Jana Kruger (14) twisted her ankle, but X-rays revealed no fractures and she will be treated over the next few days. Cyclist Simon Kessler […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kinshasa | Monday 11.00pm. AN Angolan air strike on the rebel-held town of Kalemi in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 25 people and injured 40 more, according to a rebel spokesperson. Rebel officer Jonas Taturu said the strike destroyed seven houses in the working-class neighbourhood of Four-Points. The rebels’ political co-ordinator, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Abuja | Monday 6.30pm. NIGERIAN leader General Abdulsalam Abubakar on Monday confirmed that the government is currently investigating several corrupt officials thought to have siphoned billions of dollars off the national coffers under the regime of Abubakar’s predecessor, the late General Sani Abacha. Abacha’s statement comes after media speculation last month that former […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Victoria Falls | Monday 11.00pm. THE summit held to resolve the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo will run into a second day. The summit, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, started later than planned on Monday because of a round of preparatory meetings in which officials attempted to find a way to broker […]

LANSANA FOFANA, Freetown | Monday 7.30pm. NO Sierra Leonean lawyer appears willing to defend Corporal Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leone’s rebel leader who has been charged with treason in Freetown. Most lawyers contacted by reporters on Monday, and who declined to be quoted, said they would not defend the rebel leader, who is widely regarded as […]