OWN CORRESPONDENT, Arusha | Wednesday 7.00PM. THE United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda has become the first international court to hand down a conviction for genocide, using legislation originating 50 years ago. The court has also defined rape as an act of genocide when women are assaulted because they are members of a targeted […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Abuja | Tuesday, 10.30PM. TEN political groups in Nigeria have collected party registration forms from the Independent National Electoral Commission, the commission said on Tuesday. Nigeria’s timetable for a return to democratic government, announced last week by INEC chairman Justice Ephraim Akpata, calls for all political associations to register with the electoral commission […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday, 9.00PM. A BILL which aims to give natural fathers the right to participate in deciding whether a child born out of wedlock can be given up for adoption has received the support of all parties in Parliament. The Adoption Matters Amendment Bill is not so much about equality between […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday 11.30PM. SOUTH Africa has urged nations of the Non-Aligned Movement to pass anti-mercenary laws in a bid to outlaw international mercenaries from operating within and from member countries. The proposal is contained in an amendment to a draft resolution on mercenaries to be debated by foreign ministers on Tuesday, ahead […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday, 10.00PM. ALLAN Boesak’s former accountant stole money from his boss and falsely attributed irregular transactions to him, the Cape Town High Court heard on Monday. Freddie Steenkamp, the bookkeeper for Boesak’s Foundation for Peace and Justice, has already been convicted on counts of fraud and theft and is serving […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday 9.30PM. ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe has arrived in Durban for the Non-Aligned Movement summit, after there was some doubt about whether he would attend. Angolan President Eduaro Jos dos Santos, Namibian President Sam Nujoma, as well as the leaders of Rwanda and Uganda are also here, meaning that all the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maputo | Monday 10.00PM. THE agricultural development programme between Mozambique and South Africa, known as Mosagrius, has run into a serious financial crisis. Helder Muteia, Mozambican deputy minister of agriculture and fisheries, said the 26 South African and Mozambican commercial farmers who settled in the fertile northern Mozambican province of Niassa in mid-1996 […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Tripoli | Tuesday 10.30PM. THE Arab League is to send a delegation to Libya to hold talks on the stalled Lockerbie-bombing trial deal, the League’s Libyan representative, Salma Rashed, said on Tuesday. A diplomatic official said the trip was part of Arab League secretary-general Esmat Abdel Meguid’s “efforts to find a quick solution […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Tuesday, 8.00PM. THE Zimbabwe government is about to declare it no longer has any interest in white-owned farms, Zimbabwe’s Agriculture Minister, Kumbirai Kangai, said on Tuesday. In his annual policy statement for the coming agricultural year, Kangai said he expected 1500 properties listed in November last year for confiscation to be […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday, 6.30PM. DETAILS of an agreement between government and teachers’ unions on rationalisation and redeployment is expected to be made public within a fortnight, Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu said on Monday. There are still “one or two matters” to attend to, he said, but is confident that redeployed teachers will […]