Congolese President Joseph Kabila pledged on Wednesday to use troops massing in eastern Congo to disarm and send home former Rwandan soldiers blamed for that country’s 1994 genocide. Rwanda has accused the Congo of beefing up forces in its east in recent weeks as a prelude an invasion of Rwanda, Congo’s chief foreign enemy during a 1998-2002 central African war in the Congo
Daniel Molewa, who raped eight women in Soshanguve two years ago knew his actions were wrong, but claimed on Wednesday his fear of the ”tokoloshe” had driven him to it. Earlier this year Molewa admitted guilt on 12 charges of rape and three of indecent assault. He was out on bail for a double rape when he embarked on a further spree of rapes in 2001 and 2002.
The trade-weighted rand reached its best level this year on Wednesday contrary to the expectations of most economists. Its trade-weighted level on Wednesday was 60,96, a 5,7% gain on the June 9 level of 57,6 and 21,6% above this year’s worst level of 50,11 touched on January 16.
”I am young — but up here is old,” says an 11-year-old girl working as a prostitute in Cape Town, pointing to her head — one of many images in hard-hitting footage on the sex industry, screened at the opening of a conference on human trafficking in South Africa on Tuesday.
More than two million Zimbabweans will suffer from food shortages this year, according to a new report that cast further doubt on government forecasts of a bumper harvest. The report draws its conclusions from a survey done in April, and since then the government has said it is expecting a bumper harvest and will not be appealing for international food aid.
Detainees held in Afghanistan by American troops have been routinely tortured and humiliated as part of the interrogation process, in the same way as those in Iraq. Five detainees have died in custody, three of them in suspicious circumstances, and survivors have told stories of beatings, strippings, hoodings and sleep deprivation.
The African National Congress and opposition parties have accepted a special committee’s report on the public protector’s probe into deputy president Jacob Zuma’s complaint against National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka. Zuma lodged a complaint with the public protector on Ngcuka’s public statements that there was a prima facie case of corruption against him, but that he would not be prosecuted.
Australia has some inventive solutions to greenhouse emissions, from burying carbon dioxide to building a half-mile-high tower to generate solar energy. But government researchers on Tuesday announced the strangest proposal yet — plans to vaccinate livestock to prevent them letting off methane.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is giving Malawi three months to improve its finances before it will resume talks on fresh aid, the southern African country’s finance minister said on Wednesday. ”The IMF wants to see if the new government can establish a new track record,” Goodall Gondwe told the daily Nation newspaper.
Oracle has clashed with rival Microsoft in dozens of recent business applications software deals, according to sales records that provide a glimpse at some of the evidence likely to be introduced on Wednesday in a pivotal legal showdown. Microsoft and its subsidiaries bumped into Oracle at 94 companies looking to buy accounting or personnel software during 2002 and 2003, the documents said.