OWN CORRESPONDENT, Abidjan | Thursday 11.15pm. A SENIOR rebel commander in Sierra Leone said on Thursday that he has agreed to a temporary ceasefire to halt hostilities in the capital Freetown. Rebels of the Revolutionary United Front invaded the city last week, and have since been fighting Nigerian intervention troops of the regional Ecomog force. […]

EIGHTEEN members of Zanzibar’s main opposition party will go on trial for high treason on Friday, facing execution or life in jail if convicted, after more than a year in detention. The Civic United Front members are charged with conspiracy to overthrow the government of President Salmin Amour which rules the twin semi-autonomous Tanzanian islands […]

SOUTH Africa and Denmark will play a soccer friendly on April 28 in Copenhagen in a World Cup rematch, the South African Football Association announced in Johannesburg on Thursday. The teams drew 1-1 in a World Cup group match in France. South Africa has not beaten a European team in nine attempts, despite several agonising […]

SUSPECTED thieves blew up a signal box on the railway line between Germiston South and Germiston West stations on Wednesday afternoon at 3.30pm. The explosion is the latest in a series, usually set by miscreants planning to raid stopped goods trains, the Germiston police said. Nobody was injured in the explosion, opposite a school and […]

KENYA posted gross domestic product growth of 1,6% from October 1997 to October 1998, the Central Bank of Kenya said in its monthly economic review released on Thursday. “The slow growth in economic activity continued into October 1998,” the Bank said. Real GDP grew 2,3% in calendar 1997 and 1,5% in the 12 months to […]

THE International Olympics Committee bribery scandal in Salt Lake City has penetrated Swaziland, where Olympic Committee president David Sibandze has been notified that he is suspected of having accepted payments for favours in the United States. Several IOC members allegedly received bribes from Salt Lake City Olympic bid officials, hoping to secure votes for the […]

SUDAN has opted to use the unified European currency, the euro, in its commercial transations as an alternative to the United States dollar. The Bank of Sudan said in a circular to various banks of the country, that “we are going to concentrate in the coming period on conducting commercial transactions in the euro as […]

UNSEASONABLY good rains have filled almost all Northern Province’s dams to capacity and could spark a lucrative agricultural boom in the region. Water affairs officials said on Thursday that heavy rains over the past three months have filled the important Ebenerzer, Klaserie and Magoebaskloof dams to 100% capacity while all others in the province are […]

A STONE-age site about 10000 years old has been discovered in Midrand near the Jukskei Valley, the Midrand Metropolitan Local Council announced on Thursday. The discovery was made with the help of Professor Revil Mason, retired head of the archaeology research unit at the Witwatersrand University. “This is the first time ever that a constructed […]

AN ALGERIAN stock exchange will open its doors on February 15 after lengthy delays says Ali Boukrami, chairman of the Algerian Securities Commission on Monday. The opening will coincide with the listing of 20% of the biggest domestic pharmaceutical firm, Saidal. The company will offer two million shares at a price of 800 dinars ($13,5) […]