Zimbabwe’s galloping inflation will force President Robert Mugabe from office before the end of the year, the United States ambassador to Harare said on Friday, predicting the rate could hurdle one million percent within months. In an interview, Christopher Dell said Mugabe’s government was effectively ”committing regime change on itself”.
Lasting peace in Sudan will not be possible unless the fractious country takes serious steps to address alarming environmental woes, said a United Nations report published on Friday. Decades of war have devastated Africa’s largest country and fresh competition for its resources continue to fuel conflict, said the report.
The issue of a uniform South African sports symbol will be discussed at the upcoming African National Congress (ANC) policy conference, party spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said on Friday. ”We want to harmonise the national symbols of the country. One logo for all sports,” he said. Ngonyama said the public would also be given a say in the possible name change.
New Springbok captain Victor Matfield lashed out on Friday at suggestions that tighthead BJ Botha scrums illegally. Australia and New Zealand, South Africa’s opponents in the Tri-Nations tournament, have accused Botha of scrumming at an inward angle, which is against the laws of the game.
The African National Congress’s (ANC) national policy conference in Gauteng next week should remain loyal to principle and continuity, but also respond to changing circumstances, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. The four-day conference, which starts on Wednesday, will assess the party’s major policy positions.
Indian scientists have patented two new tea-based products — a pill and a fizzy drink they hope will give consumers the same pleasure as drinking a freshly brewed cuppa. A four-member team based in the north-eastern state of Assam said their chewable pill and a health drink are now ready to cause a buzz on the world market.
The government formally tabled a final public-service wage proposal, including a 7,5% increase, at wage talks on Friday — but unions said they were not yet ready to sign the offer. Unions have 21 days to accept or reject the offer. Until then, the wage talks are suspended.
An air strike by foreign-led forces killed 25 civilians, including 12 members of a family, and 20 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, the provincial police chief said on Friday. Hussien Andiwal said the raid took place on Thursday night as part of an operation against Taliban fighters by foreign forces and Afghan troops.
President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s ruling party is expected to be the big winner of legislative elections on Sunday in Congo, where opposition complaints have had little impact. Sassou Nguesso has been back in controversy this week after French prosecutors started investigating allegations that he used embezzled state funds to buy luxury Paris apartments.
Muslims angered by Britain’s decision to honour author Salman Rushdie with a knighthood were rallying in London on Friday, warning that anger over the award could match the fierce reaction to publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark last year.