Rwanda plans to strike capital punishment for genocide suspects from its statute books to encourage European and North American countries to extradite suspected masterminds of the 1994 genocide, the attorney general said on Friday. Rwanda has demanded that Western nations extradite genocide suspects, but some nations have expressed reservations because of the death penalty.
The Dutch government on Friday pledged â,¬5-million (,4-million) in aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to improve health care and help people displaced by years of war return to their homes. About 1Â 200 people die each day in the DRC, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Agnes van Ardenne said in announcing the aid.
Uganda on Friday rejected a call by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels for South African mediation as fragile peace talks aimed at ending Uganda’s brutal two-decade war resumed. Kampala’s delegation to the negotiations said the LRA request was unwarranted and instead expressed full confidence in lead mediator Riek Machar, vice-president of autonomous southern Sudan.
East African defence chiefs expect to have the vanguard of a peacekeeping force for Somalia ready by the end of next month, officials said on Friday, despite fierce objections from powerful Islamists in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation. The first elements of the nearly 7Â 000-strong regional force are to assemble in late September, the officials said.
Police on Thursday stormed the biggest squat in France, evicting hundreds of West African families from a squalid, disused hall of residence at one of France’s elite universities. Up to 1 000 squatters, including 200 children, many from Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal, were crammed into 300 small rooms.
Newcastle boss Rob Andrew was on Friday named as England’s first director of elite rugby. The former England flyhalf was chosen over some high-profile candidates including England’s World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward. The position was created following the Rugby Football Union’s review of this year’s Six Nations where England finished a lowly fourth.
The Department of Home Affairs has come under fire after it deported 16 Burundian asylum seekers early on Wednesday this week, despite attempts by the individuals’ lawyers to obtain an urgent stay of deportation. According to Abeda Bhamjee, of the Wits Law Clinic, the department violated South African law in two ways.
The scrapping of old taxis will start in October, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe announced on Friday. He said 115Â 000 or 98% of taxi operators have already applied for conversion of their permits into operating licences as part of the taxi recapitalisation programme.
The Sylheti community’s anger at the filming of Monica Ali’s novel Brick Lane echoes earlier clashes between art and religion, writes Maev Kennedy.
In a clear signal of its commitment to growing its business in Africa, the Coca-Cola Company is relocating its Africa group office from Windsor in the United Kingdom to Johannesburg, South Africa, beginning in January 2007, the company announced on Friday. The final move will be completed in June 2007.