Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF on Sunday said most Zimbabweans are grateful for its rule and dismissed as insignificant a new opposition political party launched at the weekend. The United People’s Party was launched last Saturday by former Zanu-PF provincial chairperson Daniel Shumba.
Eight Chinese men were arrested on Tuesday for operating a counterfeit clothing syndicate from a farm in Honeydew, West Rand police said. The clothing, valued at more than R2-million, had labels such as Nike, Reebok and Levi’s printed on them, Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said.
It’s a scene reminiscent of an armed standoff or the last days of a condemned man. But the horde of rubberneckers, satellite TV vans and dishevelled hacks stumbling through the long grass at 19 Bogucharskaya Street have a different focus: a broken-down wooden shack.
The Zimbabwean government has gazetted a Petroleum Bill that seeks to establish a Petroleum Regulatory Authority that will regulate and license persons in respect of retailing, producing and procuring petroleum products, the state-owned <i>Herald</i> newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Egypt’s Parliament has approved a controversial law on judicial reform that falls short of opposition demands but temporarily quiets a fierce campaign against the regime by the country’s judges. ”The law has curbed the powers of the Ministry of Justice, but as a jurist, I am pleased with that,” Justice Minister Mahmoud Abu Leil told Parliament on Monday.
Deadly clashes broke out between the Central African Republic (CAR) army and rebels who crossed into the country from neighbouring Chad, the CAR Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. ”Heavily armed” Chadian rebels attacked forces of the CAR and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa near Gordil in the north-east of the country, the ministry said.
France is set to unveil a reorganisation of European aerospace giant EADS in the next few days amid sustained efforts by the government to clear the air of controversy over production problems, communication breakdowns and share dealings.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=soccer_world_cup_2006"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/272488/icon_focuson_wc3.gif" align=left border=0></a>Who is going to be the man in the middle when the eyes of the globe are on the World Cup final on July 9? A handful of the leading candidates appear to have ruled themselves out with blunders, blowing the field open. The referees’ committee is due to meet on Wednesday to decide who will officiate during the quarterfinals.
Ethiopia on Tuesday claimed it had killed more than 110 rebels sent by arch-foe Horn of Africa neighbour Eritrea to destabilise the country since the beginning of the month. The defence ministry said Ethiopian security forces had killed 111, wounded 18 and captured 107 ”anti-peace forces” operating on Asmara’s behalf in northern Ethiopia since early June.
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered currency at the weekend tumbled by more than 50% against the United States dollar on the parallel market for foreign currency that is the only sure source of hard cash for both individual and corporate buyers in the country. Zimbabwe is grappling an acute foreign-currency shortage.