Zimbabwean police have arrested more than 280 bakers and shopkeepers for defying a state-imposed ceiling on bread prices meant to combat inflation, a newspaper said on Thursday. "At least 282 bakers and shopkeepers have been arrested in Harare for charging more than Z$85Â 000 (US83c) for a standard loaf of bread," the state-controlled <i>Herald</i> reported.
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Another 2-0 deficit wasn’t enough to stop orange-clad Côte d’Ivoire from stomping away in its elephant dance. Taking advantage of two handballs by Milan Dudic, Côte d’Ivoire beat Serbia-Montenegro 3-2 on Wednesday night through Bonaventure Kalou’s penalty shot in the 86th minute.
Judgement is expected in the Durban High Court on Thursday in an urgent application by 15 Westville Prison inmates to expedite their access to anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment. Judge Thumba Pillay heard that according to the prison’s operational plan prisoners had to undergo four sessions of counselling before receiving ARV treatment.
Durban is being touted as the next city to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Launching the city’s Durban Beach Africa festival on Wednesday evening, the city’s deputy mayor, Logie Naidoo, said: ”We believe that the 2016 Olympic Games should come to Durban. Cape Town has had its chance. It’s time for Durban to bid for this biggest of events.”
A protracted strike by security guards will hopefully end with the signing of a new pay deal at noon on Thursday. South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) secretary general Randall Howard said on Wednesday that the deal would be accepted.
Foreign landowners in Zimbabwe will be allowed to appeal against the seizure of their farms in court, a government minister said on Wednesday in what appeared to be a bid to calm outside investors. State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa said amendments to the Constitution that block white farmers from such appeals did not apply to farms protected by government-to-government agreements.
China expressed willingness on Wednesday to restrict its textile exports to South Africa, but no firm deal was on the table at the conclusion of talks between Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and President Thabo Mbeki. The two leaders agreed that concerns over the alleged flooding of the local clothing and textile market would not derail otherwise strong ties, Wen told reporters in Cape Town.
A surge in prices of basic commodities and a sharp slide by the Zimbabwe dollar on the parallel market in past weeks could undo a fresh initiative by President Robert Mugabe to halt the economy’s free fall, further putting pressure on his grip on power, analysts said.
The war crimes trial of the former president of Liberia Charles Taylor could start in The Hague in January next year, a court official in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown said on Wednesday. Harpinder Athwal, a special assistant to the court’s prosecutor, said the prosecution had handed over 32 000 pages of evidence to Taylor’s defence team.
Hamas has made a major political climbdown by agreeing to sections of a document that recognise Israel’s right to exist and a negotiated two-state solution, according to Palestinian leaders. In a bitter struggle for power, Hamas is bowing to an ultimatum from the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to endorse the document drawn up by Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails.