Talks between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups from the western Darfur region began on Monday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, as the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw travelled to Sudan for talks with the government in Khartoum. Few details regarding the agenda of the talks were made public.
The prosecutor in the trial of a group of suspected foreign mercenaries accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea said on Monday he will call for the death penalty for the coup plotters’ alleged leader, South African Nick du Toit. Du Toit and 13 other suspected mercenaries from South Africa and Armenia appeared in court on Monday.
Gay and lesbian people should be given their full rights in terms of marriage, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein heard on Monday. ”Marriage is a mechanism through which heterosexuals automatically get certain rights and privileges,” senior council Pieter Oosthuizen said.
The Kenyan government is to dispatch geological experts to its western region to probe new volcanic activities on Mount Elgon on its border with Uganda, which threatens about 20 000 people, officials said on Monday. Mount Elgon, which is 4 321m high, has been dormant for more than a century.
Australian scientists are using the collective intelligence found in insect swarms to develop the next generation of hi-tech military hardware. The goal is to develop swarms of small, expendable unmanned vehicles that can carry out missions in ground, sea and aerial environments too dangerous for humans.
The South African railway safety regulator is to issue temporary permits to eligible operators later this week, the statutory watchdog said on Monday. The body was established by an act of Parliament in 2002 to promote safety and ensure railway operations were effectively overseen, managed and co-ordinated.
Rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) over the weekend killed four elephants that had strayed from a national park and started destroying crops in villages in central Kenya, police and a KWS official said on Monday. The elephants reportedly destroyed crops, fences and other homestead structures in villages.
About 6 000 workers at Botswana’s four diamond mines went on strike on Monday, defying a court order banning the work stoppage in the Southern African country, the world’s leading producer of uncut diamonds. The diamond industry is by far Botswana’s leading foreign-currency earner, providing 75% of its earnings.
Lazarus Baloyi, in custody for six months on a charge of murdering Mafikizolo vocalist Tebogo Madingoane, walked free from the Johannesburg High Court on Monday. The prosecutor asked the court to withdraw charges against Baloyi on the grounds that an inquest with formal evidence will be held ”in a lower court”.
A Hong Kong fisherman died and four other fishermen were missing on Monday after two boats capsized off Taiwan in strong winds whipped up by Typhoon Aere, rescuers said. Downpours in the wake of Typhoon Mindulle last month triggered floods and mudslides in central and southern Taiwan in which 29 people were killed.