It should be clear to coup plotters and mercenaries that their day in Africa has ended, said Intelligence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Sisulu said the fact that the combined intelligence and security services of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea had stopped a coup in its tracks should make it clear that an era had gone.

Human rights are not fundamental for President Thabo Mbeki, but flexible depending on the political interests and allegiances of the ANC, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon.

Tens of thousands of furious opposition party supporters staged an illegal rally outside the presidential palace in Taiwan yesterday to demand an investigation of allegations that president Chen Shui-bian staged his own shooting in order to win re-election on Saturday.

Rahul Gandhi, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather were prime ministers of India, said last night that he would stand in the country’s forthcoming general election, reigniting a bitter political debate over whether the world’s biggest democracy was being ”hijacked by dynasty”.

Namibia celebrated its 14th independence anniversary on Sunday as well as 10 years of the reintegration of the harbour town of Walvis Bay, which was first under British and then under South African control for 100 years.

The Zimbabwe government plans to tighten electoral laws ahead of next year’s parliamentary polls, the state-run Herald newspaper reports. The proposed amendments to the Electoral Act include giving the state control over voter education.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special envoy for HIV and Aids in Africa has slammed authorities for turning a blind eye to the pandemic, resulting in a record 40% prevalence rate.