SEVENTEEN people were killed and 70 others hurt on Saturday in road accidents linked to the heaviest rains and coldest weather Egypt has experienced in six years. Several streets in Cairo were flooded because of a lack of storm drains, provoking traffic jams. Light rains usually hit Egypt two or three times a year, in […]

ROB LEVER, Washington | Tuesday AMID a weakening US economy, the number of bankruptcies filed by US companies and individuals soared to a record in 2001, and experts warn that more firms could go the same way. A total of 251 publicly held US firms filed for bankruptcy in 2001, well above the prior record […]

SANI UMAR, Sokoto, Nigeria | Monday EXPRESSING gratitude for growing international support, a 35-year-old woman who is due to be stoned to death for adultery by Islamic authorities in northern Nigeria said this weekend she will be seeking ‘justice’ when she launches an appeal on Monday. “I am grateful and appreciative of all the support […]

PETER CUNLIFFE-JONES, Lagos | Wednesday ANGLO-Dutch oil group Shell is in the final stages of planning a massive new $7,5-billion (8,3-billion euro) investment in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, a company official said on Tuesday. The money — if given final approval by the European company’s headquarters — would be invested over the next […]

PHILIPPE BERNES-LASSERRE, Johannesburg | Monday SOUTH Africa’s negotiated transition from apartheid to a multi-racial democracy still draws peacemakers from conflict zones: such as Israelis and Palestinians in the past week and politicians from Northern Ireland before them. “We came here to listen to the great experience in South Africa. You have inspired us,” Palestinian chief […]

GRIFFIN SHEA, Blantyre | Monday AN ambitious regional summit on conflicts in southern Africa opened on Monday with a call for Zimbabwe to ensure that its upcoming presidential elections are free and fair. “As the date of the presidential election in Zimbabwe has been announced, we are all very hopeful that the elections will be […]

MOROCCAN King Mohammed VI will grant full or partial pardons to 1,266 prisoners on the anniversary of the country’s declaration of independence, an official said on Thursday. The independence declaration is marked on Friday and is a national holiday in Morocco. Among those set to receive royal pardons, whose names have yet to be revealed, […]

Blantyre | Monday ANGOLAN President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said on Sunday that his government has told the United Nations to renew contacts with his nation’s main rebel group with a view to resuming peace talks. “We’re in contact with the secretary general of the UN,” Dos Santos said upon arriving in Malawi for a […]

CANADA’S Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa will become the first Canadian minister to visit Libya next week during a three-country visit to Africa, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Department said on Thursday. In April 1999, Canada lifted its sanctions against Libya, both UN sanctions imposed in 1992-1993 and unilateral ones imposed by Canada in […]