A POST-mortem would be performed on Wednesday morning to determine the cause of Marike de Klerk’s death. The former wife of former South African president FW de Klerk was found dead in her house in Dolphin Beach, Blaauwberg, on the Cape West Coast around 4pm on Tuesday. Her hairdresser, with whom she had an appointment, […]

ORBITING between the Earth and the Sun, the Genesis spacecraft has begun collecting particles of solar wind in its giant collector arrays, the US space agency NASA said Monday. ”We expect to start getting particle hits right away. Now we’ve gotten to the real focus of the mission: the start of science,” said Donald Burnett […]

Gaborone | Monday A PACT to curb the trade in “blood diamonds” has been reached with agreement on international certification for rough diamond exports and imports, officials said as talks wound up in Botswana. “Blood diamonds” or “conflict diamonds” are defined as rough diamonds which are used by rebel movements to finance their activities, or […]

Cape Town | Tuesday FORMER South African president Nelson Mandela warned here on Monday that it would be “a disaster” for the United States and Britain to extend the war on terrorism to bombing Iraq. “I think that would be a disaster,” Mandela told reporters when asked if he would support such a step. The […]

Harare | Tuesday ZIMBABWE’S state-owned press rounded on Monday on neighbouring South Africa, accusing President Thabo Mbeki of “betrayal” for reported criticism of President Robert Mugabe’s government and policies. In a strongly worded editorial, the government daily the Herald said that the country felt betrayed that Mbeki had joined “the fight against Zimbabwe” alongside “architects […]

Johannesburg | Tuesday SCORES of people including Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang gathered outside the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday to protest against the rape and abuse of children. Two men will appear in the court later in the day in connection with the rape of a five-month-old baby girl in Joubert Park in the city’s […]

Johannesburg | Tuesday THE Treatment Action Campaign has reacted angrily to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s claim that the debate on anti-retroviral Aids drugs is misplaced. ”A discussion of anti-retrovirals in a country with 200 000 people dying a year is hardly misplaced unless you attach no worth to those lives,” TAC national secretary Mark Heywood […]

Nairobi | Monday LAWYERS representing some 220 members of the Maasai and Samburu in compensation claims against the British army have said they believe the UK government could now be willing to settle the claims. A London-based lawyer, Martyn Day, described a meeting with UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials on Thursday as “fruitful”, adding […]