LIBYA has withdrawn its troops from the Central African Republic (CAR) after helping to defeat a coup attempt there and to “restore legality,” the BBC monitoring service reported on Wednesday. Libya said it was leaving a “small group” of forces behind at the request of CAR President Felix Ange-Patasse, who had invited the troops in, […]

Johannesburg | Wednesday SOUTH Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) slapped down popular leader Winnie Madikizela-Mandela for her conduct towards President Thabo Mbeki, in a statement issued on Wednesday. The censure comes amid a public uproar over the conduct of Mbeki, who is also ANC president, for pushing Madikizela-Mandela away when she tried to kiss […]

A STUTTGART court jailed a German engineer on Tuesday for two and a half years for illegally assisting Libya in building a chemical weapons plant. The court found the 59-year-old engineer, Roland Franz Berger, guilty of violating international sanctions levelled at Libya by the United Nations as well as chapters of German foreign commerce law. […]

MANUEL MUANZA, Luanda | Wednesday ANGOLAN President Jose Eduardo dos Santos renewed his calls on Tuesday for rebel chief Jonas Savimbi to end his nation’s civil war, as army forces toppled a 10-year-old rebel stronghold. Dos Santos, who spoke while on a two-day trip to Brussels, said Savimbi “has not yet said whether he really […]

THE Nigerian government announced on Tuesday it has agreed to allow a Swedish ship, stranded at sea with 186 Liberian passengers aboard, to dock. The boat, the Alnar Stockholm, carrying 186 Liberians, including 79 children, left Benin waters on Monday after awaiting permission for a week to dock in Cotonou. Following the Abuja government’s announcement, […]

THE rand weakened on Monday in late morning trade as the euro surrendered earlier gains against the dollar, but the rand was seen getting some technical support soon. The rand was last traded at R8,04 to the dollar, two cents weaker compared to late Friday after it had firmed to around R8 to the dollar […]

AFTER whimpering out to close softer at the end of last week despite a three-day rally, gold had a subdued overnight session in Asia and in early Monday European business was continuing to trade lethargically. Light selling was being well matched by physical offtake, traders said, adding they expected the price to test lower levels […]

RIOT police on Monday fired teargas in two outlying townships of Zimbabwe’s capital to quell a protest over the government’s massive hike in fuel prices, the official Ziana news agency reported. A bus had its windows smashed and one person was arrested in the protest, in Mabvuku and Tafara townships, the agency said. Police managed […]

Freetown | Tuesday INTERNATIONAL plastic surgeons will from next month start operating on 130 former child combatants who were branded by Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group, an NGO said on Tuesday. Rabih Torbay, director of the US-based International Medical Corps (IMC), said the initiative was aimed at helping the former child fighters […]