Washington | Monday THE US and British air strikes are only the opening shot of a sustained military campaign aimed at ousting Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and destroying terror networks operating in the country, US defence officials said. Acting first to seize command of the skies, US and British forces hit airfields, air defence sites and […]

KEVIN O’FLYNN in Moscow, SUZANNE GOLDENBERG in Tel Aviv and OWEN BOWCOTT | Friday A RUSSIAN airliner that exploded in mid-air and plunged into the Black Sea, killing all 78 passengers and crew, may have been brought down accidentally by Ukrainian ground-to-air missiles fired during military exercises, American defence officials suggested yesterday. Ukrainian officials denied […]

Brazzaville | Thursday MORE than 60% of African women are illiterate, and discrimination is the cause, an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) official said on this week. “The discrimination, of which the women are the victims, concerns access to education,” said Julienne Ondziel, rapporteur on women rights for both the OAU and the African Commission […]

Johannesburg | Thursday THE Medical Research Council said on Thursday it will release its long awaited HIV/Aids report — entitled ”The Impact HIV/Aids has on Mortality in South Africa” — in Cape Town next week. MRC representative Merle May said the report would be made public on Tuesday. The MRC delayed the release of the […]

Christchurch | Thursday AN SA born psychiatrist accused of slowly murdering his wife with poison allegedly tried to get his secret mistress involved in her care, the High Court in Christchurch heard on Thursday. Colin Bouwer’s alleged affair with fellow Dunedin psychiatrist Anne Walsh is claimed by the Crown to have been a reason why […]

Harare | Wednesday THE Zimbabwean government, faced with increasing poverty and a deteriorating economy, has ordered price controls on basic commodities to ease hardship, the state-run Herald said on Wednesday. Manufacturers and retailers have been ordered to revert to prices used in August this year, the paper said, saying the order was issued by Industry […]

Meyerton, Gauteng | Tuesday A ZIMBABWEAN healer wants to promote the use of a traditional spell that ensures fidelity, alongside the more conventional methods of condoms and abstinence to curb the spread of Aids in the country. Healer Mutsa Chikede came up with the idea of using a technique that involves magically “locking” women and […]

FIVE regions in Tanzania are threatened by famine following a rodent invasion that has destroyed several hectares of crops and seeds in farms and barns. “The rodents are multiplying at an alarming rate in some regions, where a house can host up to 300 or 400 rats. It is alarming,” said an agriculture ministry official, […]