FRANCOIS-XAVIER HARISPE, Islamabad | Sunday THEY flooded in with hopes of scoops from Afghanistan, got stuck behind closed borders in Pakistan and their numbers have reached such a critical mass that the dateline joke is of “Journalistan.” Since the start of the current crisis surrounding Afghanistan, the Pakistan authorities have registered 450 newly arrived journalists […]

Harare | Saturday THE Zimbabwe government on Friday said it was still open to continue dialogue with white farmers in a bid to resolve the land country’s land crisis. “Doors of government are open to any negotiations that would work towards the implementation of the Abuja agreement,” Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said. An accord was […]

Johannesburg | Sunday SOME 2 000 gays and lesbians took to the streets of Johannesburg Saturday for South Africa’s 12th annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade, celebrating tolerance and lamenting lives lost to Aids. Acting Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron told his fellow marchers — bedecked in sequins, stiletto heels and slogans like “God loves […]

A SOUTH African court on Friday ordered that the country’s laws on adoption be changed to allow gay couples to adopt children, a report said. SABC public radio said the Johannesburg High Court made the ruling following an application by Judge Anna-Marie de Vos, who adopted two children six years ago. De Vos took the […]

AFRICAN heads of state will hold a summit next month to forge a common stance against terrorism, the Senegalese news agency APS reported on Thursday. Quoting Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, currently on a visit to Switzerland, the agency said he told Swiss television that Africa should not be marginalized from a “planetary conflict” in the […]

THE Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) called on Thursday for the suspension of the Pretoria policemen who are alleged to have set their dogs on two Zimbabweans nationals at the weekend. Popcru said the officers’ continued presence gave the appearance that police management condoned the acts. A criminal case of assault with intent […]

AN Mpumalanga traffic officer and a driving school owner appeared briefly in the Evander regional court on Thursday in connection with massive licence fraud. Leandra traffic officer Andrea Lourens and the owner of Ace Driving School in Springs, Lenish Moodley, are out on R5 000 bail each. Lourens is accused of issuing allegedly fraudulent drivers’ […]

HUMAN rights groups welcomed a Nigerian court’s decision to acquit a six-year-old boy accused of drowning a baby, and said the case should not have been prosecuted in the first place. The child, who lives in the Dutsen Reme quarters in the town of Bakori, in Katsina state, and a middle-aged man, Sahabi Adamu, were […]

FOLLOWING a 70% rise in deaths from malaria, the Namibian health ministry has asked parliament for an additional two million dollars to combat the disease. Petrina Usiku, the manager of the ministry’s malaria programme, said it would launch a three-month drive on Monday to spray DDT and other anti-malarial agents over almost half of the […]

SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki and six senior ministers will travel to Japan on Sunday for a three-day state visit starting on Monday which will be aimed at boosting trade and bilateral ties. But no agreements are expected to be signed on Mbeki’s first visit as president to South Africa’s largest trading partner in Asia, […]