FRENCH newspapers on Tuesday paid homage to Cameroonian composer and writer Francis Bebey, who died on Monday morning in Paris at the age of 72, sending shock waves through the African music world. Bebey, who had been in poor health for some time, was instrumental in bringing African music to the rest of the world. […]

THOUSANDS of civilians on Tuesday fled southern Bangui as the Central African Republic’s army stormed areas where rebel soldiers fell back after a bloody coup bid against President Ange-Felix Patasse. Residents said a number of rebel soldiers had been killed in the mopping-up operation, which was marked by automatic gunfire and shellbursts. By afternoon, however, […]

HUGO YOUNG, Pretoria | Tuesday SENIOR army officers in Zimbabwe have secretly warned the South African government that they may launch a coup against Robert Mugabe if the growing political and economic crisis results in riots. Pretoria has strongly advised against any move to overthrow the Zimbabwean president by force but has been made aware […]

ONE hundred amputees from the south-western Somali region of Baidoa, who are victims of the civil strife there, are to receive artificial limbs from the Rotary Clubs of Nairobi and Bombay and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Somalia UNDP bureau senior deputy representative Andrea Tamagnini told journalists in Nairobi on Monday that the move was […]

Johannesburg | Tuesday Vandals have bludgeoned to death nine endangered jackass penguins, two pelicans and two gannets at an aquarium in the coastal city of East London, police said on Tuesday. “They appear to have been bludgeoned to death with a heavy instrument,” police Captain Sibongile Ndyoko said. “The birds weren’t killed for meat, because […]

NELSPRUIT will host the continent’s first African Peace Through Tourism Conference in March 2002 as part of a pan-African initiative to use the economic benefits of tourism to bring regional stability. The conference, designed to foster wider institutional support community tourism projects, is expected to attract an estimated 600 international delegates and is underwritten by […]

A NORTHERN Province nurse who left a pregnant woman alone in the back of an ambulance and was unaware when she fell out and died, was officially dismissed on Friday after being found guilty of gross dereliction of duty. Stella Kubhayi (25), a nurse at Tintsaolo Hospital in Acornhoek, has five days to appeal against […]

Johannesburg | Monday ZIMBABWES opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have called on Zimbabweans living in South Africa to help the party end President Robert Mugabe’s 20-year rule. MDC deputy president Gibson Sibanda said hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans had fled to South Africa because of poverty, hunger and unemployment caused by the ruling Zimbabwe […]

THE number of Malawians being deported from South Africa has become embarrassing, said spokesman for Malawi’s immigration office, Hudson Makhwala. He said at least 87 Malawians were deported from South Africa in the past two weeks. “This is very embarrassing for the nation and Malawians need to be educated before they visit other countries,” Mankhwala […]