THE editor of two banned Moroccan magazines said he would go on an indefinite hunger strike following a court’s decision to ignore his request to launch new publications. The Casablanca-based weekly newspaper Le Journal and its Arabic sister publication Assahifa, both published abroad, were banned by the government last month after being accused of destabilising […]

SOUTH African chemicals and explosives group AECI says its shareholders have approved a recommended share buy-back of 40% of its shares from Anglo American. The buy back was in line with plans by Anglo American to divest of its non-core assets. AECI shares were unchanged at R13.20. – Reuters

THE world will pay an enormous price if it ignores the plight of refugees and fails to find them homes, the new UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ruud Lubbers, has warned. He said “it would be nonsense to praise UNHCR for its care for refugees” unless the international community made “political efforts and, where […]

SOME 28_000 displaced people who have fled Angola’s ongoing civil war are living in inhuman conditions in camps at Matala, in southern Huila province, according to press reports. “It’s a desolate landscape,” said the state-run Angolan Journal in an article written by two journalists who visited the camps, around 1_000km south of Luanda. “Malnourished children, […]

TWO journalists have been arrested in Burkina Faso for investigating the death of a 12-year-old pupil shot dead in December during a demonstration quashed by paramilitary police. Germain Nama and Newton Ahmed Barry were taken in for questioning on Monday. After the death of Flavien Nebie during the protest in Bousse, some 50km outside of […]

A BUS carrying American tourists on their way back from the Kruger National Park burst into flames on the road outside Lydenburg in Mpumalanga province. Police said the tourists evacuated the bus minutes after an electrical short in the engine started the fire. The flames spread rapidly to the main body of the bus and […]

SWAZILANDS health ministry has warned of a bilharzia outbreak this summer, especially in hot areas like the Lubombo region, which borders northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Health inspectors said children were most susceptible to the water-borne disease because they enjoyed playing in streams and rivers. If not treated early, the illness can cause complications in […]

THE Ranch, a Sandton brothel for the rich and famous, has been closed after a police raid two hours before it was set to open its doors for the first time in the new year, The Star newspaper reported. Police ejected staff and placed hired security guards at the entrance to prevent anyone from gaining […]