AN unmarried 17-year-old Nigerian girl found guilty by an Islamic court of having sex before marriage will be lashed 180 times on January 27, says the judge handling her case. Bariya Ibrahim Magazu, who was found guilty by an Islamic court last September, gave birth to a baby daughter in late December. Her punishment – […]

EIGHTEEN people who had been accused of high treason in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar are demanding compensation for three years of imprisonment. Lawyer Nassor Khamis Mohamed told the daily Mwananchi that he had served notice on the Zanzibar government demanding between 1.5 billion Tanzanian shillings ($1.9m) and 3.3 billion shillings ($4.1m) for each of […]

SUDAN’S Islamist military leader Omar al-Beshir has vowed to press on with liberating rebel-held areas of the south and with imposing Islamic law nationwide. Beshir renewed his commitment to “establishing peace” and achieving reconciliation in Sudan, and called on his opponents for reconciliation based on the principles of the “regime of salvation.” – AFP

THE Portuguese driver of an assistance vehicle in the Paris-Dakar rally was badly injured when he drove off the track and struck a mine in Western Sahara, an organiser said. Rally director Hubert Auriol said Jose Eduardo Ribeiro lost his left foot in the mine explosion when he steered off a track vehicles were supposed […]

SOME 70 German tourists stranded in Windhoek after Namibia’s national airline overbooked their international flights will be accommodated on a special flight Tuesday, an airline spokesman said. Local media reported that up to 350 passengers were stranded in the Namibian capital at the weekend, despite many having confirmed their bookings. Air Namibia said an unusually […]

EGYPTS Culture Minister Faruq Hosni has ordered three books withdrawn from sale that were deemed indecent – and sacked the official who published them. Hosni said he took his decision because the books offended standards of decency, denying press claims that he was influenced by a protest campaign by the Muslim Brotherhood. Hosni did not […]

TWO Nigerians suspected of drug trafficking and transferred last year to the United States have challenged their extradition in court. Lanre Shittu and Felix Wagboje asked the Abuja Federal High Court to reverse the transfer order, the official said. Extradition proceedings were still running when the two were flown to the US last year to […]

ONLINE retailer Amazon.com released has preliminary data showing the company reached its sales goals in the last quarter of 2000, despite the slowing economy. Analysts said the news should put to rest concerns the company will need to raise more cash to survive through year’s end. But they also said Amazon’s sales growth was lower […]