ILDA JACOBS, Washington DC | Thursday SOUTH Africa’s old school days, where children were forced to walk silently in single file and were sharply caned into submission, are horribly familiar in a 17-minute film produced in the United States by former Capetonian Greg Watt. Watt, an independent filmmaker, doesn’t identify South Africa in the film, […]

AMNESTY International has called on French and African leaders who meet for a summit this week in Yaounde, Cameroon, to make a joint public commitment to end torture and ill-treatment in custody. The London-based rights group said the torture of detainees by government agents persists with impunity in the majority of countries represented at the […]

CHARLES MANGWIRO, Maputo | Thursday SOUTH Africa, still smarting from a World Health Organisation (WHO) rebuke over a lack of clear strategy to fight cholera, is to launch a regional effort to stamp out the water-borne disease with Mozambique and Swaziland. Representatives of the three countries will meet next week in the Mozambican capital Maputo […]

DARREN SCHUETTLER, Johannesburg | Thursday FOREIGN mining firms are assessing the security of their potentially lucrative deals in mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo, where President Laurent Kabila was reported wounded or killed this week. Veteran African miners were confident they could work with any new leader in Kinshasa, but this latest upheaval would further delay […]

THREE hooded men shot dead the head of Palestinian television at close range in the Gaza Strip as pessimism deepened over Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects. The Palestinian leadership quickly accused ”collaborators” with Israel of killing 54-year-old Hisham Mikki, an associate of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Despite the murder, Israeli and Palestinian sources said Arafat and Israel’s […]

TOM TSHIBANGU, Kinshasa | Thurssday PRESIDENT Laurent Kabila’s son, Joseph, has allegedly taken power in Democratic Republic of Congo, but amid conflicting reports, it remains unclear whether his father is dead or alive after an assassination attempt. It also remains a mystery whether Joseph Kabila is alive, after earlier reports that he was shot alongside […]

OPEC has agreed on an aggressive reduction in oil supplies, aimed at keeping crude prices afloat near $25 a barrel, and said it could slice output again soon. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut 1.5m barrels a day to cap limits for 10 members at 25.2m from February. OPEC took the decision despite […]

RENNIES, the wholly owned travel and foreign exchange division of trading and services group Bidvest, has set up a new bank. The new entity, Rennies Bank, aims to achieve a pre-tax profit of R75m in its first full year to June 2002 and a return on equity far in excess of those of its major […]

CANADIAN-based SouthernEra Resources has named Patrick Evans, a former senior executive of Placer Dome Inc. in South Africa, as its new president and chief executive. SouthernEra is a diamond mining and exploration company and an emerging platinum group metals producer with assets mainly in Africa. – Reuters

ILDA JACOBS, Washington | Wednesday SOUTH African smokers who are fuming at not being allowed to smoke indoors at restaurants and other public places should spare a thought for some Americans. 0 Residents of the affluent suburb of Friendship Heights in Washington DC can be fined in the region of R700 if they light up […]