ZIMBABWE’S multi-million dollar new international airport, whose construction has been mired in controversy, has been officially inaugurated by President Robert Mugabe. The airport cost some US$81m to build and was constructed by a consortium of a local and international firms. The awarding of the tender to build the new airport was clouded in controversy over […]

A MISSILE-throwing crowd brought a premature end to the African Champions League match between Highlanders of Zimbabwe and Young Africans of Tanzania on Sunday. Frustration at seeing favourites Highlanders trail 2-0 in the second leg of a first-round tie boiled over with five minutes left when the visitors were awarded a penalty. There was no […]

THE Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund has provided funding for a year to a controversial anti-rape organisation in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. The Greater Nelspruit Rape Intervention Project (Grip), a volunteer organisation, faces eviction from two provincial hospitals at the end of the month for providing free anti-Aids drugs to rape victims. “It’s absolutely fantastic that the Mandela […]

SOUTH Africa is considering opening an embassy in Iraq, where an official delegation has just completed a visit to discuss bilateral relations, says deputy minister for foreign affairs, Aziz Pahad. “I think opening an embassy in Baghdad would contribute to the strengthening of bilateral relations”, said Pahad, who led the delegation. Iraq inaugurated its embassy […]

NORTHERN Province police have opened a murder docket following the discovery of a body on a rugby field outside Pietersburg. The victim – a white man – was found by members of the Noordelikes Rugby Club when they went for their daily practice. The club made headlines recently when nine of its members were arrested […]

JOHN GROBLER, Windhoek | Monday NAMIBIAS growing number of prostitutes must be registered as “a matter of national urgency” to prevent their clients spreading HIV to their families, Health Minister Libertine Amathila says. “Men often refuse to use condoms,” Amathila told AFP in an interview. “It seems they feel if they pay, they have the […]

SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki is preparing for a state visit to Lesotho next week, but is not sure whether he will be able to take a cow with him. Mbeki owes Lesotho’s King Letsie III a cow as payment for a fine imposed on him by the ruler for failing to attend his 1999 […]

LAGOS State lawmakers have demanded that Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo apologise for allegedly describing the commercial capital as an “urban jungle” unfit for human habitation. Obasanjo allegedly told a UN-sponspored forum on city conditions that “Lagos qualifies as an urban jungle which should not be inhabited by any sane person.” Legislators complained that Obasanjo’s failure […]

FISHERMEN are recovering the bodies of travellers after a road accident claimed dozens of lives outside the Chadian capital when a lorry plunged off a bridge into a river. Police believe about 100 people were packed on to the heavy goods vehicle when it fell from the bridge after hitting a pedestrian and smashing through […]