OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday BETWEEN 16% and 20% of all teachers in South Africa are HIV/Aids positive, according to a report commissioned by the education department to probe the impact of HIV/Aids on education. The study, conducted by Abt Associates, suggests that Aids related deaths will also be the main cause of death among […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday LEADERSHIP and organisational weaknesses within the ANC, and the steady erosion of minority and youth support, will be high on the agenda when the partys top decision-makers gather for a four-day strategic meeting. Also expected to be a major talking point will be how to deliver on promises of basic […]

AMNESTY International has demanded that a report by the UN and Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into claims that hundreds of people were murdered and their bodies dumped in the sea after the June 1998 presidential election in Togo be made public. The human rights organisation also demanded steps to ensure the protection of any […]

ZIMBABWE?S main commercial farming union said crops planted by war veterans illegally occupying white-owned farms would not add much to the amount of food available in the country. In its latest update on the farm occupations, which started in February 1999, the Commercial Farmers? Union said haphazard illegal ploughing and planting were prevalent countrywide well […]

ZAMBIAN health authorities have withdrawn a hard-hitting anti-AIDS campaign from state radio and television after church groups said it encouraged promiscuity and moral decay. The Catholic Church and the umbrella church group Christian Council of Zambia had urged the government to withdraw the adverts, saying they were in bad taste and appeared to condone sex […]

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

SOUTH African diamonds group De Beers is considering selling its brand name to a large luxury goods group, as part of a strategic review to unlock the value of the prestigious name, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The report said the company, which controls about 60% of the sales of uncut diamonds, is in […]

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 […]