THE government of Mauritius plans to turn the country into a free trade zone for the information technology (IT) sector, Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth has announced. “The year 2001 will be marked by the relaunch of the Mauritian economy,” he said. “We want to make Mauritius an information technology free trade zone with digital parks.” […]
WOMEN’S rights in Ethiopia, a predominantly patriarchal society, are set to improve with the coming into effect of a new law which, among other measures, targets forced marriages. Under the Family Law, which the Daily Monitor newspaper on Tuesday reported had been promulgated Monday after being approved by parliament in July, the minimum age for […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Wednesday AS holidaymakers and migrant workers start leaving KwaZulu-Natal at the end of the holiday season health authorities fear the spread of the cholera epidemic which has claimed 53 lives in the province. The pandemic which broke out in northern KwaZulu-Natal five months ago, has infected 12 715 people. Fears about […]
A LANDFALL in the ancient Egyptian city of Abydos has unearthed a cemetery of animal mummies that archaeologists hope could give clues to new religious cults in the Ptolemaic period, officials said this week. Eight tiny gold-plated limestone coffins containing what are thought to be mummified rats dating back to 300 B.C. have already been […]
TANZANIA’S President Benjamim Mkapa has urged Tanzanians to change their sexual behaviour to curb the spread of Aids in the new year. An estimated 1.75 million people, almost 6% of the country’s population, are infected with HIV, which causes the disease. An estimated 600 000 Tanzanian children had lost one or both parents to Aids […]
A CHRISTIAN trader in Kano, Nigeria’s most populous northern state, claimed he had been caned 80 times by an Islamic vigilante group because he was found with a bottle of gin. Obi Livinus, 50, showed journalists the weals that resulted from Monday’s caning by Hizbah, a group which monitors the strict adherence to the Islamic […]
GHANA, while poised to consolidate its democracy with the first transfer of power from one civilian president to another since independence, will remain beset by economic woes for some time to come, analysts say. Ghanaians voted this week to elect a successor to President Jerry Rawlings, who must step down after ruling the country, once […]
TWO Namibian nationals claim that Angolan UNITA rebels abducted and tortured them and seven other villagers, killing three, a human rights organisation said. Daniel Ndeluudila, 54, and Simeon Hamulo, 23, told the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) that they and the other villagers were abducted on December 25 in northeast Namibia and taken across […]
A DEUTSCHE Telekom-led consortium has concluded a $120m deal to buy a 35% stake in Tanzania’s state-owned telephone monopoly and take over management control, a government representative said this week. Detecon, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, along with Dutch group Mobile Systems International Cellular will pay the amount directly to the Tanzania Telecommunication Company in […]
THE death toll on South Africas roads has passed the 700 mark since the start of the holiday season on December 1, says road agency Arrive Alive. Of the 711 people killed, 282 were passengers, 257 were pedestrians and 172 drivers. Eastern Cape has recorded the highest death toll of 125, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with […]