HEAVY gunbattles raged overnight on Sunday in the West Bank town of Bethlehem in what the Israeli army said was an apparent attempt by Palestinian gunmen to take over an Israeli enclave there. Palestinians said the fighting broke out after soldiers and Jewish settlers attacked Muslim worshippers. The confrontation lasted for several hours, and at […]

THE Constitutional Court has refused disgraced anti-apartheid activist and cleric Allan Boesak application to it for leave to appeal against the Supreme Court of Appeals’ ruling upholding his conviction and sentence for fraud and theft. Deputy Constitutional Court President, Judge Pius Langa said Boesak had not established that any of his rights to a fair […]

SAAB and BAE Systems, the Swedish and UK aerospace companies, have placed a US$14,7m skills and technology transfer contract with South Africa’s state-owned Denel Aviation, the two foreign companies said. The contract forms part of the defence industrial participation programme linked to South Africa’s order for 28 Gripen fighter aircraft produced jointly by Saab and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Accra | Monday WHEN Ghanaians go to the polls later this week, they will mark the end of an era: nearly two decades of uninterrupted rule by Jerry John (“JJ”) Rawlings, one of Africa’s most colourful leaders. The man who won over the country when, as a dashing young flight lieutenant, he seized […]

The rate of new HIV infections is finally falling in Africa – but only because the epidemic has already struck so many people, says a new report by the United Nations. The report, released in time for World Aids Day on December 1, says 3.8 million Africans were infected with HIV this year. Sub-Saharan Africa […]

SYDNEY police on Monday urged thieves who stole a BMW with a two-year-old boy inside to give themselves up after the toddler died from heart failure he suffered after hours locked up inside the car on a sweltering afternoon. The thieves are believed to have dumped the car after discovering they had made off with […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday SOUTH Africa’s combined gold and foreign exchange reserves rose more strongly than expected in November, despite a hefty outflow of portfolio investment, according to newly-released Reserve Bank figures. The central bank said its gross reserves rose to R58.0bn by the end of November from R56.8bn in the previous month. The […]

THE Lesotho government has sold its 12% stake in Vodacom Lesotho Ltd to a private business group, the mobile phone operator’s South African parent Vodacom said. The grouping of local business people called Sekha-Metsi Consortium Ltd signed the deal this week with Lesotho’s privatisation unit, Vodacom said, but declined to give financial details. Vodacom Lesotho […]

OWN CORRESPONDENTS, Johannesburg | Monday SOUTH Africa’s local government elections will represent the first major political test of the presidency of Thabo Mbeki, a year-and-a-half after he succeeded Nelson Mandela – but analysts believe the biggest vote is likely to go to apathy. Campaigning has been uninspiring and largely negative, and election pundits are predicting […]

SOUTH Africa has unveiled a surprisingly wide trade surplus of R2.6bn in October after an unexpected deficit in September, adding momentum to a recovery in the volatile rand and government debt markets. Economists had forecast a much more modest surplus of R746m during the month, but currency weakness helped boost the value of mineral exports, […]