FOUR Angolan soldiers went on a shooting spree, killing six people and seriously wounding two others in Kuito, 580km southeast of Angola’s capital, Luanda. The troops opened fire while trying to force their way into people’s homes, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said. The soldiers then shot at an ambulance and killed an emergency worker […]

THE European Union has donated 2.4 million Comoros francs to improve Comoros agriculture and related trade, says the EU office in Moroni. The donation will help maintain the production of the Islands’ main sources or revenue; vanilla, cloves, ylang-ylang (a perfumed oil) and other essential items. The money will also enable the Comoros to promote […]

A FATHER and son collapsed and died on the way to hospital after eating a fish they had just caught in Indian Ocean waters off of Zanzibar, relatives said. A hospital attendant said the post mortem certificate showed the two had died from eating poisoned food. The fish has since been taken to the hospital’s […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday AFRICAN leaders will present a programme to rescue their continent from poverty to the governments of developed countries by the end of the year, says President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki said at the weekend that the plan supported by the US, the European Union and Japan would be issued in draft […]

SOUTH African-based AngloGold, the world’s number one gold producer, and Harmony have said in cautionary announcements they were in talks about AngloGold’s Deelkraal and Elandsrand mines. AngloGold said it was in talks with ”a number of parties regarding their offers to purchase Elandsrand, Deelkraal and some of Anglogold’s assets in the Free State (province).” Business […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Austin | Monday REPUBLICAN George W Bush has claimed victory in the US presidential race, after the state of Florida declared him the winner of its bitterly disputed vote count, but Democrat Al Gore has vowed new legal moves to contest Bush’s ascension to the presidency. Gore’s lawyers have said the vice president […]

INKATHA Freedom Party mayoral candidate for Durban, Gladwin Bheka Ndlela, has denied allegations in a Sunday newspaper that he irregularly appointed four assistant directors in his department, party spokesman Musa Zondi said. The Sunday Times reported that Ndlela, the director for sport and recreation in the KwaZulu-Natal department of education, made the appointments in January. […]

SOUTH Africa’s government has approved the appointment of Pali Lehohla as the new head of Statistics South Africa. Lehohla joined the body, which compiles most of the country’s key economic indicators, in 1995 and has last served as Chief Director of Demography responsible for carrying out population censuses. He replaces acting Stats SA head Ros […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday THE South African government has given Swissair until February next year to exercise its option to acquire a further 10% stake in South African Airways (SAA). ”The South African government, Transnet and Sairgroup have agreed to extend this option for a period of three months, and this option would expire […]

ITALY and the United States have cancelled official debt owed by Nigeria amounting to $2.8bn. Of this, Italy wrote off $2.4bn and the United States $475m. Nigeria is campaigning for massive relief on its foreign debt, which the government’s latest calculations put at $28.8bn. Most is owed to Paris Club official creditors, including $19bn in […]