A CANADIAN-based company that has been exploring for oil near Lake Albert in western Uganda plans to start drilling in February. Heritage Oil & Gas (Uganda) Ltd said its four-year investigation, including a seismic study of the Semiliki basin, 265km west of the capital Kampala, had indicated there were significant oil deposits of between 700m […]
JEREMY LOVELL, Cape Town | Wednesday SOUTH Africa, at the heart of the global HIV/Aids epidemic, will begin clinical trials of a vaccine to combat the deadly disease within months, says the Medical Research Council. The Council’s Michelle Galloway said the phase one clinical trials would involve a handful of people who would be monitored […]
REUTERS, Cape Town | Wednesday RAPE in South Africa is massively under-reported, according to the annual report of the country’s Medical Research Council, with victimisation by the rapist or his friends and the likelihood of dismissive treatment by the police playing a major role. ”We found 1 _300 completed rapes per 100 000 women in […]
REUTERS, Kinshasa | Tuesday UN HUMAN rights chief Mary Robinson has blamed both the government and rebel groups for what she calls “widespread human rights violations” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Unfortunately, I have taken note that at this moment, men and women are pursued and detained for having expressed their opinions,” Robinson […]
EMSIE FERREIRA, Cape Town | Tuesday IN one of the most unexpected scenes to unfold before South Africa’s truth commission, hardened apartheid assassin Ferdi Barnard has begged for – and received – forgiveness from a man he tried to kill, Transport Minister Dullah Omar. Barnard also revealed that the military had tried to sway the […]
AFP AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Tuesday SOUTH Africa has slammed Israel for what it calls the “excessive and disproportionate use of force” which has seen 56 people die in clashes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel since last week. Israel and the Palestinians agreed early today to observe a ceasefire following five […]
THIEVES apparently working for an international art syndicate have stolen 15 priceless centuries-old maps of Africa from the University of Witwatersrand at the weekend. “Following what appears to be a well thought out plan, armed thieves entered the William Cullen Library on Saturday 30 September, minutes before the library was due to close for the […]
NAMIBIA’S agriculture ministry has lifted a ban on the import of live pigs and pork products from South Africa. The ban was imposed on September 18 in response to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. The only restrictions that will remain in place are for cloven-hoofed animals and products from KwaZulu-Natal, and these will be lifted […]
MALAWI has officially switched on its new but controversial 64 megawatts hydro-power project, bringing the country’s total power output to 234 megawatts. The much-delayed $130m dollar Kapichira hydro-project was declared open by President Bakili Muluzi at the weekend. Work had been halted in 1992 after donors withdrew all aid to Malawi to put pressure on […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday DISGRACED Cape Metropolitan Council (CMC) mayor William Bantom, who was ousted from his post last month for allegedly watching pornography on the Internet, found a legal loophole to pay himself a “golden handshake” during his final days in office, the Cape Argus newspaper has reported. The CMC remains tightlipped […]