OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday ZIMBABWE is facing a critical shortage of fuel because of a debilitating lack of foreign currency, with no immediate solution in sight, a fuel industry source said on Wednesday. He confirmed that the supply of fuel in Harare was critical and said the country’s second city of Bulawayo had “a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT AND REUTERS, Johannesburg | Thursday SIZZLING oil prices are unlikely to cool off in the near future fuelling speculation that South Africa may have to move away from its neutral monetary policy. OPEC has indicated it is not keen to take any action to reduce the current crude price of around US$32 per […]

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has expelled freelance journalist Dale McKinley from the party for “consistently and publicly” attacking leaders of the African National Congress. McKinley was summonsed to a disciplinary hearing at the weekend where he was allowed to present a defence. The SACP’s central committee then endorsed the decision to expel him. […]

THE release of a dozen foreign hostages – including South Africans Callie and Monique Strydom – held for up to nearly four months by Moslem rebels in the southern Philippines has been postponed at least until Friday, officials said. A spokesman for chief hostage negotiator Robert Aventajado said bad weather over Jolo, the southern island […]

UNDERWATER rescue capsules fighting to reach 118 seamen trapped on a Russian nuclear submarine have failed again as new evidence suggested a massive explosion shattered large areas of the vessel. Navy officials said there were no signs of life, but some of the crew could still be alive. Rescue capsules trying to link up with […]

BACTERIOLOGISTS at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in Pretoria are baffled as to what is causing chunks of meat to glow and frighten rural villagers in Northern Province. Head of the bacteriology division Dr Maryke Henton said it was the first case of its kind that she had investigated, and that she believed it was something […]

THE shooting of a 15-year-old boy in an apparent gang-related attack in Factreton brings to 19 the number of people killed in gang-related violence on the Cape Flats since the beginning of August, despite the deployment of extra police and soldiers to the trouble spots. At least eight people were killed in separate incidents of […]

THE world’s last Concordes stopped flying this week after authorities told British Airways they were about to brand the jet unairworthy, three weeks after an Air France crash killed 113 people. BA, the only other airline to fly the supersonic jet, said it had grounded its entire fleet of seven within minutes of hearing that […]

THE NIGERIAN government has said it will spend about 4.3 billion naira to extend electricity supplies to all rural areas in the West African country. The chairman of the technical committee of state power monopoly NEPA, Liyel Imoke, said the project was part of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s plans to tackle poverty in the oil-producing country […]