A SECOND suspect faced murder charges in Soweto’s Protea Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday in connection with last week’s ambush of a Soweto police van and subsequent mass escape of awaiting trial prisoners. Sowetan Lawrence Dube (22) was charged with the murder of Sergeant Christopher Sithebe and Sergeant Elias Matima Senwamadi in a bloody ambush last […]

CONGO’S President Denis Sassou Nguesso reshuffled his government on Tuesday and named a defence minister as part of his battle against rival militiamen of the previous government. The main change in the reshuffle, officially announced late on Tuesday, is the naming of one of Sassou Nguesso’s aides, Lekounzou Iti Osetoumba, to run defence affairs with […]

GERMAN soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer hinted on Tuesday that South Africa was still leading the race to stage the 2006 World Cup finals despite mounting opposition from England and Germany. “The next logical step, after Asia, is for the World Cup to go to Africa,” said Beckenbauer. “The question is, is Africa ready?” Beckenbauer, president […]

A KENYAN court Wednesday sentenced three foreigners to three months in prison each for smoking and causing a disturbance aboard a Kenya Airways flight from Lagos to Nairobi. Aboubakar Omar Hussein and Ramadhan Faiz Abeid of Tanzania and Nalillakaren Appu of India were charged with committing the offences on Tuesday aboard Kenya Airways flight KQ-433. […]

FORMER Japanese premier Ryutaro Hashimoto flew into Johannesburg on Wednesday at the start of a four-day visit that will focus on establishing a partnership between his country and South Africa. Hashimoto, who became a senior foreign adviser to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi after resigning in July, arrived in the country from Kenya where he was […]

POLICE have arrested suspects in two serial killer cases. Gauteng police commissioner Sharma Maharaj and Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi announced the breakthrough on Tuesday, saying a suspect who was arrested in Orlando, Soweto, on rape and hijacking charges has been linked to 14 of the Nasrec serial killings. Maharaj added that Pretoria police […]

CHAD’S economy grew by 7% in 1998, helped by good rains which pushed up food production, according to a bulletin published by the presidency’s economic service. The Bank of France’s Franc Zone secretariat has estimated Chad’s 1997 economic growth at 6,5%, the bulletin said. A clear improvement was noted in state revenues, payment of civil […]

THE International Monetary Fund has approved a $14-million loan for the tiny West African country of Benin which borders Nigeria. The IMF expects average real growth of 5,5% of gross domestic product over the coming years. The IMF says the Benin government plans new efforts to restructure its economy, privatising firms and reforming the the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.30am. GAUTENG’S Education MEC Mary Metcalfe denied on Tuesday morning that jobs would be lost as the result of downsizing initiatives in the department. Colette Clark, acting director of labour relations for the department, said on Monday that Gauteng’s education department plans to cut 2800 posts, resulting in 1500 teachers […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 7.00pm. THE rand weakened dramatically on Tuesday, rising above the R6 to the dollar mark for the first time in months and causing anxiety in local bond markets where the yield on the R150 shot up to 15,95%. However, the rand’s weakness pushed up the gold index 13 points to […]