A LIGHTNING bolt struck a house and killed a family of seven in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape late on Sunday, police said. Two other people were injured and admitted to hospital. Police said a grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, two teenage boys and a girl were killed by the bolt in the Libode […]

AT least 18 people were killed in a clash between Ethiopian government troops and rebel Oromo Liberation Front militiamen at the Kenyan frontier town of Moyale on Saturday, Kenyan newspapers reported on Monday. Several people were also injured in the fighting which, other reports said, killed as many as 40 people on both sides of […]

AN unmarried Egyptian couple caught kissing in public were sentenced this week to one year in prison under Egypt’s morality laws, judicial officials said on Saturday. Noha Ali and her boyfriend Magdi Abderahim were locked in a passionate embrace outside the courthouse in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in May 1997, oblivious to everything and […]

TEST cricketer Makhaya Ntini will remain eligible for selection for the national team, the United Cricket Board of South Africa announced on Sunday. In a brief statement, the board said Ntini (21) remains eligible for consideration. Ntini was released on R5000bail on Friday after appearing in court in East London on a charge of raping […]

SENTENCE in the 17-day trial of former Zimbabwean head of state, Canaan Banana, will be delivered on Monday by judge president, Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku. The judge last year found Banana guilty of 11 counts of sodomy, indecent assault and attempted indecent assault.

THE total mining production for the three months ending in November increased by just 0,7% after seasonal adjustment compared with the previous three months. However, the total mining production for the first eleven months of 1998 fell by 2,2% compared with the first eleven months of 1997. Seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales for the […]

THE Bank of Botswana has introduced Repurchase Agreements to deal with increasing excess liquidity in the financial system, the Bank said in a statement on Thursday. The instruments were introduced effective January 4. “They will enable us to fine-tune the system,” a spokesperson said.

POLICE detained South African national soccer star Steve Lekoelea for reckless driving, on Saturday. Lekoelea, 19, was arrested Saturday and his name was only made public after he was charged and released on bail. A traffic officer said the Bafana Bafana player “nearly caused a pile up before he was forced to pull of the […]

THE start in Namibia of a mini-summit aimed at making some progress on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo was delayed Sunday by the absence of a Rwandan delegation. The Namibians “still hope” that Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu would arrive, Foreign Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said on Sunday evening in the capital Windhoek. Earlier, […]

THE South African Under-23 soccer squad play their Egyptian counterparts in a two-match friendly encounter next week in further preparation for qualification for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. The sides meet next Thursday at Dobsonville Stadium, followed by a clash at Vosloorus Stadium on Saturday. “This will also be preparation for the All-Africa […]