INTERNATIONAL credit rating agency, Moody’s Investor Services, has reconfirmed South Africa’s investment grade status and upgraded the outlook for the rating from negative to stable, the finance department announced on Thursday. The department said that Moody’s had indicated it is concerned about the rate of economic growth and the low level of employment creation but […]
Mail & Guardian reporter The Mail & Guardian and the Freedom of Expression Institute have won a landmark legal battle in the Cape High Court which could see changes made to the Defence Act, particularly the way the army conducts its courts martial. “The present case is a perfect example of why the provisions [of […]
CAMPAIGNING for the second round of Nigeria’s elections wound up in on Friday, with warnings that violence may mar the process. Millions of voters go to the polls on Saturday to elect governors and assemblies for the 36 states of the Nigerian federation. This following local government elections in December. Next up will be the […]
THE Angolan army claimed on Thursday that it has recaptured central parts of the country including Katchiungu and Chinguar from Unita rebels. Government troops also captured an artillery battery which had enabled the rebels to bombard the town of Malanje, the army said. Huambo province governor Paulo Kassoma said that the government offensive has enabled […]
THE Bank of England cut its base lending rate by 0,25 percentage points to 6,0% on Thursday, surprising most analysts who had expected rates to be hold steady. The cut was the fourth in as many months. The British rate stands at exactly twice the euro-zone 3% rate. The unexpected move boosted share prices on […]
ZAMBIA’S inflation levels soared to 30% at the close of 1998, the highest figure recorded in the last 21 months. According to the December edition of Zambia’s Central Statistics Office’s Consumer Price Index (CSO), the inflation levels continued to increase despite government’s reduced targets. The annualised inflation rate for December stood at 30,6% from the […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Freetown | Thursday 8.45pm. SIERRA Leonen President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and rebel leader Foday Sankoh have agreed to a ceasefire and further negotiations, Kabbah announced on Thursday, while fighting still raged in the capital Freetown. Kabbah announced at Freetown’s Lungi international airport that he and Sankoh agreed on Wednesday to a seven-day ceasefire. […]
KAIZER Chiefs’ Franco-Yugoslav coach Paul Dolezar was held by police at Johannesburg international airport for an hour this week because of a visa bungle. Dolezar was released only after he had been identified by an official and paid a fine for not having a re-entry visa in his French passport. The coach slammed an official […]
THE United Nations Population Fund announced the appointment of Nigerian literary legend Chinua Achebe as its goodwill ambassador on Thursday. The appointment will see Achebe, currently professor of literature at New York’s Bard college, acting as a voice for the population fund on such issues as family planning, gender equity and reproductive health. Achebe, author […]
BUSINESS South Africa has been refused leave to appeal against dismissal of its earlier application to force the health minister to refer Medical Schemes Bill to the National Economic Development and Labour Council. The refusal of leave to appeal was made in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Thursday. The appeal related to […]