No image available
/ 24 October 2006
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s neighbours may have pulled their armies out of the vast mineral-rich territory, officially at least, but they will be keeping a nervous eye out for vested interests in Sunday’s presidential run-off. The DRC’s 1998-2003 war broke out when Rwanda and Uganda launched proxy rebel groups from eastern DRC in a bid to topple their former ally Laurent Kabila.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
It is kick-off time for the ”real hard work” in preparing for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, President Thabo Mbeki told a workshop in Cape Town on Tuesday. He told the participants that South Africa will spare no effort to make sure that everything necessary for a successful tournament happens on time.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
A newly formed rebel group has attacked a second town in eastern Chad a day after briefly seizing a settlement near the border with Sudan, the Central African country’s government said on Tuesday. Armed men attacked Am Timan on Monday afternoon, 24 hours after taking the town of Goz Beida and then being repelled by government forces.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
Child mortality is on the increase in crisis-ridden Zimbabwe, where at least one in 10 children will die before they reach the age of five, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday. Health Minister David Parirenyatwa has blamed the rising number of deaths of minors on the soaring cost of health services in the Southern African country.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
The United Nations has pledged to provide about -million to fight poverty in Mozambique, which is slowly emerging from a brutal 16-year civil war. ”The UN will mobilise nearly -million for the government’s poverty reduction plan to help officials fight poverty in the next three years,” UN chief representative in Mozambique, resident Ndolamb Ngokwey, said late on Monday.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
Trade between Zimbabwe and its eastern ally China surged to -million last year and will be greater still this year, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday. Total trade volume for bilateral trade for the first eight months of 2006 reached -million according to a report carried by the Herald.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
National women’s soccer team Banyana Banyana met former president Nelson Mandela on Tuesday to get some his Madiba magic ahead of the fifth African Women’s championships in Nigeria. ”I wish the best team wins and I know you are the best team,” he told the players, shaking hands and joking with them in Johannesburg.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
The Transport Department and Gauteng metro police on Monday night declared the first day of the pilot high-occupancy vehicle lane on the highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria a success, despite a rocky start. ”Considering it was the first day, it can’t go without hiccups but we are optimistic that it will work,” said a metro police spokesperson.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
Cambodian children still suffer sexual exploitation despite a recent government crackdown on foreign paedophiles, child-rights activists warned on Tuesday. Rodney Hatfield of the United Nations Children’s Fund Unicef said the commercial sexual exploitation of children remained a serious problem in the kingdom.
No image available
/ 24 October 2006
Budapest was calm on Tuesday after a day of anti-government protests in the capital in which about 130 people were injured when police used rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators. Police arrested about 100 people from the crowds who set up barricades and attacked riot police late into the night.