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/ 11 October 2004
Four people were killed and eight injured, of whom three are in criticial condition, when a crowd stampeded following a power cut after Sunday’s Soccer World Cup African zone Group 1 qualifying game between Togo and Mali in Lome, officials confirmed on Monday.
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/ 11 October 2004
The European Union on Monday agreed to lift an 18-year-old arms embargo on Libya, bowing to pressure from Italy, which wants to help the former pariah state fight illegal immigration. Rome has for several months been pressing its EU counterparts to lift the embargo imposed on Libya in 1986.
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/ 11 October 2004
It has been almost a decade in the making, but South Africa’s national action plan to halt desertification — essentially the degradation of land as a result of climate change, erosion, deforestation and overgrazing — is now ready to be sent to Cabinet for approval. Dry countries such as South Africa are especially prone to desertification.
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/ 11 October 2004
Kuwait’s Appeals Court on Monday overturned a landmark verdict by a lower court granting a Kuwaiti who underwent sex-change surgery the right to register as a female, a lawyer said. The lower court, in the first verdict of its kind in conservative Kuwait, agreed in April to a request by Ahmad, a Kuwaiti male.
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/ 11 October 2004
Protagonists in Côte d’Ivoire’s two years of conflict were meeting on Monday in the capital, Yamoussoukro, to wrap up preparations for a long-awaited disarmament campaign set to open this week. An estimated 30 000 combatants — 25 000 of them rebel troops — are expected to enrol in the disarmament exercise.
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/ 11 October 2004
No discrepancies or irregularities involving the first day of the matric exams had been reported by noon on Monday, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said in Pretoria. Demanding a daily report on matric exams from each province, Pandor said so far all matters concerning logistics, delivery and security had been attended to.
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/ 11 October 2004
The share price of financial services group PSG Group jumped as high as 14,2% or 57 cents in afternoon trade on Monday after the group reported a 19,6% rise in its headline earnings per share for the six months to the end of August 2004, to 36,9 cents from 33,1 cents a year earlier.
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/ 11 October 2004
Cameroonians were on Monday casting their ballots in a presidential election that many ordinary citizens believe long-time leader Paul Biya is certain to win, either through fraud or because he is up against a divided opposition. Officials did their best to assuage fears that the vote would be marred by cheating.
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/ 11 October 2004
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday the time for excuses regarding Africa was over, adding that the continent must be pushed to the top of the world’s agenda. As he left Ethiopia after the opening of the British-sponsored Commission for Africa, set up to reverse the continent’s fortunes, Blair charged that now was the time for action.
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/ 11 October 2004
Jubilee South Africa and the Khulumani Support Group for apartheid survivors contested the government’s view on Monday that reparations lawsuits in the United States were unnecessary because the issue had been dealt with. The groups, who are suing 23 multinational companies in a New York court for supporting apartheid, said they were disappointed with a letter from Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla.