OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kano, Nigeria | Sunday 10.30pm. ARCH predator Hossam Hassan struck as holders Egypt began their defence of the African Nations Cup title with a 2-0 victory over Zambia on Sunday in the opening Group C match. Hassan, joint leading scorer in the previous finals with Benni McCarthy of South Africa, punished a moment […]

EDUCATION director-general Thami Mseleku on Saturday convened a special meeting in Pretoria to discuss the country’s education crisis and the controversial Curriculum 2005 outcomes-based education system. Education ministry spokesman Bheki Kumalo said the meeting is attended by senior officials of the national department and nine provincial education departments. “They’re looking at Curriculum 2005 and related […]

SHAUN Manion, the 22-year-old canoeist who nearly drowned in an accident on the first day of the Dusi Canoe Marathon on Thursday, remains in a coma on Saturday. Manion almost died when the canoe he was sharing with team-mate Alex Swift capsized and he got entangled in wire. He was pulled out about five minutes […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Sunday 4.30pm. CAMEROON dropped hints on Saturday in a 1-1 draw with African Nations Cup co-hosts Ghana that they are ready to reclaim their position as kings of African football. The opening match of the biennial, 16-team championship saw the Indomitable Lions from Central Africa create and waste a host of […]

PHILIPE BERNES-LASSERRE and EMSIE FERREIRA, Pretoria | Sunday 6.00pm THE vast numbers of Burundians fleeing their country have become Africa’s single biggest refugee crisis, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said in Pretoria on Saturday. “Just over the Christmas holiday some 20000 new persons arrived [in Tanzania] which makes the overall Burundian refugee situation […]

ELEVEN Mozambicans died in the south of the country this week while trying to escape floods which have left some 1000 people in the area homeless, state radio reported on Saturday. Radio Mozambique said the 11 died while trying to cross in two separate dug-out canoes the Incomati and Maputo rivers which burst their banks […]

JEREMY LOVELL, Cape Town | Saturday 5.45pm OPPOSITION parties have welcomed the removal from a draft law on equality a controversial clause that would have banned discrimination against people with HIV/Aids.br> The bill now includes a clause instructing the minister of justice to set up a committee to study and make recommendations on the matter […]

PAGAD leader Abdus-Salaam Ebrahim, who has been charged with the 1996 murder of gang boss Rashaad Staggie and several other crimes, is to remain behind bars for now. Ebrahim’s bail application which began on Thursday in the Cape Town Regional Court was on Friday postponed until February 8. Ebrahim has denied any wrongdoing, saying that […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kano, Nigeria | Saturday 6.30pm. ELDER African football statesmen Hossam Hassan of Egypt and Kalusha Bwalya of Zambia will loom large over a Group C showdown between the countries on Sunday. Hassan enters the match at the 25000-capacity Sani Abacha Stadium in the northern city with 136 official international appearances – a record […]

TUNISIA are a good team but Nigeria should still win, Nigeria’s Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere said on Saturday, the day ahead of the two teams’ first match in the African Nations Cup in Lagos. “The Tunisians have a good team but neither are we pushovers. We have a good defence, a good midfield and a […]