Tunisia’s Ennahda party says it will form a new government soon, as early results give it a strong lead in the Arab Spring’s first free election.
Wartime Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic on Friday denounced genocide and war-crimes charges against him as "obnoxious".
Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor’s trial for arming Sierra Leone rebels who paid him in blood diamonds closed on Friday.
The lawyer of former Liberian president Charles Taylor on Wednesday dismissed his war-crimes trial as a political conspiracy.
The spotlight in Charles Taylor’s war crimes trial shifts on Thursday to supermodel Naomi Campbell when she testifies about an uncut diamond.
Dutch fans scrambled on Wednesday for pricey, last-minute tickets to SA as the country went football crazy after reaching the World Cup final.
Two Sudan rebel leaders surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday to answer to accusations of war crimes in Darfur.
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/ 29 January 2009
The first witness at the ICC’s inaugural war-crimes trial retracted his testimony on Wednesday after saying he was a former child soldier.
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/ 28 October 2007
As South Africa’s economic growth slows and inflation heats up, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will present a medium-term budget on Tuesday with decidedly less to smile about than six months ago. While analysts expect Manuel to be more cautious in his revenue predictions, they believe past prudence has left him with enough room for manoeuvre.
The battle for the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) is becoming ever dirtier and fuelled by paranoia in the final weeks before delegates vote for the as-yet undeclared candidates. The challenge on the surface appears a straight contest between incumbent Thabo Mbeki and ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) is set to entrench its political dominance with a 15-day window period opening this week to allow elected officials to swap party allegiance without losing their seats. The opposition is likely to be further fragmented as representatives at the national, provincial and municipal government levels are free to cross the floor.
The African National Congress (ANC) is set to confront growing disquiet about the gap between rich and poor at a policy conference this week amid the biggest bout of worker unrest since apartheid. With the ANC due to elect a new leader at the end of the year, the four-day meeting will be partly seen as a test of strength between left-wing and pro-business elements.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) began a meeting on Africa on Wednesday with warnings that the continent faces being left further behind as its growth rates fail to match those elsewhere in the world. Africa is forecast to grow 6,2% in 2007, having achieved 4,9% over five years from 2001 and 5,5% last year alone, said a joint report.
Africa’s political and economic elite will gather under the banner of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Cape Town this week seeking ways to boost growth and trade for the world’s poorest continent. Host President Thabo Mbeki and counterparts will be joined by leading business figures, Cabinet ministers and central bankers for the 17th annual WEF on Africa.
South Africa’s main opposition party, widely seen as the voice of the white minority, has a rare chance to shake off its conservative image when it elects a new leader this weekend. A black man, a woman and a farmer are all vying for the leadership of the Democratic Alliance (DA) at a party conference near Johannesburg.
Cape Town’s mayor says vigilance will be needed to sustain democracy in South Africa after bruising battles with the African National Congress in her first year leading the sole bastion of opposition to the ruling party. "So far, we have passed the test," Helen Zille said in an interview with the media ahead of the March 15 anniversary of her installation as mayor.
Cape Town, the undisputed star of South Africa’s tourist industry, is flaunting its majestic mountains and white beaches in a bid to play a leading role in international movie-making. Hollywood may also have its hills and ocean surf, but the sheer cost of shooting in tinsel town means that producers on a tight budget are having to look further and wider to find their ideal location.
Ducks, wasps and beetles are pioneer viticulturalist Johnathan Grieve’s insect killers of choice in his goal of creating one of South Africa’s first entirely organic wine farms. A flock of about 40 ducks patrol Avondale, Grieve’s farm in the Paarl area of the fertile Cape winelands, daily picking snails off the precious vines.
While the police and the government declined to comment on Wednesday on claims that two citizens held in Pakistan were plotting attacks on South African tourist destinations, the Democratic Alliance urged the authorities to keep the public properly informed of any real danger.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=119792">’Terror’ pair under lock and key</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=119782">’Terror’ pair were to ‘attack Jo’burg'</a>
There was laughter in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday when "Rottweiler" and "KGB" emerged as some of the <i>noms de guerre</i> assumed by the alleged Boeremag coup plotters. One called himself "Motherfucker" and another "Volla", accused-turned-state-witness Henk van Zyl told the court.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=119751">Whites were to be ‘slaughtered'</a>
Former state president PW Botha has rejected a claim that he encouraged a right-wing coup plotter to leave politics and "get a movement with an iron fist". State witness Lourens du Plessis earlier testified at the Boeremag treason trial in Pretoria that he had visited Botha in 2001 to discuss the political situation in the country.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=65906">PW Botha ‘advised right-wingers'</a>
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Minutes after learning his party would have no representation in the National Assembly after a poor performance in Wednesday’s general election, National Action leader Cassie Aucamp quipped that he would have no choice but to stand on a street corner begging for money.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>