A LIBYAN Airlines plane carrying 125 pilgrims for the hajj to Mecca left Tripoli on Thursday for Saudi Arabia, once again in violation of a United Nation flight embargo. The aircraft, dubbed the “Plane of Defiance” by the Libyan authorities, took off from Tripoli airport.Libya has been under UN sanctions since 1992 for its refusal […]
NIGERIA’S Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. on Wednesday confirmed that it has signed a multi-million dollar contract with four western oil groups to build a third liquefied natural gas train. The company said the four companies concerned are Technip of France, Snamprogetti of Italy, MW Kellogg of the United States and Japan Gasoline Corp. It did […]
PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela will address a rally in Tripoli on Friday after meeting Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi about the Lockerbie case. His spokesperson Parks Mankahlana said on Thursday that Mandela has been given an exemption from the United Nations to fly directly to the Tripoli despite an air embargo. Mandela leaves Stockholm for Libya late […]
A TWO-DAY summit called by the Organisation of African Unity and slated for March 30-31 has been cancelled, Burkina Faso’s presidential office said on Wednesday. Burkina Faso, current holder of the OAU’s rotating presidency, called the summit, which was to have been held in its capital Ougadougou, to “examine initiatives and mediation efforts under way […]
IMPALA Platinum Holdings has taken a 15% stake in Aquarius Platinum, the Australian firm said on Thursday. “Aquarius will use the funds to boost working capital for a major push to develop its 100% held Marikana Platinum Project near Rustenburg in South Africa,” Aquarius said. Aquarius will raise A$1,86-million through the share placement, which is […]
NIGERIAN-led Ecomog intervention force troops repelled a rebel attack against the northern Sierra Leonean town of Kambia earlier this week, Ecomog officials said on Thursday. They said rebels entered the town of Pamalap, close to Kambia and about 80km north of the capital, Freetown, on Monday. An Ecomog contingent of Guinean troops “opened up with […]
AUSTRIAN journalist Peter Cvetko was shot dead after his car broke down in Houghton Drive, Johannesburg on Wednesday morning. Cvetko (39) was a temporary resident in South Africa. Police spokesperson Inspector Mark Reynolds said he was on his way home from visiting friends in Hillbrow when the car broke down. He called the Automobile Association […]
THE Angolan government rejected on Wednesday an initiative by Burkina Faso President Blaise Campaore to invite Unita rebels to the next summit of the Organization of African Unity. It said the move would contravene United Nations sanctions imposed against Unita.Campaore, who is also OAU chairman, last week invited Unita rebels and those fighting in the […]
THE final 16 football matches in the BobSave Superbowl competition will be played this weekend. Fixtures: Friday: 8pm: Seven Stars v Kaizer Chiefs (Athlone Stadium) Saturday 8pm: Manning Rangers v Santos (Chatsworth Stadium); 3pm: Supersport United v Orlando Pirates (Odi Stadium); 3pm: Qwa Qwa Stars v Moroka Swallows (Charles Mopeli Stadium) Sunday: 3pm: Ria Stars […]
A WITNESS in the Julie Ward murder trial told a Nairobi, Kenya court on Tuesday that he has no doubt the British tourist was murdered. Ward’s dismembered and burnt remains were found in the Masai Mara Game Reserve on September 13, 1988. Officials at the time claimed Ward had been attacked and killed by wild […]
THE AUDITOR-GENERAL has slammed the public enterprises department in a recent report, citing R350000 in unauthorised expenditure in the year to March. Failure to follow proper tender procedures for employing consultants in a privatisation plan led to the overrun. Auditor-General Henri Kluever said the department failed to turn over official documentation on the sale of […]
THE Parliamentary trade and industry committee approved on Monday amendments aimed at ensuring a smooth transition from old legislation to the Competition Act which was passed last year. Dave Lewis, chairman of the existing Competition Board, told the committee the changes are aimed at concerns that firms might try to push through mergers without proper […]
SIX countries — Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia — on Wednesday formally empowered an international Task Force to fight wildlife crime in Africa. Referred to by many as “African Interpol” for wildlife and the first of its kind in the world, the Task Force will have its headquarters at the […]
ALGERIA is to cut its oil production by 57000 barrels a day from April 1, the state-owned oil group Sonatrach said on Wednesday. “This measure…follows the decision taken by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)to reduce the production levels of its members,” Sonatrach said.
THE South African Police Service will acquire an automated fingerprint information system within 12 to 15 months, Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi said in Parliament on Wednesday. During debate on his budget vote, Mufamadi said many of the current backlogs and blockages in the criminal justice system can attributed to the lack of an […]
THE Cats received a boost on Tuesday, with news that Springbok World Cup hero Chester Williams returns from injury to play against the fearsome Otago Highlanders on Saturday at Ellis Park. The Cats’ vice-captain has recovered from a hamstring injury and will retake his left-wing berth from Lourens Venter, who has a shoulder injury. Griquas […]
NIGERIAN president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Paris on Wednesday at the start of a European tour, two weeks after winning elections aimed at restoring civilian rule to his country. Obasanjo, Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979, is to meet French President Jacques Chirac. His tour is also expected to take him to Britain, Germany […]
IRELAND will donate R45-million in development aid to Lesotho this year, Irish consul-general to Lesotho Tom Wright announced in the capital Maseru on Wednesday. Addressing a reception to mark Saint Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s national day, Wright said poverty alleviation is at the heart of Ireland’s development programme to Lesotho. He added that the Irish aid […]
THE Anglo-Swiss team trying to make the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight is now unlikely to touch down in Egypt, contrary to earlier hopes, organisers said on Wednesday. The meteorologists plotting the course of the Breitling Orbiter III, piloted by Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of Britain, will not be able to name […]
THE Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty committee on Tuesday granted amnesty to apartheid-era spy Dieter Gerhardt. Gerhardt (64), a former commander of Simon’s Town naval base, was sentenced in the Cape Town High Court in 1983 to life imprisonment for spying for the former Soviet Union. He was released in 1992 as a political prisoner […]
MAURITIAN authorities are to search a Spanish-owned fishing vessel suspected of fishing illegally for the rare Patagonian Toothfish. Greenpeace has accused the “Salvora” which arrived Tuesday in Port Louis, of fishing for toothfish off the French-ruled Kerguelen islands in the far south of the Indian Ocean in what is an exclusive French economic zone.French ambassador […]
MOROCCO and the United Nations have signed a military agreement to identify and destroy mines and unexploded bombs still buried in the Western Sahara, UN officials based in Al Ayun said Tuesday. The agreement does not apply to minefields bordering the fortifications built by Morocco in the barren eastern part of the territory.Minurso, the UN […]
President Nelson Mandela will meet Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi in the capital Tripoli on Friday.
JUST 15 days before the sale of Zambia’s major copper mines is to go through, prospective buyer Anglo American Corporation is still lacking a substantial mining partner to join the venture. Sources from the ministry of finance said on Monday that the Zambian government is in a difficult situation because Anglo — who appears to […]
ALL Black winger Jonah Lomu hopes to make a comeback from injury in an invitation game on Friday. Lomu has not been able to play with the Waikato Chiefs Super 12 team and now hopes to play with the Bay of Plenty Steamers Invitation XV. Manager Steve Gilbert said Lomu would test his knee injury […]
SABC programme director Mandla Langa will be appointed chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) at the end of March to replace outgoing chair Felleng Sekha, the National Assembly’s communications committee decided on Tuesday. The committee also resolved that the other two vacancies on the IBA council be filled by Sentech group executive Ken Herold […]
NIGERIA’s outgoing military government has named a new set of 41 envoys to head the country’s foreign missions abroad. The foreign ministry said in a statement that the move, ahead of the May 29 date for military hand-over to elected civilians, is “an integral part of the transition programme meant to lift Nigeria out of […]
ENGLAND’S Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) broke with 212 years of tradition on Tuesday by announcing its first women members. The prestigious London cricket club, still responsible for the laws of the game, said it had chosen 10 women as honorary members of the club. They include former England women’s captain Rachel Heyhoe Flint. The MCC […]
THE Constitutional Court on Tuesday reserved judgment in its hearing on the New National Party’s challenge to the government ruling that only voters with bar-coded identity books can vote in the June election. The judgment is pending the presentation of supporting documents. The NNP, which took its case to the Constitutional Court after losing its […]
THE British government, working with Penal Reform International, has started giving food to thousands of starving prisoners in Malawi’s 23 jails, a British embassy official said on Wednesday. Marylyn Bennet said Britain is helping with plans to establish prison farms to ensure a sustainable food supply in jails. Serious food shortages have been blamed on […]
TAXI drivers at Apel village, 80km from Pietersburg, have prevented teachers from going to school in their own cars for three days. Regional Police Commissioner Erwin Dorfling said 17 primary schools and eight high schools have been paralysed since Monday. One teacher, who insisted on remaining anonymous because of threats from taxi drivers, said they […]
THE last Senegalese soldiers in Guinea-Bissau left on Monday night for home, ending a 10-month deployment in the West African country where they defended the government against an army rebellion. The pull-out was confirmed by the Senegalese armed forces command, which said in a communique that the “final elements” of the Senegalese contingent would be […]