Africa

Disaster as Niger floods add to food crisis

2010-09-02 06:00:00 Edition 2
NIAMEY: Collapsed buildings, flooded-out rice paddies: the floods in Niger are not as spectacular as those in Pakistan, but they spell disaster for a people already stricken by a food crisis. [ Full Story... ]

Africa - September 02, 2010

2010-09-02 06:00:01 Edition 2
Zimbabwe would need US $200 million (R1.4 billion) to hold polls next year if leaders insisted on meeting unity deal time frames, Finance Minister Tendai Biti was quoted as saying yesterday. [ Full Story... ]

Many donated malaria drugs end up on black market, study finds Subscribe today for premium content

2010-09-02 06:00:00 Edition 2
LONDON: Millions of free malaria drugs are sent to Africa every year by international donors. New research is now providing evidence of what health workers have long suspected: some of the donated medication is being stolen and sold on commercial markets. [ Full Story... ]

Rebels fire on plane flying aid workers

2010-09-02 06:00:00 Edition 2
JOHANNESBURG: Gunmen have fired at a plane carrying three members of a US aid group minutes after it landed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. [ Full Story... ]

Hundreds of South Africans stranded in Mozambique Subscribe today for premium content

2010-09-02 06:00:00 Edition 2
MAPUTO: Hundreds of South Africans have been caught up in riots that gripped Mozambique yesterday, forcing them to stay in the country and leaving a number of hotels in Maputo scrambling to accommodate those left stranded. [ Full Story... ]

SA closes embassy in Maputo after violent street riots

2010-09-02 06:00:00 Edition 1
MAPUTO: The SA government has closed its embassy in Mozambique following violent riots here, the SABC reported yesterday [ Full Story... ]

Aid workers hide after plane fired on Subscribe today for premium content

2010-09-02 06:00:00 Edition 1
JOHANNESBURG: Gunmen in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday fired on a private plane carrying aid workers, who escaped into the forest and are hiding, an International Medical Corps spokesman said. [ Full Story... ]

Africa - September 2010

2010-09-01 06:00:01 Edition 2
Three Russian pilots snatched by gunmen in Sudan's restive Darfur region were freed by security forces after a clash with their kidnappers, the governor of the province said yesterday. [ Full Story... ]

Sudan floods leave 57 000 displaced

2010-09-01 06:00:00 Edition 2
JUBA, Sudan: Floods in south Sudan have forced more than 50 000 people from their homes, health officials said yesterday, warning that the situation could worsen. [ Full Story... ]

Amnesty slams Rwanda's genocide laws

2010-09-01 06:00:00 Edition 1
KIGALI: Human rights watchdog Amnesty International asked Rwanda yesterday to review its laws on "genocide ideology", saying they are being used as a guise to suppress political opposition and freedom of speech. [ Full Story... ]

Five asphyxiated in Saudi deportation centre

2010-08-31 06:00:00 Edition 1
RIYADH: Five Ethiopians died in a crowded Saudi centre for the deportation of illegal immigrants, the Arab News reported yesterday. [ Full Story... ]

Africa - August 31, 2010

2010-08-31 06:00:01 Edition 1
An American aid worker abducted by gunmen in the Sudanese region of Darfur more than 100 days ago was freed yesterday, while at least two Russians were reported kidnapped. [ Full Story... ]

Six more civilians killed in Somali violence

2010-08-31 06:00:00 Edition 1
NAIROBI: Fighting in Somalia's capital killed at least six civilians yesterday as clashes between Islamist militants and pro-government forces entered a second week. [ Full Story... ]

Four AU peacekeepers killed in Mogadishu

2010-08-31 06:00:00 Edition 2
MOGADISHU: Four Ugandan peacekeepers have been killed and eight soldiers wounded here in mortar fire by Islamist rebels targeting the Somali presidential palace. [ Full Story... ]

Africa - August 30, 2010

2010-08-30 06:00:01 Edition 2
Algerian security forces have killed 10 Islamic rebels in an eastern area known to be a stronghold of al-Qaeda's north African wing, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. [ Full Story... ]

If Nyamwasa were tried, it might shed light on turbulence in eastern DRC Subscribe today for premium content

2010-08-30 06:00:00 Edition 1
Few people in the world can be as wretched as the denizens of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). [ Full Story... ]

Life term for exiled ex-leader of|Madagascar 'may prolong crisis'

2010-08-30 06:00:00 Edition 1
ANTANANARIVO: The sentencing of Madagascar's former president, Marc Ravalomanana, to hard labour for life may prove to be one more obstacle in the island's attempts to emerge from its current political crisis. [ Full Story... ]

Rwanda threat to withdraw peacekeepers

2010-08-30 06:00:00 Edition 1
JOHANNESBURG: Rwanda has threatened to withdraw its troops from United Nations peacekeeping operations if the world body publishes a report accusing the Rwandan army of committing possible genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s, Rwanda's foreign minister said in a letter to the UN. [ Full Story... ]

Gaddafi descends on Italy to extend Libyan influence

2010-08-30 06:00:00 Edition 1
ROME: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has arrived here for a two-day visit that has aroused a mixture of curiosity and controversy over Tripoli's growing influence in the Italian economy. [ Full Story... ]

Cheers, sneers at shift in policy on gymslip mums

2010-08-30 06:00:00 Edition 1
HARARE: Zimbabwe's government has had to fend off charges that it is encouraging teen sex after deciding to grant parental leave to pregnant schoolgirls and soon-to-be dads. [ Full Story... ]

While DRC wallows in misery, copper brings Katanga stability and wealth

2010-08-30 06:00:00 Edition 1
LUBUMBASHI: Membership at the governor's new gym costs $300 (R2 200) a month, the menu at the new $350-a-night hotel is going down a treat, and traffic guided by yellow-uniformed police runs smoothly under sunny skies. [ Full Story... ]

Africa - August 27, 2010

2010-08-27 06:00:01 Edition 1
The sole survivor of an air crash in western Democratic Republic of Congo, in which 20 people died, remained in critical condition yesterday, local media reports said. [ Full Story... ]

Rebels in DRC deny mass rape

2010-08-27 06:00:00 Edition 1
KINSHASA: FDLR Hutu rebels denied taking part in mass rapes reported in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. [ Full Story... ]

Mounting body count in Mogadishu fighting Subscribe today for premium content

2010-08-26 06:00:00 Edition 2
MOGADISHU: Fighting in Somalia's capital has flared for a third successive day, leaving eight people dead and pushing the death toll past 80 as insurgents try to drive government soldiers back towards the presidential palace. [ Full Story... ]

Bomber in barracks suicide bid shot dead

2010-08-26 06:00:00 Edition 2
NOUAKCHOTT: A suicide bomber has tried to drive a truck loaded with explosives into army barracks in Nema, Mauritania, but has been shot dead. [ Full Story... ]

Six Somali|MPs killed|in hotel|gun battle

2010-08-25 06:00:00 Edition 2
MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber and gunmen wearing military uniforms attacked a hotel near Somalia's presidential palace on Monday, sparking a running gun battle with security forces. At least 34 people were killed, including six Somali members of parliament. [ Full Story... ]

Africa - August 25, 2010

2010-08-25 06:00:01 Edition 2
Nigerian airlines have gained the right to fly their own planes to the United States after an improvement in the West African nation's aviation safety standards, Nigerian and US officials said. [ Full Story... ]

Anglican church 'out of touch with word of God'

2010-08-25 06:00:01 Edition 2
ENTEBBE: The Anglican church in the West no longer adheres to the word of God, African bishops said yesterday at a continental conference attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury. [ Full Story... ]

Al-Qaeda frees aid pair in swop for jailed cadre Subscribe today for premium content

2010-08-24 06:00:00 Edition 2
BAMAKO, Mali: Two Spanish aid workers kidnapped almost nine months ago by an al-Qaeda affiliate have been freed and have travelled to the capital of neighbouring Burkina Faso, according to a diplomatic source. [ Full Story... ]

Zimbabwe's tobacco harvest up for first time in years

2010-08-23 06:00:00 Edition 2
HARARE: Douglas Mhembere had only a plastic bag in hand when he took over a farm eight years ago under Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's land reforms. [ Full Story... ]