SOUTH AFRICA
PRETORIA – South African President Thabo Mbeki shrugs off opposition calls to fire Health Minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang. A newspaper report claiming that the minister is an alcoholic and still drinking despite having had a liver transplant has led to speculation that she abused her position as Health Minister to secure a new liver.
PRETORIA – Apartheid-era police minister, Adriaan Vlok and four police officers receive suspended prison sentences after pleading guilty to attempting to murder a leading black activist in 1989. The case rekindles debate about justice and retribution in a country still dealing with the scars of white rule. The accused tried to murder anti-apartheid activist and cleric Frank Chikane, now adviser to President Thabo Mbeki, by lacing his underwear with poison. The poison attacked his nervous system, making him violently ill.
AFRICA
CAIRO – Egyptian archaeologists find what they say could be the oldest human footprint in history in the country's Western Desert, according to the Arab country's antiquities' chief. Secretary-general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, estimates that the footprint could be as old as two-million years and says that it could be the most important discovery in Egypt.
The footprint, which was imprinted on mud and then hardened into rock, is located at a prehistoric site in Siwa, a desert oasis. Scientists are using carbon tests on plants found in the rock to determine its exact age.
NAIROBI – A report issued by an anticorruption watchdog finds that Kenya's badly paid police force is the most bribe-prone institution in the country. Corruption has grown worse in Kenya since President Mwai Kibaki swept to power in 2002 vowing to stamp out the graft that was deterring investment in East Africa's biggest economy. Kenya ranks 142nd on Transparency International's (TI's) 163-nation global corruption list - above only Guinea, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and the Ivory Coast in Africa. The new Kenya Bribery Index, compiled by TI's local branch, found that Kenyans encountered bribery in 54% of interactions with officials last year, compared with 47% in 2005.
KINSHASA – South African President Thabo Mbeki leads a delegation of more than a dozen ministers to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to sign deals on defence, transport and health as the former Belgian colony rebuilds after its historic elections. The visit is the first such high-level meeting between the two nations since the DRC last year held its first democratic polls in more than four decades.
ASMARA – Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki accuses the US of fuelling conflict in the Horn of Africa and is urging Washington to change its policies in the latest round of finger pointing between the two nations. The comments come days after Washington’s announcement of its intention to place Eritrea on its list of State sponsors of terrorism, for allegedly aiding Islamists battling the Ethiopian-backed Somali government.
KAMPALA – Christian groups in Uganda hold a protest rally against what they call an orchestrated promotion of gays and lesbians in the country. A call from a gay and lesbian advocacy group, the Sexual Minorities Groups in Uganda, which for the first time held a news conference demanding recognition a week ago, triggered the protest, which also called for the sacking of a US intern at a local independent newspaper Daily Monitor for reporting on the experiences of gays in Uganda.
WORLD
GENEVA – The United Nations human rights office accuses forces allied with Sudan’s government of mass abduction and rape of women and girls in Darfur, acts that it says could constitute war crimes. Following testimonies from victims and witnesses, the organisation is calling on Khartoum to investigate reports that approximately 50 abductees, including many children, were beaten and raped repeatedly over a month-long period, after an attack on the rebel-held town of Deribat in South Darfur last December.
PRETORIA – South African President Thabo Mbeki shrugs off opposition calls to fire Health Minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang. A newspaper report claiming that the minister is an alcoholic and still drinking despite having had a liver transplant has led to speculation that she abused her position as Health Minister to secure a new liver.
PRETORIA – Apartheid-era police minister, Adriaan Vlok and four police officers receive suspended prison sentences after pleading guilty to attempting to murder a leading black activist in 1989. The case rekindles debate about justice and retribution in a country still dealing with the scars of white rule. The accused tried to murder anti-apartheid activist and cleric Frank Chikane, now adviser to President Thabo Mbeki, by lacing his underwear with poison. The poison attacked his nervous system, making him violently ill.
AFRICA
CAIRO – Egyptian archaeologists find what they say could be the oldest human footprint in history in the country's Western Desert, according to the Arab country's antiquities' chief. Secretary-general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, estimates that the footprint could be as old as two-million years and says that it could be the most important discovery in Egypt.
The footprint, which was imprinted on mud and then hardened into rock, is located at a prehistoric site in Siwa, a desert oasis. Scientists are using carbon tests on plants found in the rock to determine its exact age.
NAIROBI – A report issued by an anticorruption watchdog finds that Kenya's badly paid police force is the most bribe-prone institution in the country. Corruption has grown worse in Kenya since President Mwai Kibaki swept to power in 2002 vowing to stamp out the graft that was deterring investment in East Africa's biggest economy. Kenya ranks 142nd on Transparency International's (TI's) 163-nation global corruption list - above only Guinea, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and the Ivory Coast in Africa. The new Kenya Bribery Index, compiled by TI's local branch, found that Kenyans encountered bribery in 54% of interactions with officials last year, compared with 47% in 2005.
KINSHASA – South African President Thabo Mbeki leads a delegation of more than a dozen ministers to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to sign deals on defence, transport and health as the former Belgian colony rebuilds after its historic elections. The visit is the first such high-level meeting between the two nations since the DRC last year held its first democratic polls in more than four decades.
ASMARA – Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki accuses the US of fuelling conflict in the Horn of Africa and is urging Washington to change its policies in the latest round of finger pointing between the two nations. The comments come days after Washington’s announcement of its intention to place Eritrea on its list of State sponsors of terrorism, for allegedly aiding Islamists battling the Ethiopian-backed Somali government.
KAMPALA – Christian groups in Uganda hold a protest rally against what they call an orchestrated promotion of gays and lesbians in the country. A call from a gay and lesbian advocacy group, the Sexual Minorities Groups in Uganda, which for the first time held a news conference demanding recognition a week ago, triggered the protest, which also called for the sacking of a US intern at a local independent newspaper Daily Monitor for reporting on the experiences of gays in Uganda.
WORLD
GENEVA – The United Nations human rights office accuses forces allied with Sudan’s government of mass abduction and rape of women and girls in Darfur, acts that it says could constitute war crimes. Following testimonies from victims and witnesses, the organisation is calling on Khartoum to investigate reports that approximately 50 abductees, including many children, were beaten and raped repeatedly over a month-long period, after an attack on the rebel-held town of Deribat in South Darfur last December.
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