Tag Archives: IndepthSouthAfrica

Riot police use tear gas on Congo protesters

November 26, 2011 by benim

Riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Saturday as campaigning by rival groups drew to a close two days before presidential and parliamentary elections, Reuters reporters said. There were bouts of … read more »

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Tanzania ruling party plans anti-corruption purge

November 26, 2011 by benim

Tanzania’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party said on Saturday it would implement anti-corruption measures nationwide and publicly acknowledged for the first time that a succession dispute had split the long-dominant party. President Jakaya Kikwete, who must step down in … read more »

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Doves, roses help illiterate Moroccans vote

November 26, 2011 by benim

Rabat – Ballots for Friday’s parliamentary elections in Morocco featured symbols for each party such as a rose, a dove or a tractor to help illiterate voters identify them. A total of 33 symbols have been employed to represent the … read more »

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Mali kidnapping: Tourists evacuated

November 26, 2011 by benim

Hombori – A group of tourists was evacuated from the ancient tourist city of Timbuktu in northern Mali Saturday, an airport source said, after the kidnapping of four Europeans, one of whom was killed. The group of around 10 tourists … read more »

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SA man reportedly in Mali hostage drama

November 26, 2011 by benim

Bamako – Gunmen killed a German man in Mali’s most famous city of Timbuktu and seized three men from the Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden, their tour guide said, as officials on Saturday ordered a plane to evacuate foreigners from … read more »

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UN chief calls for peace in Egypt

November 26, 2011 by benim

New York – UN leader Ban Ki-moon renewed calls for Egypt’s military rulers to ensure a “peaceful transition” after talks on Friday with the head of the military council, a spokesperson said. Ban and Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi held telephone … read more »

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First of 3 arrested US students leaves Egypt

November 26, 2011 by benim

Cairo – The first of three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo has left Egypt, an airport official and an attorney for one of the trio confirmed on Friday. The three Americans were arrested on the roof of … read more »

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Zambian ex-leader to monitor DRC poll

November 25, 2011 by benim

Washington – Former Zambian president Rupiah Banda has been tapped to lead a mission to observe Monday’s presidential and parliamentary polls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Carter Centre said its vice president for peace programmess John Stremlau would … read more »

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Egypt army rejects calls to step down

November 25, 2011 by benim

Cairo – Egypt’s military rulers rejected protester demands for them to step down immediately and said Thursday they would start the first round of parliamentary elections on time next week despite serious unrest in Cairo and other cities. The ruling … read more »

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Motswana girls turn to SA for abortions

November 25, 2011 by benim

Johannesburg – Motswana girls are turning to local clinics and hospitals near the border to terminate pregnancies, South Africa’s Limpopo health department said on Thursday. Shoki Mokobane, Statistics and Research Population Unit Manager, said a survey by the department found … read more »

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Thousands stream into Cairo’s Tahrir

November 25, 2011 by benim

Cairo – Thousands of Egyptians streamed into Tahrir Square on Friday ahead of a new mass rally to demand the end of military rule, capping a week of protests and deadly clashes just days before the first polls since Hosni … read more »

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Jammeh leads in vote tally so far

November 25, 2011 by benim

Banjul – Gambian President Yahya Jammeh headed for a new term on Friday with a partial tally showing he won 77.35% of votes in a poll criticised regionally for intimidation of opposition groups and voters. Former military coup leader Jammeh’s … read more »

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Wave of Kenya attacks – 3 dead

November 24, 2011 by benim

Mandera – A wave of attacks in northern Kenya left three people dead and 26 wounded, provoking a backlash by security forces who beat scores of civilians at the site of one attack in a town on the country’s border … read more »

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Riots in second Tunisian province

November 24, 2011 by benim

Tunis – Authorities imposed an overnight curfew in a Tunisian province on Thursday, an official said, after riots over jobs highlighted the challenges facing the new government in meeting expectations for better living conditions. The riots in the Gafsa region … read more »

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Boko Haram claims al-Qaeda links

November 24, 2011 by benim

Kano – A purported spokesperson for Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed on Thursday that the group, blamed for attacks including the suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Nigeria, has links with al-Qaeda. “It is true we have links with al-Qaeda,” … read more »

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Ethiopian intervention in Somalia ‘a risk’

November 24, 2011 by benim

Nairobi – The United Nations warned on Thursday that Ethiopia’s reported sending of troops into Somalia to fight Islamist rebels could worsen what is already the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis. “Local sources report that hundreds of Ethiopian troops entered … read more »

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Sudan border conflict – 60 000 displaced

November 24, 2011 by benim

Khartoum – Tens of thousands of civilians are deeply affected by fighting between the Sudanese army and southern-aligned rebels in Sudan’s Blue Nile border state, the United Nations said on Thursday. “As a result of ongoing conflict, civilians are continuing … read more »

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Tahrir truce holds, huge rally planned

November 24, 2011 by benim

Cairo – Egyptian protesters and police observed a truce on Thursday after violence that has killed 39 people in five days, but said they would intensify pressure for an end to army rule with a mass rally on Friday in … read more »

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Malema comes out fighting

November 24, 2011 by benim

Bloemfontein – ANC Youth League president Julius Malema on Thursday night accused the ANC leadership of double standards and not keeping to the party’s history. “The discipline of the ANC must not have eyes, it must be consistent,” Malema told … read more »

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Zimbabawe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangira impregnated Tembo with twins outside wedlock

November 24, 2011 by benim

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka’s denials of an event told by multiple witnesses has left journalists feeling he is being less than truthful, or there is something Zimbabweans are not being told about the Tsvangirai, Locadia relationship. Tsvangirai … read more »

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Nigeria, Indonesia top deforestation list, China lowest

November 24, 2011 by benim

Nigeria, Indonesia and North Korea have the world’s highest rates of deforestation while China and the United States, the top two greenhouse gas polluters, have the lowest, a global ranking released on Thursday shows. Growing demand for food and biofuels, … read more »

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Tunisia security forces fire in air during protest

November 24, 2011 by benim

Tunisian security forces fired into the air to try to disperse more than 3,000 protesters who were preparing to attack a government building in the provincial town of Kasserine On Wednesday, witnesses said. The protesters took to the streets because … read more »

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Zuma says S.Africa can’t be welfare state: SAPA

November 24, 2011 by benim

South Africa cannot afford to increase its spending on social grants indefinitely because this is not sustainable, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday. More than 15 million of an estimated 50 million people in Africa’s biggest economy receive some kind … read more »

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Blast hits Kenya army truck near Somalia border

November 24, 2011 by benim

A blast struck a Kenyan military truck in Mandera on Thursday, the army said, the latest in a spate of attacks on Kenyan security forces along the border with Somalia since the east African country sent troops across the frontier. … read more »

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Gambian president set for re-election in tainted vote

November 24, 2011 by benim

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh looks set to be re-elected in polls on Thursday which West African regional bloc ECOWAS has said may not be free and fair. The former British colony, mainland Africa’s smallest country, is a popular tourist destination … read more »

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Cameroon court jails gays

November 24, 2011 by benim

Yaounde – A court in Yaounde has sentenced three Cameroonian men arrested in July to five years in prison for engaging in gay sex, their lawyer said on Wednesday. The Ekounou court sentenced the three on Tuesday to five years … read more »

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Kenya wants to galvanise world action on Somalia

November 24, 2011 by benim

Kenya’s military push should trigger greater international efforts to stabilise Somalia and end “the expansion of terrorism’s tentacles”, the Kenyan security minister said on Wednesday, without spelling out what this would entail. George Saitoti, a veteran politician and former vice … read more »

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Heat Wave Kills More Than 77 Elephants in Zimbabwe

November 24, 2011 by benim

More than 77 elephants have died in a three-month heat wave that has dried up watering holes in western Zimbabwe, wildlife authorities said Wednesday Rangers in the Hwange National Park have counted 18 calves and 21 adolescent elephants among the … read more »

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7 000 held in Libyan militia prisons

November 24, 2011 by benim

New York – About 7 000 people, many of them foreigners, are being held in Libyan detention centres controlled by “revolutionary brigade” militia, according to a new UN report. Women and children are among the detainees and some have allegedly … read more »

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Brotherhood plies strategic path in Egypt

November 24, 2011 by benim

Cairo – Egypt’s influential Muslim Brotherhood has distanced itself from protests in Tahrir Square demanding that the military rulers cede power, choosing instead to focus on an election in which it is poised to win the lion’s share of seats. … read more »

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