adminMan rapes mentally challenged niece
Court Reporter
A 54-year-old man from Mtshabezi area in Gwanda district has landed himself in trouble after he allegedly sexually abused his mentally challenged niece until she fell pregnant.
Domestic violence cases increase
Beitbridge Reporter
POLICE in Beitbridge have this year recorded 54 cases of domestic violence compared to 47 recorded during the same period last year.
‘Kidnappings’ mar Sudan Christmas
Khartoum — The fear of kidnappings, a dwindling number of worshippers, and shrinking church finances mar the first Christmas in Muslim-majority Sudan since the Christian South separated, church sources say.
“We are going to have a Christmas like parents without children,” said one source.
Commotion after Zuma’s Christianity comments
Johannesburg — President Jacob Zuma’s comments about the advent of Christianity in South Africa caused a flurry of criticism and clarifications from various groups on Wednesday.
The Timeslive website quoted Zuma as telling the launch of a road safety and crime awareness campaign in KwaZulu-Natal that “as Africans, long before the arrival of religion and [the] gospel, we had our own ways of doing things”.
Egypt army hikes tone against protesters
Cairo — Egypt’s ruling military escalated its tone against pro-democracy activists on Wednesday, warning of an attempt to “topple the state”, as government media said a plot had been uncovered to use upcoming protests to throw the country into a civil war.
Mandela grandson’s wife blocks third marriage
Johannesburg — The wife of Nelson Mandela’s grandson has challenged his Christmas Eve wedding to a third wife in court, claiming the law does not allow the chief to practise polygamy, a report said yesterday.
Tando Mabunu-Mandela says her civil law union with Mandla Mandela blocks his marriage to customary wives, according to The Times.
IMF warns Africa to prepare for Europe fallout
NIAMEY — Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are less prepared to deal with an economic shock now than they were during the 2008 food and fuel crisis and the global financial turmoil that followed, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday, urging developing nations to build up their economic defences.
Baghdad blasts kill 67 as Iraq tensions rise
BAGHDAD — A rash of bombings hit Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 67 people in the first big attack on Iraq’s capital since a crisis between its Shi’ite Muslim-led government and Sunni rivals erupted days after the US troop withdrawal.
Violence erupts ahead of monitors’ arrival in Syria
Activists in Syria yesterday reported the deaths of at least nine people, including six in the central province of Homs and two in the northwestern city of Idlib which Syria’s opposition says has borne the brunt of operations by Syrian forces that left 250 people dead in the last two days.
Russia’s Medvedev tries to appease protesters
MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev called yesterday for comprehensive reform of Russia’s political system to try to appease protesters staging the biggest demonstrations since Vladimir Putin rose to power 12 years ago.