Foreign

Firefighters fear fuel depot blaze may spread
ABIDJAN -- Firefighters battling a blaze at Ivory Coast's main petroleum storage depot had nearly exhausted chemical foam supplies needed to smother the flames, a firefighting official said. While firemen stood idly by an official at the scene s...

Queen, duke to visit SA in November
LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh are to visit South Africa later this year, Buckingham Palace announced yesterday. The royal couple will undertake a state visit to South Africa from November 9 to 12, opening the Commonwealt...

R30m for Zim land resettlement
HARARE -- The World Bank said yesterday it would disburse R30million to Zimbabwe for the resettlement of about 1000 families as part of the country's land reform programme. A statement said the United States, Sweden, Norway and Holland were due t...

Unesco condemns military coups in Africa
ZANZIBAR, Tanzania -- Unesco director-general Federico Mayor yesterday condemned military coups in Africa, saying they had brought nothing but misery. "We must tell the political leaders that poverty, children fighting in wars and roaming the str...

Depressed new moms could affect children
WASHINGTON -- Emory University researchers have found that depression in new mothers could have a long-term effect on their babies. They reported this week that both depressed mothers and their babies have increased amounts of the hormone cortiso...

Hope continues for alternative to chemotherapy
ATLANTA -- Some experts say gruelling bone marrow transplants for advanced breast cancer will eventually prove worthwhile, despite disappointing results from some long-awaited studies. Over the past decade, doctors have increasing urged women with...

Russia wants 3 pilots found
MOSCOW -- The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked the Angolan government to find three Russian pilots reportedly captured by Unita rebels who shot down their plane in Angola. The rebels said that they had shot down the plane on May 12 and that the...

Long-serving pope turns 79
VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II turned 79 yesterday without fanfare or fuss, devoting part of what was his 20th birthday as pontiff to an issue dear to his heart -- peace in Kosovo. For John Paul, it was a normal working day, or even slightly b...

Bhutto's jailed spouse hurt
KARACHI -- Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto accused Pakistani police yesterday of attempting to murder her jailed husband after a report that he had tried to commit suicide. Pakistani police said here that Asif Ali Zardari, under in...

Gandhi urged to stay on
NEW DELHI -- India's main opposition Congress party launched an orchestrated campaign yesterday, including mass resignations and hunger strikes, to persuade Sonia Gandhi to stay on as party president. The Italian-born Gandhi resigned on Monday, a...