Updated: 8am GMT -- 2004/06/23
Foreign
South Korean hostage beheaded in Iraq
ANOTHER DEATH: South Korean Kim Sun-il in an image taken from an undated but recent video, obtained by Al-Jazeera television station on Sunday. An Iraqi militant group has beheaded Kim, Al-Jazeera television reported yesterday. (AP) SEOUL - ...
Zim motorists forced to pay for air in tyres
HARARE - Zimbabwe's fuel stations, grappling with erratic fuel supplies, have started selling air to motorists at exorbitant prices, the state news agency has reported. Ziana interviewed a motorist who had been asked to pay 2000 Zimbabwe doll...
Iran softens position on detained British sailors
TEHRAN - Iran appeared to soften its position yesterday on the fate of eight British sailors detained in its waters, with a military spokesperson stepping back from state television's saying they would be prosecuted. "Any comments on the fate of ...
Putin vows to destroy rebels after 57 killed
NAZRAN, Russia - President Vladimir Putin yesterday vowed to "destroy" Chechen rebels who staged unprecedented strikes into a neighbouring Russian republic, killing at least 57 people and putting Moscow's strategy for regional peace in grave do...
Mozambique hosts ACP meeting
MAPUTO - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and a few other leaders arrived in Mozambique yesterday, ahead of a summit of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) club of poor and developing nations. The summit of the 79-nation group is expe...
Bid to calm new war threat in Congo
KINSHASA - British and US envoys launched an emergency mission yesterday to try to quell threats of renewed war between neighbours Congo and Rwanda, and Rwanda announced it had given refugee status to a fleeing Congolese rebel commander on "hum...
Dutroux jailed for life for rape, murder
ARLON, Belgium - Paedophile rapist and murderer Marc Dutroux was sentenced to life behind bars yesterday at the climax to a harrowing trial that delved into one of the darkest chapters in Belgium's history. Dutroux's ex-wife was given 30 yea...
Affleck becomes a poker champ
LOS ANGELES - Movie star Ben Affleck may be unlucky at love, but he is lucky at cards, winning $356000 (about R2,2million) and a place at the World Poker Tour Championship in April, officials said this week. The gambling screen heart-throb won a ...
Namibia's white farmers face uncertainty
WINDHOEK - Namibia's white farmers are increasingly concerned about their future after President Sam Nujoma's government began targeting a second group of farms for expropriation under its land reform programme. A second wave of letters was ...
Swazi democrats go to court for say on constitution
MBABANE - Pro-democracy groups in Swaziland are asking a high court to force the government to allow them to present their views on a new constitution, a lawyer said yesterday. A coalition of churches, labour movements and opposition pa...
New high-tech portrait of queen
LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II has posed for many artists in her time, but she stepped up the technology ladder for her latest portrait. The three-dimensional laser light hologram, titled Equanimity, was commissioned by the Jersey Heritage Trust...
