The AU wants Sudan to allow the UN to take over in Darfur African leaders have refused to adopt a democracy charter that would have made it more difficult for unpopular presidents to stay in office. The charter was supposed to strengthen the electoral process, end military coups and stop constitutional changes to let leaders stay in office. But ministers refused to agree to the last point, says South Africa's foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
The African Union summit is still set to discuss Sudan and Somalia. At a summit in the Gambian capital, Banjul, the AU will try to persuade Sudan to allow the United Nations to take over the stretched AU peace mission in Darfur.
The situation in Somalia is also to be discussed, after an Islamist group took control of the capital, raising fears of conflict with the weak government. Fifty-two villas and a huge hotel and conference centre have been built in just under six months just outside Banjul, to accommodate the heads of state, AFP news agency reports.
UN Secretary General Kofi Anan will also be in Banjul this weekend where he hopes to meet President Robert Mugabe about Zimbabwe's political crisis. But the veteran Zimbabwean leader has been talking tough ahead of suggestions of such mediation. "We may be suffering, yes, but we will never die. What we need is support for the economy," Mr Mugabe said this week.
Other world leaders known for their anti-Western stance - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - will also be attending the summit. The fate of Chad's former President Hissene Habre is also to be decided by the AU leaders. Mr Habre, who has been living in exile in Senegal for years, is wanted in Belgium for alleged abuses committed under his rule between 1982 and 1990.
The democracy charter would have condemned any unconstitutional change of power, as well as any refusal to accept defeat and hand over power after losing an election. Those who break these rules would have faced suspension from the AU. "The charter has been sent back, so that it can't be adopted unless the heads of state disagree with the ministers, which is unlikely," Mrs Dlamini-Zuma said.
"The main contention was around the clause that talks about people not being allowed to manipulate the constitution to extend their terms of office," she said. Fifteen of Africa's 53 leaders are former military rulers, including host President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia. Those who stage coups already face automatic suspension.
Before heading for Banjul, President Omar al-Bashir told a rally in Khartoum that deploying international troops in Darfur would be tantamount to foreign occupation. The AU's special representative for Darfur, Babagana Kingibe, put a brave face on the situation, pointing out that there was still a dialogue between the UN and the Sudanese government, with plans for President Bashir to meet Mr Annan over the weekend. "In politics, nothing is ever settled until it is settled," Mr Kingibe said.
The AU's own position at the moment is to stress its determination to end the peacekeeping operation by the end of September. A recent AU-brokered peace deal has failed to end the violence in the region, where more than 2m people have fled their homes in the last three years. If Sudan gave its consent, a UN official said this week that it would send a force the size of a division - thought to be about 17,000 troops - to Darfur in January next year.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Ex-police chief Tafa Balogun was arrested last year. The Nigerian police force has rejected the conclusions of a new report that it is regarded as one of the country's most corrupt institutions. A police spokesman said the force had the highest quality control system.
He said the Centre for Law Enforcement Education (Cleen) survey did not reflect changes implemented since the arrival of the new inspector general. Last year, Nigeria's former police chief was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to six months in prison.
The other institution named in the survey as corrupt is the country's national electricity provider, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). PHCN officials are alleged to have demanded money for maintaining power supplies. Nigeria is routinely ranked as being seen as one of the world's most corrupt countries by watchdog Transparency International.
According to Cleen director Innocent Chukwuma, their survey was conducted across Nigeria between October and December last year. He said that those surveyed were asked about their "perception of corruption - whether it had decreased or increased in the last seven years of President Obasanjo's government when a lot has been put into the fight against corruption". This included a question on how they regarded government agencies. "Seventy-eight percent of the respondents say that corruption has indeed increased," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
But police spokesman Haz Iwendi said surveys were easily manipulated. "This survey does not reflect the present reality on the ground, there are lots of changes going on," he told the BBC. He said the police were actively exposing those who were corrupt within the service, unlike other government agencies. "Nigeria's police has the best quality mechanism in this country - there's no organisation that cleanses itself like the Nigerian police force."
Meanwhile, the most senior Anglican cleric in Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola, called on the government to do more to uproot corruption. Archbishop Akinola complained that few people accused of corruption were being put behind bars. Speaking ahead of a national conference of the Church of Nigeria, he called on Nigerians to vote against any corrupt politician standing in the general elections scheduled for next year.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SA crime-busters stay independent .
By Peter Biles - BBC News, Johannesburg.
The scorpions carried out a high profile probe into a travel scam involving MPs. South Africa has ruled on the future of the controversial Scorpions anti-crime unit, agreeing to a recommendation the unit stay independent of the police. But there is to be closer co-ordination between the Scorpions and the police. The decision follows a report presented to President Thabo Mbeki at the end of last month.
The Scorpions unit was set up in 1999 to operate independently of the South African Police to fight organised crime. The Scorpions' special investigators answered to the National Prosecuting Authority and the Minister of Justice. They have enjoyed much success in combating high-profile crime, but have also attracted controversy. The Scorpions have been accused of exceeding their powers, and conducting illegal searches.
Former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is facing corruption charges, is among those who have accused the Scorpions of overstepping the mark. Such accusations prompted a judicial commission of inquiry to consider whether to merge the Scorpions with the police. The commission, led by Judge Sisi Khampepe, recommended that the crack unit should retain its independence, although moves will be taken to strengthen ties with the police.
The lack of proper co-ordination in the past has been identified as an area of weakness in taking on the big criminals. The fight against crime in South Africa has been headline news this past week, following a shoot-out between the police and a gang of armed robbers in Johannesburg. Four policemen were killed, and eight members of the gang were shot dead.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Ghanaians proud after Brazil loss
By Kwaku Sakyi-Addo - BBC, Accra, Ghana.
Many Ghanaians felt they should have won the match. Believe it or not, the flags are still flying; revellers possess the main streets; the cars are honking, the breweries are happy and the warm wind bears strains of the hip life hit, "Obiaa nye obiaa," (nobody is anybody - we're all equal) from the bars.
You might be forgiven for thinking that Ghana beat Brazil 3-0, rather than the reverse. But for many people in the streets, the defeat of the Black Stars had little to do with the players. For them the culprit was the man in the middle.
"I'm proud of the Black Stars, but I'm angry with the referee. We played against 12 Brazilians. Next time we should take our own referee to the World Cup," a young woman wrapped in the national colours blurted out before skipping off to dance with a brass band parading on Oxford Street, a colourful shopping area in Accra.
"Daylight Robbery!" read one placard. "Stolen Verdict!" another spat out.
There were a few harsh words too for the Ghanaian strikers. Watch out for the Black Stars in South Africa 2010! "Even Stevie Wonder would have scored with some of the chances we had," lamented Kpakpo Allotey, a Black Stars replica shirts vendor, obviously not satisfied with the killing he has made during this World Cup season.
But his agony is understandable. His takings will start diminishing now that the Black Stars are out of the tournament. At the Castle, the seat of the Presidency, the atmosphere was subdued. The corridors were still, save for the furious pounding of the waves of the Atlantic against the 500-year-old walls. In contrast to the broad smiles from the 2-1 victory over the USA, the security guards wore grim faces with their olive camouflage outfits.
President John Kufuor was holed up inside his office where he had watched the game. "We played the best team in the world," a statement issued through his press secretary Andy Awuni said. "The boys held their own against them. And so even in defeat, they're victors. Now, we've joined the big league of world football, and we should acknowledge that and be proud." It is sensible for presidents to be philosophical in defeat. But many Ghanaians will, no doubt, share his words of consolation.
Fans stayed out in the streets celebrating, despite the loss. "We were not outplayed. We even had better possession," boasted Ernest Youngman, a cameraman. "Against Brazil, that's not so bad." Indeed, it is been an adventure and some are already revving up for the next one even before Germany 2006 is over. "This is only our first time. So everybody, watch out for the Black Stars in South Africa 2010!" threatened one man as he snatched a bar stool and half-sat to a cold, frothy mug of draught beer. "Cheers!" he said, raising his mug to my microphone. He took a small sip. And then, slowly, he shook his head.
A pint tastes a lot better in victory. In defeat, beer is diluted - from all the tears.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
President Kibaki has repeatedly promised to combat corruption.The head of the Kenyan office of a global anti-corruption watchdog has been sacked over allegations of financial and other irregularities. Executive director Mwalimu Mati denied the allegations, which arose after an audit of the books of the Kenya branch of Transparency International. Observers say the dismissal highlights the nature of problems facing Kenya. Three senior Kenyan government ministers have resigned over corruption claims in the past few months.
Last week, another corruption scandal involving a bank and millions of dollars of missing taxes dominated the headlines. President Mwai Kibaki promised that his priority was to root out corruption when he came to power more than three years ago.
The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says that in a country riddled by corruption, it is hard to deny the irony of the claim that the local head of one of the world's most renowned anti-corruption agencies should be accused of exactly the practices he is supposed to be on the lookout for.
High-profile campaigns against corruption have been launched. The board of directors of Transparency International Kenya are due to hold a meeting with donors on Monday. Mr Mati has said he will attend but the board's dismissal letter said he was barred from entering their offices until he hands over to his successor
The board said it had sacked Mr Mati because of "major anomalies and irregularities in contracts awarded to a company run by persons with links to the executive director" and the misuse of Transparency International's name for financial gain. Mr Mati denied the allegations and said the board of directors was undermining its own authority.
"The board has lost the moral authority to comment on corruption in Kenya because they've shown that they have no respect for due process and they totally do not appreciate, or are not able to comprehend, the whole doctrine of conflict of interests," he told the BBC. "At the end of the day, I think the allegations against me are actionable and I will be taking appropriate legal action against the members of the board who are making these allegations against me."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Dear Family and Friends,
Zimbabwe has been slowly and painfully slipping downwards for the last six
years but this week the pace moved into top speed. It has been a shocking week
here and everyone is reeling as services and prices have suddenly taken on a
life of their own.
Petrol was 260 thousand dollars a litre three weeks ago. Last week it rose to
360 thousand a litre and this week it galloped to 500 thousand dollars a litre
and then disappeared altogether.
In the supermarkets the price increases are staggering and everywhere you see
people bending down and counting digits on stickers before turning away empty
handed. The smallest bag of shopping now needs great handfuls of money. Many
people have resorted to handing a huge stack of notes to the tellers in shops
and asking them to use the money counting machines to arrive at the required
amount because it just takes too long to count by hand. Either way the queues at
the tills are endlessly long as tellers count and recount and then struggle to
close their tills which bulge at the seams with our almost worthless bank notes.
This week I met a friend who is a retired civil servant on a government medical
aid scheme. The pensioner showed me a letter just received saying that with
immediate effect monthly contributions had increased by nine hundred percent. No
apologies, no excuses, no humanity - not even for a woman as old as President
Mugabe.
In complete contrast to the realities of four figure inflation, this week a
dramatic crisis arose with bread. Bakers put the prices up, the government
ordered them to put it back down. Bakers took out a full page advert in the
press detailing the increases of everything from flour and yeast to wages,
packaging and delivery. At the price stipulated by government, bakers said they
were operating at a loss and putting twenty thousand jobs at risk. The
government refused to allow the price increases and called in the police. In a
week over 280 bakers and shop assistants have been fined for overcharging. As
the bread war continued all week the obvious happened and fewer and fewer shops
had bread on their shelves as less and less loaves were baked. It has been an
absurd but now familiar case of denial by the government. The inflation figure
is calculated and published by the government. From April to May the government
said that inflation rose by 151 percent and yet they insist that the price of
bread must remain unchanged. Its not funny just frightening but one absolutely
classic report in the state owned Herald raised a grimace of a smile. A quote
was given by an Assistant Inspector Police woman who said: "I can confirm that
we are arresting bakeries for overcharging." Not bakers, but bakeries : bricks
and mortar !
Some months ago the opposition promised a cold winter of discontent in
Zimbabwe. Well, it's cold and we are all very very discontented and winter is
half way in and now...? Thanks for reading, until next week, love cathy
Copyright cathy buckle 24 June 2006. http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:
orders@africabookcentre.com ; www.africabookcentre.com
Dear Family and Friends,
Zimbabwe has been slowly and painfully slipping downwards for the last six
years but this week the pace moved into top speed. It has been a shocking week
here and everyone is reeling as services and prices have suddenly taken on a
life of their own.
Petrol was 260 thousand dollars a litre three weeks ago. Last week it rose to
360 thousand a litre and this week it galloped to 500 thousand dollars a litre
and then disappeared altogether.
In the supermarkets the price increases are staggering and everywhere you see
people bending down and counting digits on stickers before turning away empty
handed. The smallest bag of shopping now needs great handfuls of money. Many
people have resorted to handing a huge stack of notes to the tellers in shops
and asking them to use the money counting machines to arrive at the required
amount because it just takes too long to count by hand. Either way the queues at
the tills are endlessly long as tellers count and recount and then struggle to
close their tills which bulge at the seams with our almost worthless bank notes.
This week I met a friend who is a retired civil servant on a government medical
aid scheme. The pensioner showed me a letter just received saying that with
immediate effect monthly contributions had increased by nine hundred percent. No
apologies, no excuses, no humanity - not even for a woman as old as President
Mugabe.
In complete contrast to the realities of four figure inflation, this week a
dramatic crisis arose with bread. Bakers put the prices up, the government
ordered them to put it back down. Bakers took out a full page advert in the
press detailing the increases of everything from flour and yeast to wages,
packaging and delivery. At the price stipulated by government, bakers said they
were operating at a loss and putting twenty thousand jobs at risk. The
government refused to allow the price increases and called in the police. In a
week over 280 bakers and shop assistants have been fined for overcharging. As
the bread war continued all week the obvious happened and fewer and fewer shops
had bread on their shelves as less and less loaves were baked. It has been an
absurd but now familiar case of denial by the government. The inflation figure
is calculated and published by the government. From April to May the government
said that inflation rose by 151 percent and yet they insist that the price of
bread must remain unchanged. Its not funny just frightening but one absolutely
classic report in the state owned Herald raised a grimace of a smile. A quote
was given by an Assistant Inspector Police woman who said: "I can confirm that
we are arresting bakeries for overcharging." Not bakers, but bakeries : bricks
and mortar !
Some months ago the opposition promised a cold winter of discontent in
Zimbabwe. Well, it's cold and we are all very very discontented and winter is
half way in and now...? Thanks for reading, until next week, love cathy
Copyright cathy buckle 24 June 2006. http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:
orders@africabookcentre.com ; www.africabookcentre.com
Zimbabweans pray for divine help
The prayers followed Mr Mugabe's meeting with church leader last month. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe adopted a rare tone of humility during Sunday's day of prayer - admitting to "failures" and asking for God's help. He is normally a strident speaker, laying into his critics and blaming Zimbabwe's problems on Western plots. He also said it was right for churches to point out government "shortcomings, sins of commission or omission". Thousands of people joined the prayers in Harare but some church leaders boycotted the event.
Mr Mugabe, a Catholic, called the day of prayers after a delegation of church leaders met him last month to discuss Zimbabwe's political and economic problems. Inflation is running at more than 1,000% a year and most people do not have regular work. The opposition blames Mr Mugabe and accuses him of rigging elections and harassing his critics to stay in power.
"We must accept our failures. We should have to acknowledge that as trustees in our part of the world we have not succeeded as we had wished," Mr Mugabe said at Glamis Stadium at Harare's Exhibition Park. "Let the church come in and point out where there are shortcomings, sins of commission or omission. We must combine our strengths in rebuilding our economy deriving wisdom the Lord Almighty so that our country can prosper."
However, he also made a veiled threat against church leaders who become "political" - taken to mean the outspoken Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, who called for a boycott of the prayers. "When the church leaders start being political we regard them as political creatures - and we are vicious in that area," Mr Mugabe said. "The bishop is not dearer to God than the president... The fact of being a bishop does not make one a saint."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Zimbabwe police disrupt funeral
Mr Tsvangirai said voting for change was not enough. Zimbabwe's main opposition party has condemned the "disgraceful" actions of police who disrupted the funeral on Wednesday of the party leader's father. Dzingai Tsvangirai, father of Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, died on Sunday, aged 78.
The burial at the family homestead at Buhera in south-eastern Zimbabwe went ahead after an hour's delay, MDC spokesman William Bango told the BBC. Police initially demanded that MDC regalia and flags be removed. There was "pandemonium" as mourners refused, Mr Bango said. "The officer in charge of the magisterial district where Mr Tsvangirai's rural homestead is situated arrived with about 25 police wearing what we call full riot gear," Mr Bango told the BBC News website.
Mr Bango said the policemen, who had tear gas canisters strapped to their waists, warned the mourners not to wear MDC caps and shirts. "The officer in charge said the MDC flag that was flying must be pulled down, and songs composed by the MDC must not be sung."
MDC parliamentarians demanded to know which section of the law the police were invoking in banning the regalia. People refused to take off their MDC T-shirts because "they had no other clothing," Mr Bango said. Dzingai Tsvangirai held no office in the party, but Mr Bango said mourners had "wanted to honour Mr Tsvangirai senior for bringing the party leader into the world".
The MDC was formed in 1999 to unseat President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980. But the party split last year over whether or not to take part in elections to the country's senate. One group accused Mr Tsvangirai of ignoring the wishes of the majority of other party leaders.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Female circumcision is banned by the Kenyan government.Kenyan villagers have been shocked by the death of girl who bled to death after trying to perform female genital mutilation (FGM) on herself. Pamela Kathambi did the procedure on her own because she was being teased by her friends for not being circumcised in the remote village of Irindi.
Her mother told the BBC that she had refused to allow her 15-year-old to be circumcised last year. FGM is banned in Kenya, but remains common in some areas. "She used to be called names by her age mates and friends - 'mukenye' - the name given to uncircumcised ladies," Julia Kanuu said after her daughter's funeral this week. "I realised that girls who are not circumcised have gone ahead with education and are doing well in life so I didn't want her to be circumcised."
In some communities it is believed that circumcision will maintain a girl's honour and is part of a girl's initiation into womanhood. The FMG operation involves the partial or total removal of the external genital organs. It is practised in 28 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Abidjan's business district is a shadow of its former self. BBC News is investigating how Africa is faring, one year on from the promises of increased aid made at the G8 summit in Gleneagles. James Copnall reports from Ivory Coast, where civil war has brought flows of international aid into the country to a halt. Ivory Coast's standing with the international financial community is at its lowest-ever ebb - much like the country's economy and political scene. The African Development Bank, which has its headquarters in the Ivorian economic capital, Abidjan, has temporarily moved to Tunisia.
The ADB's gleaming tower, just one of the high-rises that make up "West Africa's Manhattan", now stands all but empty, a powerful image of Ivory Coast's declining reputation. Worse still, the ADB has suspended its dealings with Ivory Coast, which has defaulted on repayments. The World Bank has also suspended its disbursements, because Ivory Coast has not kept up its loan repayments. The situation is similar for AFD, the French development agency, and many bilateral partners.
The explanation is, on the face of it, simple: Ivory Coast has been cut in half by a civil war since September 2002, which has triggered an unprecedented economic crisis. Ivory Coast was once known as the "West African miracle", when its stability and relative economic prosperity shone out in one of the poorest regions on earth.
President Gbagbo's administration is seeking a solution. The country is still the biggest cocoa producer on earth, and a big coffee producer too. But Ivory Coast's vaunted political stability was shot to pieces when rebels known as the New Forces took control of the north of the country nearly four years ago. The government says that the resulting economic downturn explains Ivory Coast's poor standing with international financial institutions. Everyone accepts that the situation is shameful for Ivory Coast, given its former reputation as an economic model.
Some people suspect that politics, more than economics, explains Ivory Coast's failure to pay its debts. For example, Ivory Coast owes the World Bank $310.3m as of 15 June - a relatively small amount in proportion to the Ivorian economy. Basically, the international community does not trust President Gbagbo - Unnamed Western diplomat The Ivorian government may simply have had other priorities. A string of reports by NGOs has alleged that President Laurent Gbagbo's camp stocked up on weapons in the early years of the war.
There has been no serious fighting since November 2004 and the country is now under an arms embargo.
"The war is over," President Gbagbo has said, "and now we just need to find our way out of the crisis." But the usual priorities of a country in the developing world - health, education, rural development, infrastructures - are still on hold. For example, the World Bank has $105m worth of money left to complete projects in those sectors on hold until its arrears are paid. The new government of national unity, led by a former banker, Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, has promised to pay off the debts to the World Bank by the end of June.
All the same, in Ivory Coast, the focus is firmly on conflict resolution. About 50,000 combatants, rebels and loyalists alike, will need to be dealt with by a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration program. Government and rebel forces are still negotiating terms. DDR has stalled as often as it has started, as conflicting political agendas overrule the national interest. Once it does begin in earnest, soldiers will receive about $900 each and will need to be lodged and fed for a substantial period of time.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Banny went cap in hand to Paris, Brussels and Washington to ask for funds. The World Bank says it has agreed to provide a grant for $80m, with other institutions, including the EU, stumping up the remaining $25m. Until the political crisis in Ivory Coast is resolved, it is difficult to imagine the international financial institutions daring to consider much more than that sort of band-aid approach. "Basically, the international community does not trust President Gbagbo, and will not consider the country stable while he is still in power," explains one Western diplomat.
Ivory Coast is also at a preliminary stage in obtaining debt relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. However, the lack of political stability and accusations of poor financial governance mean that debt relief, too, has become another casualty of the Ivorian civil war. The news is not all bleak. Despite the crisis, the Ivorian economy grew by 1.8% in 2005. With petrol, telecommunications and cocoa all performing better than expected, there is hope of an economic revival. But Ivory Coast's economy is caught in the same stalemate as every other sector of public life.
Until the political crisis is resolved, investors will shy away, the international financial institutions will be cautious, and the economy will never take off properly. The debt relief that could so help Ivory Coast, and its suffering millions, will also remain tantalisingly out of reach.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Prisoners say they have to pay for the treatment. A group of South African prisoners with HIV has won a court action obliging the government to give them free anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). The Durban High Court ruled that the prisons department must immediately remove restrictions on access to ARV treatment in Durban's Westville Prison. The case was brought on behalf of 15 inmates who urgently needed treatment.
The government currently gives ARVs to over 100,000 of the approximately 6m South Africans who are HIV-positive. The court said the Department of Correctional Services must provide an affidavit to the court by 7 July about what steps were being taken to make treatment available to all Westville prisoners who wanted and needed treatment.
The Treatment Action Campaign, which supported the prisoners' application, said "all other prisons should take note of this judgment and take similar measures to remove all restrictions to accessing antiretroviral treatment to prisoners who want and need this life-saving medical intervention".
Most of the 15 prisoners are already displaying a CD-4 count - the clinical way of determining the degree of immune system damage caused by HIV - at a level where ARV treatment would normally begin, reports say.
They said that prior to the judgement they had to pay for treatment. Before the court case some of them had staged a hunger strike to draw attention to their plight. The government opposed the application, saying it is working to resolve the situation and so the prisoners should wait.
BBC NEWS REPORT
Mr Mandela buried the gun 1.5m below ground.South African historians are searching for a gun buried by Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg before his 1963 arrest. The former South African president has told how he buried the weapon on the farm where he was hiding at the time. He and other ANC leaders were later arrested on the farm, and were jailed for their work against apartheid. Mr Mandela was freed in 1990.
Nicholas Wolpe, head of the trust which is carrying out the search, said he was confident that the gun would be found. "I am 90% convinced that gun has never been found," said Mr Wolpe, the son of former ANC leader Harold Wolpe and chief executive of the Liliesleaf Trust. Mr Wolpe told the BBC News website it was only in April 2003 that Mr Mandela had told him about the hidden weapon during a visit to the site of the former Liliesleaf Farm in the suburb of Rivonia. "I was walking outside the main house when Nelson turned to me and asked: 'Have you found the gun?'" Mr Wolpe recalled. "We weren't aware there was a gun buried on the property."
The weapon was a Makarov pistol given to Mr Mandela by an Ethiopian army officer when he was undergoing military training in Addis Ababa. We know that as soon as we get aluminium, we've found the gun - Liliesleaf Trust's Nicholas Wolpe
Mr Mandela gave a clue as to the burial spot by saying it was "50 paces from the kitchen" - but this initially led to confusion as he was referring to a second kitchen in a part of the house that was subsequently demolished Since 1963, the property has been subdivided and houses built on what was once farmland. Funded by government and the private sector, the Liliesleaf Trust has been buying up properties with a view to restoring the historical site where the ANC leaders once hid, and creating an educational centre.
The place where the gun is thought to lie was under the foundations of a house that was demolished after the trust bought the property. Mr Mandela would have been trained in how to conceal weapons, Mr Wolpe said, and buried the weapon 1.5m (five feet) below the surface - lower than the excavations for the foundations of the house subsequently built on the site. Since this is beyond the range of a normal metal detector, the search team is currently conducting a systematic search with a mechanical digger. The former president also said he had covered the weapon with an aluminium sheet.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
People in the capital began queuing before 0800. Health workers in Namibia have started a three-day campaign to vaccinate the entire population against polio. The drive comes a month after the country's first polio outbreak in a decade, which has killed 15 people. Most of the victims were aged over 20 and had missed out on childhood inoculations carried out since 1990, when Namibia gained independence.
The BBC's Frauke Jensen says nobody is exempt and even tourists are being asked to take the free immunisation. Our correspondent says hundreds of people turned up at vaccination points across the capital, Windhoek, before 0800 to receive their oral vaccine drops. Some health workers were up at 0300 sorting out vaccine packs as mobile teams prepared to move house-to house in certain areas, she says.
Health Minister Richard Kamwi said more than 6,000 officials and volunteers were being deployed in what he described as the largest exercise of its kind in Namibia. There has been no resistance to the campaign, organised by the ministry of health and the World Health Organization, our reporter says. On the eve of the launch, first lady Penehupifo Pohamba said all 2.5m Namibians will be targeted, even those already immunised.
"Even if your child or yourself was immunised yesterday or before, you will be immunised during the campaign, so that you and your child can be protected against polio disease," the Namibian newspaper quotes her as saying. There has been a widespread media campaign encouraging people to take the vaccine and thousands of pamphlets have been leafleted around Windhoek.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Nigerian scams often involve an up-front payment for a promised share in millions of dollars. Nigeria has warned its citizens to be wary of fraudsters when they travel to the United Kingdom. The information ministry said there had been an increase in robberies and other crimes suffered by Nigerians in the UK. The ministry said the tricks included "pouring tomato juice or other substances upon their victim's dress, and then offer to help remove it".
Nigeria is known for its "419 scams" in which gullible businessmen are tricked out of large amounts of money. Nigeria's information ministry said it was making a statement based on warnings received from Nigeria's High Commission in London. "There is no evidence that Nigerians are being specifically targeted but ostentatious dressing [and] spending... may identify a target," it said. "They may also feign to pick an object which had fallen under their victim's seat" in order to distract attention, the statement said.
It warned Nigerians that "major flashpoints" for these crimes included airports, hotels and restaurants, high streets, shopping centres, markets, tube stations, bus stops and even inside buses. "The occurrences have been particularly high at Heathrow Airport, Oxford Street, Piccadilly and Charing Cross," the ministry warned.
The British Tourist Authority was unable to comment.
The 419 scams, named after an article in Nigeria's penal code, usually involve e-mails making promises of a share in millions of dollars, which is to follow an up-front payment.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Mr Nqakula had said those who complain about crime could leave the country. South African Security Minister Charles Nqakula has defended a controversial remark in which he accused people of "whinging" about crime. On Tuesday, Mr Nqakula reiterated that his remark had been directed at certain opposition MPs, and not the public. "I was politicking - they were politicking. I would never say people who complain about crime should leave the country," he said.
South Africa has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime. Mr Nqakula has been under pressure since the publication earlier this month of remarks in which he said people who complained about crime could leave the country. These things happen. Police response to crime victim
"They can continue to whinge until they're blue in the face, they can continue to be as negative as they want to, or they can simply leave this country so that all of the peace-loving South Africans, good South African people who want to make this a successful country, continue with their work." A day later Darryl Worth, an MP from the opposition Democratic Alliance, spoke of a "tsunami of crime" during a debate in parliament. Mr Nqakula replied by saying that opposition members were only now belatedly seeing "the ugly face of crime".
"Apartheid so insulated them, that they did not see crime at all," he said, referring to the fact that most DA members are from the white minority that was privileged under apartheid. "So they think therefore that our country is tottering under such a wave of crime that they refer to it as a tsunami."
Community Police Forums, as well as opposition groups, were among those who reacted with shock to what they saw as a cavalier attitude by the minister towards a serious crisis facing the country. Sam Mangena, of a Community Police Forum in the Pretoria township of Mamelodi, told the Pretoria News newspaper that criminals, and not whingers, were the problem. "They are the ones who are hurting our people. They should be the ones to leave the country. The perpetrators have to go away," said Mr Mangena. No-one knows how many illegal weapons circulate in South Africa.
Apparently trying to debunk the myth that only wealthy white people have cause to complain about crime, the Mail & Guardian newspaper ran a report by Hazel Makuzeni, a resident of Cape Town's poor Khayelitsha township, on how she was robbed at gunpoint while walking to the station on her way to work. "A gun was pressed against my chest, hard, and I was ordered to hand over my cell phone and my backpack," Ms Makuzeni wrote. "Then the two young men simply turned away and robbed another woman who was coming behind me. I heard her cries, but I couldn't do anything."
The response from the police, according to Ms Makuzeni's account, was: "Hayi sisi, [no, sister], these things happen."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
There has been a shortage of food for wildlife after a severe drought.
At least three people have been killed in attacks by a pride of lions in north-eastern Kenya.
The BBC's Bashkash Jugsodaay says there is a shortage of food for the lions after a severe drought in the region.
Wildlife stocks have also been depleted over the years by militia from neighbouring Somalia who hunt for food.
Pastoralists have been fleeing in fear to the border town of Linoi for safety. Some 50 goats have also been killed in attacks over the last two weeks.
Our correspondent says the lions have been killing more than they can eat on their rampages.
Communities that rely on animals as a store of wealth as well as source of food have already lost thousands of animals in the drought, leaving them destitute.
BBC NEWS REPORT,
As Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visits Angola, the BBC's Piers Scholfield examines what links the two nations. One of the worst of the countless conflicts that has blighted Africa in recent times is that of Angola. But a peace deal signed four years ago - and huge oil reserves - are now giving the Angolans hope as the country tries to rebuild its devastated infrastructure. Most Angolans haven't seen the benefits of the oil billions.
Recently China, scouring the globe for raw materials to feed its booming economy, has been drawn to Africa as an abundant source of minerals, and has started investing heavily in countries like Angola. Africa, however, has been here before - and ended up as the victim. Ever since its first contacts with western powers, the continent been plundered for its manpower and resources. And until now it has had little to show for it, except phenomenal debts and rampant poverty. But now there is a tangible air of optimism about the future.
An oil boom, set to see Angola overtake Nigeria as the continent's biggest oil supplier, is pouring billions into the government's coffers. The country's national budget has recently almost doubled - from $13bn (£7bn) to $25bn. China is at the forefront of this revolution. In its desire to secure future energy supplies, it is proposing billions more in credits, loans and infrastructure programmes. The World Bank told the BBC that the latest offer to the Angolan government is worth $9bn. The Angolan government says it hopes to use this money on infrastructure projects to help rebuild roads, bridges, and schools across the country.
Enormous investment is needed in Angola. Despite the huge amount of new cash flowing into the country, some of society's poorest say they are not seeing the benefits yet. Even in the capital, Luanda, families struggle to find food and water. "Some of the poorest families live on seven or eight litres of water a day," says Allan Cain of the Luanda Urban Poverty Programme. "That's well below any international standard, and women have to walk for hours every day to collect the water."
And on the edge of the city in an area called Cambamba Dois, hundreds of people live in ramshackle dwellings made of corrugated iron and old clothes, exposed to the wind and rain. They were thrown out of their houses to make way for developments for the wealthy and there is no sign of any compensation from the government.
Luanda itself is set on the Atlantic Ocean. The city is a vast, sprawling mix of beautiful colonial-era government buildings, enormous construction sites - mostly for new oil company headquarters - and huge areas of filthy slums and shantytowns. The city was originally built by the Portuguese for around 400,000 people, but the population is now thought to be well over 4m, swollen over the last three decades by a constant stream of people escaping the war in rural areas.
The city is choked with traffic and there are enormous public health problems, including a recent outbreak of cholera which left 1,200 dead. This highlights the need for enormous investment, which is where China comes in. Angola hopes China can help with its decaying infrastructure. The Angolan government welcomes the new visitors. "Most important for us is the country's reconstruction," said minister Luís da Mota Liz. And referring to efforts on transparency he went on, "just this month the Angolan government approved the international convention against corruption".
However, others say that the combination of corruption and Chinese cash is damaging, and that this source of new funds gives Angola the opportunity to ignore the IMF's recommendations on transparency and accountability. The Angolan example is far from unique across Africa, where trade with China has exploded in the last few years. And in the rush for resources, China has no qualms about dealing with countries that the west has criticised or shunned, such as Zimbabwe and Sudan.
China says it has a strict policy of non-interference in other nations' affairs. It won't tell the countries it deals with what to do and vigorously defends its policy in Africa. "Sudan is a sovereign country and I'm sorry that we do not develop relations according to US or UK or any other country's instruction," said Zhou Yuxiao, chargé d'affaires at the Chinese embassy in South Africa. "Developing normal relations with a country does not mean that we approve every policy of that nation."
Angola's colonial legacy lives on in some of its buildings.He went on to say that China was doing a great deal to help African countries such as Angola. "We are cancelling debt owed by the least developed countries, building more schools and hospitals. "We have brought and will continue to bring great opportunities to all parts of the world including Africa."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Apology follows Pantsil gesture.
Pantsil plays for the Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Ghanaian Football Association has apologised after defender John Pantsil waved an Israeli flag to celebrate the World Cup win over the Czech Republic. Spokesman Randy Abbey said the Ghanaian FA was not taking sides in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Pantsil plays in Israel for Hapoel Tel Aviv wanted to thank Israeli fans who travelled to support him, Abbey said "He's unaware of international politics. We apologise to anybody who was offended," said Abbey. "We promise that it will never happen again. "He did not act out of malice for the Arab people or in support of Israel. He was naive... we don't need to punish him."
Pantsil celebrated the two Ghana goals on Saturday by taking out a small Israeli flag from his sock and waving it above his head. Abbey said neither the Ghanaian FA nor Ghana as a country had a strong political position on the subject and said they were just in Germany for the World Cup. "We are not in support or against Israel or the Arab nations. We are here to do football, we are not here to do politics."
A spokesman for Fifa had said they had no problem with the gesture. Israel's Sports Minister Ofir Pines-Paz had been quoted as praising Paintsil for his actions and saying Ghana had gained many Israeli fans. "We have an Israeli at the World Cup. Paintsil's gesture has warmed our hearts and many Israelis have now become supporters of Ghana," Paz said.
BBC SPORTS NEWS REPORT.
Pfister returned to the team after quitting over the bonus row. Togo's World Cup game with Switzerland will go ahead after reports in Germany that the players had been paid overdue bonuses for qualifying. Togo skipper Jean-Paul Abalo said that unless the players received payments he claimed they were owed, the team may consider not playing the fixture. Reports in the German media suggested that at least some of the money had ahead of Monday's fixture.
Fifa intervened on Sunday to persuade Togo's players not to boycott the game. The squad finally boarded their bus to Dortmund where the Hawks play against Switzerland on Monday. The players had initially stayed in their Wangen base while they discussed a long-running pay dispute. "As far as we understand the team did not want to play," a Fifa spokesman said.
"The Fifa delegate there told them it would be extremely serious. He told them to be reasonable and they were." No team that has qualified for a World Cup finals has withdrawn from a match in the 76-year history of the event. Any nation doing so face a heavy fine and could be banned from subsequent competitions.
The Togolese were beaten 2-1 by South Korea in their opening match on their World Cup debut. The dispute had prompted coach Otto Pfister, a German, to walk out just before the tournament, saying it made it impossible for him to do his job. He returned just in time for the first match.
Players from the tiny West African country have demanded US$196,300 each to play and US$38,000 for each win, half that for each draw. But officials from the country with an average per capita income of well below US$1,000 have said those demands are too high.
BBC SPORTS NEWS REPORT.
China has been cultivating ties in Africa for decades. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has had talks with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak at the start of an African tour aimed at boosting economic links. They discussed bilateral relations and the latest Middle East developments.
China said it was ready to increase investment in Egypt, especially in oil, natural gas and telecommunications. The Chinese prime minister earlier signed a number of agreements on oil and natural gas and telecommunications after arriving in Cairo on Saturday.
His visit coincided with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Egypt. Trade between the two countries exceeded $2bn (£1.08bn) in 2005. Mr Wen's tour of seven states takes him next to Ghana. The other stops on his itinerary are Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
He is the third high-ranking Chinese official to visit Africa this year. Observers say this underlines the strategic importance of Africa in Beijing's efforts to acquire energy and raw materials for its booming economy. Last year, trade between China and Africa rose to $40bn (£22bn).
BBC NEWS REPORT.
