News: Africa

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai will not return to Zimbabwe on Saturday, fearing an assassination attempt, an MDC spokesperson said. Tsvangirai had been expected to return home on Saturday ahead of a run-off election scheduled for June 27.

Portsmouth and Cardiff fans descend on Wembley ahead of the FA Cup final.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has postponed a planned return to Zimbabwe, officials from his party say.

GENEVA, May 17 (IPS) - The fate of the world’s oldest customs union, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), is hanging in the balance as a result of the economic partnership agreements that most SACU countries have signed with the European Union (EU).

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was to return home on Saturday bidding to deliver a knockout blow to weakened President Robert Mugabe in a run-off election scheduled for June 27. Mugabe acknowledged on Friday that he had suffered an electoral disaster in losing a first-round poll against Tsvangirai on March 29.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi has accused Europe of deliberately provoking the drowning of illegal African migrants as they try to reach Europe by sea, the official Jana news agency reported on Friday. "Dozens [of migrants] die and hundreds drown or are drowned deliberately," the official Libyan news agency quoted Gadaffi as saying.

Thousands gathered on Friday around charred destruction from a deadly pipeline explosion as Nigerian firefighters doused flames triggered by the blast that had burnt for more than a day. Local officials put the death toll at 15, disputing the Nigerian Red Cross's claim that about 100 people were killed.

The corruption trial of Jacob G. Zuma, the presumptive next president of South Africa, has been delayed yet again.

The second round of voting would come nearly three months after the first rather than the three weeks stipulated by Zimbabwean law.

In Somalia, skimpy rainfall, soaring food prices and rising violence have pushed many people to the brink of famine.

The latest report alleging gross human rights abuses in Mt Elgon District has been met with the usual denials by officialdom.

North and Southern Sudan have reached a tentative agreement on Abyei, ending a new round of fighting over the area in the recent past. It includes an immediate ceasefire and the removal of armed groups from Abyei town.

Kampala is not one of those places that spring to mind when one talks of crime in African cities.

Film buffs at the just-concluded Fifth Amakula Kampala International Film Festival must have wondered why the film showcase did not start on time last Thursday.

Culture enthusiasts are in for a treat next Wednesday May 21 when the National Theatre plays host to the World Culture Day. The event is part of Unesco's Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity initiative and is celebrated annually.

Some internally displaced people interviewed by Saturday Monitor say they will not go back to their originalhomes, but not because of the fear of brutal rebel attacks, but because of the lack of roads, schools and hospitals.

Most of the young performers had to look up to their older counterparts for guidance in executing their dance routines. Their enthusiasm, however, made up for their absentmindedness.

Alliance Francaise de Kampala (AFK) and the Uganda German Cultural Society (UGCS) will give another unknown but talented Ugandan fine artist a platform to showcase his work this Friday starting 6p.m.

With seven contestants remaining, the race for the $200,000 job and the perks that coat it has tightened at The Apprentice Africa.

With seven contestants remaining, the race for the $200,000 job and the perks that coat it has tightened at The Apprentice Africa.