Monday, July 9, 2007

NEWS FROM MOTHER AFRICA


US 'surprised' by Ethiopia move for death penalty in coup plot
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States expressed surprise Monday by an Ethiopian prosecutor's push for the death penalty for 38 opposition figures convicted of plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.


Four more people have been abducted in the Niger Delta, authorities said on Monday, underscoring insecurity in Nigeria's oil-producing region hours after a 3-year-old British girl was freed by her kidnappers.

Former Congolese rebel leader killed
KINSHASA (AFP) - A former Congolese rebel leader, Floribert Chui Bin Kositi, was beaten to death in the country's restive eastern Kivu region, the UN-backed Okapi radio station said Monday.

Price cuts paralyzing Zimbabwe economy
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Cars no longer line up at gas stations because there's no fuel for sale. Gone are the meat, bread and cornmeal that Zimbabweans count on for their meals. Two weeks after the government ordered price cuts in response to the country's rampant inflation, the economy is coming to a standstill.


AGOS, Nigeria - Gunmen attacked two oil installations in southern Nigeria, kidnapping two senior Nigerian employees of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and two foreigners, officials and colleagues said Monday.

1,300 arrested in Zimbabwe prices crackdown
HARARE (AFP) - More than 1,300 shop owners and business managers have been arrested in Zimbabwe as part of a crackdown on firms accused of flouting government-imposed price controls, police said Monday.