"South Africa's capital renamed Tshwane"

Dominican Republic Prison Fire Kills 134
A prison fire that killed 134 inmates, one of the deadliest in Latin American prisons, has cast a harsh spotlight on conditions in this country's cells.

Defense Wants Bush to Testify at German 9/11 Trial
Lawyers for a Moroccan man accused in Germany of aiding and abetting the Sept. 11 attacks called Tuesday for President Bush to be summoned as a witness.

Mozambique PM challenges Africa plan
Britain cannot adopt a "one size fits all" approach to helping African countries, Mozambique's prime minister said ahead of the publication of London's action plan for the world's poorest continent.

Africa settles on seeking two seats
African countries agreed Monday to seek two the two permanent seats on the UN Security Council as part of plans to make the body more representative.

Mystery man offers to fly 'mercenaries' home
A secret benefactor has offered R130 000 to fly 62 suspected South African mercenaries in Zimbabwe back home as soon as possible after their expected release on Tuesday.

SA 'mercenaries' not yet in the clear
Sixty-two men jailed in Zimbabwe in 2004 in connection with a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea are expected home in South Africa on Tuesday, where they may still face charges, their lawyer and officials said.

Nigeria launches probe after 52 children found in truck
Police found dozens of exhausted children - some as young as 1 and none older than 14 - packed into a truck during a routine search in Nigeria's capital, and a suspected child-trafficker claimed their parents consented to hiring them out as servants, authorities said yesterday.

South Africa's capital renamed Tshwane
In a symbolic break with apartheid, officials in South Africa's capital voted Monday to rename the city Tshwane, retaining the name Pretoria for the city center only.

Haitian minister accuses UN peacekeepers of violating mandate
Haiti's justice minister has accused UN peacekeepers of violating their mandate, in a dispute over police officers accused of killing unarmed protesters that is creating more tension ahead of elections to replace ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Taking Gay Pride to South Africa's townships
Despite a decade of democracy and one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, South Africa still has trouble accommodating those who are black and gay.

Bolivia president submits resignation
Besieged by protests over his gas policy, Bolivian President Carlos Mesa offered his resignation to Congress on Monday, leaving opposition lawmakers to decide his political future.

Cuba: U.S. lacks moral authority on rights
Cuba's foreign minister rejected a recent U.S. State Department report criticizing the island's human rights record, saying Monday that the United States has no moral authority to judge other countries after its own scandals over treatment of terror suspects.

Carter comment exposes Bush
administration's "big lie" against Cuba
The visit by former US president Jimmy Carter to Cuba may not lead to a rapprochement between Washington and Havana or an end to the four-decades-old US economic blockade against the Caribbean nation, but it has already provided a valuable lesson on the nature of the US government's global "war on terrorism."

US: bonuses for CEOs soared in 2004
CEO bonuses in the US rose a whopping 46.4 percent in 2004, according to a survey of 100 major corporations performed by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The median CEO bonus stood at $1.14 million, the highest level in at least five years in both absolute terms and percentage gain.

Blogger Alert: Election Regulators Are Watching
Federal election commissioners in the United States are preparing to consider how revamped campaign finance laws apply to political activity on the Internet, including online advertising, fund-raising e-mail messages and Web blogs

Silencing Sgrena, gangland-style
Sgrena had the goods on them, the whole bloody litany of crimes perpetrated by the swaggering Texas psychopath and his Pentagon goons. Her interviews with Falluja's refugees put her in a position to spill the beans on Bush's murderous farce and splatter the headlines across Europe with the real picture of what is going on inside Iraq.

Venezuela detects several US battleships near its coasts
While Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez attends to the inauguration ceremony of Uruguay"s leftist leader, Tabare Vazquez, in Montevideo, his Armed Forces are closely watching the unexpected presence of several US battleships near country's western coastline. On Monday, Venezuela's Navy commander, Armando Laguna, made the announcement during an interview on state TV but opted not to accuse Washington directly of any provocation.