Namibia News

An international body charged with stopping the illicit trade in diamonds that fuel conflict has decided not to suspend Zimbabwe, officials said Friday, though its investigators had concluded that Zimbabwe's military had organized smuggling syndicates with the government's permission and used "extreme violence" against illegal miners.

The credibility of the world's "blood diamond" monitoring group has been damaged after its failure this week to suspend Zimbabwe despite overwhelming evidence of serious human rights abuses and smuggling in the Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch said today.

In light of serious concerns about Zimbabwe's compliance with the Kimberley Process rough diamond certification scheme, we await full and expeditious implementation of the stringent controls for exports of rough diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange fields that were agreed at the KP Plenary in Swakopmund, Namibia, on November 5. The United States ...

PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba has likened the European Union's trade negotiations with Namibia to the days of apartheid, saying the powerhouse is refusing to treat the country as an equal and listen to its concerns about the controversial economic partnership agreement .

THE Anti-Corruption Commission has seized the computer of Namibia's Petroleum Commissioner, Immanuel Mulunga, following a fight over the shareholding in an exclusive exploration licence for coal methane gas involving Usuta Imbili, daughter of the Founding President, businessman Sacky Nujoma and Mntu Nduvane, former managing director of Total ...

ZIMBABWE has placed the blame for not complying with the principles of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme on the global diamond trade regulator itself, saying the watchdog has reneged on technical assistance to the country.

BOTH drivers a Police officer and a civilian whose vehicles plunged into the sea ahead of the President's motorcade near Swakopmund last week are facing a charge of reckless and negligent driving.

The president of the South Africa Business Enterprise Forum , Lebo Gunguluza, says transformational leadership in Namibia is the way to go to implement a holistic black economic empowerment approach.

South Africa and Namibia have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of transport and infrastructure development, among others.

VARIOUS political parties last week set out their position on homosexuality - a subject often regarded as taboo.

THE desert scenery east of Goanikontes in the Namib Desert would be irreversibly destroyed by a new uranium mine and the 'sense of place' lost forever, experts who undertook an environmental impact assessment for the new Etango uranium mine have warned.

AS members of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme convene in Swakopmund today for a Plenary Meeting that will last until Thursday, various human rights groups calling for the suspension of Zimbabwe from the scheme have dismissed the KPCS as a failure.

A LARGE crowd of shocked health workers flocked to the Nurses' Home at the Central State Hospital yesterday as news of a colleague's murder spread.

AN attempt by the Congress of Democrats and Rally for Democracy and Progress to get the High Court to order the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation to provide equal free airtime to political parties' campaign messages backfired on Friday, when the NBC instead decided to cancel the free election broadcasts altogether.

Calls for an international ban on Zimbabwe's diamond sales are set to dominate this week's meeting of the global body set up to prevent trade in "blood diamonds", in a key test for the regulatory regime.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Telecom Namibia an International Long-term local currency Issuer Default Rating of 'BBB-' and a National Long-term rating of 'A ', both with Stable Outlooks.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - a landmark international agreement on the basic human rights of all children - UNICEF is featuring a series of stories about progress made and challenges that remain.

History will be made today at 10h00 when President Hifikepunye Pohamba will switch on the main pump of Areva's Trekkopje Project Desalination Plant north of Wlotzkasbaken.

South Africa's targeted consumer inflation most probably slowed in September, drawing closer to the central bank's target band, a survey showed on Friday, but pressures lurk from higher power costs.

THIRTEEN days of high emotion drew to a close at the weekend, as the Namibian nation bade farewell to the man who spent close to 40 years tirelessly working to improve the lives of others.