Four men accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide have been freed by a British court after their lawyers said they would not face a fair trial if they were extradited to Africa.

A day of extraordinary drama on the high seas off Somalia ended last night amid reports that the crew of a US-owned ship had fought off pirates and retaken control of their vessel.

MIRANDA Mineral Holdings, which is a few months away from starting work on its first coal mine, would weather the economic storm by focusing on developing its coal assets, it said yesterday.

GOLD could surge back to $1000/oz and even through $1100 this year as investors seek a hedge against inflation, although weakness in the short term was to be expected, GFMS chairman Philip Klapwijk said yesterday.

Plans are underway for a 250m euro Investment Fund for African countries by the French Government, the Ministry of State for Cooperation and Francophony said in Paris Monday.

THE arrival of the high-powered team of business leaders from the Business Union of South Africa is a significant sign of just how much progress, and in what direction, Zimbabwe has made economically since the formation of the inclusive Government.

VICE President Mujuru has urged diplomats to update their respective countries on developments here so that potential investors can make informed decisions.

ZIMBABWE was likely to fully support an investor protection agreement expected to be signed between the SA and Zimbabwean governments in two to three weeks' time, Business Unity SA (Busa) CEO Jerry Vilakazi said yesterday.

To prevent, monitor and manage floods in the Zambezi River Basin - and reduce the number of flood victims - regional governments and parties involved in the water sector urgently need to adopt a more proactive approach, experts said during

About 15 persons were yesterday declared wanted by the management of ABC Transport Limited in Abuja.

Two filling stations of Conoil Plc in Lagos were yesterday sealed by the officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for cheating innocent customers.

The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr Christopher Anyawu has emphasized the need for urgent privatization of the Skypower Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL).

A REVENUE collection supervisor with TelOne allegedly sneaked into his office at night and stole US$111 000 and R47 000 before making a false report to police that there had been a robbery at the company.

Unilever has unveiled a 20% cheaper Blue Band. The Blue Band Spread for Bread will only be applied on bread unlike its sister-variant, Blue Band Original that can also be used for cooking and baking.

THE Competition Commission has singled out four companies and two industry associations for closer scrutiny in an investigation of anticompetitive practices in the pelagic fishing industry.

STEEL company ArcelorMittal SA has taken a strategic step towards securing its coal supplies by acquiring a 16,31% stake previously held by its holding company in Coal of Africa (CoAL) for just more than R404m.

PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday met Impala Platinum Limited group chief executive Mr David Brown at Zimbabwe House ahead of the commissioning of the US$340 million expansion programme at Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (Pvt) Ltd in Chegutu in August.

Staco Insurance in her pursuit of spreading Insurance across the country has opened three new branches. The new branches which have been opened and have commenced operations include Akure, Jos and Asaba.