Hungry UNITA soldiers and their families who have crossed into Namibia are being transported back across the border to quartering areas in southern Angola by the Namibian Defence Force (NDF), which has only a limited amount of food to spare the former rebels.

Namibia's fight to conserve its endangered Cheetah population has been boosted by support from internationally acclaimed conservationist, Kuki Gallman. The Italian-born poet, conservationist and founder of the Gallman Memorial Foundation (GMF) pledged botanical expertise to help protect the cheetah during a gala dinner and auction in Windhoek aimed at raising N$100 000 for the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).

The harbour at Walvis Bay is experiencing its worst oil pollution in about five years. Fish meal factories have been pumping fish oil into the harbour since late last week, which has resulted in a huge oil slick which has spread into the ecologically sensitive lagoon area.

Solutions for desertification can no longer be postponed, says Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Speaking at the opening in Windhoek of the African Regional Conference to review UNCCD, Diallo said the poor were both the victims and agents of environmental damage.

Women's Solidarity is a non-governmental organisation engaged in counselling, education and research work around the issue of violence against women. The post holder will work on developing and strengthening the services provided by Women's Solidarity.

"Dumping" orphans into special child-care centres should only be considered as a last resort, it was agreed during Namibia's second national conference on the plight of orphans, held in Windhoek last week.

Some 700 Namibian refugees from Botswana's Dukwi refugee camp are set to return home in August when the UN High Commissioner for Refugees completes preparation for their repatriation.

The postholder will develop and manage CIIR’s Southern Africa programme with an operational focus on Namibia and Zimbabwe but with a wider sub-regional outlook. You will increase the programmes effectiveness and impact through advocacy and skillsharing in three prioritised areas: HIV/AIDS, Building Just Societies and Peace and Conflict. You will work constructively with local partner organisations and with marginalised groups, commercial farm workers and the San people.

Last year one in five pregnant women in the Karibib district were teenagers who should have been in school, says Dr Matthew Akpo. The Usakos-based doctor told a Women's Action for Development (WAD) Field Day at Karibib last Saturday, that the teenage pregnancy rate remained high even though health workers were teaching family planning techniques.

Two wildlife organisations have come out in support of a government bid to be allowed to sell ivory stocks on an annual basis. The Namibia Nature Foundation's Project Co-ordinator, Nils Odendaal, told The Namibian that they backed the request 100 per cent. Namibia is home to approximately 10 000 elephants and has about 40 tonnes of ivory stockpiled. Namibia's elephant population is on Cites' Appendix II, which allows one-off sales of ivory but not annual quotas.

Southern Africa's disastrous food crisis may spread to Namibia, as it has emerged that 70,000 people in the Caprivi region urgently needed food aid. The World Food Programme (WFP) has already said that almost 13 million people will face food shortages in Southern Africa and so far Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia have declared a disaster.

The Namibian government has donated food worth one million Namibian dollars (US $100,000) to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for distribution in the eastern city of Goma, where many thousands of residents were displaced by lava flows from Mt Nyiragongo volcano in January, the Namibian news agency Nampa reported.

In a landmark decision, the Namibian Supreme Court has ruled that 128 people accused of high treason, murder and a number of other crimes, must be provided with legal aid by the government. The Namibian government has been opposed to spending taxpayers' money on funding the defence of the treason trialists, arrested for alleged secessionist activities in Caprivi.

A senior official in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism says climate change and unsustainable use of resources are creating major challenges for Namibia. Speaking at the official launch of the World Environmental Day in Windhoek Under Secretary in the Department of Natural Resources, Maria Kapere, said climate changes in Namibia will force changes in the distribution of species and habitats along Namibia's escarpment where most of the country's unique species occur.

A Swapo MP has slammed officials in the Government and parastatals who abuse public funds. Speaking in the National Council last week, Generosa Andowa said: "These people have betrayed the nation through the mismanaging of public funds and assets."

GOVERNMENT has released a draft Communications Bill for comment from the public and interested organisations. The bill seeks to create an independent regulatory body for the telecommunications and broadcasting industries. The new body will replace the Namibian Communications Commission and will have jurisdiction over Telecom as well as broadcasting licences. It also attempts to make the work of the new body more transparent and accountable to the public.

SOUTH Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has ruled that the Peninsula Technikon in Cape Town wrongfully expelled a Namibian student who published an article on prostitution on the campus.

Despite objections, the Namibian government is to
go ahead with plans to relocate around 24,000 refugees to an ecologically
sensitive district occupied by the hunter-gatherer San community.

PRIME Minister Hage Geingob wants the Namibian media to help resurrect the N$3,3 billion Epupa hydropower plant plan, which he says has been "stalemated" due to opposition from environmentalists and the international media. Geingob made the appeal after visiting the Maguga Dam, a joint South African-Swaziland hydropower plant at Piggs Peak in northern Swaziland, during his three-day official visit to Swaziland.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh has expressed dismay at the silence of women's organisations as women are subjected to indignities suffered from their husbands such as constant verbal abuse, physical and psychological battering and financial blackmail.