Nearly 18,000 people died in government custody in Syria in 2011-15, an Amnesty International report says, alleging beatings and rape in prisons. Amnesty says its document includes interviews with 65 “torture survivors”, who have described appalling abuse in jails and detention centres. The human rights group urges the world community to pressure Damascus to end the use of torture. The ...

Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition (CSO-SUN) has urged the Patriotic Front to reduce stunting in the country by 10 percent in the next five years following its re-election in the just ended general election. CSO-SUN Programs Officer Meander Chileshe says a country’s economic productivity depends on its young population, stressing that if a child’s nutritional needs are not met, the ...

Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) President Charles Milupi has predicted a fuel price hike should Zambia agree to the terms of the proposed International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout plan. Mr Milupi says electricity tariffs are also expected to go up. He says it is obvious that some of the austerity bailout measures the IMF will insist on is the ...

The Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) has expressed concern over the high number of rejected ballots in the just ended elections. EFZ Executive Director Reverend Pukuta Mwanza says the 85, 795 rejected ballots in the presidential election alone is worrying. Reverend Mwanza notes that this could be that the Electoral Commission of Zambia is not doing enough in sensitizing voters ...

The opposition UPND has encouraged its members that the fight to reclaim its alleged stolen votes in the just ended general elections is not over yet. UPND vice president for administration Geoffrey Mwamba says his party has sufficient evidence to petition the outcome of the elections. Mr. Mwamba says the evidence is enough to secure a judgment most Zambians are ...