The Daily News (3rd January) reported that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had finally concluded the repatriation of over 23,000 Rwandan refugees from camps in Ngara district in Kagera Region.

BA introduced thrice weekly non -stop flights between Dar es Salaam and Heathrow on 3rd April. By eliminating the transit stop in Nairobi, the flight time between Dar and Heathrow has been cut by two hours. BA stated that the changes had been made in response to the growing importance of Tanzania as a business and holiday destination.

The Guardian (January 22) reported that nine East African black rhinos had been trans-located from South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park to Mkomazi’s highly secured, electrified and heavily guarded, rhino sanctuary.

700 people attended celebrations marking the opening of the new American embassy complex in Dar es Salaam on March 4. The complex occupies 15 acres of land on the old Bagamoyo Road in Msasani. The previous embassy was destroyed by terrorists in August 1998.

‘World family’, the magazine of ‘Plan UK’ (Spring 2003) told the story of the six-year-old Tanzanian boy who featured in Jack Nicholson’s latest film ‘About Schmidt’. The film tells the story of Warren Schmidt, a retired and recently widowed man, who feels he has achieved nothing in life but is given considerable cause for soul searching when he sponsors a child known to him as ‘Ndugu’. The film’s director was keen to use a real child and the one chosen, whose name is Abdullah Mtulu, is said to be a talkative, smiley boy who lives near Morogoro and likes singing. Schmitz’s long letters, quoted in the film, were said not to reflect the reality of correspondence normally sent between sponsors and their sponsored children. Communities around Tanzania are expected to benefit from the film which has been nominated for several awards.

The Guardian has reported that construction of an Mtepe, a now extinct type of dhow, is about to be started outside the House of Wonders in Zanzibar. What makes Mtepe special is that it is tied or sewn together with coir rope, as distinct from contemporary dhow’s which are kept together with iron nails. Construction is to be part of Denmark’s support for culture in Zanzibar. The Zanzibar Government has decided that the House of Wonders will be turned into a National Museum for History and Culture.

Girls Secondary Schools performed much better than boys schools in the last National Secondary School examinations. Six girls were among the best ten students. Private secondary schools have also performed better than national secondary schools. Of the best 30 secondary schools, most are Christian seminaries run by either Catholic or Protestant churches -Mtanzania