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French nuclear giant Areva signed a deal Thursday to develop uranium mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, during a visit by President Nicolas Sarkozy to Kinshasa. "By its size and geological profile, the Democratic Republic of Congo offers significant uranium potential," the state-controlled firm said in a statement released in Paris. A survey of potential sites will be carried out in the DR Congo, which has vast reserves of diamonds, gold, copper and cobalt.

Police are holding a man after seizing a substance from him he said was uranium he smuggled into Kenya from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Acting on a tip, Flying Squad officers raided the house the man had rented in Nairobi's Uthiru estate on Friday afternoon, according to police sources. A suspected accomplice was arrested next door but not before the officers had to use tear gas to dislodge him.

Eskom's hikes in the electricity price by around a quarter and a third in two years and its need to repeat such price increases for the next three years bring one issue to a head. Why are Eskom and the departments of energy and public enterprises so grimly determined to generate electricity by the most expensive and complicated of all options -- atomic power stations and their high-level radioactive waste depositaries? Eskom and other power companies have set up Westcor (Western Corridor Power Company), incorporated in Botswana. This has spent years conducting road shows for the World Bank and others, estimating the Inga3 hydro-electric power project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at around R70-billion.

Global military spending rose 4% in 2008 to a record $1,464bn (£914bn) - up 45% since 1999, according to the Stockholm-based peace institute Sipri. In contrast with civilian aerospace and airlines, the defence industry remains healthy. "The global financial crisis has yet to have an impact on major arms companies' revenues, profits and order backlogs," Sipri said. Peace-keeping operations - which also benefit defence firms - rose 11%. Missions were launched in trouble spots such as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "Another record was set, with the total of international peace operation personnel reaching 187,586," said Sipri, or Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Boeing $30.5bn BAE Systems $29.9bn Lockheed Martin $29.4bn Northrop Grumman$24.6bn General Dynamics $21.5bn Raytheon $19.5bn EADS (West Europe) $13.1bn L-3 Communications $11.2bn Finmeccanica $9.9bn Thales $9.4bn Source: Sipri

Experts have kept uranium seized by the police in a special room after initial tests showed it was highly radioactive. It has been placed in a one-metre-thick concrete wall room at the National Radiation Protective Board Deputy head of the board Arthur Koteng said final results would be ready on Friday. "At the moment, nobody is allowed to touch it except experts with protective clothing," he told the Nation on Wednesday.