JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s race riots today [June 18] spread from the township of Soweto … to other parts of the country. Heavily armed police units were reportedly in action in at least six cities. At least 58 people have been killed and more than 800 injured since the riots broke out … following the school boycott by Soweto students over the introduction of Afrikaans as a teaching language. The South African Government has placed a ban on all public meetings for ten days. Black students today burned down the administration block of Zululand University… . … In Parliament … Police Minister Jimmy Kruger defended police action in the ... riots claiming they had only fired on the crowds in self-defence. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Washington,] President Ford has ordered the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to organise an evacuation of all Americans who want to leave Lebanon, a State Department spokesman said today [June 18]. He would not give any detail of the evacuation. But Voice of America broadcasts to Lebanon advised all Americans wanting to leave to meet in pre-arranged places … to join convoys out of the country.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2026