Rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton stepped up their battle on Monday on the eve of the next primary showdown, as the Democratic Party head urged unity in the race to rout Republicans from the White House. ”It’s not about Hillary Clinton, it’s not about Barack Obama. It is about our country,” Democratic national committee chairperson Howard Dean said.
The government is looking at giving food vouchers or cash to poor households to help them cope with spiralling food prices. ”We’re looking at a range of options … such as food vouchers, [as well as] increasing cash transfers in the case of people already on the social-assistance programme,” Social Development Director General Vusi Madonsela said on Monday.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday accused Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang of keeping Aids statistics low after an official report was released by the Development Bank of South Africa. ”The minister of health must explain why official statistics are so low,” said DA spokesperson and MP Sandy Kalyan.
The existence of the Scorpions is ”as valid today as it was at conception”, says the Khampepe report released on Monday. ”Despite indications that crime levels are dropping, it is my considered view that organised crime still presents a threat that needs to be addressed through an effective comprehensive strategy,” states the report.
Municipal workers in Pretoria began an indefinite strike on Monday to press for better pay and working conditions, their leader said. Hundreds of members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union marked the start of the stoppage with a march through the streets of the capital before handing in a petition demanding pay increases.
China’s Olympic ticketing system appeared to suffer another meltdown as the final phase of sales for the Beijing Games got under way on Monday, fans and official media said. Long internet delays and system crashes were reported as the 1,38-million tickets went on sale, echoing last year’s fiasco in which the computer booking network completely crashed.
Burma said on Monday that nearly 4Â 000 people had been killed in the cyclone that tore into the impoverished and secretive Asian nation at the weekend, and that tens of thousands more could also be dead. The announcement on state television increased the death toll from Tropical Cyclone Nargis more than ten-fold.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is looking to make popular concessions in a bid to win back support for his beleaguered Labour government after its drubbing in last week’s local elections. Labour ministers and backbenchers continued to voice support for the prime minister despite the worst local election results for the party in 40 years.
Thousands of Somalis protested in Mogadishu’s streets on Monday, angry at food traders refusing to take old currency notes that have been blamed for spiralling inflation, witnesses said. ”The whole city is up in smoke,” said protester Hussein Abdikadir.
Rebels who have stepped up attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry in the last month said on Sunday they were considering a ceasefire appeal by United States presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has launched five attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta since it resumed a campaign of violence in April.