No image available
/ 29 January 2008
The mandate of about 1 000 South African soldiers deployed in Burundi under an African Union mandate is to be extended as efforts to get the last remaining rebel group to re-join the peace process gain momentum, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Any attempt to use the Beijing Olympics to discredit China or force it to change policy is doomed to failure, the leading communist party newspaper said on Tuesday. The counter-attack comes amid a rough week for the Olympic organisers, who have had to admit concealed fatalities on the construction site.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest platinum producer, on Wednesday said it was able to operate its mines at full capacity with 80% of its power needs. Spokesperson Trevor Raymond said the company’s smelting and refining operations remained in standby mode.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
At least 15 000 children under the age of five have been displaced by the torrential floods in Mozambique, a global agency working with children said on Wednesday. ”In most disasters, including these floods, children tend to suffer the most,” said Unicef spokesperson Thierry Delvigne-Jean.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Tamil Tiger rebels said Sri Lankan troops on Tuesday ambushed a school bus and killed 18 people, including 11 children, as the military reported killing 67 militants in two days of heavy fighting. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said a ”deep penetrating unit” of the military carried out the bomb attack.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
South Africans can expect current load-shedding by Eskom to continue, if not worsen, for at least the next four weeks. Eskom, which met major industrial customers and the six metro mayors on Tuesday, proposed a three-phase recovery period that would include load-shedding, at least in the initial phase.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
A car-bomb attack on a police station killed two people and wounded 23 in a town east of Algiers on Tuesday, the second such bombing in the Opec member in a month. Some residents said the blast in Thenia appeared to be a suicide attack, the tactic used in a twin bombing in the capital on December 11.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Egypt boosted security around the border town of Rafah on Tuesday and resealed parts of the barrier blasted open a week ago as it tried to control the flow of people in and out of the Gaza Strip. Egyptian forces strung barbed wire along some of the gaps between two gates leading into the Palestinian territory, while riot police were deployed.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
An African National Congress MP on Tuesday proposed that prostitution be legalised during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The suggestion of George Lekgetho was met with groans of protest and chuckles from other MPs at the portfolio committee on arts and culture in Parliament.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
It is critical that South Africans respond to the energy-saving proposals made by the government for industrial, commercial and residential consumers, the African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday. ”The success of the programme taken by the government … depends on the contribution of all South Africans and sectors,” the ANC said.