No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) and HIV have merged into a double-barrelled pandemic that is sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa and threatening global efforts to eradicate both diseases, according to a report released on Friday. Overburdened health systems are unable to cope with the epidemic and risk collapse, says the report.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Ernie Els’s miserable week continued with a second-round collapse at the Singapore Open on Friday, the South African’s 76 leaving him six-over for the tournament and likely to miss the cut. The world number four lost in a play-off to Australia’s Adam Scott here last year and came into the -million event as one of the favourites.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
The sight of frightened, bewildered children torn from their homes by wars or poverty is one of the most recurring and haunting faces of Africa. But the case of 103 African children who were to be flown out of Chad to Europe by a French group has touched raw nerves on the continent, where trafficking of minors is still widespread.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Battles broke out again in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Friday killing at least one, wounding four and stoking the nation’s humanitarian crisis after nearly 90 000 people fled days of fighting earlier this week. Ethiopian forces supporting Somalia’s interim government are trying to crush Islamist-led rebels.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
The career of Martina Hingis ended in disgrace and tears on Thursday when she retired after testing positive for cocaine, an inglorious finale to a story that captivated world tennis for more than a decade. ”I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100% innocent,” the five-times Grand Slam champion told a news conference.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
The Department of Home Affairs has ditched the South African Post Office (Sapo) as the distributor of its documents because of inefficiency. Initially, the Sapo contract with the department to deliver documents went very well, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told a media briefing at Parliament on Friday.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Rescuers worked on Friday on rescuing hundreds of thousands of people trapped by the worst floods ever recorded in Mexico’s southern state of Tabasco, with more than one million residents affected. The oil-rich state the size of Belgium is now 80% underwater, officials said, adding that they expect more rain in the next days.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Former anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman has not been given the recognition she deserves in the new South Africa, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Friday. In a tribute to Suzman ahead of her 90th birthday next week, he said she had tirelessly used her position as MP during the Sixties and Seventies to break the apartheid mould.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Tamil Tiger political wing leader SP Thamilselvan was killed in a Sri Lankan air force bombing raid early on Friday, the rebels said, in what analysts said was a body-blow to any hope of ending renewed civil war soon. Thamilselvan was the rebels’ main interlocutor at the last round of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government in October 2006.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Broadcaster Alan Jones has applied for the job of Wallabies coach and said he wants to be an agent of change. Jones, who coached the Wallabies from 1984 to 1988, said he did not expect to take the team through to the next World Cup in 2011 but wanted to introduce a more attacking style of play.