A post template

No image available
/ 12 October 2007

Bizos in stable condition in hospital

Prominent human rights lawyer George Bizos (79) is in a stable condition at the Wits University Donald Gordon Medical Centre, the facility said on Friday. Client services manager Vernon Kinnear said Bizos was admitted on Monday with a gastrointestinal complaint. ”He is doing very well; he is even managing his diary from his hospital bed,” he said.

No image available
/ 12 October 2007

Bad comedown for Dutch magic mushrooms

The Dutch government will ban the sale of hallucinogenic mushrooms, a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry said Friday, rolling back one element of the country’s permissive drug policy after a series of well-publicised negative incidents. The decision will go into effect within several months, Wim van der Weegen said.

No image available
/ 12 October 2007

Iraq bomb hidden in toy cart hits children

A bomb hidden in a cart of toys killed two children and wounded 17 others in a playground in northern Iraq on Friday, the first day of a national holiday to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The attack came the day after United States forces killed nine children and six women in an air strike north-west of Baghdad.

No image available
/ 12 October 2007

Heavy rains bring death to Haiti

At least 23 people have died near Haiti’s capital following heavy rains that triggered floods, Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime said on Friday. Bien-Aime said 23 bodies were found on Thursday in Cabaret, north of the capital, after flood waters hit their hillside homes, sweeping them away in the current.

No image available
/ 12 October 2007

Hlophe in opposition’s crosshairs

Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s refusal to resign is a typical example of persons holding high office refusing to face the consequences of their actions, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. ”By refusing to step down, contrary to the dictates of good governance, such senior office-bearers undermine our young democracy,” she said on Friday.

No image available
/ 12 October 2007

Nigerian children contract polio after vaccine

Sixty-nine children in northern Nigeria contracted polio following a vaccination against the disease, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official in Nigeria said on Thursday. ”They were vulnerable [to this type of virus against] which they hadn’t been vaccinated enough. These are extremely rare cases, however,” the representative said.