The decision by the Cabinet to approve the setting up of structures to ensure that government departments’ documents are available in all the official languages was welcomed by several organisations on Wednesday. ”The decision … is a first, yet far-reaching, intervention to ensure a commitment to multilingualism,” the Afrikanerbond said.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Youth Brigade hopes to pull the country’s youth out of its voting slumber through a ”Miss IFP” beauty pageant, launched on Wednesday. The contest is a bid to get young and first-time voters interested in the electoral process ahead of the 2009 elections.
A newborn Indian baby found abandoned with 26 stab wounds has survived, doctors said on Wednesday, despite a cracked skull and exposed intestines. The baby boy, who doctors said was aged between one and two days, was discovered soaked in blood at a garbage dump in India’s financial capital of Mumbai on Tuesday, they said.
Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya grabbed four wickets as ruthless Sri Lanka thrashed Bangladesh by 39 runs on Wednesday to sweep the one-day series 3-0. The 38-year-old all-rounder picked up 4-14 in four overs to cap a series of dominating performances by the World Cup runners-up who had mauled Bangladesh by a 3-0 margin in the Test series as well.
Unless Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang releases a full report on the deaths of babies in Eastern Cape’s Frere Hospital within the next 24 hours, the Democratic Alliance (DA) will take constitutional steps against her, the party warned on Wednesday. The DA’s health spokesperson, Mike Waters, said the party’s previous attempts to get the minister to release the report drew a blank.
Zimbabwe’s central bank on Wednesday increased the price of gold by 757% in a bid to curb rampant smuggling of the precious metal and cover soaring production costs, an official said. ”With immediate effect, the support price has been increased from the current ZÂ 000 per gram to Z-million dollars per gram,” central bank governor Gideon Gono said.
Sascoc (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) president Moss Mashishi is pleased with Team South Africa’s performance at the ninth All Africa Games, which took place in Algeria earlier this month. Team SA came third in the event with 180 medals, of which 61 were gold.
Brazil descended again into air chaos on Wednesday after the nation’s number-one airline cancelled dozens of flights to and from the country’s busiest airport, causing a ripple effect nationwide that stranded thousands and sent tempers flaring. On Tuesday, ticket purchases were halted at São Paulo’s Conghonas airport.
Bulgaria is considering writing off Soviet-era debt it is owed by Libya to contribute to a deal that led to the release of six medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV. After more than eight years in jail, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who recently took Bulgarian citizenship were freed on Tuesday.
Ratings agency Fitch raised its outlook on South Africa’s ”BBB+” sovereign credit rating to positive from stable on Wednesday, citing the country’s rapid economic growth and improved prospects. ”The change in outlook reflects South Africa’s improved growth performance and prospects,” Veronica Kalema, a director in Fitch’s sovereign team, said in a statement.