The United Kingdom’s drug policy in Afghanistan’s Helmand province lay in tatters on Monday as the United Nations declared a ”frightening” explosion in opium production across the country, led by Taliban-backed farmers in the volatile south. Opium production soared by 34% to 8 200 tonnes.
United States President George Bush finally lost his battle to hang on to the Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, on Monday after months of unremitting congressional pressure over a series of scandals that included the firing of nine state prosecutors, wire tapping and torture. Bush blamed the Democrats, accusing them of dragging a decent and talented man through the mud.
There is a serious amount of work to be done before the International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup tournament, which starts on September 11, said South African cricket coach Mickey Arthur on Monday, after the Proteas’ return from their 3-0 one-day international series victory over Zimbabwe.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) has become the first multinational to be exempted from selling 30% of its business in South Africa to black investors, the United States computer giant and government said on Monday. The company will instead invest millions of rands in a new business institute to provide training for 1 800 students.
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) secretary general Abdalla Salem el-Badri held talks with Angolan officials on Monday on oil prices and production quotas. Angola, the largest sub-Saharan oil producer in Africa after Nigeria, joined Opec in December.
Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi met municipal labour unions in Pretoria on Monday to discuss the government’s initiative for a single public service, the ministry said. The initiative seeks to create one public-service administration for all three tiers of government.
A Cape Town city councillor on Monday lost a high court bid to keep his Independent Democrats seat as floor-crossing fever hotted up in the city. Cape Town mayor and Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille was scheduled to meet her ID counterpart, Patricia de Lille, on Tuesday afternoon to discuss floor-crossing.
A woman and a small child were killed by a fire at a block of flats in Joubert Park in central Johannesburg on Monday, paramedics said. A Netcare 911 spokesperson said the victims were an adult woman and a baby boy of about two years old. Firefighters found the pair in the corner of a room and carried them outside.
Thirteen years after the country shed its pariah status by scrapping apartheid, 96% of South Africans are now proud of their country, a new opinion poll revealed on Monday. Worryingly, among other figures revealed in the survey, nearly 10% of respondents said that domestic violence could be justified.
Former South African Test batsman Roy Mclean (77) has died in Johannesburg after a long illness, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on August 27. McLean played 40 Test matches, and is best remembered for a match-winning unbeaten 76 against Australia in 1955.