A Greek police officer in the northern city of Salonika has been arrested for shooting a motorist who double parked his car to grab breakfast, a police source said on Monday. The incident happened early on Sunday morning in Oreokastro, a quiet suburb of Greece’s northern capital.
Aids researchers from around the world gather in South Africa on Tuesday amid tentative signs the nation is finally embracing mainstream approaches to fighting the epidemic. Hopes of a shift in South Africa’s attitude to a disease affecting nearly 12% of its 47-million people have been building since the government in March unveiled a revamped Aids strategy.
South African police on Monday fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of nurses taking part in a nationwide strike over pay, wounding several, state radio reported. Police also arrested 20 nurses in the incident at a hospital in Durban, the radio said. It quoted police as saying the nurses were blocking entrances to the hospital.
Disruption of coal supplies to the main power generating station in Zimbabwe has caused power failures across the country, reports said on Monday. The breakdown at Hwange Power Station has robbed the country of 500MW of power, nearly one-third of its needs, state radio and newspapers said.
West Indies warmed up for next week’s third Test against England by hitting 534 for eight wickets to draw its three-day match against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The tourists declared at Durham’s Racecourse Ground with Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul unable to bat due to injury.
All 23 fishermen were rescued from a fishing vessel which ran aground and started breaking up off St Francis Bay on Sunday, said the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the boat hit a sandbank as she left the St Francis harbour entrance in three-metre swells.
South Africa is still negotiating the release of one of its citizens kidnapped in the Niger Delta, the Foreign Affairs Department said on Monday. ”We are still negotiating [for the man’s release] at this stage. We are, however, in contact with both the man’s mother and his wife,” spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said.
Somali pirates who have been holding a Taiwan-flagged fishing vessel since mid-May killed one of the 16 crew members because the ship’s owners have not paid a ransom, a maritime official said on Monday. The pirates threatened to kill other crew members if their demands are not met, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme.
Aids may be killing elected officials in some Southern African countries faster than they can be replaced, creating a new threat to democracy and governance in the region, a new study said. The Institute for Democracy in South Africa said a study of mortality patterns in Southern Africa indicated Africa’s HIV/Aids crisis was reaching deep into elected governments.
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor refused to attend the opening of his war crimes trial on Monday saying in a letter read out in court that he could not expect a fair trial. ”I cannot take part in this charade that does injustice to the people of Liberia and the people of Sierra Leone,” said the letter.