South Africa should look to the lessons of the United States housing correction to avoid poor lending practices locally from knocking economic growth and stability, according to market analysts. "South Africa … can be criticised for the less prudent lending practices banks have adopted lately," analysts at Econometrix Treasury Management said.
Israel said on Monday it was cautiously open to an Arab peace initiative, amid reports that secret talks are being held with the aim of jump-starting the stalled Middle East peace process. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the so-called Saudi initiative on a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal had some good points, but needed work.
Zimbabwe’s opposition movement vowed on Monday to continue with its drive to topple veteran President Robert Mugabe despite the arrest of its top leaders and the use of deadly force to crush a mass rally. The Save Zimbabwe Campaign insisted they would not be cowed by the crackdown.
A United Nations human rights mission on Monday accused Sudan’s government of orchestrating and taking part in war crimes in Darfur and called for urgent international action. The UN mission, led by Nobel peace prize laureate Jody Williams, was dispatched by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate charges of widespread abuse in Sudan’s vast western region.
New coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s desire to organise more regular matches for his new team as they prepare for the 2010 World Cup finals has seen South Africa announce a friendly later this month against Bolivia. South Africa will host the South Americans in Durban or Johannesburg on March 28, just days after returning from an African Nations Cup qualifier in Chad.
South Africa is struggling to contain an outbreak of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) is sending a permanent staff member to help, reported the Lancet. The medical journal said the WHO TB expert would advise the Health Department on how to deal with the outbreak of the often-fatal XDR-TB.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho found himself engulfed by controversy once again on Monday after television microphones apparently caught him calling referee Mike Riley a ”son of a whore” in Portuguese during Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur.
China defended its booming oil trade with Africa on Monday, and said Europe and the United States should look at their own engagement on the continent before criticising Beijing. China has huge oil investments in Sudan, and rights groups say its engagement there is frustrating international efforts to stop the civil war and atrocities in Darfur.
Syria called for an unrestricted dialogue with Washington on Monday as a senior United States official made the highest-level visit to Damascus in two years for talks limited to the Iraqi refugee crisis. Ellen Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary of State for Refugees and Migration, discussed the plight of the refugees, who now number about two million among Iraq’s neighbours.
A number of former Fidentia employees have gathered outside the Cape Town offices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Monday. About 80 retrenched workers want the body’s intervention into what they call ”unfair labour practices” by the company’s interim curators.