The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) had decided to deliberately stage illegal protests because it was tired of the government’s failure to act on HIV/Aids, it said on Thursday. ”We deliberately did not apply for permission to protest and we don’t apologise for that because we are tired of government’s inactivity in the face of the Aids pandemic,” said the TAC’s general secretary Sipho Mthathi.
Santos gained three valuable points when they narrowly beat Bloemfontein Celtic 1-0 in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) match played at the Green Point Stadium on Wednesday night. Celtic played with a lot of fire and were quick in their tackles, but could not make use of the possession they had.
In the big clash of the day Western Province on Wednesday upset defending champions Southern Gauteng by a solitary goal on the third day of the Spar Interprovincial Women’s Hockey tournament being played at the Randburg AstroTurf in Johannesburg.
Four-time European champions Ajax were ousted from the European Champions League qualifying on Wednesday, scoring an own-goal in their 2-0 loss at home to FC Copenhagen. Ajax had a 2-1 lead heading into the second leg of their third-round qualifying match at the Amsterdam Arena, but fell behind when Michael Silberbauer scored in the 59th minute.
Middlesbrough scored twice in the final 10 minutes and rallied to beat Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday, leaving Manchester United alone at the top of the English Premier League standings. Two-time defending champions Chelsea led on a 16th-minute goal from Andriy Shevchenko before Emanuel Pogatetz equalised and substitute Mark Viduka scored in injury time to win it for Middlesbrough.
The front door of the seaside Hotel Monroe is padlocked but a uniformed soldier greets visitors who enter through the back. "Do you want to rent a room?" he asks from behind his desk. Forget it. The high-rise hotel has been closed "since the aggression" by Israel last month and there is no sign of when it will reopen, says the soldier who was not authorised to speak and did not give his name.
French lovers of Bordeaux red wine are angry they cannot afford to drink the acclaimed 2005 vintage which is breaking price records before it has even been bottled. A case of the top end wine is on sale at more than double the previous record even though it will not be delivered until 2008 at the earliest.
Syria said on Wednesday it would close its border with Lebanon if the United Nations stationed troops along it as part of its mission to enforce a truce between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem made the threat in a meeting with Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja in Helsinki.
Rainfall has eased in the sodden southern Cape but more is expected, said the South African Weather Service on Thursday. In the 24 hours to 8am on Thursday, the weather service recorded 11,6mm in Riversdale, compared to 28mm the day before, 4mm in George (71,5mm on Wednesday) and 18mm in Heidelberg (25mm on Wednesday).
The South African Cabinet has given the nod to the Civil Unions Bill — which effectively allows recognition of same-sex marriages. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko on Thursday said the Bill takes into account the Constitutional Court judgement that found the common-law definition of marriage in the Marriage Act of 1961 was unconstitutional.