Defence Secretary Des Browne was expected to announce details on Monday of promised reinforcements for the 3Â 300 British troops in Afghanistan whom he admits are facing an "energised" Taliban. Browne revealed last week that commanders in the restive southern province of Helmand had asked for more troops.
Springbok coach Jake White said on Monday his side would target the Australian scrum in this week’s Tri-Nations clash, after the Wallabies’ front five was humbled by the mighty All Blacks. New Zealand pummelled the Australian scrum in Christchurch, helping the Kiwis secure a crushing 32-12 victory against the visitors on Saturday.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) issued an urgent appeal on Monday for ,7-million to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Ethiopia. Unicef said that unless it secured the funding, it would have to cancel the second half of a programme that reaches seven million children twice a year.
The Somali transitional federal government has called for the powerful Islamist militia to be excluded from peace talks this week after sparking clashes in the capital that killed at least 21 people on the weekend, officials said on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aidid said the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia militants had violated a truce deal.
South African Trevor Immelman claimed his first United States PGA Tour title when he held off world number one Tiger Woods to win the Western Open on Sunday. Immelman clinched victory by sinking a 30-foot breaking putt for birdie at the last to complete a round of 67 for a total of 13-under 271, two clear of Woods and Australian Mathew Goggin.
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The South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) on Sunday called for a speedy corruption trial for African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma. Although it has not organised any pro-Zuma rallies, Sasco believes in Zuma’s innocence until proven otherwise in court.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s suggestion that KwaZulu-Natal’s name be changed should be supported because the current name is associated with suffering and humiliation, the Pan Africanist Congress said on Monday. Zwelithini has also called for the history of the Zulu nation to be rewritten to correct ”falsifications” of history.
A Pakistan International Airlines’ Fokker passenger plane crashed on Monday killing all 45 people on board, the police chief in the central city of Multan said. ”Everyone is dead. I am standing at the site,” said police chief Iftikhar Babar. Flight PK 688, en route for Lahore before flying on to Islamabad, crashed 10 minutes after take-off from Multan airport.
Britain has thrown out a lawsuit worth millions of pounds in compensation to victims of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh. The House of Lords this week dismissed a case brought by Binod Sutradhar against the British Geological Survey. Sutradhar claimed the survey was negligent in not testing for arsenic during a water evaluation in Bangladesh.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=soccer_world_cup_2006"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/272488/icon_focuson_wc3.gif" align=left border=0></a>France captain Zinedine Zidane, sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi late in Sunday’s World Cup final loss to Italy, won the Golden Ball award for the tournament’s best player. The results were released on Monday morning in Berlin by Fifa.