Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states need to contribute more to the regional body’s budget, outgoing SADC chairperson Festus Mogae said on Thursday. The SADC, as a regional organisation, still has difficulties implementing any of its targeted development programmes, he said at a summit meeting in Maseru.
Lebanese troops deployed in south Lebanon on Thursday, linking up with United Nations peacekeepers to take control of Hezbollah strongholds as Israeli forces pulled back after their 34-day war with the guerrillas. Hezbollah fighters melted away as the troops crossed the Litani River, about 20km from the Israeli border, to take over a region the army has not controlled for decades.
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang should resign over her lack of leadership on HIV/Aids, the Aids Law Project told a conference in Toronto, Canada, on Thursday. ”I believe our minister of health should resign,” head of the project Mark Heywood said to shouts of approval from a packed session room at the International Aids Conference.
Australian police evacuated and searched a Pacific Blue flight from Fiji to Sydney on Thursday after a threat was made against the plane, but nothing suspicious was found on board. Oficials said 102 passengers and seven crew aboard flight DJ 154 were evacuated from the Boeing 737 after it landed at 5.45pm local time at Sydney’s international terminal.
England striker Michael Owen may be out all season after a severe knee injury sustained at the World Cup, his Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder told the BBC on Thursday. ”It’s a long-term injury. I don’t know if he’ll play again this season,” Roeder said.
A young crocodile was spotted in the Vaal River system on Thursday morning, said the Vaal Rand police water wing. ”It was going from Klip River mouth into the Vaal River, a small one, about 1m,” said Inspector Gerrie Steyn. ”We’re going to look for that one, take it out and take it to the zoo.”
American John Daly was troubled by a rumour that spread around the Medinah Country Club on Tuesday claiming he had died from a heart attack. ”Just a sick individual starting a bad rumour,” said Daly. ”I was leaving the course and my agent is calling me, terrified. And my wife was terrified.”
Power utility Eskom on Thursday said that in the case of the recent power outages in the Western Cape it accepted that there were oversights regarding some of its practices and procedures. However, this did not mean that Eskom had been negligent. Every technical fault did not amount to a breach of a licence condition or negligence, it added.
An innovative comic book catering for the deaf community has been developed by the Gay and Lesbian Archives to reach out to the deaf community regarding HIV/Aids, sexuality and rights and empowerment. The comic, aptly titled <i>Are Your Rights Respected?</i>, is part of an independent project of the South African History Archives.
A United States-led coalition warplane mistakenly dropped a bomb on an Afghan police convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing 12 police officers, a police commander said. The coalition confirmed "an event did happen" and said it was collecting details.