The manne would like to commend African National Congress Youth League president Fikile Mbalula for his latest online missive in which he exhorts us to ”double our efforts” in the fight against HIV and Aids. Not only would a doubling of the state’s efforts put a whole 200Â 000 people on anti-retroviral treatment, it would leave only 4,5-million infected people in the hands of Teutonic snake-oil salesmen and
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More than 100 employees of Iraq’s Ministry of Industry were kidnapped by gunmen north of Baghdad as they left work on Wednesday in a brazen reminder of the country’s dire security situation. The mass-abduction came on the same day that the executed body of one of deposed leader Saddam Hussein’s lawyers was found in the capital.
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Ten-man Mexico scraped into the World Cup second round on Wednesday despite a chaotic 2-1 loss to a second-string Portugal. Mexico gave away a penalty, missed another and had a man sent off with 30 minutes left, but squeaked through when Group D rivals Angola were pegged back 1-1 by Iran.
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Angola scored the first goal of their short World Cup history, but a 1-1 draw with Iran in their final Group D match on Wednesday signalled the end of their remarkable journey in Germany. The Southern African nation, appearing in their first World Cup, had needed to win by three clear goals and hope that Group D rivals Mexico lost to Portugal.
Former president FW de Klerk was out of intensive care following complications after a cancerous colon tumour was removed, a family spokesperson said on Wednesday. Dave Steward said De Klerk was still linked to a ventilator but was now functioning ”more than 80%” on his own lungs.
A R19-million waste-water treatment plant, which will save a thirsty Cape Town millions of litres a day, is to be commissioned in the city on Thursday. The revamped Potsdam plant will eventually supply 38-million litres of non-potable water to the Blaauwberg area, project manager Anic Smit said on Wednesday.
A United States court of appeals has struck down a lower court ruling requiring a sex offender to undergo periodic sexual-arousal testing, saying such a practice was ”Orwellian”. In its decision handed down Tuesday, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said it could not agree with the March 2005 judgment by a Los Angeles district court.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) will sign a pay agreement on Thursday with security employers, Satawu general secretary Randall Howard said. He was addressing a large number of striking security guards who had gathered at Beyers Naude Square in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
President Thabo Mbeki should take over leadership of South Africa’s National Aids Council in the face of soaring HIV/Aids mortality figures, Treatment Action Campaign chairperson Zackie Achmat said on Wednesday. He was commenting on a 2003/04 mortality report released by Statistics South Africa three weeks ago.