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Jacob Zuma on Sunday spoke out against what he described as infighting within the ruling African National Congress. ”Fighting for positions is wrong and should not be influenced by sources within the media,” he told the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) anniversary rally in Pietermaritzburg.
Foreigners with scarce skills will in future find it easier to immigrate to South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday after a three-day Cabinet lekgotla (meeting). The president also addressed crime, the 2010 Soccer World Cup, transformation in the judiciary and the backlog in environmental impact assessments.
Seam-bowler Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan took two wickets a piece on Sunday to boost Sri Lanka’s chances of a win in the first cricket Test against South Africa. Resuming day four at 43 without loss in its second innings, South Africa progressed to 311 for four wickets at stumps on the fourth day.
Somalia’s prime minister survived a no-confidence vote on Sunday, just days after a group of lawmakers resigned in disgust and said his weak administration has failed to bring peace to this chaotic African country. "I respect those who voted against me and I respect those who voted for me," Gedi said after the vote.
At least 51 people were killed, many of them children, in an Israeli air blitz on the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday, triggering outrage across the region and warnings of retribution for Israel’s "war crime". In Beirut, a mob of angry demonstrators smashed into the United Nations building as thousands took to the streets in protest.
Sixteen Indians were killed and another seven were injured in a blaze in a three-storey building in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Sunday, officials said. A Bahraini Interior Ministry statement carried on BNA news agency said the 16 died from smoke inhalation and another seven people were injured when the fire broke out at dawn.
The United States is ready to isolate North Korea internationally over its nuclear weapons programme, the top US State Department envoy on the country said on Sunday. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the North Koreans ”seem to like to isolate themselves”.
An earthquake measuring 5,5 on the Richter scale killed at least three children and left more than a thousand people without shelter in the south of Tajikistan, the emergencies ministry said on Sunday. The earthquake, whose epicentre was in northern Afghanistan about 180km south of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, hit at 3.57pm local time on Saturday.
The grounded Safmarine Agulhas is an unsalvageable wreck and the rest of its cargo cannot be removed, the National Port Authority (NPA) said on Saturday. ”It’s now referred to as a wreck … It can’t be re-floated,” said NPA East London spokesperson Terry Taylor.
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Pietermaritzburg hotels on Sunday reported high occupancy rates, considered ”unusual” for this time of year. Many of the hotels were filled with police officers, journalists and Zuma supporters ahead of his upcoming corruption trial on Monday. Pietermaritzburg tourism director Melanie Veness said: ”There is very little [accommodation] available. It’s very unusual for this time of year.”