West Africa has become an increasingly important transit hub for trafficking cocaine to Europe. The ”tightening of border controls in the Netherlands and in Spain … forced South American traffickers to tackle the European market via West Africa”, said Fabrice Pothier of Senlis Council, an independent global think-tank fighting against narcotics trafficking.
South Africa’s Coastal Sharks all but secured their place in the Super 14 semifinals with a thrilling 41-25 win over the Western Force of Australia at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Friday night. The victory moved them up into fourth spot ahead of Australia’s ACT Brumbies. The South African team were given a lifeline earlier in the day when the Brumbies suffered a 33-3 defeat to the Canterbury Crusaders.
Tropical storm Chanchu continued to lash the Philippines on Saturday, leaving at least 21 people dead as heavy rains triggered landslides and left parts of the country under water. Floodwaters submerged two provinces in the central Visayas region, and several villages in Leyte’s Sogod town were cut off landslides and floods damaged a bridge and vital highway.
The Umkhonto weSizwe Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) in KwaZulu-Natal has called on the African National Congress to ensure that Jacob Zuma is deployed to a position that would guarantee his contribution to the country’s socio-economic development and growth. The call came as they celebrated the triumph of justice in the exoneration of Zuma.
Talks aimed at resolving the ongoing strike in the security industry will continue on Monday, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) said on Friday. ”Today [Friday] we set the basis for negotiations,” Satawu’s national coordinator for the security industry, Jackson Simon, said after nearly 10 hours of talks with employers.
Thousands of villagers began fleeing their homes in the path of red-hot lava flows oozing from Indonesia’s Mount Merapi on Saturday as officials said an eruption looked imminent. But many residents were still reluctant to leave their homes, despite a mandatory evacuation order, they said.
Kevin Pietersen equalled his best Test score as England built an imposing first-innings total of 551-6 declared, their highest against Sri Lanka, on the second day of the first Test at Lord’s on Friday. Pietersen made 158 and put on 173 with Paul Collingwood (57).
German health experts on Friday warned football fans coming to the World Cup to have themselves vaccinated against measles, following an outbreak in a state that will host 11 matches. More than 1Â 100 people in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia have caught the disease in the past ten weeks, according to authorities in the state.
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Reiterating claims of a political conspiracy, Jacob Zuma’s lawyer argued in an affidavit on Friday for his client’s corruption trial to be concluded speedily to avoid harming his political aspirations. The affidavit was filed in support of an application by arms company Thint for particulars on corruption charges it is to face alongside Zuma.
Three explosions rocked the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Friday afternoon, killing a person and bringing the death toll from a total of nine blasts during the day to at least four, with 41 wounded, police said. At least one person was killed and four were injured in the latest blasts.