The British government was under attack from development charities on Sunday night for allegedly wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds on aid to Malawi by paying it to United States consultancies. It has been revealed that more than £700 000 (about R8-million) of a £3-million (R34-million) project was spent on hotel bills and meals for US workers.
Uganda’s pioneering HIV/Aids programme, which showed the world that the epidemic could be turned around in Africa, appears to be in crisis as the government stands accused of obstructing the distribution of millions of condoms while preaching that no sex is the best prevention policy for single people.
The New Zealand All Blacks kept their Tri-Nations hopes alive on Saturday when a late try by Keven Mealamu saw them snatch a dramatic 31-27 victory over South Africa. The Springboks still lead the table but will be overtaken if the All Blacks beat injury-ravaged Australia next weekend.
Gil Morgan used an eagle, six birdies and an adventurous par on the last hole to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of The Tradition on Friday. Morgan finished with an 8-under 64 for a two-round total of 11-under 133 in the final major of the year on the 50-and-over Champions Tour.
Australian rugby captain George Gregan has denied published reports that he’s planning to retire from international play before the 2007 World Cup. The Weekend Australian newspaper said on Saturday that Gregan (32) will announce his future plans in the coming days and that his last Test could be the Tri-Nations match on Sept. 3 against New Zealand at Auckland.
Vodacom will slash its peak call time rates by up to 50% for weekdays between 5pm and 8pm, the mobile operator announced on Friday. Dubbed Vodacom’s ”Happy Hours”, the new tariff will see a standard on-network call rate of R1,49 per minute (including VAT) for pre-paid and contract customers.
The swine fever outbreak in the Eastern Cape has been brought under control, the Agriculture and Land Affairs Department said on Friday. Spokesperson Steve Galane said only small areas in the Western and Eastern Cape were still affected by the disease that was detected last month.
Djibril Cisse came off the subs bench to lead Liverpool to a 3-1 Super Cup win over CSKA Moscow in Monaco on Friday. The France international, who has been upset by speculation that he might be shipped out of Anfield to make way for the possible return of Real Madrid’s Michael Owen, could not have made a more eloquent or timely argument in favour of keeping him at Merseyside.
The family of a man who was allegedly raped by three women say he is so traumatised that he won’t speak a word to anyone. ”He isn’t all right. We are trying to talk to him but he is not saying anything. We are just trying to sort things out,” said Michelle, the 30-year-old victim’s sister-in-law.
Iraq’s leaders were struggling to meet yet another deadline on a new Constitution on Friday night amid increasing US alarm that the draft will exclude Sunni Arabs. The ruling Shia and Kurdish coalition held what were billed as last-ditch talks with Sunni leaders, but there was no sign of a breakthrough as the midnight deadline approached.