European Union veterinary experts are meeting on Friday to discuss moves to halt the spread of bird flu as the continent awaits test results from a second suspected outbreak. British scientists on Thursday said the virus found in Turkish poultry was the H5N1 strain that health experts fear could mutate into a human disease and kill millions of people worldwide.

Race is rearing its ugly head in the rural Western Cape town of Vredendal, an African National Congress stronghold. There is a backlog of 8  000 houses in the Matzikama municipality and 500 families still use night soil buckets. But, rather than erupting in street protests, beefs about basic services have sparked recriminations between coloureds and Africans.

A total of 867 children were reported missing last year, more than two-thirds in Gauteng and the Western Cape, police say. But child-rights groups estimate the overall number could be as high as 1  700 a year. Not all disappearances are reported to the authorities, for a variety of reasons.

The first rapid home test kit for HIV is expected to be approved in the United States next month, after years of controversy and fears that people who find they are infected may kill themselves. For nearly 20 years, experts and activists have agonised over tests that allow people to find out their HIV status in privacy.