The Ugandan Parliament has overwhelmingly voted to amend the country’s Constitution to outlaw gay marriage and impose criminal penalties on same-sex couples who wed, a spokesperson for the legislature said on Thursday. The amendment says that ”marriage is lawful only if entered into between a man and a woman”.
Former president Nelson Mandela will not have a high-profile birthday — on July 18 — this year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said on Thursday.
Soccer player Benedict Vilakazi, who is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl, was granted bail of R1 000 in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Thursday afternoon. This follows an application by his legal team to have his bail reinstated after magistrate Naomi Manaka earlier revoked it when he failed to appear before her at 8.30am.
The stock market in London tumbled on Thursday after deadly blasts on London’s transport network which British Prime Minister Tony Blair said were the work of terrorists. London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed down 1,38% to 5Â 158,30 points after falling more than 3% in the immediate aftermath of the explosions.
More than 10-million people in Southern Africa will need humanitarian assistance in the coming year because of poor agricultural production, food agencies said on Thursday. Following a recent crop assessment it was found that Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland are not able to grow enough food to meet domestic needs.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, facing a political crisis over allegations of vote fraud, said on Thursday she has asked her Cabinet members to step down but will not herself resign. ”I will not resign,” Arroyo said in a nationwide address, 10 days after she apologised to the nation for improperly calling an election official during the May 2004 presidential vote.
A group calling itself the Organisation of al-Qaeda Jihad in Europe, also identified in some reports as the Secret Organisation of al-Qaeda in Europe, claimed Thursday’s attacks in London and threatened similar strikes in Italy, Denmark and other "Crusader" states with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Barclays is looking forward to creating Africa’s ”pre-eminent bank” after the sanctioning of on Thursday of its R33-billion takeover bid for Absa. Judge Mohamed Jajbhay gave the go-ahead for deal on Thursday morning. He first dismissed an application by the human rights group Jubilee SA to postpone the sanctioning of the deal.
President Thabo Mbeki and his government have condemned Thursday’s attacks on London’s transport network. Mbeki said from the Group of Eight summit in Scotland that important issues such as climate change, poverty and underdevelopment, especially in Africa, should not now be put on the back burner.
Israel was not warned about possible terror attacks in London before at least six blasts ripped through the city, Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom said on Thursday. A foreign ministry official had said earlier that British police warned the Israeli embassy in London of possible terror attacks minutes before the first explosion.