The African Union’s (AU) executive council has given the go-ahead for a common African position on the controversial issue of human cloning to be drawn up. The South African government proposed to the fifth ordinary session of the council that a common African position be presented to the international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) is set to clamp down on taxpayers who fail to reflect accurately and honestly details relating to the travel section on their tax return forms, the receiver said in a statement on Monday. A Sars spokesperson said some taxpayers have been dishonest when furnishing travel-specific information.
Pakistan has turned to old ally Libya to purchase a fleet of Mirage fighter jets and spare parts, an air force spokesperson said on Monday. ”Libya had a fleet of Mirages, which was grounded for over a decade. We have purchased that fleet at a very reasonable price,” Air Commodore Sarfraz Khan said.
Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota arrived in Rwanda on Monday to sign a defence agreement with his counterpart, General Gatsinzi Marcel. Lekota’s visit coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide in which an estimated 800 000 people were massacred in 100 days.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118222">Rwandans face village justice</a>
The African National Congress urged the government on Monday to intervene to ensure that the majority of South Africans benefit from the country’s stabilising economy. ”Despite evidence of a stabilising economy, the majority, particularly African people, continue to suffer,” the ANC secretary general said in Johannesburg.
In a bid to strengthen food security, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) on Monday said it has identified two crops that will be part of a multi-pronged initiative to feed the hungry. The two crops, seen as ”African agriculture successes”, are cassava and Nerica (New rice varieties for Africa).
The first summit meeting of national leaders on HIV/Aids in Bangkok next week has been called off because only one of the invited leaders is showing up. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said only Ugandan President Lieutenant General Yoweri Museveni and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan are now coming.
Being able to prove descent from Genghis Khan, with the aid of a simple DNA test, will in future buy a free meal at London’s two Mongolian restaurants, the Times reported on Monday. The restaurants, both called Shish, are located in trendy Hoxton in the East End and in Willesden Green to the northwest.
Austrian President Thomas Klestil was hospitalised in a critical condition on Monday after suffering a heart attack three days before the end of his term, his office said. The president was revived by a bodyguard who used a defibrillator to jolt his heart back into action after he collapsed as he prepared to leave for his office.
Eleven people have been arrested in connection with violence that erupted in Diepsloot when residents were protesting their removal to Brits near Pretoria, police said on Monday. Earlier on Monday residents of the area burnt two city council buildings in protest at their removal to Brits "without any reason".