A Zimbabwean jailed for his role in an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea has finally been released, several weeks after 61 of his South African counterparts, a newspaper said on Wednesday. Moses Moyo was released last week but was not deported back to South Africa.
South Africa will play its part in reforming the United Nations, President Thabo Mbeki said in Chile on Tuesday. ”We will play our part to ensure that we transform this world body to be a true representative of all the peoples of the world,” he said in Santiago on receiving an honorary degree from the Salon de Diputados.
South Africa’s health minister angered Aids activists on Tuesday when she told a national Aids conference that they should focus on other diseases and reiterated her view that drugs are not the only answer to fighting HIV. ”I hope you have come in such big numbers not just to focus on one ailment but to focus on all of them,” she said.
Fast-bowler Shabbir Ahmed rushed Pakistan to a comprehensive series-tying victory against the West Indies in less than an hour on the final day of the second cricket Test at Sabina Park on Tuesday. It was Pakistan’s first Test victory in the Caribbean since 1988, and earned them a 1-1 share of the two-match series.
After starting on a softer note, the JSE Securities Exchange moved into positive territory on Wednesday morning as the rand weakened from its intraday best levels. Traders said in the absence of any major corporate news, the equity market was eyeing the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision on interest rates, to be announced on Thursday afternoon.
Springbok coach Jake White on Tuesday used the Border Bulldogs to fine-tune his team ahead of Saturday’s rugby Test against Uruguay. The practice session at the Absa Stadium was watched by an appreciative crowd of young and old, with many fans able to secure autographs from the Springboks after the session.
Doubts over Lance Armstrong’s form could either be put to rest or escalate further after Wednesday’s time trial at the Dauphine Libere. Armstrong will attempt a seventh straight Tour de France win next month, and he is using the Dauphine Libere as a final tune-up following some below-par performances earlier in the season.
Zimbabwean police briefly detained an opposition legislator and his two aides on Wednesday, the eve of a mass two-day strike against a highly controversial urban clean-up campaign which has displaced several thousand people.
Jacques Chirac is the most unpopular president of the Fifth Republic since pollsters began measuring the personal approval ratings of French politicians in 1978. As the country continued to writhe in anxiety, self-doubt and anger after its rejection of the EU Constitution, a poll showed Chirac’s popularity had plunged 16 points to 26%.
Three people were injured on Wednesday when an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737 made an emergency landing at Johannesburg International airport, an Airports Company South Africa spokesperson said. Jacqui O’Sullivan said the injured three were a pregnant woman, an epileptic and a passenger suffering from back pains.