Six foreign medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV arrived in Sofia on Tuesday after being freed by Libya under an accord with the European Union. Their release ends what Libya’s critics called a human rights scandal and lifts a barrier to attempts by the long-isolated North African state to complete a process of normalising ties with the outside world.
Wage negotiations in the gold sector of the Chamber of Mines resumed at a slow pace on Monday, trade union Solidarity said. Solidarity mining spokesperson Reint Dykema said the Chamber of Mines had increased its salary offer from 7% to a ”disappointing” 7,25%.
Star Trek actor Walter Koenig urged fans of the iconic sci-fi series on Tuesday to turn their wrath on Burma’s military junta, an earthly ”outpost of tyranny”. Koenig, who battled Klingons and Romulans as an original member of the Starship Enterprise crew, said he hoped to mobilise Trekkies to join a campaign against the ruling generals blamed for human rights abuses.
HIV-infected babies have a greater chance of survival if they receive treatment before they show signs of illness or a weakened immune system, the International Aids Society was told on Tuesday. A study in Cape Town and Soweto found that 96% of infants given immediate drug treatment were still alive two years later.
Hundreds of sections of embankments along China’s third-longest river have become loose, threatening the homes of millions of people after three weeks of floods across the country. Rain has wrought havoc across large parts of China this summer, killing more than 500 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.
Australian captain Stirling Mortlock said Tuesday that the Wallabies would use their opening Rugby World Cup pool match against Japan as preparation for a key clash with Wales. Mortlock said Australia’s 2-0 Test series win over the Welsh last month would mean nothing when the two sides face off in Cardiff.
The United States on Monday signed an aid pact with Lesotho in which the impoverished African country would receive -million to stem poverty. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Lesotho’s Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili witnessed the signing of the agreement.
Egyptian police opened fire on two Sudanese migrants trying to sneak across the border into Israel, injuring one, security sources said on Tuesday. A security source told Reuters the men, accompanied by traffickers smuggling them across the border, were trying to cross the border south of the Rafah crossing on Monday when they were spotted by border guards.
The Johannesburg High Court has granted the African National Congress (ANC) leave to defend itself against efforts to force the party to return Brett Kebble’s donations. Trustees of the slain mining magnate’s estate have been trying to force the party to return R3,5-million as well as R875 000 given to the party’s Youth League.
A decision to appoint a mediator to facilitate a resolution to the impasse between Vodacom and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been agreed to by both parties. The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union has threatened to call for a boycott of Vodacom unless it extended organisational rights to the CWU.