No image available
/ 15 December 2006
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) announced on Friday it will hold its national conference in March 2008, at which it will elect its new leaders. President Fikile Mbalula said this is to ensure that the current executive members have an influence on the outcome of the ANC elections, where a new president will be chosen during the ANC national conference in December 2007.
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
The ruling Hamas group accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah of starting a war after his security forces opened fire on Friday on a Hamas rally in the West Bank and fire fights broke out in Gaza. ”What a war, Mahmoud Abbas, you are launching, first against God and then against Hamas,” senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said.
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
Residents of the town housing Somalia’s interim government stocked up with provisions on Friday as troops tested weaponry ahead of a feared attack by rival Islamists in the Horn of Africa nation. ”I’m afraid when war breaks out, roads will be closed and food is going to be unaffordable,” labourer and father-of-three Said Ali Ahmed said.
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
President Thabo Mbeki should indeed go for a public HIV test, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) leader Zackie Achmat said on Friday. ”Every business leader, every political leader, every trade union leader, should test publicly,” Achmat said. ”Every church leader should. And our president. Including our president.”
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
Robert Mugabe dodged speculation on Friday about an extension to his presidency in an address to Zimbabwe’s ruling party after warning potential successors there is no vacancy at the top. The 82-year-old, in power since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, instead used his annual speech to Zanu-PF delegates to lambaste the one-time colonial masters.
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) was locked in a meeting with members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) in order to avert a protest by workers, the company said on Friday. Spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu said Satawu had decided to embark on a strike following a decision by SACAA to only pay ”bonuses at the end of the financial year.”
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) chief whip Koos van der Merwe on Friday laid a complaint — under the Public Protector Act — against Transport Minister Jeff Radebe for disobeying traffic laws and causing danger to other road users as well as setting a bad example.
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
It is time the United Nations stepped in to take charge of the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, President Thabo Mbeki suggested on Friday. A concerted, global effort is required to defuse the ”extremely dangerous situation” currently prevailing in the Middle East and West Asia, he said in his weekly newsletter, published on his party’s ANC Today website.
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
Britain’s Prince William, eager to draw a line under a decade of conspiracy theories about the death of his mother, Princess Diana, graduated as an army officer on Friday to launch his military career. The second in line to the throne passed out at the elite Sandhurst military academy before his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, in a ceremony famed for its pomp and circumstance.
No image available
/ 15 December 2006
Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden scored half-centuries to help Australia seize control of the third Ashes Test against England in Perth on Friday. Ponting continued his insatiable run-feast with an unbeaten 57 and Hayden posted his best score of the series to reach the close on day two, also on 57 not out, with Australia on 119-2 in their second innings, 148 runs ahead.