With almost half of South Africa categorised as poor, the national Budget must be looked at for its impact on poverty. To what extent does it extend an effective social welfare net and how much tax relief is targeted at working-class families as opposed to the wealthy?

The European Parliament called on Nigeria on Thursday to hand over Liberian former leader Charles Taylor, who has been in exile since relinquishing power under international pressure in August, 2003 to end the long-running civil war in his country.

One woman dies from pregnancy-related causes approximately every 30 minutes. One in five children dies before the age of five from diseases that are 80% preventable. An estimated one-third of the population suffers from anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress.

Israelis are paying a high economic and social cost for nearly 40 years of occupation, says a report commissioned by Oxfam. The report says that military spending, the cost of Jewish settlements to colonise Palestinian land, and the collapse of tourism and other enterprises because of the two intifada, have severely undermined the economy.

A suicide car bomber dressed as a policeman tricked his way into a police base in Iraq on Thursday and blew himself up, killing at least 12 people. The bomber wore a lieutenant’s uniform and maximised the casualties by timing his explosion as the day shift was taking over from the night shift at the base in Tikrit.

United States President George Bush on Thursday night delivered a coded but pointed criticism of Vladimir Putin, questioning the Russian leader’s commitment to democratic values. The US president emerged from a two-hour summit with Putin to state that the rule of law, a free press, a viable opposition and protection of minorities were central and universal attributes of democracy.