SOUTH AFRICA
PRETORIA – The prevalence of HIV/Aids among pregnant women in South Africa falls for the first time in eight years, pointing to a possible decline across the entire population. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, speaking at the release of an annual report that tracks infection among pregnant women, says that the report’s findings suggest that young people are changing their behaviour, increasingly adopting the principles of abstinence, faithfulness and condom use. The report shows that 29,1% of the pregnant women who visited antenatal clinics in 2006 are infected with HIV/Aids, down from 30,2 % in 2005. The 2006 survey samples 33 034 women, more than double the 16 510 surveyed in 2005.
AFRICA
DAR ES SALAAM – Darfur rebel factions meeting in Tanzania reach a common negotiating position for final peace talks with the Sudanese government, which they want held within three months, according to international mediators. The rebel factions have been meeting at a luxury resort in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha to try and bury past differences over the leadership and direction of the vast western region of Sudan. United Nations envoy to Darfur Jan Eliasson says the groups have reached "a common platform" for negotiations, encompassing power and wealth sharing, security, land, and humanitarian issues.
GABORONE – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) denies that its efforts to end a political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe are crumbling. "This is a process and a very delicate one," says SADC secretary general Tomaz Salomao at a news conference in Botswana's capital. "If you have a problem in one meeting, you cannot say that the whole process has failed." Leaders of the SADC's 14 nations delegated South African President Thabo Mbeki in March to mediate in talks between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party and the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
KAMPALA – Ugandan health officials collect blood samples from dozens of people who may have been exposed to Marburg haemorrhagic fever, and others are being monitored, according to the World Health Organisation. The rare but highly fatal disease killed a 29-year-old gold-miner in Uganda's western Kamwenge district in mid-July. A 21-year-old who accompanied the victim to the hospital fell ill, but has since recovered. Tests have not yet confirmed whether he had caught the fever, which is caused by a virus from the same family as the Ebola virus and can lead to bleeding from multiple orifices. Three other cases of mine workers who took ill in mid-June are also being investigated as a "matter of priority".
WORLD
MALAYSIA – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, widely denounced for human rights abuses and economic mismanagement, berates journalists for what he calls a lack of objectivity. Mugabe is among several leaders from South East Asia and Africa taking part in the Langkawi International Dialogue, aimed at fostering closer ties between the two regions. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and another leader whose relations with the media have been uneasy in the past, have taken the opportunity to express their concerns over the quality of education that most journalists have received.
CONCORD – French President Nicolas Sarkozy takes a break from his holiday in New Hampshire to deny any connection between Libya's recent release of six foreign medics and an arms deal between Tripoli and a European defense firm. The controversy raging in Europe can be attributed to the timing of Tripoli's agreement to buy antitank missiles and radio systems from a group including European defense and aerospace group EADS. The deal has come just days after Libya agreed to release five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had been held in jail for eight years, accused of infecting Libyan children with HIV/Aids.
PRETORIA – The prevalence of HIV/Aids among pregnant women in South Africa falls for the first time in eight years, pointing to a possible decline across the entire population. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, speaking at the release of an annual report that tracks infection among pregnant women, says that the report’s findings suggest that young people are changing their behaviour, increasingly adopting the principles of abstinence, faithfulness and condom use. The report shows that 29,1% of the pregnant women who visited antenatal clinics in 2006 are infected with HIV/Aids, down from 30,2 % in 2005. The 2006 survey samples 33 034 women, more than double the 16 510 surveyed in 2005.
AFRICA
DAR ES SALAAM – Darfur rebel factions meeting in Tanzania reach a common negotiating position for final peace talks with the Sudanese government, which they want held within three months, according to international mediators. The rebel factions have been meeting at a luxury resort in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha to try and bury past differences over the leadership and direction of the vast western region of Sudan. United Nations envoy to Darfur Jan Eliasson says the groups have reached "a common platform" for negotiations, encompassing power and wealth sharing, security, land, and humanitarian issues.
GABORONE – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) denies that its efforts to end a political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe are crumbling. "This is a process and a very delicate one," says SADC secretary general Tomaz Salomao at a news conference in Botswana's capital. "If you have a problem in one meeting, you cannot say that the whole process has failed." Leaders of the SADC's 14 nations delegated South African President Thabo Mbeki in March to mediate in talks between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party and the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
KAMPALA – Ugandan health officials collect blood samples from dozens of people who may have been exposed to Marburg haemorrhagic fever, and others are being monitored, according to the World Health Organisation. The rare but highly fatal disease killed a 29-year-old gold-miner in Uganda's western Kamwenge district in mid-July. A 21-year-old who accompanied the victim to the hospital fell ill, but has since recovered. Tests have not yet confirmed whether he had caught the fever, which is caused by a virus from the same family as the Ebola virus and can lead to bleeding from multiple orifices. Three other cases of mine workers who took ill in mid-June are also being investigated as a "matter of priority".
WORLD
MALAYSIA – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, widely denounced for human rights abuses and economic mismanagement, berates journalists for what he calls a lack of objectivity. Mugabe is among several leaders from South East Asia and Africa taking part in the Langkawi International Dialogue, aimed at fostering closer ties between the two regions. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and another leader whose relations with the media have been uneasy in the past, have taken the opportunity to express their concerns over the quality of education that most journalists have received.
CONCORD – French President Nicolas Sarkozy takes a break from his holiday in New Hampshire to deny any connection between Libya's recent release of six foreign medics and an arms deal between Tripoli and a European defense firm. The controversy raging in Europe can be attributed to the timing of Tripoli's agreement to buy antitank missiles and radio systems from a group including European defense and aerospace group EADS. The deal has come just days after Libya agreed to release five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had been held in jail for eight years, accused of infecting Libyan children with HIV/Aids.
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
