SOUTH AFRICA

JOHANNESBURG – Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille asks African National Congress president Jacob Zuma for a meeting to discuss the future of the Scorpions. "In the absence of any clear and solid reason for disbanding the Scorpions, the public have quite rightly surmised that the move is designed to protect ANC heavyweights from prosecution. "I sincerely hope that Mr Zuma, as a possible future Head of State, will... agree to meet with me so that we can rationally discuss the case for and against the Scorpions," says Zille.

CAPE TOWN – The Department of Health announces that it has appointed over 500 foreign medical doctors to public health sector posts over the past 16 months. In a written reply to a question in the National Assembly, the Minister says altogether 507 doctors, predominantly from developing countries, are on record as having been placed in specific institutions around South Africa since November 2006. A further 515 have been endorsed towards sitting for the medical board exams with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and 216 have been rejected through the departments of health and home affairs screening process, in compliance with the Immigration Act.

CAPE TOWN – Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu adds his voice to calls for a judicial inquiry into the multi-billion-rand arms deal. In the prepared text of his speech for the Dullah Omar memorial lecture at the University of the Western Cape, he says South Africans cannot pretend corruption is no longer a serious problem. Tutu's call for an inquiry into the deal echoes those made recently by opposition parties, and follows the tabling of a fresh set of Parliamentary questions to President Thabo Mbeki about his role in it.

AFRICA

GABORONE – Ian Khama is inaugurated as Botswana's President, inheriting a rare political and economic success story on the world's poorest and most unstable continent. The Batswana expect a smooth transition under Khama, who, analysts say is likely to stick to sound fiscal management that has brought prosperity to the country of nearly two-million, the world's biggest diamond producer. President Festus Mogae retired after nearly a decade in power to hand over to Khama, 55, first-born son of Botswana's hugely popular founding president, Seretse Khama. The president is also paramount chief of the biggest tribe, the Bangwato.

WORLD

AMSTERDAM – The Netherlands government tries to defuse Muslim anger after the release of a film by a Dutch lawmaker that accuses the Koran of inciting violence and shows an image of the Prophet Mohammad primed to explode. The film warns that the rising number of Muslims in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe threatens democratic societies. It urges Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" verses from the Koran. The film concludes with a cartoon of the Prophet with a bomb under his turban, originally published in Danish newspapers, accompanied by the sound of ticking. The Dutch government has distanced itself from Wilders' views, hoping to avert the kind of Muslim backlash Denmark suffered in 2006 over cartoons of the Prophet.

WASHINGTON – US President George W Bush presses for Ukraine and Georgia to be allowed to start the process of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation despite resistance from Russia and scepticism from the alliance's European members. Washington has long lobbied for Ukraine and Georgia to be granted Membership Action Plans at the organisation's Bucharest summit. Russia strongly opposes the bids on grounds that NATO is intruding on its sphere of influence. France says it will also oppose the bid by the two ex-Soviet states.

WASHINGTON – Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama assail potential White House opponent John McCain on the economy, accusing the Republican of favouring the wealthy and turning his back on struggling workers and middle-class families. The winner of the Democratic nominating battle between Clinton and Obama will face McCain in November's election, and in recent days both candidates have toned down their attacks on each other to focus more directly on McCain. They are criticising the former Navy fighter pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam for saying he does not know as much about the economy as he does about national security and military issues.