SOUTH AFRICA
CAPE TOWN – Road Accident Fund CE Jacob Modise makes derogatory and improper remarks against Cape High Court Acting Judge President Jeanette Traverso, prompting the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) to urge South Africans to protect institutions of democracy, in particular the judiciary. The mudslinging follows a ruling in favour of the LSSA against the Road Accident Fund (RAF). In a statement, RAF chief executive Jacob Modise said the hearing had been "doomed from the beginning", charged that Traverso had already "made up her mind" and accused her of not allowing RAF counsel enough time to state its case. He went on to accuse the LSSA of racism in describing "ordinary people" as semi-literates who had never had bank accounts and would squander or steal the large sums of money they received. The LSSA had challenged the validity of the RAF's direct payment system, implemented on August 1, in which compensation is paid directly into the bank accounts of victims instead of their lawyers' accounts. Traverso ordered the RAF not to continue with the system pending a court review process.
AFRICA & WORLD
BEIJING – US President George W Bush says he used talks with China's leaders during the Beijing Olympics to press them to use their influence with Sudan to help end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. China is a key investor in Sudan’s oil industry and Khartoum's biggest arms supplier and has been among the sources of international criticism of Beijing as the world's spotlight has fallen on it for the Olympic games. Bush has denounced the Sudanese government for its policies in the Darfur region, where conflict has taken some 200 000 lives and displaced some 2,5 million people since rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari asserts that the US must provide a "very clear timeline" to withdraw its troops from Iraq as part of an agreement allowing them to stay beyond this year. US President George W Bush has long resisted setting a firm schedule for pulling troops out of Iraq, although last month the White House began speaking of a general "time horizon" and "aspirational goals" to withdraw. Iraq's leaders have become more confident of their ability to provide security as the country has become safer. But recent attacks killing at least 15 people, including one US soldier, are a reminder it is still a violent place.
MEXICO CITY – HIV/Aids patients under the care and management of trained nurses fare just as well as patients treated by doctors, if not better, according to two studies that demonstrate ways to replace scarce doctors in Africa. Areas hard hit by the HIV/Aids virus often suffer a shortage of doctors and some of the discussion at an international HIV/Aids conference in Mexico City have focused on how this could be partially answered by "task-shifting," or transferring some of the responsibilities of doctors to nurses. The HIV/Aids virus infects 33-million people globally, according to the United Nations Aids agency UNAIDS. Two-thirds are in Africa, in some of the poorest countries with little medical infrastructure.
KIGALI – France insists Rwandan charges that senior French officials were involved in the African country's 1994 genocide are "unacceptable" but it still wants to continue to improve ties with Kigali. Rwanda has formally accused 33 French officials of involvement in the genocide and has called for them to face trial. Among those named in a report by a Rwandan investigation commission are former Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and former Prime Ministers Dominique de Villepin and Edouard Balladur.
HARARE – Human Rights Watch calls on regional leaders to pressure Zimbabwe's government to stop what it calls continued violence which threatens to undermine efforts to end the country's political crisis. In a report, 'They Beat Me like a Dog': Political Persecution of Opposition Activists and Supporters in Zimbabwe', the New York-based rights group accuses the ruling Zanu-PF and its supporters of killings, beatings and arbitrary arrests of opposition Movement for Democratic Change Members of Parliament and activists. It urges the Southern African Development Community to take a tough stand against the alleged abuses at its August 16 summit in South Africa.
CAPE TOWN – Road Accident Fund CE Jacob Modise makes derogatory and improper remarks against Cape High Court Acting Judge President Jeanette Traverso, prompting the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) to urge South Africans to protect institutions of democracy, in particular the judiciary. The mudslinging follows a ruling in favour of the LSSA against the Road Accident Fund (RAF). In a statement, RAF chief executive Jacob Modise said the hearing had been "doomed from the beginning", charged that Traverso had already "made up her mind" and accused her of not allowing RAF counsel enough time to state its case. He went on to accuse the LSSA of racism in describing "ordinary people" as semi-literates who had never had bank accounts and would squander or steal the large sums of money they received. The LSSA had challenged the validity of the RAF's direct payment system, implemented on August 1, in which compensation is paid directly into the bank accounts of victims instead of their lawyers' accounts. Traverso ordered the RAF not to continue with the system pending a court review process.
AFRICA & WORLD
BEIJING – US President George W Bush says he used talks with China's leaders during the Beijing Olympics to press them to use their influence with Sudan to help end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. China is a key investor in Sudan’s oil industry and Khartoum's biggest arms supplier and has been among the sources of international criticism of Beijing as the world's spotlight has fallen on it for the Olympic games. Bush has denounced the Sudanese government for its policies in the Darfur region, where conflict has taken some 200 000 lives and displaced some 2,5 million people since rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari asserts that the US must provide a "very clear timeline" to withdraw its troops from Iraq as part of an agreement allowing them to stay beyond this year. US President George W Bush has long resisted setting a firm schedule for pulling troops out of Iraq, although last month the White House began speaking of a general "time horizon" and "aspirational goals" to withdraw. Iraq's leaders have become more confident of their ability to provide security as the country has become safer. But recent attacks killing at least 15 people, including one US soldier, are a reminder it is still a violent place.
MEXICO CITY – HIV/Aids patients under the care and management of trained nurses fare just as well as patients treated by doctors, if not better, according to two studies that demonstrate ways to replace scarce doctors in Africa. Areas hard hit by the HIV/Aids virus often suffer a shortage of doctors and some of the discussion at an international HIV/Aids conference in Mexico City have focused on how this could be partially answered by "task-shifting," or transferring some of the responsibilities of doctors to nurses. The HIV/Aids virus infects 33-million people globally, according to the United Nations Aids agency UNAIDS. Two-thirds are in Africa, in some of the poorest countries with little medical infrastructure.
KIGALI – France insists Rwandan charges that senior French officials were involved in the African country's 1994 genocide are "unacceptable" but it still wants to continue to improve ties with Kigali. Rwanda has formally accused 33 French officials of involvement in the genocide and has called for them to face trial. Among those named in a report by a Rwandan investigation commission are former Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and former Prime Ministers Dominique de Villepin and Edouard Balladur.
HARARE – Human Rights Watch calls on regional leaders to pressure Zimbabwe's government to stop what it calls continued violence which threatens to undermine efforts to end the country's political crisis. In a report, 'They Beat Me like a Dog': Political Persecution of Opposition Activists and Supporters in Zimbabwe', the New York-based rights group accuses the ruling Zanu-PF and its supporters of killings, beatings and arbitrary arrests of opposition Movement for Democratic Change Members of Parliament and activists. It urges the Southern African Development Community to take a tough stand against the alleged abuses at its August 16 summit in South Africa.
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