20100425
ALL AFRICA

The country's top political leadership will lead the nation in an historic massive HIV testing drive this morning (Sunday, 25 April).

President Zuma, his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe and Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi will launch the much-awaited HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign at Natalspruit Hospital, in Katlehong, on Gauteng's East Rand.

"This is the largest campaign on HIV counselling and testing in the history of the AIDS epidemic, not only in South Africa, but in the history of the AIDS epidemic in the world It's a day that we have waited very long for", said Mark Heywood, Deputy Chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), which will lead the campaign.

The HCT campaign seeks to have 15 million South Africans tested for HIV over a one year period starting today. Its long-term objectives are four-fold. They are to mobilize people to know their HIV status; to create greater HIV prevention awareness; to cultivate a health-seeking behaviour amongst people; and to increase access to AIDS treatment, care and support services.

Heywood singled out the importance of the media in making this effort a success.

"We're going to put particular reliance on the media because this campaign, we believe, can save millions of lives, can prevent millions of infections and can better many people's lives. But to do that we need everybody to understand what it is that we are embarking upon and to give us a chance to succeed in this very, very significant national effort", he said.

For the first time South Africans are being vigorously called on to find out their HIV status, and senior government leaders and politicians are at the forefront of the campaign.

But in calling for 15 million South Africans, including politicians, to take the HIV test Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi maintains that the decision to disclose one's HIV status is a personal one.

"We haven't taken a decision to push anybody, whether it's a politician or a leader or a celebrity to disclose their status and we want to keep it that way. I believe that the stage will come in South Africa where we'll disclose willingly and all that. Disclose to your beloved ones next to you for support. That one we'll keep on encouraging even during the counseling", Motsoaledi said.

Deputy Chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council, Mary Heywood, cautioned that the road ahead of the campaign will not be easy. He called on all South Africans to support this national effort.

"As SANAC we would appeal to people to look at this campaign and not pre-determine its failure, but, if you see gaps and if you see weaknesses, to help us to fill those gaps and to fill those weaknesses because this has never been done before. So, the first time we spot a problem let's not use the problem to pull this thing down because we need people to have confidence and to have conviction in this as we go forward", he said.

20100425
ALL AFRICA

Two Cabinet ministers have disagreed over the proposed softening of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that seeks to punish those involved the act.

Local Government Minister Adolf Mwesige who chaired the Cabinet Committee tasked with finding possible ways of amending MP David Bahati's Bill and counterpart James Nsaba Buturo of the Ethics docket failed to agree on the recommendations of the committee.

According to correspondences seen by Sunday Monitor, although the Cabinet Committee was supposed to be attended by seven ministers, only three attended the meeting that took place February 22 in Kampala.

Those who attended are Mr Mwesige and State Minister for Foreign Affair Isaac Musumba together with Education Minister Namirembe Bitamazire.

Missed meeting

Those who are on the committee but did not attend the meeting are Gabriel Opiyo (Gender Minister), Kabakumba Masiko (Information Minister), Fred Ruhindi (Justice State Minister) and Dr Buturo.

In a letter dated March 11, Dr Buturo wrote to Mr Mwesige complaining: "The report of the Cabinet Committee ... is not in the spirit of the said assignment. There are other concerns that I personally have which that report has not captured." Dr Buturo argued that Mr Bahati, "an important player in the Bill" should also be invited for consultations in another meeting.

But Mr Mwesige, who chaired the meeting, wrote back on March 15: "The report is already scheduled on Agenda of Cabinet. I am therefore not in position to hold another meeting of the committee as your letter suggests."

In their recommendations, the committee argued that the title of the Bill; Anti-Homosexuality, is stigmatising and appears to be targeting a particular group of people. They therefore want the "useful provisions of the proposed law" incorporated into the Sexual Offences Act.

The Committee, however, agreed that promotion of homosexuality should be criminalised. "The law should provide that all the parties: publishers, printers, distributors of any materials that promote homosexuality should all be liable to have committed an offence," the minutes read in part.

Although Mr Ruhindi refused to comment on the disagreement between his two colleagues, he said he did not have any sympathy for homosexuals adding: "The Bill can be strengthened as long as it is in harmony with the other existing laws."

Later Mr Mwesige told Mr Buturo that they could not present amendments to the relevant committee of Parliament "because we have no amendments to make on the Bill. But if Cabinet feels that amendments should be made, the line minister will carry those amendments to the relevant committee."

When contacted, Mr Bahati said: "Its important that cabinet realises that the matter before them is not a matter to determine the prices of tomatoes but rather the destiny of our children."

"We have a one life time opportunity to close the door to homosexuality in Uganda and if we don't use it now it will be impossible in future. We pray that they (ministers) will remain firm and put Ugandans' interests first not foreign pressure."

Although the committee says the Bill was not tabled in line with the Parliamentary rules, The Speaker, Mr Edward Ssekandi, had earlier said Mr Bahati followed the right procedure in tabling his Private Member's Bill.

No minister was willing to disclose when Cabinet would sit to consider the committee's recommendations.

20100425
ALL AFRICA

Nairobi — Leaders took firm positions ahead of a consensus meeting between the government and churches on the constitution on Monday morning.

At weekend rallies, political leaders gave not an inch by way of compromise, even as the negotiation team prepared to sit down for give-and-take on the draft.

The church is campaigning for the defeat of the draft constitution because it objects to clauses on abortion and the inclusion of kadhi courts.

Meeting is on

"The meeting is on. We will meet at the office of the President and hear them (church leaders)," said Ms Amina Abdalla, a representative of the government side. The other members of the government team are deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Cabinet ministers Mutula Kilonzo, James Orengo, Dr Sally Kosgey, Beth Mugo, Moses Wetangula, Mohammed Elmi, Amason Kingi and Attorney General Amos Wako.

On the churches' side are catholic Bishops Philip Sulumeti and Anthony Muheria, Bishop Jackson Kosgey, presiding Methodist Bishop Stephen Kanyaru, Bishop Winnie Owiti from the Voice of Healing and Salvation and Bishop Barija Kirongah. Others are Bishop Willy Mutiso of the Evangelical Alliance, Bishop Gerry Kibarabara of the Gospel Assemblies of Kenya, Bishop David Oginde of Christ is the Answer and NCCK chairman Rev Charles Kibicho.

Speaking at Yimbo in Bondo District, Prime Minister Raila Odinga appeared to dismiss the consensus efforts, saying: "If there is consensus then there is no need to go to a referendum. People go to a referendum in order to weigh which opinion is stronger and decide on an issue that they have differed on."

He added: "We were in Parliament and we failed to reach consensus and it will be hard for them to reach consensus on those issues that they are talking about." Mr Odinga and his coalition partner, President Kibaki support the draft constitution. On the civil society front, members of the Constitution and Reform Education Consortium, a national coalition of civil society organisations, said demands for consensus on contentious issues ahead of the referendum lacked a legal basis.

Misleading Kenyans

The executive secretary of the group, Mr Kawive Wambua, said those propagating a multi-choice referendum were misleading Kenyans as the law just provided for a Yes or No referendum. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta last week suggested a multiple choice referendum where the contentious issues would be separated and voted on.

The Constitution of Kenya Review Act which guides the process says during the referendum, voters will only have two options; to accept or reject the proposed laws and if Mr Kenyatta's suggestion is adopted the law will have to be changed. But Higher Education minister William Ruto, a leading proponent of the No opinion, was adamant that the draft must be amended before it goes to the referendum.

Mr Ruto, who was speaking in Trans Mara, said the main difference between the Yes and No teams was that one side wants the amendments to come before the referendum while the other wants the document passed and amended later. The 20-member team has the job of finding a compromise acceptable to churches who have vowed to fight against the draft because of its provisions on abortion and kadhis' courts.

20100425
ALL AFRICA

Washington, DC — "In the minds of its sponsors, the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] is "too big to fail." ... The bailout is simple: support the SPLM/NCP to muddle through no matter how flawed or sham the elections may be. - - Ahmed Elzobier in Sudan Tribune, April 21, 2010

Final results have not been released from the elections in Sudan that took place over four days from April 11-15, but several conclusions are clear, even if seemingly contradictory.

The election process, particularly in the pre-election period, was in no way free or fair. Nevertheless, the results will be accepted both by major Sudanese parties and by the international community" as a successful "milestone" in implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The ruling parties in Khartoum and Juba will continue to participate in a "Government of National Unity," and the threat of a new war will be postponed as preparations continue for a referendum in 2011 to decide on the secession of Southern Sudan.

As commentator Ahmed Elzobier remarked, the elections mean different things to different stakeholders, for most southerners a step on the road to independence, for President Omar al-Bashir a validation as "the only choice" to rule the country, and for most northerners an occasion for apathy, cynicism, or disgust. Nesrine Malik, writing in the Guardian on April 24, commented that "the lack of viable alternatives and shameful withdrawals meant Omar alBashir was found to win - even without vote rigging." (http://tinyurl.com/3454q6g)

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a summary of election observers reports, compiled by the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, a statement on the election by the Sudan Independent Civil Society Network, and an analysis by Ahmed Elzobier.

Another AfricaFocus Bulletin posted on the web today, but not sent out by e-mail, contains excerpts from a new report on prospects for Sudan after the elections, entitle No Easy Ways Ahead. See excerpts at http://www.africafocus.org/docs10/sud1004b.php

20100425
SABC

The SACP national chairperson and secretary general of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, says discipline in the structures of the movement is the best way of celebrating the life and times of Chris Hani. Mantashe was delivering the Chris Hani Memorial Lecture at Makwasie near Wolmaraanstad in the North West. He noted the irony of Hani's assassination, at the hands of an Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) right winger in April - the same month that AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche was also murdered this year.

Mantashe also appealed to alliance members who are not satisfied with the current leadership of the ANC to use relevant lines of communicating their dissatisfactions rather than use the media.

SACP members and other alliance members from the surrounding areas packed the small local community hall in Lobaleng township, to commemorate their hero of the liberation struggle. Hani was brutally murdered by Yanus Walus in April, seventeen years ago.

"Even if after the regime was giving up and agreeing to negotiate, they protracted the negotiation - it was this man, Martin Chris Thembisile Hani who paid the ultimate price to accelerate that process - because it is only after his death that the election date was set and year later we were free as a country. It is his blood that has strengthened our hand and weakened the hand of the enemy," says Mantashe.

He challenged South Africans to embrace Hani's bravery and refuse to surrender to the challenges of life. He says people must not choose to be helpless and wait for handouts.

Mantashe further called for unity in the fight against corruption, the end product of which he says could be far more serious than anticipated. He says corruption in the country has the potential to collapse the state. He says state tenders should be tools for empowerment and promotion of entrepreneurs and not for the benefit of a privileged few.

Mantashe refused to respond to Cosatu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi's criticism of the ANC's alleged lack of decisive leadership.

20100425
SABC

ANC Youth League leader, Julius Malema came in for criticism in Boksburg, where the SA Communist Party was commemorating the 17th anniversary of Chris Hani's assasination. Malema had earlier this week called BBC journalist Jonah Fisher a "bastard" and an "agent", before booting him out of the briefing. This, after Fisher pointed out that Malema also lived in Sandton an upmarket area in Johannesburg - while the youth leader was chastising Zimbabwe's MDC for operating out of offices there.

Mathews Phosa, the ruling party’s treasure general, says: “We need leaders who will create calm - popularism must be shelved for the self interest of the society.” Phosa struggled to finish his address as some members of the crowd interupted him by singing and jeering.

Phosa's comments were echoed by SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande who urged the judiciary to be more independent and to avoid being used to wipe out the liberation history: “We want to say that our songs are not just about the past they are about our dignity the blood chris hani and all those who fought and died in the struggle.” Nzimande called on political leaders to focus on the immediate crisis of the oppression and racial abuse of black farmworkers and urged them not to fuel racial tensions.

No truth - No forgivness - Limpho Hani
The day was a sombre one for the crowds who gathered to remember Chris Hani – a victim of an assassination outside his home in Dawn Park, a racially-mixed suburb of Boksburg on April 10, 1993. His widow Limpho had a message for his killers. “Until I know all the details around my husband’s death … there will be no forgiveness from me.”

Hani was the then-leader of the SA Communist Party, chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC and a fierce opponent of the apartheid government.

He was accosted by a Polish far-right immigrant named Janusz Walu?, who shot him in the head as he stepped out of his car. Walu? fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards after Hani's neighbour, a white woman, called the police. Clive Derby-Lewis, a senior South African Conservative Party M.P., who had lent Walu? his pistol, was also arrested for complicity in Hani's murder.

Hani's assassination is widely believed to be part of a plot by the far-right in South Africa to derail the negotiations to end apartheid.

20100425
SABC

Cape Town police have appealed to the public for help in tracing a newborn baby. The infant was snatched from the mother on Friday, only hours after being born. According to police the mother accepted an offer from an unidentified woman, to hold the baby at the Mitchell's Plain taxi rank, while she went to buy the suspect a cool drink.

There is an identikit of the women who disappeared with the one day old baby. According to police the 20 year old woman goes by the name Fiona Luke. Police believe the slenderly built woman may be in Langa or even the Eastern Cape by now. The police have opened a kidnapping case and the police's rapid response unit has launched a search for the missing baby.

20100425
SABC

A strike by the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) was called off today after an agreement was reached with the Road Accident Fund. "[We] clinched a deal with RAF management in the early hours of this morning after intense negotiations over the six demands tabled by Satawu," said union spokesperson Tinzi Lubabalo.

The detail of the agreement was not disclosed but workers were striking over a new operating system, which they feared could lead to job losses and changes in working conditions. More than 1 000 workers in East London, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria participated in a protest last week and workers were meant to continue striking on Monday.-Sapa

20100425
SABC

President Jacob Zuma has disclosed his HIV status after taking a public HIV test on April 8. The test was his fourth in recent months and the President says all four tests have been negative.

Zuma made the disclosure while addressing hundreds of people attending the launch of the HIV Testing and Counselling campaign at the Natalspruit hospital in Ekurhuleni. Zuma says while HIV tests remain voluntary and confidential, he feels it is important to show leadership in the matter.

The United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) Executive Director Michel Sidibe also spoke at the campaign launch and has described it as a golden moment in the fight against HIV/Aids in South Africa.

Sidibe told the South African government that the UN and the United States government fully support the campaign. He says today will be remembered at a turning point in the fight against the pandemic in South Africa, on the African continent and globally.

Government leaders, Aids activists and civil society have encouraged the public to get tested for HIV. Among the key aims of the campaign is to get about 15 million people tested for HIV before June next year. The National Association of People Living With Aids, says knowing one's status saves lives. Spokesperson Nkululeko Nxesi has committed his organisation to assisting people who test positive.

20100425
SABC

Businesses must attempt to predict changes in consumer demand, especially in recessionary conditions, a report by the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) of Unisa shows. The report, compiled by Professors Carel van Aardt and Andre T Ligthelm, released on Sunday, said predictions of consumer demand had become paramount in ensuring business profitability and even sustainability.

In the report calculations were made on the impact of changes in consumer income on the demand for various consumer products. These calculations, termed "the income elasticity of demand", measured the relationship between a change in the quantity demanded of a particular product or service and a change in real income.

The calculations were made for a wide variety of consumer products, which were classified into categories:

- Inferior products showing a decline in demand when consumer income rises (taxi travel and cigarettes);

- Necessity products reflecting demand increases at a lower rate than the percentage increase in income (vegetables and milk); and - Luxury or superior products reflecting demand increases at a higher rate than the percentage increase in consumer income (fine wines and international air travel).

The income elasticity of demand calculations of goods and services in South Africa provided a sound basis for predicting and forecasting future demand patterns, the BMR said. Van Aardt and Ligthelm examined grain products and found that they were necessities with a low positive income elasticity of demand.

This included oats, Taystee Wheat, Mabella, corn flakes, spaghetti, macaroni and other pasta. "No grain products were identified as luxuries reflecting a high positive income elasticity of demand," they said. "Grain products showing a negative income elasticity of demand included mealie meal and maize flour, cake flour, bread flour and sorghum meal and powder."

According to Van Aardt and Ligthelm, the income elasticity of demand with respect to vegetables showed that they were necessities, namely those with a low income elasticity of demand, including potatoes, mealies, onions, tomatoes, dried peas, beans and lentils.

Vegetables considered luxuries included those with a high income elasticity, including frozen cauliflower, frozen pumpkin, frozen potatoes and prepared salads. Vegetables showing negative income elasticity of demand for higher income groups, included cabbage, morogo and spinach. "Generally, the income elasticity of demand for food products shows that the proportion of income spent on food diminishes as incomes increase," the report found. "However, it should be noted that the proportional decline among all foods is not equal," it added.

In other words, the decline was more rapid among staple foods (such as mealie meal) and less pronounced among refined foods. "Generally, it should also be noted that income elasticities for a particular product often show an erratic pattern by household income category." Van Aardt and Ligthelm also calculated income elasticities by household income group.

They said low income households showed a strong consumption focus on basic necessities such as food, beverages and socialising. Products regularly bought by low-income households that showed high income elasticities include white bread, processed meat, baby food, new bicycles, bus transport and dining room and kitchen furniture. Van Aardt and Ligthelm added that middle income households started to show strong preferences for processed and ready-made foods, sports and entertainment and investment in education and medical aid.

Affluent households attached a high value to quality merchandise and spent more on books, photography, gardening and private schools. "They also spend large amounts on SUV vehicles, housing and luxury goods," the authors of the report said.-Sapa

20100425
SABC

The DA says it's concerned that President Jacob Zuma is not the only senior government official that has breached the Executive Ethics Code. Madonsela investigated Zuma's apparent failure to disclose his financial interests, assets and liabilities within 60 days of taking office.

The DA has welcomed the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's finding that Zuma's 245-day delay in disclosing his financial interests constituted a breach of the Ethics Code. The party's Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip says this is problematic in a country where corruption is escalating.

Meanwhile President Jacob Zuma today promised to let his cabinet study a report by Public Protector Thulisile Madonsela that found he violated the executive code of ethics by failing to declare his interests in time. "The report will be presented to Cabinet for a discussion after which the president will submit it to Parliament," the presidency said.

Madonsela branded Zuma "tardy" in her report, which was handed to the presidency and the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday. She recommended that it be submitted first to Cabinet for consideration and "decision on any action to be taken", and then to Parliament. She found that Zuma was not the only culprit in Cabinet but that there was a "systematic pattern of non-compliance” by a significant number of members in declaring their interests correctly and on time. Additional reporting by Sapa

20100425
SABC

An explosion at a cafe in Ethiopia's Tigray region has killed five people and injured 20 others as the country prepares for its upcoming national elections.

"This is an attack by the Eritrean government to deliberately disrupt the upcoming elections," Micheal Abraha, Tigray's administrator, claimed in reference to the Saturday attack in the border region with neighboring Eritrea.

Tigray's regional president, Tsegay Berhe, also blamed the attack on Eritrean agents, as an attempt to disrupt the elections. However, he noted "Ethiopian elections won't be disrupted despite Eritrea's attempts to do so."

Relations between the two countries have soured due to a dispute over the frontier. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a 1998-2000 war in which at least 70,000 people were killed.

This is while Ethiopia gears up for the May 23 national elections, in which more than 29 million people have registered to vote.

Opposition groups had claimed fraud in the country's 2005 general elections which led to clashes in Ethiopia that left some 200 people dead.

The Ethiopian government and the European Union have agreed to have EU observers monitor the upcoming national elections while Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi has promised free and fair elections.

20100425
ANGOP

Caxito – The Portuguese secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, João Gomes Cravinho, Wednesday in Caxito, northern Bengo province, expressed satisfaction at the level of implementation of the Centre of Health Research (CISA) in Angola, under the indicative programme of cooperation between the two countries.

Speaking to the press at the end of a visit to the centre, the official said the project is corresponding to the expectations.

João Gomes Cravinho said the implementation of the contract/programme has finalised this year, which enabled the launch of the CISA in Angola.

He stated that he is now working with Angolan in identifying the appropriate juridical paths into the next stage of the project.

"We intend to integrate CISA into a network in the African Continent, so the project, that is today a very significant reality, can within one or two years become a reference in Africa”, said the Portuguese official, who reiterated the support of his government for the project.

CISA aims at research into the most visible diseases (malaria, tuberculosis and Hiv/Aids), and those taking less attention from the scientific community and projects support networks.

The project is financed by Angolan State, through the Health Ministry and Bengo provincial government and the Portuguese State, represented by the Institute of Support for Development and Calouste Gulbenkian foundation.

20100425
ANGOP

New York - Angolan minister of Social Communication, Carolina Cerqueira, arrived Sunday in New York to attend the 32nd Session of the UN Information Committee, running from April 26 to May 07, at the UN headquarters.

The Angolan government official, at the head of a delegation integrating National Director of Information, José Luis de Matos, and Director of Office, Solange Machado, is expected to address the event on Monday.

The UN Information Committee was created in 1978 aimed at promoting a fairer world informative order which contributes to peace and understanding.

The Committee comprises 113 effective members and meets annually at the UN headquarters in New York to review the information and communication policy of that world organisation.

The resolutions approved at each session of the Committee are submitted to the UN General Assembly of the same year for adoption.

Currently, the Committee is chaired by Cape Verde, with Iran in the vice-presidency.

Angola held the post of vice-presidency from 2007 to 2009.

During her working visit, the Angolan minister will meet with the UN under-secretary general for Communications and Public Information, Kiyo Akasaka, to address issues related to the opening in Luanda of a United Nations Information Centre to meet the specific needs of the Portuguese Speaking African Countries (PALOP).

The setting up of the referred centre is a response to a request made by the Angolan government in 2002 and whose opening was approved in December 2009 after the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly.

The UN Information Centres (UNIC) were created in order to promote a global information network, with a view to increasing knowledge of the world community about the United Nations system and facilitate access to information through cooperation with governments, civil society and private sector.

These organs are part of the Department of UN Public Information (DPI). There are currently 63 information centres worldwide, namely 17 in Africa, 10 in America, 12 in Asia and Pacific and 15 in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

During her stay in New York, the minister will meet with the press attachés of the Permanent Mission of Angola to the United Nations, officials from the Embassies in the United States and Cuba and the General Consulates in New York and Houston.

The meeting aims to improve methods of operation of press officers within the government's strategy for Institutional Communication and Press.

20100425
ANGOP

Saurimo - The governor of the eastern Lunda Sul Province, Cândida Narciso, last Saturday considered as unquestionable the impact of the mining Catoca company, due to the high number of the Angolan workers it employs and the social action it has in the community.

The governor said so at the end of his visit to the mining firm, accompanied by the minister of Industry, Joaquim David.

She stressed that 80 percent of Catoca employees are residents in the province, 95 of whom are Angolans and the remaining five percent are foreigners.

"Catoca has been contributing directly to the improvement of people's living standards, followed by the state, Catoca employs more people. Therefore, this proves its impact in the economic and social life of the province, "she emphasised.

The official stressed that Catoca, in agreement with the provincial government, supports the free school snack programme, benefiting some 23, 000 children attending primary school.

20100425
ANGOP

Luanda - The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s regional director for Africa, Luis Gomes Sambo Sunday here reiterated his call on the African governments to allocate adequate resources to the health sector, with a view to improving the interventions in the communities.

The appeal comes on a message released on the occasion of World Malaria Day, marked on April 25.

According to Gomes Sambo, the continuing efforts made by development partners is crucial to support national programmes to combat the disease.

He also assured that WHO will continue to provide guidance on appropriate policies and interventions for combat to malaria and will strengthen its technical support to the countries, in co-operation with the UN Secretary-General, the Roll Back Malaria partnership, the regional economic communities, the African Union and global initiatives for health.

The WHO regional director also acknowledges, on his message, that the burden of malaria is extremely heavy in the African region, accounting for 85 percent of cases and 90 percent of deaths from the disease worldwide.

He recalls that the victims of malaria are mainly children under the age of five and in his opinion, "this is unacceptable, since there are effective interventions that should be accessible to everyone, including people in most remote villages".

Luis Gomes Sambo stressed that over the years, African leaders have committed themselves to strengthening the prevention and monitoring interventions for the elimination of the disease, a commitment which has given some results.

For example, he said, in 2008, 31 percent of homes had insecticide-treated nets (ITN), compared to 17 percent from 2006, besides the fact that 24 percent of children aged under five used an INT.

The WHO official said that as a result of increased use of ITN, the home spraying, preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy, ten countries in the region (Botswana, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia) managed to reduce the cases of malaria, at least, 50 percent between 2000 and 2008.

The message ended with the recommendation of collective and co-ordinated action of all the concerned parties to ensure the application of quality health interventions.

20100425
Press Tv

At least 58 people have been killed and 85 others wounded in a battle between the South Sudan army and Arab nomads of west Darfur.

The fight took place along the sensitive border between Darfur and South Sudan on Friday, said Mohammed Issa Aliou, one of the heads of the Rezeigat tribe, which is based mainly in Darfur.

"There are many members of the Rezeigat tribe who are heading to the (site of the clashes) in order to help out. There are also reinforcements from the south Sudan army coming from three cities — Raja, Aweil and Wau," Aliou said.

He said that the Arab nomads were seeking water and new land for their cattle close to the border with the southern state of Western Bahr al-Ghazal.

On Saturday, the South Sudan army claimed that the attackers were not Rezeigat tribesmen but were the northern-based central government army.

"A company of 120 [Sudan People's Liberation Army] soldiers was attacked on Friday night by armed men wearing uniforms of the northern army that were heavily equipped," said Major General Kuol Deim Kuol of the former southern rebel, AFP reported.

Autonomous South Sudan is in recovery from a civil war, mainly over resources, with the north, in which around 2 million people were killed.

According to the United Nations, over 400 people have been killed across the south in revenge attacks and cattle raids in 2010.

Friday's fighting came as the people of Sudan were waiting for the results of the first multiparty elections in more than two decades on April 15.

20100425
Aljazeera

A bomb blast at a cafe in Adi Haro, an Ethiopian settlement close to the frontier with Eritrea, has killed at least five people and injured 20 others, local officials said.

Speaking on state television on Sunday, Mikelle Abraha, a local administrator, blamed Eritrea, which has a longer running border dispute with Ethiopia for the attack.

"It was carried out by Eritrean agents who crossed the border to sabotage the upcoming elections," Abraha said.

Ethiopia will hold general elections on May 23, the first national polls since the 2005 general election was marred by violence.

There was no immediate comment on the incident from Eritrean authorities.

Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian prime minister, has accused some of the opposition candidates of having links with Eritrea and local armed groups allegedly supported by Asmara.

Authorities have blamed Eritrea of organising past attacks in the capital by arming the separatist Oromo Liberation Front and the Ogaden National Liberation Front, while Asmara has accused Ethiopia of supporting armed groups in its country.

About 80,000 people died in a border conflict between the two neighbours in 1998-2000, many in brutal first world war-style trench warfare.

A UN-backed boundary commission charged with demarcating the border handed the disputed town of Badme to Eritrea but Ethiopia has so far refused to implement the ruling.

20100425
Aljazeera

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, has called for the elimination of malaria deaths by the end of 2010 as he marks the first World Malaria Day.

Malaria remains a killer disease, with nearly one million people losing their lives every year.

Eighty five per cent of deaths are children under five years of age.

Most malaria cases occur in Africa but it nevertheless remains a global problem also affecting large parts of Asia and Latin America.

There are also cases in the Middle East and parts of Europe.

And as World Malaria Day is marked on Sunday, Ban is urging governments to ensure effective and affordable protection and treatment to all people at risk of malaria.

"Two years ago, I called for malaria prevention and treatment programmes to be made universally available to at-risk populations by the end of 2010," he said of the goal.

More than half a billion people are infected with malaria each year.

Despite this, it is preventable and treatable.

In a statement, Ban said "with commitment and resources, we can eradicate malaria and achieve all our global development objectives".

Bed nets

Ban called for more bed nets, more malaria clinics, more training for community health workers, and encouragement of research into the disease.

"This World Malaria Day brings much cause for satisfaction. In a very short time, the world has gone from simply trying to hold malaria at bay to the realistic goal of delivering effective and affordable care to all who need it," he said.

"The global campaign against malaria has shown what is possible when the international community joins forces on multiple fronts to tackle a disease that takes its heaviest toll on poor and underprivileged populations.
"But our optimism must also be leavened with caution. Malaria is a tenacious foe. To sustain current gains we must be vigilant."

Since 2000 when African leaders resolved to halve malaria deaths by this year, many plans have been developed.

One was part of World Health Organisation's guidelines released last month, advising that accurate tests should be conducted before dispensing malaria drugs.

WHO said on Friday it had added 16 more malaria diagnostic tests to its approved list to help health workers quickly identify which patients have the disease and need immediate treatment.

Around 40 per cent of the world's population is at risk of malaria, a potentially deadly disease transmitted via mosquito bites.

It kills around 860,000 people a year worldwide, most of them children in Africa.

'Major breakthrough'

"These rapid tests have been a major breakthrough in malaria control," Robert Newman, the director of WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said in a statement.

"They allow us to test people who cannot access diagnosis based on microscopy in remote, rural areas where the majority of malaria occurs."

WHO malaria guidelines call for diagnosis using either microscopy or rapid tests before treatment in all suspected malaria cases, but in 2008, only 22 per cent of suspected cases were tested in 18 of 35 African countries that reported data.

The Geneva-based WHO said wider diagnosis would allow health workers to identify which patients with fever have malaria and need drugs, and which have other causes of illness and need other treatment. It would also improve overall childhood survival, a key UN development goal.

In many parts of the world, malaria parasites have developed resistanceto a number of medicines, necessitating more stringent measures to deal with the disease, especially in rural areas.

Widespread resistance

Inappropriate use of anti-malarial drugs has contributed to widespread resistance by the malaria parasite to commonly used drugs such as chloroquine, leading to rising rates of sickness and death.

Over the past decade, a new group of antimalarials known as artemesinin-based combination therapies or ACTs, has brought new hope in the fight against the disease.

With about 250 days left to meet the 2010 target of universal insecticide-treated net (ITN) coverage for all at-risk populations and the halving of malaria cases and deaths, it is estimated that around 10 million Kenyans lack ITNs.

The US government announced on Thursday that it would focus part of its $63bn, six-year Global Health Initiative plan to accelerate efforts to fight malaria,mostly in Africa and aimed at women and children.

Previous efforts to control malaria have proved less than successful.

In 1998 the Roll Back Malaria initiative aimed to halve malaria deaths by 2010 - but halfway through the programme deaths had actually risen.

Reversing the trend of increase in malaria and other diseases is one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals, aimed at reducing poverty and improving the quality of life by 2015.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Two German hostages kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria this month were freed on Saturday, Germany's foreign minister said.

Gunmen had abducted the two men while they were at a beach in the oil-producing southeastern Abia state on April 18.

"Both our German countrymen are safe and sound and again free," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement. "They are doing well and are in safe hands in Port Harcourt."

Kidnappings for ransom are common in the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industries, with hundreds of incidents reported each year. Most victims are released unharmed after a couple of days.