(Xinhua) -- A collapsed stair case at a church in South Africa's Johannesburg on Sunday left 94 worshippers injured, the South African Press Association reported, citing Gauteng paramedics.

The stair case collapsed shortly after noon and fell upon congregants of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God on Eloffand Plein streets, said Netcare 911 spokesman Jeff Wicks.

Of those injured, 25 were in a serious condition.

"The cause of the collapse is still unknown but is being investigated by the fire service as well as the police services," said ER24 spokesman Lloyd Krause.

The worshippers suffered injuries ranging from minor bruises to fractures. They have been taken to Johannesburg hospital, Helen Josephs hospital and Hillbrow Clinic.?

20091213

The face of HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal is a woman in her thirties living in eThekwini, according to a study released this week.

Urban women in the province are far more likely to be HIV positive than their rural sisters, while over half (54%) of all pregnant women in their thirties were HIV positive.

Some 47% of pregnant women living in eThekwini who attended government clinics between May 2008 and April 2009 were HIV positive. This was followed closely by 45% in Umgungundlovu.

In contrast, women from the more rural districts of Amajuba (38%), Zululand (37%) and Umkhanyakude (35%) recorded significantly lower rates of HIV than their urban sisters.

The study, conducted by Dr Christiane Horwood from the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Centre for Rural Health, was aimed at finding out the HIV prevalence of mothers and babies as well as the HIV transmission rate.

Despite levels of poverty being higher in the rural districts, social scientists believe that there is more social cohesion in rural communities that protects against women against HIV.

The large HSRC-Nelson Mandela Household surveys conducted among the general South African population since 2002 have consistently found that people living in informal settlements have the highest HIV prevalence.

"The mobility and transient nature of life in informal settlements, rather socio-economic status, makes those living in these areas most vulnerable to HIV," explained the HSRC CEO Dr Shisana.

Men living in informal settlements were much more likely to have more than one sexual partner in a year than those living in tribal areas, while urban youth were significantly more sexually experienced, according to the household studies.

Horwood's study found that KwaZulu-Natal has managed to slash HIV transmission from mothers to their newborn babies by almost two thirds -- to seven percent - since it started giving pregnant women and their babies two antiretroviral drugs.

However, the transmission rate was highest in eThekwini with one in 10 pregnant women passing HIV onto their babies. Amajuba had the lowest transmission rate with just 4.3 percent of babies from HIV positive moms getting infected.

Interestingly, the study showed that nevirapine alone was relatively ineffective at preventing mothers from infecting their babies.

Since 2002, pregnant HIV positive women have been given the ARV nevirapine to prevent her from passing HIV on to her baby. This followed research in Uganda and South Africa that showed nevirapine could cut HIV transmission by about 30 percent.

But a 2004 study in the province found that about 20 percent of pregnant HIV positive women who got nevirapine were still passing the virus on to their babies.

In Horwood's study, 13.5 percent of women who only got nevirapine passed HIV on to their babies, which is only marginally better than the 15 percent transmission rate from moms who got no ARVs at all to their babies.

But the transmission rate for those on dual therapy was dramatically reduced to only 5.6 percent, while only 5 percent of mothers on triple therapy passed HIV to their babies.

"It's hard to say why nevirapine was so ineffective in comparison to the earlier research, but perhaps it was the difference between a research setting and operational setting," said Horwood.

Horwood's study also measured the infant mortality rate in the districts, and found that babies fared worst in eThekwini followed closely by Amajuba. In eThekwini, 85 babies per 1000 died before their first birthday.

"The infant mortality rate has tripled in the province over the past 10 years because of HIV/AIDS, so it is very exciting to see the impact of dual therapy, which will make massive strides to prevent the deaths of babies and children," said Horwood.

Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo welcomed the results of the study, but appealed to all pregnant women to report to their local clinics as soon as they knew they were pregnant.

"HIV positive women who are pregnant need to get dual therapy from 14 weeks of pregnancy but most of them only go to the clinic when they are in their last trimester of pregnancy," said Dhlomo.

"We call on all community leaders to encourage pregnant women to go to their clinics early so they can be tested for HIV," he added.

20091213

Kampala — IN November, I was nominated by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and invited by the African Development Bank to present a paper, at the 2nd Africa Water Week in Johannesburg, South Africa. This continental meeting was convened by Africa Ministers Conference on Water and the government of South Africa in partnership with various United Nations Agencies.

The water meeting brought together 700 dignitaries from all over the world, 40 ministers from Africa, the Prince of Orange, Willem Alexander Ferdinand and Emmanuel Trevor, represented president Jacob Zuma of South Africa.

Trevor said three memorable lines concerning water, energy and security issues. He said energy has alternatives while water has none. "Water is life and sanitation is dignity." He concluded that without water, there is no agriculture. The foregoing lines, I believe, are principle benchmarks that ongoing global debates and national plans on energy, water and food security should be anchored.

My paper was meant to flag farmers issues on the agenda, and identify areas that must be financed if farmers have to continue feeding the bulging population on the continent (Africa's population growth is at 2.4% per annum).

I told the meeting that, agriculture, which produces multiple services from food, feed, fuel and fibre, is essentially dependent on water as one of its key strategic resources. Yet water availability and access, is under severe stress due to climate change and other man made environmental degradation tendencies on the continent. I reminded the audience that 95% of the food in sub-Saharan Africa depends on rain-fed agriculture and on average, 7% of sub-Sahara Africans are employed by agriculture.

It was important to point out a new recognition viewed through initiatives on the continent that aim at financing agriculture sector like the Maputo Declaration and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) where many African countries committed to the principle of agriculture-led growth as a main strategy though in practice is still a feigned standpoint.

I argued that the fundamental role of agriculture is to ensure food security for consumers and secure livelihoods for producers. Therefore, African governments and concessional capital agencies like the African Development Bank must invest in enabling agriculture infrastructure.

For example, without roads and basic infrastructure, farmers cannot receive basic inputs or get their products to the market. Without secure land tenure and modern equipment for farm production and processing, yields will continue to be low and post-harvest losses high. Without a firm national, regional and international commitment to agricultural development and a stable and conducive policy environment in which it can take place, investment will not come.

Therefore, the following areas must be financed.

Enhancing production, productivity

To contain food and energy insecurity, land, labour, and capital will have to be raised substantially. To this end, financing should be directed towards eight core areas; technology development, research, advisory services, disease, pest and vector control. In addition, sustainable management of land and water resources financing should be scaled up from current $11b to $100b.

Improving access and sustainability of markets

Farmers on the continent need to be assisted to participate in higher value-added market chains than they can at present. Therefore, Africa must finance major public works like roads, railways, and telecommunications.

To harness markets, new investments must be directed towards to three core areas, increased value-addition in agriculture, the warehouse receipt system and improving post harvest handling, storage and rural market infrastructure.

Farmer institution development

Farmer organisations play a lead role in technology promotion, market organisation and value addition. Yet majority farmer institutions in Africa are still characterised by low capacity to effectively perform their roles and to demand delivery of agricultural extension services.

This, therefore, means that African financing efforts should focus on strengthening the capacity of these institutions to fully participate in the commodity value chain development and combating climate change and ensuring accountability of public resources in Agriculture.

Fund to reward farmers for ecosystem services and carbon offsets

Farmers interact with the environment daily and are a centre of gravity in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In order to achieve long-term positive effects, incentives must encourage and enable farmers to continue providing eco-system services through the adoption of environmentally friendly practices.

Farmers should therefore be able to enhance water quality and ensure its efficient use are recognised.

Specifically, farmers should be offered financial incentives to invest in renewable energy, farm practices that sequestrate carbon activities and protect and restore water catchment systems.

Farmers must be supported to improve agriculture and water use. Public policy makers need to re-engage African farmers and other stakeholders to build an integrated approach to agricultural and rural development.

allafrica

Khartoum, Dec. 13 (SUNA) - The Senior Assistant of the President of the Republic, Meni Arko Menawi, Sunday evening met at Al-Fateh Tower Hotel with the visiting Chairman of the African Union Panel and former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, and reviewed the report which presented by the panel at the summit of the Council Peace and Security Council in Abuja. In a press statement to SUNA, Menawi said that they discussed the possibility of including Darfur peace agreement in the AU panel's report for speeding up the solution of Darfur issue. MO/MO

20091213

CAIRO (Reuters) - Three German tourists were killed on Sunday when their car was in collision with a freight train near the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada, a security source and a witness said.

The two women and one man were in a group that also included three other Germans and an Egyptian driver, who were taken to hospital with injuries, the security source said. The group had been travelling to Marsa Alam, a coastal resort further south.

Reckless driving, lax traffic rules and poor road conditions cause many road crashes in Egypt. A series of road and rail accidents in recent years has sparked public outcry over the government's record on transport safety.

20091213

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Saving tropical forests is crucial to fighting climate change but efforts to halt deforestation could go awry without safeguards to protect and compensate local communities, officials and academics said on Sunday.

Forests act like "lungs" of the atmosphere, soaking up large amounts of mankind's greenhouse gas emissions. Billions of people also rely on them for food and livelihoods.

Paying developing nations to preserve forests is a central issue at U.N. climate talks in the Danish capital aimed at securing the outlines of tougher global deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions from 2013.

"Forests and climate issues have never been higher on the political agenda," Gro Harlem Brundtland, U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Change, told a meeting on the sidelines of the talks.

Yet forests were still being destroyed at an alarming rate, with no observable decrease in the pace of destruction since 1987, she said.

"We are still on our way to destroy an area the size of India by 2017," she said.

Tropical forests from equatorial Africa to Brazil and Indonesia contain some of the world's richest reserves of carbon and species but are under increasing threat for their timber and for the land to grow food for an ever-expanding human population.

Indigenous groups in the vast Amazon basin and deep in the jungles of Borneo island fear losing more of their lands to cattle ranchers or to palm and soy oil plantations.

20091213

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Guinea, whose military leader was the target of a botched assassination attempt last week, needs a West African protection force urgently, an official of a regional bloc said on Sunday.

"A deep crisis in Guinea risks not just destabilising the country in the long term but could also compromise all our post-conflict peace efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast," Mohamed Ibn Chambas, president of the ECOWAS commission which coordinates the regional bloc's activities, said.

He spoke in Burkina Faso where Guinea's military junta and civilian opposition are holding talks with mediators, a week after the top bauxite exporter's leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, was shot in a botched assassination attempt by his own soldiers.

Camara was evacuated to Morocco, where he is recovering from surgery on gunshot wounds to his head. His deputy has taken charge of the country but the rogue soldiers are still being tracked and there are fears of ethnic violence.

"Because of the threat ... I propose that we suggest to our superiors the preventative deployment of a humanitarian and civilian protection force that will help restore a climate of security for Guineans," Chambas said at the talk's opening.

Chambas warned that "all the ingredients were in place for an explosive situation".

The region's conflicts have long been intertwined and four of Guinea's neighbours, which endured war or politically-linked violence over the last decade, remain fragile as they seek to consolidate their own peace process.

The junta seized power in a coup last December and initially won over some of the population with promises of reforms. But divisions within the country, and the military, have deepened as Camara back-tracked on vows to hold polls and restore democracy.

20091213


COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Environment ministers tried to overcome rifts between rich and developing nations in Copenhagen on Sunday just days before a deadline for reaching a global pact on tackling climate change.

Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, highlighting a spat between top greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States, said he hoped all nations would seek to raise their offers in the talks.

"China is calling on the United States to do more. The United States is calling on China to do more. I hope that in the coming days everyone will call on everyone to do more," he said.

The ministers were holding informal talks during a one-day break in the December 7-18 meeting involving 190 nations, which will culminate in a summit of world leaders on Thursday and Friday including U.S. President Barack Obama.

"There are still many challenges. There are still many unsolved problems," Danish Minister Connie Hedegaard told reporters. "But as ministers start to arrive there is also the political will."

The talks bring together representatives from rich and poor nations who have been arguing over who is responsible for emissions cuts, how deep they should be, and who should stump up cash to pay for them.

Countries like China and India say the industrialised world must make sharper reductions in greenhouse gas output and provide the poor with more cash to fund a shift to greener growth and adapt to a warmer world.

"An agreement is certainly possible. If all of us trust each other and if we have the courage and conviction, we can still come to a fair, equitable deal in Copenhagen," Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said, heading into Sunday's sessions.

20091213

CONAKRY (Reuters) - An assassination bid aimed at the first Guinean leader from the minority Guerze tribe has raised concerns that ethnic and regional divisions in the country could deepen.

Junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara is in a hospital in Morocco after rogue soldiers attacked him and fled last week.

"I am worried that if Camara comes back and he chooses to blame other ethnicities for supporting the attack, it could cause trouble," said Conakry resident Mohamed Lamine Soumah.

Guinea is the world's biggest supplier of aluminum ore bauxite and is seen as a lynchpin of stability in a region still recovering from three civil wars this decade.

The country, which won independence from France in 1958, is dominated by the Malinke, Peul and Sousou ethnicities, but has more than a dozen smaller groups, including the Guerze from the forested "forestier" region in the southeast.

Camara took power last December in a coup after the death of former military strongman Lansana Conte, a Sousou. The coup drew support from forestiers who feel their region and its people have been underrepresented in power.

"Dadis was chosen by God to lead Guinea," said Balla Dopavogui, a forestier working as a tyre-repairman who lives in Conakry's Dixxin neighborhood. "He must come back to lead."

The strong support among forestiers comes despite widespread outrage over a crackdown on protesters September 28 in which more than 150 people -- mostly Peul -- were killed by a force that witnesses said included many forestiers.

20091213

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has told his deeply divided ZANU-PF to prepare for elections but his movement may never regain absolute power after losing its parliamentary majority last year, analysts said.

Mugabe had enjoyed uninterrupted rule since independence in 1980 but ZANU-PF suffered its first defeat last year in March and was forced to form a unity government with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The next election is expected in 2011 after a new constitution is drafted that is expected to guarantee a fair vote. The poll could otherwise be in 2013 if the unity government runs its full five-year term.

"Let's begin to work for the party and to organise it strongly. Elections are not very far off," Mugabe told ZANU-PF members at the end of a two-day congress late on Saturday.

His party resolved that its strategic aim would be "the checking, containment and ultimate defeat of the West's neo-colonial regime change agenda by securing a decisive and uncontested victory in the next harmonised elections".

Political analysts said that would be difficult as ZANU-PF is increasingly being weakened by in-fighting over who will succeed Mugabe when he steps down, with no candidate seeming strong enough to challenge Tsvangirai other than Mugabe.

Tsvangirai defeated the 85-year-old Mugabe in last year's presidential vote but not by enough to avoid a second round, which the veteran leader went on to win in a one-man contest after a violent campaign that forced Tsvangirai to quit the race.

Mugabe may find it harder to secure the endorsement of his party to contest the next presidential election, when he will be nearly 90 years and in the twilight of a political career spanning more than five decades.

INTERNAL TENSIONS

Tensions were running high at the congress amid charges from members that the party leadership was imposing weak candidates into the policy-making central committee.

"ZANU-PF has shown that it is not ready for leadership renewal and that only makes it weaker and more divided," said John Makumbe, a political commentator and Mugabe critic.

"They can forget about regaining lost ground and they will get a big hiding from the MDC at the next election."

ZANU-PF is deeply divided into two political factions, one led by retired army general Solomon Mujuru, husband to vice president Joice Mujuru and another by defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The divisions have festered over the years but Mujuru's camp has gained the upper hand after Joice Mujuru, 54, was retained as one of Mugabe's two deputies and makes her front runner, for now, to take over from the ageing leader when he steps down.

The succession issue has torn ZANU-PF along ethnic lines, with the group led by Mnangagwa -- long touted by local media as heir-apparent to Mugabe -- accusing Mujuru's faction of wanting to preserve the party presidency for another member of Mugabe's Zezuru ethnic group.

"Mugabe is the cog in ZANU-PF's wheel, albeit punctured, but ethnic fault lines are widening and his departure from the political scene will see the party totally disintegrate," Makumbe told Reuters.

But the veteran leader, who on Friday said factional fighting was "eating up" ZANU-PF and emboldening opponents in the MDC, remains publicly resolute and has vowed to defeat what he said were machinations by the West to remove him from power.

Mugabe has faced sanctions from the European Union and United States for democratic failings and human rights abuses but he says this is only cover for punishment against his seizures of white-owned farms to resettle blacks.

"The democratic favour and spirit of candour has found full expression. We all feel renewed ... and we go back much stronger, a better focused party and raring to go," Mugabe said.

KHARTOUM, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salahuddin said Sunday Khartoum was committed to dealing with a report prepared by the African Union wise men panel led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki on the Darfur crisis.

"We have affirmed readiness of the government to deal with the report in all axes and coordinate with the AU panel currently entrusted with its implementation," Salahuddin told reporters following a meeting with a visiting delegation of the AU panel.

He added that the visit of the delegation headed by Mbeki tended to get acquainted with the Sudanese government's vision towards the implementation of the report.

He denied that Khartoum had any reservations on some items of the report, particularly regarding the establishment of hybrid courts to try persons charged with war crimes in Darfur.

"There are some initial and non-final ideas embodied in the report. We have agreed that those ideas need accurate definition together with joint consultations on how to implement them. We do not call this reservation," he said.

He added that his talks with the delegation also focused on the ongoing efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the Darfur conflict, saying "we focused on realization of peace in Darfur, particularly that we have a short timeframe ahead of the general elections when a different government would be elected."

The African wise men panel recommended in its report the formation of a hybrid court of Sudanese and foreign judges to try persons charged with war crimes in Darfur.

The AU Peace and Security Council endorsed the report in its summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Oct. 29 last year.

The AU delegation led by Mbeki is currently visiting Sudan to hold talks with officials of the Sudanese government and various political parties to reach consensus on the implementation of the panel's report on how to settle the Darfur issue.

KHARTOUM, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Following marathon consultations that lasted for three days, the Sudanese ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Sunday reached a series of agreements, ending a tension between them aroused by differences over bills associated with elections, the referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan and other issues.

The Sudanese President and NCP Chairman Omar al-Bashir and First Vice President and SPLM Chairman Salva Kiir managed on Sunday to reach full agreements on the referendum bill on self-determination for southern Sudan, a bill on the popular consultation for Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas and another bill on the referendum for the disputed enclave of Abyei between northern and southern Sudan.

Senior officials of the two parties announced at a joint press conference following the meeting between al-Bashir and Salva Kiir that the two sides also agreed on formation of a joint committee to review the issue of elections and associating matters, and prepare a climate conducive to free and fair elections that involve all Sudanese political parties.

The NCP and SPLM, however, did not agree on the bill of security and intelligence, which the SPLM argues that it provides too much for the security organs. The two sides decided to continue consultations on the bill and said they expect to agree on it in a few days.

The two sides did not give further details on contents of the agreement on the referendum bill, especially the quorum and the percentage that decides unity or separation of southern Sudan.

The NCP and the SPLM had differed on all essential points of the referendum law, notably on who have the rights to vote, the headquarters of the referendum commission and the percentage that would decide unity or separation.

Rabie Abdul-Atie, a Sudanese political analyst, told Xinhua that the agreement indicated that the road-map set by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between northern and southern Sudan was progressing well and that everything stipulated in the agreement, in particular the elections, would be implemented.

"This agreement indicates ability of the two partners (NCP and SPLM) to overcome any difference," he said.

He stressed that the two sides must maintain a harmonious relationship to be able to address issues of the coming phase, saying "the coming phase cannot bear further differences."

The NCP and the SPLM signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, ending one of the longest civil wars on the African continent.

The latest tension between the two sides started when the SPLM announced withdrawal from the Sudanese National Assembly (parliament) on Oct. 14 in protest against non-endorsement of bills associated with democratic transition in the country, and accused the NCP of procrastination in endorsing those bills.

The two partners had encountered differences, but the recent one had almost destroyed their partnership.

The tension reached the summit when the SPLM led the opposition parties and attempted to stage a demonstration last week. The Sudanese authorities dispersed the demonstration.

The general elections in Sudan are slated for April 2010, while a referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan is set for early 2011.

CAIRO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Women still face many challenges as females fall victims to the negative effects of financial crisis, such as gender discrimination and lack of empowerment, said a report issued by "Beijing +15" conference held in Cairo on Sunday.

The conference, held at a time of the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform of Action 1995, a UN agenda for women's empowerment, aims to follow up, monitor and evaluate what achievements have been done by countries in the region to empower women and to identify the difficulties and challenges they face.

According to the report, the financial and economic crisis constitute a great burden on women, especially the poor and the migrant, as they get fired from their jobs as a result of the perception that men are the provider for family.

"Women are still facing great financial challenges," said Dr. Hoda Badran, chairperson of the Alliance for Arab Women.

Women are the first group that comes in lay-offs, considering that males are the major breadwinners. Moreover, cutting down on the national budget for services adds to the women's family responsibilities.

In addition, job opportunities decline in the informal labor sector, which is congested with females usually. Limited availability of funds correspondingly limits women's chances in receiving loans for small and micro enterprises, according to the report.

Nevertheless, the report shows that, generally speaking, the Arab states have made progress in regards to the status of women since the Beijing conference in 1995. However, this progress is not parallel in all areas and not equal among different countries.

"There is no such law that criminate violence inside family... it requires witnesses... How can the wife provide such witnesses?" Badran said.

Many countries modified their family law, in different degrees. However, gaps which violate gender equality still exist. As in Egypt, the law allows divorce without consulting the wife, and without a court approval.

Some Arab countries have approved laws allowing mothers married to foreigners to pass their citizenship to their children as in Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, Egypt and Mauritania. However, in some other countries, the foreign husband cannot obtain his wife's nationality.

WINDHOEK, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The transport ministers of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa gathered here at the weekend to brainstorm on a Trans-Kalahari Rail Line that will cost 1.4 billion U. S. dollars, according to a joint communique released on Sunday.

The three ministers who met at a hotel in Windhoek on Friday were Frank J. Ramsden, Botswana's minister of transport and communications; Helmut K. Angula, the Namibian minister of works and transport; and Sibusiso Ndebele, South Africa's minister of transport.

In the communique, the three ministers said the trans-Kalahari Railway Line Project concept started almost a century ago and that today there is no optimal railway line connection between the three countries.

The meeting received presentations from three companies interested in the Trans-Kalahari Railway development and agreed to await the outcome of the pre-fesibility study scheduled for May 2010.

A call for expression of interest will be published to allow bidders to compete in accordance with the best international practice.

"The meeting appreciated the initiates taken by the private sector and assured our governments continued commitment to private sector involvement in the project," they declared in the document.

The proposed railway line will be used for the transportation of coal from mines that are envisaged in Namibia and Botswana among other bulk cargo.

The development of the proposed railway project will be implemented through the Spatial Development Initiatives. The railway project will link Walvis Bay in Namibia through Botswana to the industrialized Gauteng Region in South Africa).

This project will offer a major railway transport alternative to trans-Atlantic markets for Gauteng and Gaborone in Botswana, increase regional integration and economic growth for the three SADC countries and improve southern African traffic.

KHARTOUM, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) agreed on a bill of referendum for southern Sudan, senior officials of the NCP and the SPLM announced on Sunday.

The bill paved the way for the referendum scheduled for January2011 to decide whether southern Sudan would break away from Sudan.

The officials said the agreement was reached during a meeting of the two parties chaired by Sudanese President and NCP Chairman Omar al-Bashir and First Vice President and SPLM Chairman Salva Kiir, following marathon consultations in the past few days.

The bill is to be handed over to the parliament for approval, the officials said at a joint news conference.

"We have reached full agreements on the southern Sudan referendum bill," said Nafie Ali Nafie, deputy NCP chairman at a joint press conference with SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum.

Nafie said the two sides had also reached agreements on one bill of the popular consultation for Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas, and another on self-determination referendum for Abyei area.

He added that all agreements reached by the two sides would be referred to other political parties in the country to consult on, expecting that the two sides would reach final agreements on bills of security and intelligence service in few days.

For his part, Amum told the joint press conference that the NCPand SPLM had agreed to reform their existing partnership, adding that what they had agreed on would be referred to the council of ministers and the National Assembly (parliament).

He added that the two sides have also agreed to form a joint committee to discuss the issue of the general elections to ensure that they would be free and fair.

"This committee will also be entrusted with reviewing the NCP-SPLM relation on one part, and their relations with other political forces, on another part, to come to a common platform for honest competition among all Sudanese political forces", he said.

Amum also said arrangements were underway for return of the SPLM parliamentary bloc and other southern Sudanese parties to attend the parliament sessions.

The SPLM parliamentary bloc has been boycotting the session of the Sudanese parliament since mid-October in protest against non-endorsement bill on referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan and other bills of democratic transition in the country.

20091210

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa has suspended dozens of immigration officials being investigated for giving South African citizenship to foreigners, mainly from Pakistan, the government said Thursday.

The move comes months after Britain started requiring visas from South Africans, charging terrorists and criminals were exploiting the availability of stolen or forged South African passports to gain access to other countries.

“The fraudulent registration of births of foreigners constitutes a serious threat to the national security of our country,” South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in a statement Thursday.

She said the scheme allowed “fraudsters” to apply for South African passports that could be used for “nefarious activities abroad.”

She said that South African investigations would ensure that all those implicated “face the full might of the law.”

South Africa said nearly a year ago that steps had been taken to prevent corrupt officials from issuing bogus passports.

Home Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said Thursday that 59 officials have been suspended in the past two weeks for issuing South African birth certificates to foreigners. He said it is not clear how many such certificates have been issued nor whether any have been used to get a passport.

He said most recipients were adults from Pakistan and he said it appeared to be the work of “criminal syndicates.”

In February, Britain said it was requiring visas for South Africans, who previously did not need them. British security and intelligence officials warned of an increasing risk of Islamic extremists using South Africa as a transit point and venue to plan plots.

They said future attacks on Britain could be directed from countries other than Pakistan — where dozens of Britons with family ties have travelled for terrorist training or have been linked to recent terror plots.

Prosecutors in the London trial of several men accused of plotting to blow up at least seven trans-Atlantic commercial flights said last year that one suspect had flown into Britain from South Africa to lead the final stages of the plan.

Pakistan is a major hub for militant organizations, and a number of extremist plots targeting the West have been traced to its tribal regions that border Afghanistan.

It is also a poor country with a sluggish economy that has many nationals eager to work abroad and send money back to families at home.

Like others in the Muslim world, Pakistani passport holders have had greater difficulty getting visas to travel to Europe and the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Police detained nearly 1,000 people in Copenhagen on Saturday during mass demonstrations to demand that negotiators at U.N. talks agree a strong treaty to fight global warming.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the city as part of a global "Day of Action" of climate rallies from Australia to the United States, but violence flared at one stage when demonstrators smashed windows and set fire to cars.

Riot police detained more than 900 people around the Danish capital after black-clad activists threw bottles and smashed windows. A police spokeswoman said the number had climbed to 968 shortly after 10 p.m. (2100 GMT).

Police said four cars were set on fire during the evening. One policeman was hurt by a stone and a Swedish man injured by a firework.

"You don't have to use that kind of violence to be heard," said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister presiding at the U.N. talks. She condemned rioters after welcoming the main march at a candlelit vigil outside the conference centre.

One activist group accused the police of abuse after they detained around 400 black-clad demonstrators at the back of the march and forced them to sit on a road for hours in near-freezing temperatures, hands bound behind their backs.

The main demonstration was led by dancers, drummers and banners proclaiming: "There is no planet B" and "Change the politics, not the climate". Some activists were dressed as penguins with signs reading: "Save the Humans!"

They marched to the conference centre on the outskirts of the city, where negotiators from 192 nations are meeting from December 7-18 hoping to agree a new U.N. climate pact.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tiger Woods is making a wise move by taking a break from the sport but faces major challenges when he returns, sports psychologists said on Saturday.

Woods has announced an "indefinite" break from golf and admitted being unfaithful to his wife after a series of flings with women were reported in the media.

"I think that is a sign that he wants to send a strong message to his family that he is serious about addressing the problems," Casey Cooper, a California based sports psychologist told Reuters. "It really is impossible to do that when you have the travel schedule of a competitive professional athlete."

Palm Beach-based psychologist John F. Murray, who has worked with professional tennis and NFL players, said Woods's hiatus could also be simply a case of allowing him to escape the stress.

"It's the only possible thing to do when you are facing such amazing pressure...It is too much for him - he needs an escape, some kind of relief from the stress. He definitely needs a break," said Murray.

"Tiger isn't just a golfer, he is an empire and he has lots of people advising him. He has probably been advised to take a break, to come up with a plan, come up with a strategy."

Cooper added she doubted the public scrutiny of his private life would affect Woods' performance when he returned.

"For the typical athlete, these types of distractions can obviously impact performance but Tiger has shown time and time again that he can manage his off-course life separately from his performance," she said.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A senior south Sudanese official said on Sunday his group had reached a deal with the main northern party on laws related to democratic reforms that had threatened a peace deal in oil-producing Sudan.

"We have reached agreement on three very important laws which have been grounds for serious disagreements between the two parties," Sudan People's Liberation Movement secretary general Pagan Amum told reporters after a meeting with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who heads the National Congress Party.

Amum said the laws covered the national referendum, a consultation exercise for people living in boundary areas between north and south Sudan and a referendum on whether the oil-producing region of Abyei should join the south.

LAGOS, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-two people died in a motor accident on the Maya-Iseyin road in west Nigeria's Oyo State, the Tribune newspaper reported on Sunday..

The accident, involving a Cabster truck and an 18-passenger bus, occurred around 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Adiekola-Maya end of the road, when the two vehicles were involved in a head-on collision, leaving all passengers burnt to death.

Those believed to be in the bus were friends and associates of the former secretary to the Oyo State government, Sharafadeen Alli, all going to attend a function with him at the Oke-Ogun area of the state.

Alli was seen at the scene, with his associates lamenting the tragic incident.

The driver of the truck and three other colleagues in the truck also got burnt.

The ensuing inferno raged for about two hours, leaving other road users helpless before a detachment of police arrived at the scene. All were burnt beyond recognition.