The third race of the Spur Gauteng Summer Trail Series took place at a brand new venue this weekend. B’Sorah welcomed Gauteng trail runners to a scorching day and the super fun trails made for some blistering hot running. Long Course runners were treated to 13.1km of undulating trails offering forest single track, gentle inclines, [...]Hot racing at B’Sorah is a post from: Trail Running South Africa



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Manila - The Philippines faced the gigantic task of bringing relief to the struggling survivors of deadly Typhoon Haiyan, which wrought untold destruction and suffering.

During the 60-plus hours in which it held the country and its people in its grips, the Pacific-spawned storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded, killed, according to some reports, up to 10 000 people, practically destroyed several towns and cities, mostly in central parts of the country, and left bodies strewn on the streets. Many of those who survived the storm, which in many respects resembled a tsunami, were left with practically nothing.

Authorities said they also had to battle looters in many of the storm-hit regions.

The Philippine Star reported in the hard-hit coastal city of Tacloban, with a population of over 200 000, was placed under a state of calamity by the government Monday due to incidents of looting. The city, the capital of the province of Leyte, is about 360 miles southeast of Manila.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who visited the storm-hit areas on Sunday, said a state of emergency may also be declared in Tacloban City.

A local paper said besides looting, there had also been reports of trucks loaded with relief goods being attacked by unidentified men in other devastated parts of Eastern Visayas, one of the three main regions of the country. The other two are Luzon, where the capital Manila is located, and Mindanao in the south.

The paper quoted some observers as describing the situation in Tacloban and other affected areas as "anarchic" amid scenes of destroyed homes and businesses.

The military said despite the problems, more relief goods had started to arrive in Tacloban City. Some of the goods were being brought by naval vessels and air forces planes. Large military personnel also were involved in distributing relief goods. – SAnews.gov.za-UPI

Kampala - The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and defeated M23 rebels are set to sign a peace deal on Monday in what diplomats hope will be a key step in efforts to end decades of war in the Great Lakes region.

The rebels, one of many armed groups operating in the mineral-rich but impoverished east of the DRC, have been routed by the national army, who are backed by a 3 000-strong special United Nations intervention brigade.

Allegedly supported by neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, but seemingly abandoned by their sponsors due to international pressure, the M23 announced last week that their 18-month insurgency was over. They are expected to put this in writing in Uganda on Monday.

"Our hope is that we have a firm commitment from the M23 rebels to renounce their use of arms," said DRC government spokesman Lambert Mende.

The M23, a mainly ethnic-Tutsi force, who mutinied from the Congolese army, have not confirmed Monday's meeting. But with no more military leverage, they are seen as having little room for manoeuvre.

The agreement is expected to settle the fate of about 1 500 M23 fighters, who have crossed into Uganda and are languishing in camps along the border. Uganda has refused to hand them over to the DRC.

Around 100 more injured rebels have crossed to Rwanda.

Mende said the rebels would be dealt with "case by case" -- with many rank-and-file fighters expected to be given the option to return to the army.

More complicated is the fate of around 100 M23 commanders. These include M23 leader Sultani Makenga, accused of participating in several massacres, mutilations, abductions and sexual violence, sometimes against children.

"The rebels, by signing, will effectively be surrendering. From our side, even though we have won and triumphed, we will still respect what is on the table," said Francois Muamba, a DRC delegate to the talks.

The UN's special envoy to the Great Lakes, Mary Robinson, told AFP the accord would be "a very important step for peace".

Speaking to AFP on Sunday, she said the deal will also be followed by operations to neutralise other rebel groups in a concerted effort to end one of Africa's most brutal and longest-running wars.

This would be "new and welcome news for the people... who have tolerated or have had to endure for far too long these armed groups, with the raping and re-raping, with the displacement of people.

"It has been intolerable, and now there really is hope," said the former Irish president.

But even if a deal is signed, stabilising eastern DRC will not be easy. Previous peace deals for the region -- including with the M23 -- have foundered because they were not implemented or did not address underlying problems such as refugees and land ownership. - SAnews.gov.za-NNN

Countries across Africa need to work together to combat rhino poaching, says the International Police Organization (Interpol).The body also...

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South Africa has pledged a package of support to the tune of R100 million to help alleviate the effects of drought in Namibia.

This was announced after talks between President Jacob Zuma and his Namibian counterpart Hifikepunye Pohamba.

Zuma is in Windhoek, Namibia, for a two-day state visit to bolster political and economic relations between the two countries.

The semi-arid, diamond-rich country has been hard hit by severe drought -- the worst in 30 years.

In their deliberations, Zuma and Pohamba reviewed a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues. They reaffirmed their commitment to work together in pursuit of regional economic integration.

The Presidents said they hoped the Bi-National Commission between the two countries (BNC) will enhance bilateral economic and political ties.

The BNC will take on a new format of cooperation, which will include sectors such as education, gender matters, health, fisheries, land, culture and ICT.

According to official statistics, about 66% of Namibian exports go to South Africa, while South Africa takes up about 80% of total investment in Namibian mining, retail, banking and insurance sectors.

South Africa has emphasised that the BNC should also contribute to taking forward regional integration and the promotion of intra-African trade and in particular, infrastructure development, to ease the movement of people and goods.

Presidents weigh in on regional matters

Zuma and Pohamba also discussed the prevailing political, economic and security situation in the SADC region.

They welcomed the positive developments in the DRC, the peaceful conduct of elections in the Kingdom of Swaziland and Madagascar, and expressed concern about the emerging instability on the Africa continent.

With regard to Mozambique, the two Presidents condemned the recent resurgence of armed violent activities by Renamo, and further urged the party to cease hostilities, while they expressed support to the government and the people of Mozambique.

There have been tensions in Mozambique after the former rebel movement accused the Frelimo government of not honouring the Rome peace agreement they signed in 1992.

Renamo is demanding the scrapping of the existing electoral law, arguing that it allows the government to rig elections. The former rebel movement has lost all the elections since it laid its arms down to stop the 16-year civil war against Frelimo, which has been in power since independence 1975.

Renamo also accuses Frelimo of discriminating against its party members and sympathisers -- accusations which are rejected by President Armando Guebuza’s government.

The two sides have been in talks since the beginning of the year to do away with their differences, but there is little progress.

Zuma and Pohamba further reaffirmed their support to the people of Western Sahara in their quest for self-determination and reiterated their support for a sovereign State of Palestine. - SAnews.gov.za

Gaza - Swiss scientists found at least 18 times the normal levels of radioactive polonium in the tested samples taken from late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's remains, Al-Jazeera TV reported on Wednesday.

The Qatari-based TV channel report said the scientists were confident that up to an 83 percent level that Arafat was poisoned with polonium.

Al-Jazeera said it had exclusively obtained the 108-page report, which was issued by the University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, in Switzerland.

"The report shows that high levels of polonium were found in Arafat's ribs and pelvis, and in soil stained with his decaying organs," said al-Jazeera.

French and Russian teams, along with the Swiss scientists, took the samples from Arafat's grave in the West Bank city Ramallah a year ago.

Al-Jazeera also quoted Suha Arafat, the late Palestinian leader 's widow, as saying that she received a copy of the report in Paris on Tuesday.

"When they came with the results, I'm mourning Yasser again. It's like you just told me he died," Arafat's widow told the Qatari TV channel.

By October 2004, towards the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or Palestinian Uprising, Arafat had been confined for more than two years in his Ramallah presidential compound by Israeli troops.

According to escorts close to Arafat, he was elderly and frail but in good health and did not have any particular risk factor.

On October 12, 2004, Arafat suddenly fell ill after eating a meal. But Arafat's health deteriorated swiftly and doctors failed to pinpoint the source of his sickness.

On October 29, a weak Arafat was carried in a wheelchair from his headquarters. He waved and blew kisses to the crowd surrounding his headquarters and was put aboard a helicopter and taken to Jordan.

From there a French government plane carried him to Paris for emergency treatment at Percy military hospital. French doctors were unable to diagnose or halt Arafat's decline and he soon lapsed into a coma.

On November 11, 2004, Arafat, who symbolised the fight for Palestinian statehood, died at the age of 75.

Meanwhile, Ali Muhana, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Minister of Justice told Xinhua the PNA can't declare or publish the results at this moment.

"We don't have any comment to al-Jazeera report because we haven't received a copy of the report. We are waiting for the return of the members of the committee to investigate Arafat's death and then we will make our final announcement," said Muhana. - NNN-Xinhua-SAnews.gov.za

James Joyce in Turku and Helsinki! Events on 14 & 15 November The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s James Joyce exhibition is touring Finland! The exhibition charts Joyce’s life and works and gives a wonderful and fascinating insight into one of our most celebrated and influential writers. It was displayed in Oulu during the [...]James Joyce exhibition tours Finland is a post from: BooknSpire



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ClassicCars.co.za - 2500 classic cars on showVW with 3000 vw’s to seeBikers DaySunday, 1st December 2013 (all day)Location: NazrecA biker...

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At today’s opening of the World Travel Market in London, supporters of Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, called on visitors to boycott travel to Botswana over its persecution of Africa’s last hunting Bushmen. The protestors handed out leaflets to travel industry professionals and urged visitors to support Survival’s tourism boycott until [...]Botswana boycott at WTM is a post from: Global Travels



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Sally Gibbs collected three gold medals at the championships, adding the W50 10,000m in 37:11.48 to the 5000m won earlier and on the last day of the championships she won the W50 marathon in 2:54:13, the fastest marathon over all the women’s age groups. BRAZIL – 20th World Masters Athletic Championships, Porto Alegre – 16-27 [...]Gibbs amazing treble in Brazil is a post from: Time-to-Run New Zealand



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