Pretoria - The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is calling for harsher penalties to be imposed on sea polluters in order to...

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Bamako - Former Malian Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubarca Keita has won the country's presidential election, as his rival Soumaila Cisse on Monday conceded defeat and congratulated him on his victory.

Keita, widely known as IBK, met with Cisse, where he indicated that he was ready to assist Keita in his mission as the new president.

Meanwhile, national and international observers gave a positive evaluation in general, regardless of some minor technical faults.

The Pole of Civil Electoral Observation (POCE), formed by some 60 Malian associations, said that the votes were held in good conditions throughout the country.

It reported some irregularities such as the delay in launching of operations at certain stations and difficulties in identifying their stations for certain voters.

But the vote was held "in conformity with generally accepted international laws and regulations. The irregularities that have been noted do not harm its sincerity, transparency and credibility," said the POCE in its statement.

The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Mali also reported no major incidents, although heavy rains hampered the smooth conduct of voting operations in many parts of the country, said the UN at a daily news briefing.

The European Union (EU), which deployed over 100 observers to monitor the run-off, hailed Sunday's second round as "a considerable democratic progress", saying that there was generally "absolutely nothing to doubt or raise suspicion about".

The African (AU) mission concluded that the second round vote was "in conformity with the norms of credibility and transparency" and hailed the civil behaviour of the Malian voters.

The only harsh evaluation came from the campaign team of Cisse, which alleged earlier on Monday that irregularities during the voting operations "seriously corrupted the credibility" of the results.

A statement signed by Gouagnon Coulibaly, the national coordinator of the campaign of Cisse, said that filled ballot boxes were found and during the vote, representatives, delegates and other electoral agents from the camp of Cisse were intimidated, questioned and even detained.

In reaction to allegations of fraud, Edem Kodjo, head of the AU observation mission in Mali and former prime minister of Togo, told Xinhua that the AU proposed to take the issue to the Constitutional Court, saying they have "found nothing" and "have no proof in hand."

As no candidate secured a majority during the first round held on July 28, a run-off election was held on Sunday. The counting started immediately after the second round ended Sunday evening.

Mali's Constitutional Court is set to announce the final results on Friday.

In the first round, 68-year-old Keita garnered 39.79 percent of votes, ahead of Cisse, former finance minister and Keita's long-time rival who got 19.7 percent.

Keita and Cisse lost the 2002 presidential election to Amadou Toumani Toure, who was overthrown by a military coup in March 2012. – SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua

Pretoria – International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has called for the United Nations to give Africa a minimum of two permanent seats in the body’s Security Council.

She has also called on developed countries to honour the promises they made to developing countries in relation to economic support to environmental and environmental sustainability, amongst others.

Nkoana-Mashabane said this when briefing journalists after hosting Vuk Jeremić, the President of the 67th session of the General Assembly (UNGA), for bilateral discussions in Pretoria on Monday.

“Our position as South Africa and Africans in particular is that as we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the OAU/AU. We think the world body – the United Nations – and in particular, the … most relevant way that the UN Security Council can sustain itself is to give dignity to itself that by the time it celebrates its 70th anniversary … things should look a bit different.

“…We agree with all member states that change … cannot be if it continues to ignore and exclude the 54 member states that form a very critical region – the African Union.

“We have taken a very clear position, we said that there will be no change without us because 70% of the issues taken to the UN Security Council and are tabled for discussion are about us.”

Nkoana-Mashabane’s call for change comes amid an on-going debate that Africa be given a seat in the council. This also comes as the UN’s 193 member states are working towards ensuring that the body adopts reforms that will be accommodating to all members and organisations aligned to the organisation’s agenda.

While it is not known which countries would be front-runners to occupy the two seats, Nigeria and South Africa can be, if media reports are anything to go by, well placed due to their big economies.

Jeremić, whose one-year presidential term of the 67th session ends in September, agreed that there was a need for change and said a fair representation of African states in the council was needed.

“If the institution does not keep up with the times and the environment, then the Security Council will become slowly, but surely, irrelevant.

“In the future, if we are going to have a Security Council, and if we are going to have a United Nations … we will have to encompass African interests through a permanent seat at the Security Council,” he said.

In 2000, the United Nations member states met at a Millennium Summit to discuss and adopt millennium development goals which included, amongst others, eradicating poverty and hunger, eradicating HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases, environmental sustainability and development through global partnerships.

Member states agreed at the time that they would work towards achieving the goals in 15 years.

With the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals set for 2015, Nkoana-Mashabane called on developed countries to remember the commitments they made.

“The one commitment that the developed states [made was to] contribute 0.7% of their national budgets to developmental goals to the developing world. The last time we checked, we don’t know how many countries have [lived up to their promises].

“Secondly, it was that they would continue on that principle of equal but differentiated responsibility [on] issues that come with greenhouse gas emissions because they have had 100 years of uninterrupted pollution … and we woke up one morning and we were all affected,” she said.

Nkoana-Mashabane, meanwhile, thanked Jeremić for prioritising the African agenda during his term in office. – SAnews.gov.za

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14TH IAAF World Athletic Championships, Moscow – 10/18 August 2013 Brent Newdick placed 23rd in the Decathlon with a total of 7744 points 11 August: It was a job quickly done for Valerie Adams in qualifying for the final of the women’s shot put. In the first attempt Adams effortlessly sent the 4kg ball of [...]Kiwis in Moscow Day 1 and 2 is a post from: Time-to-Run New Zealand



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MOSCOW — Brittney Reese won her sixth international title since 2009 and Team USA brought home gold in the decathlon for the eighth time in World Championships history as Ashton Eaton maintained his title as World’s Greatest Athlete, winning with 8809 points on the second day of competition Sunday at the 2013 World Outdoor Championships [...]Reese, Eaton win gold on day two is a post from: Time-to-Run USA



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The third and final day of this year’s Southern Cross 3-day trail event was won by Gauteng runners Lucky Miya and Johannes Mthimkulu of Team Saucony in 1:27:14, followed closely by Dion Middlekoop and Bernard Rakadaz of Team Contego in 1:27:56 and veterans Noel Ernstzen and Derrick Baard of Team Hammer Nutrition in 1:28:18. The [...]Miya, Mthimkulu take Day 3, Contego win overall is a post from: Trail Running South Africa



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The Asian Media Awards Finalists launch will take place at City Hall London. The event, in association with LendwithCare.org will see the release of the full finalists list for this year's Asian Media Awards.

The launch will take place on the top floor of City Hall on Monday September 30 from 7pm. The floor gives stunning panoramic views of the London Skyline.

City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority which comprises the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. It is located on the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge.

The launch will be sponsored by Asons Solcitors

Umbreen Ali, Media Manager for Asian Media Awards said, "We are delighted to be hosting this event in support of LendwithCare.org. "As well as unveiling our full finalists list we will be helping to highlight the valuable work of LendwithCare.org and CARE International."

CARE has a long established presence across Asia and has been operating in India for more than 60 years and is currently working in 16 countries across the continent.

The charity's innovative micro-lending initiative lendwithcare.org allows you to lend directly to people setting up small businesses in poor communities around the world. The entrepreneur will then repay the lender using the income from their growing business. Once repaid, the lender can then choose to recycle the loan to support another entrepreneur or even withdraw their money.

The Asian Media Awards will take place on Thursday October 31 at the Hilton Deansgate Manchester.

The UK’s trade deficit contracted in June to stand at £1.5 billion, compared to £2.6 billion in May, according to data released this morning by the...

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