World

Canberra - Australian police confirmed on Tuesday that 173 people have died in the bushfires across the state of Victoria.

Mafikeng - The Department of Education, the FIFA Local Organising Committee and the United State Consul General, Andrew Passen visited the Redibone Middle School in Mafikeng on Thursday to meet the winners of the provincial leg of the School Confederations Cup.

Cape Town - The South African Government says it will engage authorities in the United Kingdom to look at how to ensure that inconvenience is minimised, following the British Government's announcement on holiday visas.

Beijing - Ahead of the G20 Seoul summit, experts have called for the transformation of the G20 from a crisis managing body to a long-term mechanism of global governance.

New York - Member States today took the next step in enabling the newly-created United Nations agency on gender equality and women's empowerment to begin its work by electing countries to serve on its Executive Board.

Pretoria - South Africa has called on the government of the military-ruled nation of Myanmar to honour its undertakings to release all political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Johannesburg - The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is to raise about R135 million to assist learners who failed to acquire their matric certificate in 2008

Caracas - The situation in Venezuela remains stable following the death of President Hugo Chavez, though his grieving supporters took to the streets, chanting slogans in memory of the socialist leader.

Pretoria - A partnership between the United States (US) and South Africa is expected to strengthen academic programs, skills development training and student support services at 12 selected FET colleges in South Africa.

Geneva - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned that there are only five years left to mitigate the effects of fossil fuels and called for prompt action to deal with climate change.