Continental giants South Africa and Nigeria are working together

Continental giants South Africa and Nigeria are working together to bag two permanent seats on the UN Security Council (UNSC) allocated to Africa under a plan to revamp the world body, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said on Thursday. The South African minister, opening a meeting of the South Africa-Nigeria binational commission, said the two presidents, Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo, would be major forces at the UN 2005 millennium summit where the reform of the United Nations will be discussed. "Nigeria and South Africa are working together to seek those two seats," he said, adding that South Africa's Mbeki and Nigeria's Obasanjo "will be able to put together a common position on UN reform." -- AFP

Former Nepal PM charged with graft

Nepal's powerful anti-graft commission on Thursday charged former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba with misappropriation of government funds while in office, a commission spokesman said. "The commission has found out that Mr. Deuba had misappropriated the Prime Minister's Relief Fund while in office," spokesman Prem Raj Karki said. "He also refused to testify and pay bail money of 8,000,000 rupees (US$114,285)," Karki said. Karki, however, did not say what action would be taken against Deuba after being charged with misappropriation of state funds. Deuba, who was arrested last Wednesday, and his coalition government were dismissed by King Gyanendra when he seized power Feb. 1. -- AFP

Polish parliament keeps government

Polish lawmakers on Thursday defeated an attempt to dissolve parliament early, in a vote that could keep the unpopular governing party in power for a few more months. The 460-seat lower house fell short of mustering a two-thirds majority - or 307 votes - required to dissolve the legislature. A vote to dissolve would have forced elections in six weeks instead of by mid-October, as scheduled. There were three separate motions, each brought by a different right-wing opposition party. In the first two votes, 253 lawmakers voted for self-dissolution, with 172 against. In the third, 255 lawmakers voted for self- dissolution and 172 against. In each case, there were about a dozen abstentions, and several lawmakers were absent. -- AP