London, Mar 23: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been barred from entering South Africa to take part in a peace conference linked to the 2010 football World Cup, plunging the country into a diplomatic row.

The decision was met with outrage by fellow Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the former President F. W. de Klerk, who are organising the conference on March 27 with the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee.

Johannesburg  - South Africa's popular archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has threatened to boycott a peace conference planned for next week in Johannesburg after the South African government reportedly denied the Dalai Lama a visa, a newspaper said Sunday.

South Africa's Sunday Independent quoted an angry Tutu as saying: "If His Holiness's visa is refused, then I won't take part in the upcoming 2010 World Cup-related peace conference."

The Nobel Peace Prize winner accused South Africa, which has close ties with China, of "shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure" and said he was "ashamed."

Luanda  - In what was billed as the high point of his three- day visit to the southern African country, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an open-air mass Sunday in Angola's capital Luanda in front of hundreds of thousands of worshippers.

Benedict was joined by southern African bishops in saying the mass on the Cimangola Esplanade at the entry to the city.

The celebration was overshadowed by the deaths on Saturday of two youths in a stampede Saturday at a sports stadium in Luanda, where the pope addressed thousands of youth.

Johannesburg - Around 30 South Africans are arrested every month in Brazil on drug smuggling charges - a huge increase in the past two years as South Africa emerges as a new hub in the global drug smuggling business.

Friends/Family of South African Detainees Abroad (FOSADA) sounded the alarm Friday over what it called a dramatic increase in the number of South Africans detained in Brazil on suspicion of being drug mules.

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar. 20 : Australian opener Simon Katich is confident that a 3-0 sweep against South Africa is par for the course, despite the visitors being bowled out for 209 on day one of the Cape Town Test.

South Africa will resume on Friday in control of the dead-rubber match at 0-57, with reluctant opener Ashwell Prince 37 not out and debutant Imraan Khan on 15.

Katich top-scored for the Australians with 55.

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar. 19 : An unwell Australian middle-order batsman Marcus North is still likely to feature in the squad that takes on South Africa in the third Test that starts here today.

The 29-year-old left-hander made a century on debut in last month''s Johannesburg Test and is a key member in Australia''s batting line-up, especially with no reserve batsman in the squad.

"There''s no other batters here to bring in," Australia captain Ricky Ponting said.