Johannesburg - South African President Kgalema Motlanthe on Friday criticized the United Nations Security Council over the crisis in the Middle East and said the world body was in need of "urgent reform" to ensure that it becomes more representative.

"The problem is that if a country has powerful friends on the Security Council, they can sometimes act with impunity," Motlanthe told the weekly Mail and Guardian newspaper.

"All you have to do is listen to the minister of foreign affairs or defence of Israel to know that you are dealing with people who believe they can cock a snook with impunity," he added.

Johannesburg - Several thousands in South Africa on Thursday took

Durban - Police in South Africa on Wednesday revised the number of people killed in apparent xenophobic violence in the port city of Durban on the weekend from three to two.

Reports Tuesday had said three foreign nationals had been killed when a mob of 150 armed people stormed an apartment building inhabited by migrants from other parts of Africa. Those targeted were forced to jump from windows of the building in Albert Park.

Police said a Zimbabwean and a Tanzanian fell to their deaths, while a 23-year-old Mozambican, initially reported dead, had survived the fall and was in a critical condition in hospital.

Durban - Six months after violent xenophobic clashes in South Africa, renewed tensions between locals and foreigners were reported in the port city of Durban on Tuesday.

At least one person was killed and two seriously injured, The Mercury newspaper reported. Heavily-armed police were called in to intervene in a hostile confrontation involving locals and foreigners from other parts of Africa living in the area, the report said.

On Sunday, around two dozen people carrying machetes and other weapons stormed apartment buildings inhabited by foreigners, forcing several to flee by jumping out of windows.

Johannesburg  - The death toll in a storm that struck South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province over the weekend has risen to 18, according to the South African news agency Sapa, citing government officials.

Officials called the storm monstrous. Its victims included five people - including a family of four - killed by lightning. Another four people were washed away in a car in Durban's Kwa-Mashu area.

Other dead included a person washed away in Inchanga, three dead in Umzimkhulu, three more in Richmond and one each in Pietermaritzburg and Dalton.

Johannesburg  - A storm which struck KwaZulu-Natal province killed at least six people, including a family of four, the South African agency Sapa reported Sunday, citing government officials.

Social Development Minister Meshack Hadebe said of the storm's devastation: "It is huge. At least 10 areas have been devastated and more than 2,000 families were affected."

He confirmed that a family of four had died in Ndwedwe. Another person was killed in the Dalton area and another in Vryheid.

Premier Sbu Ndebele told Sapa the damage was extensive and that he, together with Hadebe would be visiting the affected areas.