”I have observed, with a growing degree of trepidation, the slide of the Mail & Guardian down the slippery slope of sensationalism. Final proof of the dire levels to which this once-proud newspaper has sunk must surely be the article about the ”gravy plane” that the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, is supposed to have boarded,” writes Uriel Llewellyn Abrahamse, deputy general manager of the African National Congress.
One month after the rebels chopped off both of Abubakr Kargbo’s hands with an axe, his son was born. ”I gave him my name,” said the father of four, gesturing towards the young Abubakr with a stump. ”I did not expect to live and I wanted my name to carry on.”
Sufferers from depression, who do not respond to existing treatments, could soon benefit from a new procedure in which electrodes are inserted into the core of the brain and used to alter the patient’s mood. Later this year, scientists at Bristol University in the United Kingdom will conduct the first trials of the so-called deep-brain stimulation method on sufferers from depression.
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The United States wants to settle the Iran nuclear crisis through diplomacy, President George Bush said on Monday, describing reports of plans to attack Iran as ”wild speculation”. While the White House is still warning Iran about its uranium enrichment, the administration went out of its way on Monday to play down reports of planning for military strikes.
The City of Cape Town’s municipal council has revoked former Mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo’s decision to extend city manager Wallace Mgoqi’s contract for a year, meaning that Mgoqi is no longer the city manager for Cape Town, new Mayor Helen Zille said in a statement on Monday.
Anti-poverty campaigner and Live 8 organiser Sir Bob Geldof accused China on Monday of being responsible for the continuing civil war in Sudan’s Darfur region. The Irish rock star said China was protecting the Sudanese government because it provides 6% of China’s oil.
A hundred and thirteen people were injured in a four-bus pile-up on the Moloto Road, north of Pretoria, on Monday. The accident happened at a depot where three of the buses were stopped when a fourth bus hit one bus from behind, causing each to ram the vehicle in front of it.
Italy’s centre-left opposition on Monday ousted Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after an acrimonious election campaign, exit polls showed, ending the tycoon’s flamboyant five-year hold on power. While officials of Romani Prodi’s campaign refused to declare victory, supporters flocked to his campaign’s headquarters voicing both jubilation and relief.
At least 100 people were killed on Monday when a fire swept through large tents packed with shoppers at a trade fair in north India, police said. ”At least 100 people are dead,” Rajiv Sabarwal, police chief of Meerut, 80km north of New Delhi, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Witnesses said bodies were charred beyond recognition and had been scattered throughout the stalls.