Barely two weeks ago, one of the world’s most powerful men, a dedicated hunter and self-proclaimed outdoorsman, mistook a 78-year-old friend for a bird and shot him in the face. And recently, the South African government took at least one step back from the full implementation of legislation intended to allow only the most capable people to own and use firearms.
Two-time Grammy Award winner Ali Farka Toure of Mali, one of Africa’s most famous performers, died Tuesday after a long illness, Mali’s Culture Ministry announced. He was 67. Toure played a traditional Malian stringed instrument called the gurkel, and was best-known overseas for his 1995 collaboration with American guitarist Ry Cooder on Talking Timbuktu.
Pakistan imposed a curfew on the battle-scarred tribal town of Miran Shah on Monday in an attempt to end three days of fighting between pro-Taliban militants and government troops. Thousands of civilians continued to flee the tribal area as helicopter gunships attacked suspected rebel hideouts and militants attacked army checkposts in neighbouring towns.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Tuesday called on Japan’s leaders to stop visiting a controversial Tokyo war shrine, comparing their actions to the worship of Germany’s Nazis after World War II. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has made five visits to the Yasukuni Shrine since taking office in 2001.
The JSE was sharply lower in noon trade on Tuesday, knocked by weakness in commodity prices and global markets. A softer rand did little to help the local bourse. By 11.49am, the all-share index slipped 1,6%. Resources slumped 2,9%, with the gold and platinum mining indices plunging 3,65% and 4,46% respectively.
Thousands of angry Kenyans, including prominent opposition politicians, paraded through the country’s main cities on Tuesday protesting a heavy-handed police raid on the second largest media group. ”We are demonstrating in order to protect press freedom in Kenya. Press freedom in Kenya is under siege,” said former roads minister Raila Odinga.
Attempts by Johannesburg City Council to sell the Huddle Park wetland in Linksfield, to an empowerment consortium for development before the completion of a thorough environmental impact assessment process may have dire environmental consequences for the residents of Alexandra township.
The South African Chamber of Business’s (Sacob) Business Confidence Index (BCI) declined to 100,1 in February 2006, Sacob said in a statement on Tuesday.
”The decline of three points between January and February 2006 is the highest monthly decline in the BCI since October 2004, ” Sacob said.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said here on Monday she hoped international sanctions on the country’s forestry and diamonds sectors would soon be lifted. Once one of Africa’s most prosperous nations with abundant timber, rubber and mineral wealth, Liberia lies in ruin after more than 14 years of civil war.
The Kenyan media group whose premises were raided last week by police moved to the high court on Monday seeking to declare the attack and seizure of its property unconstitutional, according to court papers. Last week, armed policemen stormed the group, Kenya’s second-biggest media organisation, temporarily shutting down its television station, damaging its printing press and burning newspapers