Lisa Johnston writes about an artist whose fabric panels are snapshots from her life
The United Nations human rights chief on Friday said recent air raids by Sudanese forces on at least five Darfur villages appeared to be ”indiscriminate and disproportionate”, and violated international law. The attacks between April 19 and 29 have already been condemned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, although Khartoum says they never took place.
Up to a million faithful are expected to throng a São Paulo park as Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass to canonise Brazil’s first saint, a Franciscan monk still credited with miracle cures nearly 200 years after his death. The canonisation Mass follows close on the heels of a rally late on Thursday.
African champions Hendrik de Villiers and Kate Roberts view the Triathlon World Cup’s opening kilometre of the cycling stage as a potential deciding factor on Sunday. ”The swim should be all right if it is not too windy in the bay area, but it’s the first 600m of the cycle stage … that could be a bit of a test for the athletes,” De Villiers said.
African Union soldiers were on their way to Comoros on Friday to help keep the peace during next month’s elections on the Indian Ocean islands where one local president has refused to stand down. National government spokesperson Abdourahim Said Bacar said 40 AU troops were due to arrive later on Friday.
Manchester United will parade the Premiership trophy to a jubilant Old Trafford on Sunday but manager Alex Ferguson insists it will be business as usual against relegation-threatened West Ham. The Hammers, one of only three teams to have beaten Ferguson’s men this season, need a point to complete a remarkable escape from relegation.
South African stocks dropped 1% on Friday after United States and Asian equities fell and miners Anglo American and BHP Billiton dipped after merger rumours failed to materialise. The Johannesburg top-40 index of blue-chip stocks fell 1,03% to 25 220,42 points by 7.50am GMT, while the all-share index fell 1% to 28 155,26 points.
A court has ordered that workers at two South African mines owned by Aquarius Platinum return to work, the firm said on Friday. ”The court has granted an interdict, but it has not been served,” spokesperson Charmane Russell said, adding the firm was pursuing talks to resolve the situation before taking the legal route.
A strike by gold miners at South Africa’s Simmer & Jack Mines will result in revenue loss of more than R1,8-million per day, the firm said on Friday. About 4 500 underground miners at Simmers’ Buffelsfontein mine stopped work on Wednesday night in a wage dispute.
Members of an indigenous tribe from the Peruvian Amazon sued the oil giant Occidental Petroleum on Thursday in California’s superior court, alleging that the company knowingly put the health of the Achuar people at risk and damaged their habitat.