Russian President Vladimir Putin began a public relations offensive on Thursday before he chairs a summit of the G8 countries in St Petersburg next weekend with a two-hour webcast in which he told United States President George Bush that they were friends and 10 years of conflict in Chechnya had been ”worth it”.
Egyptian MPs are demanding cuts in a popular new film, claiming it defames their country with its gritty portrayal of corrupt politicians, police brutality, terrorism and homosexuality. The Yacoubian Building — the most expensive film ever produced in Egypt — has been breaking box office records since its release a fortnight ago.
China and India on Thursday bridged decades of distrust and the world’s highest mountain range by opening a direct trade link along a winding road that runs between the planet’s two most populous countries. The two nations’ representatives, who broke bread and ate sweets together, declared the customs post open in the early morning.
Conservative candidate Felipe Calderón has won the final official count of Mexico’s presidential poll by a razor-thin margin but his main rival, the leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has vowed to contest the result. With 99,56% of the vote counted, Calderón had 35,82%, López Obrador 35,37% with three other candidates sharing the remainder.
”Sometimes I think I might be the oldest 24-year-old in the world,” Justine Henin-Hardenne says with a faint smile. In the midst of explaining how she survived terrible adversity to emerge as the most iron-willed competitor in women’s tennis, Henin-Hardenne seems to feel the trauma of her past with renewed intensity.
The FF Plus said on Thursday that it would ask Finance Minister Trevor Manuel to investigate the constitutionality of an intended provincial fuel levy. The party’s minerals and energy spokesperson, Willie Spies, said he would ask Manuel to investigate whether the planned fuel levy for the Western Cape would be justifiable in terms of Section 228(2) of the Constitution.
The Socceroos may have been eliminated from the World Cup by Italy but an Adelaide brewer says fans can console themselves with the fact that an Aussie ale has won a "beer world cup". Coopers Brewery said it won a drink-off organised by British industry magazine <i>Off Licence News</i> involving, where possible, a representative beer from each of the 32 World Cup nations.
It would have been the most expensive bottle of soft drink in history. A secretary at Coca-Cola’s global headquarters has been arrested for stealing a phial of a secret new product, hiding it in a brown Armani bag and attempting to sell it for ,5-million to the world’s second biggest cola maker, Pepsi.
Veteran journalist Jon Qwelane says he is fully behind Jacob Zuma’s defa-mation action against the media and he lashed out at the Mail & Guardian’s cartoonist, Jonathan ”Zapiro” Shapiro, who is among Zuma’s targets. Recently Zuma’s lawyers, led by advocate Jurg Prinsloo, reportedly lodged a series of multimillion-rand suits.
After a string of legal setbacks, the National Prosecuting Authority is facing the opening salvo of the Jacob Zuma corruption trial on July 31 with a success under its belt. The Pretoria High Court upheld the legality of the search and seizure operations carried out at the premises of Thint (formerly Thompson CSF), the French defence company that is a co-accused with Zuma.