The head of the main United States spy agency has warned that al-Qaeda is training operatives who ”look Western” and could enter the United States undetected to conduct terrorist attacks. Central Intelligence Agency Director General Michael Hayden said the terror network has shed its operational reliance on mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Robert Mugabe on Monday was desperately trying to cling to power, despite his clear defeat in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, by blocking the electoral commission from releasing official results and threatening to treat an opposition claim of victory as a coup.
The National Civil Rights Museum sits in what was the Lorraine Motel, just beyond the shadows of Memphis’s skyscrapers and the garish neon glow of Beale Street — the main drag made famous by the likes of BB King and James Baldwin. The first words of the first exhibit state: ”Protest against injustice is deeply rooted in the African-American experience.”
Imtiaz Patel will not become the next International Cricket Council chief executive, the ICC said on Monday. Patel had been earmarked to succeed Australian Malcolm Speed who will step down in July after seven years in office. However, the sports television executive has told the ICC he is not interested in the post.
Siyabonga Nqakula, son of the Minister of Safety and Security, was on Monday found guilty in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. The charge stemmed from a late night head-on collision in the Cape Town CBD in March last year.
The Dutch Foreign Minister met ambassadors from Muslim countries on Monday to try to cool tempers over a film by a Dutch lawmaker critical of the Qur’an and ask for protection for Dutch citizens and property. Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, launched his short video on the internet on Thursday.
India’s marksmen are threatening to boycott the Beijing Olympics unless the government steps in to help alleviate a shortage of ammunition for training. The nation’s leading medal prospects for the August Games are in shooting, with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore fancied to bring home a gold medal.
A woman who claims she was ordered by federal airport screeners to remove her nipple rings with pliers demanded an apology from the United States Transportation Security Administration on Thursday. Mandi Hamlin (37) also called for an investigation into the February 24 incident in Lubbock, Texas.
Ernie Els withdrew from the Houston Open on Sunday because of a virus, giving him an unexpected two weeks off before going to the US Masters. ”I am very disappointed to have been forced to make this decision because I was really looking forward to playing this week,” Els said in a statement.
A vicar in Germany who had the novel idea of helping parishioners escape the stresses and strains of daily life by letting them lie in an open grave was upset when intrusive journalists spoiled the atmosphere. ”I meant it as a meditative exercise,” said pastor Thorsten Nolting.