Getting all South Africans to agree on how to tackle affirmative action and build a non-racial society was one of the bigger challenges facing the country, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. He said the problem was ”we cannot get everyone to sing from the same hymn sheet on the important question of how to build a non-racial South Africa”.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court reinstated the country’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Friday four months after his suspension by President Pervez Musharraf. Chaudhry became a symbol of resistance to General Musharraf after refusing to quit in the face of pressure from the president and his intelligence chiefs.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair welcomed on Friday the announcement that prosecutors will not bring charges over the so-called "cash-for-honours" scandal that clouded his last year in office. But he lamented that those subject to investigation during the 16-month probe had been through a "traumatic" time.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is launching an international news channel to compete with CNN and the BBC, joining the growing ranks of news outlets seeking to challenge media stereotypes about Africa. But media watchdogs say the SABC should focus on bolstering editorial independence at home.
Johannesburg metro police have launched a search for a taxi driver who fired shots at an officer on Friday morning. Metro police spokesperson Inspector Edna Mamonyane said the taxi driver jumped a red robot in the CBD at about 8.45am. Metro police saw him and stopped him.
Zimbabwe central bank governor Gideon Gono has warned President Robert Mugabe’s government that it risks strangling the already battered economy by banning private fuel purchases in foreign currency. A severe economic crisis many blame on Mugabe’s policies has left the Southern African state struggling.
Former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba may stand trial for corruption by video link due to ill health, a spokesperson for the ex-leader said on Friday. Chiluba, who is due to travel to South Africa for medical treatment, has been told by a Zambian court to return home by August 13 to resume his protracted trial the next day, a spokesperson said.
The United Nations human rights chief on Friday called on Sudan to protect a village of 4 500 people in West Darfur where armed men in military uniform have carried out abductions and sexual violence. Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the Khartoum government to set up a permanent police presence in Bir Dagig.
<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> Shaun de Waal reviews Michael Bays’ flashy action movie, <i>Transformers</i>, which opens in theatres this weekend
Plans were announced recently for a biopic of the life of <i>Playboy</i>’s founder, Hugh Hefner, writes Dan Glaister in Los Angeles.