Scotland coach Frank Hadden has told his World Cup aspirants to prepare for the most physically taxing match of their careers when they square up to the Springboks at Murrayfield on Saturday in the final tournament warm-up outing for both sides. The encounter is billed as a ”friendly”, however Hadden laughed off the notion that the teams would merely be going through the motions.
An international human rights group has accused President Yoweri Museveni’s government of promoting ”state homophobia” in Uganda and urged the repeal of a colonial-era law against sodomy. Human Rights Watch’s attack added to a fierce social debate in the East African nation, where the gay community has been increasingly vocal in demanding rights.
European power companies are making billions of euros in excess profits in the European Union’s battle to beat global warming by cutting emissions of carbon gases, and consumers are paying for it, economists say. The electricity generators are given, free of charge, permits to emit millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, but are then charging consumers.
Somali government security forces killed seven insurgents and lost of one their own in intense overnight clashes in the capital, Mogadishu, police said on Friday. ”The insurgents launched two separate attacks on our security forces and there were heavy exchanges of gunfire,” police spokesperson Abduwahid Mohamed said.
Zimbabwe central bank chief Gideon Gono was recently refused entry into Britain after the government in London said his visit could lead to public protests, state media reported on Friday. Britain accuses Gono of "involvement in corrupt practices that have undermined democracy and the rule of law" in Zimbabwe, the <i>Herald</i> newspaper reported.
Israeli police arrested a woman who stole a pair of Crocs shoes when she returned to the store hours later to exchange them because they did not fit her son, a police spokesperson said on Friday. ”The store clerk identified her from security camera footage and called us,” said Amos Shimoni, police spokesperson in the northern town of Safed.
On the campaign trail or in the debating chamber, there’s just no escaping it. Like the spectre at the feast, the Iraq war is dominating the White House race in a contest in which every word counts. The eight hopefuls chasing the Democratic Party nomination for the 2008 elections to replace President George Bush seem united in their calls to end the unpopular conflict.
China has launched a four-month ”war” on tainted food, drugs and exports, state media reported on Friday, as beleaguered officials embraced time-tested campaign tactics to clean up the country’s battered image. Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi said the campaign would focus on problem products that have corroded consumer confidence in the ”made in China” label.
With South Africa preparing to host the biggest football showpiece, the 2010 Fifa World Cup, negative talk about Africa abounds in the media. And it seems those who intend fighting the negativity are thin on ideas about how to go about achieving a positive image for the continent.
”Although cricket has transformed more or better than other codes of sport, such as rugby, we have not done nearly enough to transform the game fully, as demanded by our Constitution.” Norman Arendse, the new president of Cricket South Africa, tells Lucky Sindane why quotas are desirable.