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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It is the best and the worst of times for club soccer. Having scored an unprecedented billion-rand-plus for television rights, the game’s top division, the Premier Soccer League, is finally getting close to its commercial worth. But it is the worst of times for the minor league sides in the feeder Mvela Golden League.
South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini carded eight birdies without a bogey on Thursday to claim the first-round lead with a 63 at the -million Barclays Classic. Sabbatini surged heading into the turn, posting four birdies in a six-hole stretch at the Westchester County Club’s West Course. ”You know, the course, it’s playing easy right now,” Sabbatini said.
Real Madrid on Thursday unveiled new signings Arjen Robben and Gabriel Heinze at the Bernabeu stadium after they passed medicals, with both men saying they were delighted at the opportunity to swap the English Premiership for La Liga. Dutch winger Robben (23) arrived from Chelsea while Argentine defender Heinze (29) joins from Manchester United.