United States President George Bush insisted on Thursday that he had a winning strategy in Iraq even as a White House report said the Iraqi government had failed in its efforts to stem violence and bring about reconciliation. The 25-page report released found satisfactory progress on only eight of 18 crucial benchmarks set by Congress.
Southern hemisphere rugby bosses pledged on Friday never again to field weakened teams in the Tri-Nations and Super 14. ”It’s fair to say that it will never happen again,” John O’Neill, chief executive of South Africa New Zealand and Australia Rugby (Sanzar) told a media briefing in Christchurch.
A powerful typhoon struck the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa on Friday, pounding them with torrential rains and high winds before it heads north towards the nation’s main islands. Up to 500mm of rain was expected to fall on some parts of Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu by Saturday morning.
More than four-and-a half thousand people have applied to take part in a joint Russian-European venture in which six people will be locked inside a mock spacecraft for 520 days to simulate an expedition to Mars. Russia’s space agency is sifting through piles of applications from would-be astronauts.
The green dump truck stood out against the brown mud-brick homes and shops in the bustling market, and then in a flash everything was dust and blood and thunder. The Iraq war had just blown into one of the poorest and most isolated parts of the country, and nothing would ever be the same again.
The electoral campaign started ahead of schedule in Sierra Leone. It was due to start last week Tuesday, but by last Saturday the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party was already holding rallies all over the capital, Freetown. Saturday was the last day for political parties to register for the August presidential elections.
It has been the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>’s view always that the South African Communist Party has more historical credibility than any other opposition party. Its positive influence on the country’s history is undeniable and its policy positions and leaders must be taken seriously. It is the future of the SACP we worry about.
While peace in Côte d’Ivoire might be delayed because of the attempt on Prime Minister Guillaume Soro’s life, it will not be denied, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. July 2007 should register itself as an important month in Côte d’Ivoire’s history, as the flame of peace is lit in Bouake, Mbeki said in his weekly newsletter on the African National Congress website.
There might be method in the madness going on in Harare — reports suggest the government is considering slashing the salaries of public-sector workers by 50% in line with the price cuts that have rocked the retail industry. Business, the government and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe are behind this latest move to control money supply, says the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.
South Africa’s mobile operators are stretched to capacity trying to meet the rapidly increasing demand for voice and data services and are laying their own fibre-optic networks. Until now, MTN and Vodacom have relied on Telkom to provide their fibre network needs but, with Telkom unable to meet the increasing demand quickly enough, the mobile giants are taking matters into their own hands.