Côte d’Ivoire’s government has paid out more than -million to about one-third of the people poisoned a year ago when toxic fumes swept across Abidjan, officials said on Saturday. But about 66 000 others are still waiting for their share of compensation.
Rival sub-clans fought over access to wells in central Somalia on Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding several others, elders said, as the countryside sank into a vortex of violence. Also on Saturday, two people were killed and four others wounded in the capital, Mogadishu, in a fresh spate of insurgent attacks.
As it pieces together its shattered mining sector after a 10-year civil war fuelled by so-called ”blood diamonds”, Sierra Leone is turning attention to processing its uncut gemstones. For years, the diamond-rich West African country has mined diamonds and exported them raw, but the focus is now on ”beneficiation”.
Suspected insurgents shot dead a top elder from Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi’s clan overnight on Saturday in Mogadishu, a spokesperson for the premier’s office said. ”Moalim Harun Moalim Yusuf was one of the prominent Somali clan chiefs,” Abdullahi Mohieddin Odka said.
It is a world characterised by doping and extortion, by stressed performers under extreme pressure to reach beyond what is humanly possible in order to satisfy hungry sponsors’ needs. The disgraced world of cycling? No, this is a description of the stately world of opera.
Six hundred warm-blooded volunteers amassed on a shrinking glacier in Switzerland on Saturday to take off their clothes in the name of art. The latest installation by New York artist Spencer Tunick was a collaboration with Greenpeace, designed to draw attention to global warming and the melting Swiss glaciers.
Iran has hanged up to 30 people in the past month amid a clampdown prompted by alleged United States-backed plots to topple the regime, the British Observer newspaper has revealed. Many executions have been carried out in public in an apparent bid to create a climate of intimidation while sending out uncompromising signals to the West.
SuperSport United winger Daine Klate scored twice to secure a semifinal berth in the SAA Supa8 tournament for his team as they beat Moroka Swallows 2-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Rustenburg on Saturday. Klate netted either side of the break after Swallows striker Alton Meiring scored in the ninth minute.
Watford’s bid for a quick return to the English Premiership was off to a good start as they defeated Sheffield United 1-0 on Saturday to extend their 100% record. West Bromwich cruised to a 2-0 home win against Preston and Plymouth drew against Ipswich, among other matches.
The Golden Lions on Saturday further entrenched their position in the Currie Cup top four when they beat Western Province 19-16 at Ellis Park. In other matches, the Sharks beat Griquas, log leaders Cheetahs beat the Boland Cavaliers, Eastern Province gained a 25-20 victory over the Griffons and the Pumas had a narrow win over the Impala Leopards.