Three former state governors in Nigeria were charged in court on Friday with money laundering and stealing public funds. Prosecutors working for the Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have pledged to bring to trial former governors accused of corruption who enjoyed constitutional immunity while in office.
Al-Qaeda has dug a deeper foothold in North Africa than ever before with the merger in recent months of a number of terrorist cells there, the United States Defence Secretary said on Friday. Robert Gates told reporters that the terrorist groups in the Maghreb are closely affiliated to al-Qaeda.
A Palestinian woman who fled her north Lebanon refugee camp two days before said on Friday there was so little food there that she was prepared to eat cats to survive. Joumana Wehbe fled along with secular Palestinian fighters and their families to free the way for a final army assault on the al-Qaeda-inspired militants holed up inside.
Australian federal police charged a 27-year-old Indian doctor on Saturday over his ”reckless” links with the alleged perpetrators of the attempted car-bomb attacks in the United Kingdom on June 29 and 30. After being held for 12 days, Mohamed Haneef (27) appeared in a Brisbane court charged with providing support to a terrorist organisation.
A strong typhoon lashed southern Japan with high winds and heavy rain on Saturday, killing a boy, injuring dozens and forcing thousands of people to evacuate homes. Man-Yi struck the southernmost main island of Kyushu after storming through the islands of Okinawa on Friday, moving north-east at 35km/h.
Forget waiting around a mere few days for an iPhone. Two sisters are in the midst of an 11-day vigil for this summer’s hottest, ”must have” low-tech phenomenon: the latest Harry Potter book. Chloe and Sydney Bostian started camping out on Tuesday in front of Gulliver’s Books in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Help is being offered to Muslims afflicted by chafed thighs during the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Gazette reported on Saturday. Worshippers at the annual event are to be offered ”seamless trousers” for the first time to guard against chafing, the English-language daily said.
The Leopards pulled of a surprise 20-17 victory against the Blue Bulls in a compulsory friendly match played at Olënpark in Potchefstroom on Friday night. After trailing 14-0 at the break, the home team fought back to a 17-14 lead halfway through the second half.
Belgium’s Tom Boonen won Friday’s sixth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish, while Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara retained the leader’s yellow jersey for a seventh straight day. Boonen won the 199,5km trek from the Burgundy town of Semur-en-Auxois toward the foot of the Alps in Bourg-en-Bresse.
Lack of infrastructure in the Pan American Games venues upset fans in the first two days of competition. Traffic jams and difficulties buying food and finding bathrooms inside the venues prompted about 100 fans to protest to organisers on Friday. ”We want to eat! We want to eat!” they chanted at the Riocentro complex.