Ireland’s first black mayor on Friday hailed his election as a symbol of how European countries can adapt successfully to rapid rates of immigration. Rotimi Adebari, who arrived seven years ago as an asylum seeker and became a councillor in 2004, has been chosen as the first citizen of Portlaoise, Co Laois.
President Thabo Mbeki departs for Accra in Ghana on Saturday for the African Union summit meeting, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The summit for heads of state and government runs from Sunday to Tuesday. The AU summit is due to discuss the political and economic integration of the continent.
A pilot had to be airlifted to hospital by helicopter on Friday afternoon after he crashed his light aircraft into a tree outside Tzaneen, said Limpopo police. Superintendent Ronel Otto said the pilot was practising for an annual air show in Tzaneen on Saturday when he developed problems with the plane.
Justine Henin and Serena Williams moved closer to another grand-slam quarterfinal, each easily advancing on Friday to the fourth round at Wimbledon. Martina Hingis enjoyed no such luck. The 1997 Wimbledon champion lost to Laura Granville of the United States 6-4, 6-2 on court two, the ”Graveyard of Champions”.
Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to score 15 000 one-day international runs as India beat South Africa by six wickets in the second one-day international at Stormont in Belfast on Friday. Tendulkar top-scored with 93 as India finished on 227 for four with five balls to spare, and so levelled the three-match series at 1-1.
The African National Congress’s (ANC) policy conference enters its final day well ahead of schedule on Saturday at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, with a closing address by party president Thabo Mbeki set for 10am instead of 3pm as originally planned. On Friday, there was a ”strong call” at the conference for a women’s ministry.
British police hunted on Saturday for the people behind failed attempts to carry out two car bombings in London’s nightclub district in what experts called Iraq-style attacks. Security officials and ministers in the new government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meanwhile, prepared to hold a second meeting to deal with the emergency.
Thousands of United States gadget fans flocked to stores on Friday to be the first buyers of Apple’s iPhone, a music-playing and web-browsing device expected to shake up the mobile industry. Crowds lined up at some of Apple’s outlets cheered as their doors opened at 6pm local time.
Police defused a car bomb packed with petrol, gas and nails outside a busy nightclub in the heart of London on Friday, foiling an attack that echoed an earlier al-Qaeda plot and could have killed or wounded scores of people. Possible bomb components were found in a second car hours later, police said on Friday evening.
The African National Congress (ANC) has come up with a compromise that leaves the way open for either Thabo Mbeki or Jacob Zuma to stand for the party presidency at the end of the year. The succession battle has loomed large over the organisation’s policy conference in Midrand despite a call by Mbeki for members to remain focused on policy.