COUNTERPOINT: Whether ultimately we call it a United States of Africa, an African Union, United Africa or what have you, the ideal of African unity is an abiding yearning. It has been with us, in different guises, since the closing years of the 19th century, not long after the start of the Scramble for Africa.
More than six decades after the Holocaust, the museum at the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau has turned to ultra-modern technology to ensure the legacy of Nazis’ victims is never lost. The challenge was how to preserve masses of suitcases, shoes, eye-glasses, human hair and other poignant reminders of the lives of those exterminated under Hitler’s ”final solution”.
Italian women are flocking to the country’s first all-female beach: a short stretch of sand designed to let bathers relax away from prying eyes and football talk. Bathers arriving at beach number 134 on the 80km stretch of beach clubs linking Rimini to Riccione are greeted by a large sign featuring a crossed-out image of a man.
POINT: In the grasping imagination of 19th-century European explorers, Mali’s Timbuktu was a fabled city of gold. This week’s African Union summit in Ghana evokes images of a similarly elusive quest for an African El Dorado. But putting old wine in new bottles will not integrate Africa, writes Adekeye Adebajo.
Hours after he was sure he had won, Rafael Nadal still had some work to do to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon. A point away from victory in the third set on Monday, Nadal hit a forehand he thought ended his match against Robin Soderling. Nadal raised both arms in celebration, then realised his shot had been called out.
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Six Spanish tourists and one Yemeni were killed in an attack by a suspected al-Qaeda suicide car bomber in the Yemeni province of Marib on Monday, security sources said. Security sources said the ”terrorist attack” followed an al-Qaeda statement demanding the release of some of its members.
Apple and AT&T sold about 500 000 iPhones over the weekend, according to a report from research firm Piper Jaffray. The phones, which include a fully integrated web browser and digital media player, went on sale on Friday night following months of excitement. The iPhone has been hailed as the future of cellphones.
Police arrested two more suspects in a widening hunt for members of a suspected al-Qaeda cell that rammed a fuel-packed jeep into a Scottish airport and left two car bombs in London, police said on Monday. A total of seven people are now in custody in connection with the attacks. Two of those arrested were confirmed to be doctors.
A total of 65 arrests have been made since the start of the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown police said on Monday. This was ”far less than expected”, especially as the end of the month coincided with the start of the festival, Grocott’s Mail reported.