NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: He found the first Fantastic Four dull. Shaun de Waal reviews the sequel, <i>Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer</i>
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) expressed sadness and dismay that children up to the age of four were dying more than any other age group in South Africa, it said on Thursday. Responding to a Statistics South Africa report, Unicef country representative Macharia Kamau called for ”immediate and decisive action”.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday received a standing ovation and ringing praise from his senior ministers as he chaired an emotional last Cabinet meeting before leaving office. Among the tributes paid was one from incoming premier Gordon Brown, who told Blair that his achievements in office had transformed the country.
President Thabo Mbeki is to brief the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the progress with his Zimbabwe mediation efforts at the end of June. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Thursday this would probably take place on the fringes of the African Union summit in Ghana.
Percy Zvomuya reviews Ghoema, currently running at the Market Theatre.
Teenagers have online cliques at MySpace; students star in Facebook; LinkedIn is an internet networking stage for professionals; and dogs and their human counterparts run with the pack at Dogster — a flourishing social-networking website for canines, referred to as "animal companions" instead of "pets".
Darfur rebels on Thursday accused Sudanese government troops of attacking their forces close to the Chadian border, saying three civilians were abducted following the raid. ”Government forces attacked us on Monday evening near Sirba,” local commander from the rebel Justice and Equality Movement Abdel Majid Duda Nur said.
A Kenyan court on Thursday jailed the former leader of a banned sect blamed for a string of beheadings and murders in recent months, judicial sources said. Amid a nationwide crackdown on the Mungiki gang, Nairobi principal magistrate Rosemary Mutoka slapped a five-year prison sentence on Maina Njenga for illegal possession of arms.
South African Solidarity union said on Thursday it had declared a dispute with Kumba Iron Ore, the first legal step towards a strike, after the company made a final wage offer of 8% against the union’s demand of 12,5%. Solidarity spokesperson Reint Dykema said in a statement the next step will be to ask the CCMA mediating body to appoint a facilitator.
Growth in South African household spending slowed to 7,5% year-on-year in the first quarter from 7,75% in the last quarter of last year, while debt reached record levels, the central bank said on Thursday. A household spending boom has contributed to high economic growth of 5% last year, but it has also added to inflationary pressures.