Lebanese troops and al Qaeda-inspired militants fought sporadically at a refugee camp in north Lebanon on Wednesday and a Palestinian force took up positions to defuse tension at another camp in the south. Soldiers fired artillery at the Nahr al-Bared camp overnight as the army tightened its grip around militants.
Ethiopia has charged 55 opposition members with trying to launch a rebellion, a government prosecutor told said on Wednesday. More than one hundred opposition figures are already on trial, accused of plotting a coup after disputed 2005 elections.
With a contract in his back pocket that was ”simply too good to refuse”, 42 year-old Roger de Sa rejoined Wits University on Tuesday after two years as coach of Cape Town PSL club Santos. De Sa’s return to the club where he spent eight years as a goalkeeper and coach was announced by Bidvest boss Brian Joffe.
Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko overcame Argentine baseliner Guillermo Canas 7-5 6-4 6-4 on Tuesday to set up a semifinal showdown with world number one Roger Federer. World number four Davydenko (26) showed more composure when it mattered to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the second time in three years.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has withdrawn from the third South African Aids Conference after apparently being sidelined by the conference’s organisers, it emerged on Tuesday. Speaking at the official opening, the South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: ”The minister has withdrawn because of the place you have allocated to her.”
A clerk with no knowledge of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown allowed a tribute to victims slip into the classified advertisements page of a newspaper in south-west China. An investigation was launched by Chinese authorities to find out how the advertisement slipped its way past censors.
Republican candidates in the 2008 presidential race on Wednesday sharply criticised United States President George Bush for being a vote-loser, during a live televised debate. During the two-hour debate in Manchester, New Hampshire, the third since the campaign began, the candidates were asked what job they would give Bush.
South Africa’s new Aids plan was on Tuesday lauded by the chief of the United Nations’s Aids/HIV agency, who said the country was now well placed to lead Africa into a new phase in responding to the pandemic. ”You have a better chance than any other country in the region to deliver on Aids. If you can’t, who can?,” said Peter Piot.
David Bowie spent less than a minute on stage, the Beastie Boys asked if anyone could fix one of their computers and Manchester United boasted they had given the world David Beckham. The somewhat surreal occasion was a gala ceremony in New York on Tuesday for the 11th annual Webby Awards, the ”Oscars of the internet”.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa challenged the West to match Chinese investment in his country on Tuesday, saying Western countries had let Zambia down. Mwanawasa said Zambia would carry on welcoming Chinese investment, credit and loans despite domestic political opposition and unease in the West.