Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo’s chosen successor, Umaru Yar’Adua, was proclaimed the victor on Monday in a presidential election European Union observers said was not credible and Obasanjo admitted was not perfect. The ballot in the vast oil producer was undermined by ballot-stuffing, violence and a shortage of millions of voting papers on Saturday.
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who buried the Soviet Union and then led Russia through its chaotic first years of independence, died on Monday aged 76, the Kremlin said. Many Russians initially viewed Yeltsin as a hero for dismantling Communist rule, but his economic ”shock therapy” cast millions into poverty.
The idea of expanding fan parks in which people can view the 2010 Soccer World Cup in every local municipality outside the host cities is under discussion. Dennis Mumble of the World Cup’s local organising committee on Monday said his organisation was in discussions with Fifa about getting licensing for the signal required to enable such fan parks.
The challenge faced by women, especially in rural areas, is simply poverty and powerlessness, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told a women’s congress in Durban on Monday. ”It goes without saying that negative conditions in rural areas have a greater adverse effect on women than citizens working in the cities,” she said.
Three suicide car bombers killed 20 people and wounded 35 others in the Iraqi insurgent stronghold of Ramadi on Monday, police said. A hospital source in Ramadi said 29 bodies had been received at the hospital following the blasts. The first car bomb went off near a restaurant popular with police officers, killing 13 people and wounding 12, police said.
Liberation stalwart and former general secretary of the South African Communist Party Joe Slovo is to receive a posthumous Freeman of the City Award, the City of Johannesburg said on Monday. The award is bestowed upon people who have contributed greatly to the welfare of the City of Johannesburg and in the struggle for freedom and democracy, spokesperson Nkele Ntingane said.
An agreement between Equity Aviation and the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) was signed on Monday, averting planned industrial action. Satawu threatened to go on strike last week over the company docking pay from employees across the board for the offences of individuals. Wage demands were also a factor.
India on Monday successfully placed an Italian astronomical satellite into orbit, marking its entry into an exclusive group of nations conducting commercial space launches, officials said. The Indian Space Research Organisation launched the 352kg Italian satellite Agile atop its rocket, the PSLV-C8 from the Sriharikota spaceport.
The African National Congress (ANC) provincial executive committee in the Free State on Monday dismissed a failed court challenge to its leadership as ”counter-revolutionary”. ”The matter referred to the court has never been a legal matter but has always been a political matter,” said Free State ANC deputy chairperson Pat Matosa.
Urine samples from cyclist Floyd Landis taken during his contested win in the 2006 Tour de France have tested positive for the banned substance testosterone, L’Equipe sports daily reported on Monday. On its website, L’Equipe reported that ”B” samples belonging to the American had been tested retrospectively.