Iraqi and Untied States forces clashed with Shi’ite militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as they launched a major operation at dawn on Friday to return the volatile city of Diwaniya to government control. In Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a truck bomb killed at least 15 people and spewed chlorine gas into the air.
Nine people were killed when a bus rolled while on its way to Moria outside Polokwane, Limpopo traffic officials said on Friday. Department of Transport spokesperson Obed Langa said the bus had been heading to the Zion Christian Church headquarters, where millions gather for the church’s annual Easter pilgrimage prayers.
Paramedics attended to more than 30 accidents in and around Johannesburg on Thursday night, ER24 said on Friday. Spokesperson Werner Vermaak said most of the accidents occurred between 7pm and 11pm. The last accident happened at 5am on Friday.
Rwanda’s first post-genocide president walked out of prison on Friday, freed after a presidential pardon for a 15-year sentence he received on charges that included inciting ethnic violence. Pasteur Bizimungu was jailed in 2004 after a trial critics said was politically motivated.
The chief executive of South Africa’s fixed-line phone firm Telkom has quit after 18 months in the job and a chorus of criticism from shareholders and the government, boosting the company’s shares. Telkom, which came under fire this week from President Thabo Mbeki for ”profiteering”, said in a statement that Papi Molotsane had quit with immediate effect.
India cricket board president Sharad Pawar has suggested that Greg Chappell, who resigned as national team coach on Wednesday, should continue his involvement with the sport in the country. On Friday, the board convened a meeting into the team’s first-round exit at the World Cup and Chappell was asked to present a report.
An Australian mining firm said on Thursday it had received a licence to construct a -million project to mine uranium in northern Malawi. The project, hailed as Malawi’s biggest investment to date, had been delayed by an an environmental impact assessment.
The cheers broke the morning calm at Augusta National when Arnold Palmer took a mighty swing at his ceremonial tee shot. For the next 11 hours on Thursday, the Masters went mute. Throw together a course that has grown 500 yards with brittle
conditions, and there wasn’t much to cheer.
Top climate experts warned on Friday that global warming will cause faster and wider damage than previously forecast. More than 100 nations in the United Nations climate panel agreed a final text after all-night disputes with some scientists accusing government delegates of watering down their findings.
As 15 sailors and marines were celebrating their release by the Iranian government, the bloody reality of the conflict in which they were embroiled struck British soldiers on Thursday on the streets of southern Iraq. Four soldiers on patrol in a Warrior armoured vehicle in Basra were killed, and another seriously injured, by a powerful roadside bomb.