The Durban heat was starting to take its toll: A1 Grand Prix crew and drivers were wandering around the pit checking out opponents’ machinery with the sort of barely disguised homoerotic longing last seen in Ben-Hur; where once there would have been the clinging stench of horse shit, petrol fumes filled the air of this charioteering recreation of ancient Rome.
Tornadoes ripped across the Southern and Midwestern United States on Thursday and killed at least 11 people, most of whom had been taking shelter in a high school that collapsed in southern Alabama. Five people died when the school building was torn open by the twister in the southern Alabama town of Enterprise.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade comfortably won a second term in Sunday’s election, results showed on Thursday, and he warned opposition leaders they could now face corruption probes suspended during the poll campaign. The octogenarian president, who has ruled the West African state since 2000, won nearly 56% of votes and almost four times as many as his nearest rival.
A funny thing happened in the press box at the Absa stadium in Durban about two weeks ago. The Sharks had just gone to the top of the Super 14 log by beating the Highlanders and coach Dick Muir sauntered in to take up his familiar position at the centre of a large, oval table.
Pakistani security forces captured one of the Taliban’s three most senior leaders just hours after United States Vice-President Dick Cheney’s unannounced visit to Pakistan earlier this week. The capture of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund marked the first Pakistan arrest of a senior leader of the Islamist militia since it was driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001.
The state is expected to file papers in the Durban High Court on Friday in its attempt to obtain documents from Mauritius relating to accusations of corruption against Jacob Zuma. The documents include the 2000 diary of former French arms manufacturer Thint chief executive Alain Thetard.
An international panel of scientists has proposed that all countries cease building on coastal land that is less than a metre above high tide so as to avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change. The recommendation was one of many from experts from 11 countries.
Crooked debt collectors and attorneys are pulling in close to R1-billion a year by overcharging often financially illiterate borrowers, estimates a company that helps employers rehabilitate debt-trapped employees. And there are fears that corruption in the debt-collection system will undermine the good intentions of the National Credit Act, which kicks in on June 1 this year.
The Zimbabwean Central Intelligence Organisation recently seized all unedited tapes of President Robert Mugabe’s exclusive birthday interview with state broadcaster ZBC after sensitive comments about the controversial succession issue were leaked. In a rare outburst, Mugabe had lashed out at his Vice-President, Joyce Mujuru, for demeaning him.
Coal may be Shanxi’s black gold, but it is the peasants of this north Chinese province who have to live with the consequences as their homes sink, water supplies dwindle and pollution worsens. Xiaoqinghe, a small market town perched on top of a hill in Shanxi, has a beautiful name that is somewhat at odds with reality.