Playing heavy metal in Iran has its complications. The bassist for Kahtmayan says he has to plead with the audience not to dance when his band performs. The ayatollahs do allow heavy metal bands in Iran, but they don’t allow anyone to dance, as Dan de Luce reports.
Walls plastered with campaign posters from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s historic elections are newly peppered with bullet holes. Tank fire has smashed buildings just down the bloodstained streets from voting centres in the war-battered capital. Balloting was meant to bring a final closure to the Central African nation’s 1996 to 2002 conflict.
An Oscar-nominated documentary highlighting links between fish from Lake Victoria and the arms trade has drawn a furious reaction from Tanzania’s president and led to harassment of people involved in the film. President Jakaya Kikwete said Darwin’s Nightmare, a film by Austrian director Hubert Sauper, had hurt the country’s image and caused a slump in exports of Nile perch.
The recent flow of news from around the world suggests that the balance of world economic power may finally be swinging away from the United States towards Japan and Europe, which have lagged behind for many years. In the past three years the world economy has put in its fastest growth spurt for decades.
The Union of Islamic Courts, which controls the capital Mogadishu and much of south and central Somalia, issued a directive on Tuesday banning exports of charcoal and of rare birds and animals. The executive committee of the UIC issued the directive after a full committee meeting agreed to the ban, Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, the UIC vice-chairperson, said.
Four villages and 19 factories have been submerged in a 240ha sea of mud in East Java that is growing up to 50 000 cubic metres a day in a major environmental disaster triggered during an oil exploration venture. A few rooftops are still visible, along with hastily constructed dykes that could not hold back the flow of toxic mud that began on May 29 around an oil exploration drilling rig.
Forward, a Jewish publication based in New York, had one of these ”aren’t we cool, look what we are writing about” items last week, informing its readers of an Israeli ”phenomenon”. Apparently, ”activists” have decided to boycott hashish originating from Lebanon, in order to avoid indirect sponsorship of Hizbullah, which is believed to be involved in smuggling the drug over the Israeli border.
Building a non-racial society was one of South Africa’s greatest challenges, but nowhere was it more challenging than in the Western Cape, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday. There was a greater sensitivity to issues of race in the region than anywhere else in the country, he told a media briefing in Cape Town.
Jomo Cosmos recorded a 2-0 win over Amazulu in their opening Premier Soccer League match at the Huntersfield Stadium near Katlehong on Sunday. Cosmos led 1-0 at the break. Cosmos striker Chris Katango was the man with the golden boot — scoring a goal in each half — to ensure his team collected maximum points.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu should provide his sexual history before speaking as an expert on Jacob Zuma’s sexual behaviour, the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) said on Sunday. ”We cannot allow Tutu to undermine decisions that are taken within constitutional structures of the ANC on the support to be given to Zuma,” said Cosas president Kenny Motshegoa in a statement.