Harvard-educated economist Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated as Africa’s first elected woman president in January. The country’s elections came after 15 years of civil war that ended in 2003. That year also marked an end to armed conflicts with neighbouring countries and United Nations sanctions.
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.
A Comair jet carrying about 50 people crashed on Sunday shortly after take-off in Lexington, Kentucky, CNN reported. There were no immediate reports on survivors. CNN said the plane was leaving Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport, bound for Atlanta, when it went down in woods about a kilometre from the airport.
Ernesto grew into the first hurricane of the year on Sunday as it gained strength rapidly on a path that could threaten the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The potentially dangerous storm was about 193km south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and was a Category One storm on the five-stage Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.
Premiership footballers are storing stem cells from their newborn babies to use in case of their own career-threatening sports injuries, according to a report on Sunday. They are freezing cells taken from the umbilical cord blood of their babies as a possible future cure for cartilage and ligament problems, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Madonna feels responsible for the children of the world and has found herself a ”big, big project” to help orphans in Malawi. Gwyneth Paltrow declares ”I am African” in a new advertisement for a charity working in Africa. The continent has long been a favourite destination for celebrity campaigners, going back to 1954 when Danny Kaye became Unicef’s goodwill ambassador.
Two kidnapped Fox journalists appeared on a new videotape released by their captors on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, in which the reporters said they had converted to Islam. Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam said efforts were under way to secure within hours the release of Fox correspondent Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old American, and New Zealand-born cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36.
New Zealand called two replacement players into its Tri-Nations rugby squad on Sunday after a series of injuries during its weekend win over South Africa at Pretoria. Prop John Afoa and veteran flanker Marty Holah will join the All Blacks ahead of their final Tri-Nations match against the Springboks at Rustenburg on Saturday.