British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa to join the G8 to secure multilateral deals on trade, climate change and Iran, The Guardian newspaper said on Thursday. The British premier reckoned that the first fruits of closer engagement could be a break of the logjam in the ailing Doha round of world trade talks.
Zimbabwean police arrested more than 200 activists in three cities on Wednesday as they marched to demand a new Constitution to replace one seen entrenching President Robert Mugabe’s rule, a lobby group said. The National Constitutional Assembly said about 1 060 people took to the streets at midday in the capital Harare as well as in Bulawayo, Mutare, Gweru and Masvingo.
South African mobile phone operator MTN has extended its offer for Investcom until further notice and said on Thursday 99,5% of Investcom’s shareholders had accepted the deal. MTN, Africa’s largest cellular operator, had previously said the second closing date of the offer to shareholders of Investcom LLC was July 12 2006.
Israeli warplanes bombed Beirut’s international airport before dawn on Thursday and killed at least 27 Lebanese civilians in a series of raids after Israel vowed a harsh response to the killing and capture of its soldiers by Hezbollah guerrillas. Fighter jets swooped in on the airport, firing missiles on two runways, forcing the divertion of flights to neighbouring Cyprus.
As the anti-apartheid icon turns 88 and increasingly shuns the limelight.
Yahoo! and Microsoft released software on Wednesday that built a bridge between their previously exclusive online instant messaging (IM) systems. The move fulfilled a promise the United States internet titans made late last year and marked the first time rival global messaging service providers arranged to co-mingle members.
<b>AUTHOR’S NOTES</b>: Dion Chang’s Gloria cartoons have appeared in <i>Elle</i> magazine over the years and now grace the pages of his tongue-in-cheek book of tips, <i>Gloria’s Guide to Fabulousness</i>. He speaks to ZA@Play.
<b>CD OF THE WEEK: </b>On his sophomore offering, <i>Late Registration</i>, rapper/producer Kanye West treads similar ground to his inaugural release <i>College Dropout</i>, albeit slightly more refined, writes Kwanele Sosibo.
Irene Stephanou’s heartwarming play about life in a Greek corner café recently opened at the Market Theatre and it seems Greek South Africans are going mainstream. Matthew Krouse wonders why.
Using improvisation and getting actors to play themselves, the new television series <i>Sorted </i> promises to remove the affectedness characteristic of local comedy, reports Nadine Botha.