The tired suits at the tired old Security Council chamber at the United Nations in New York, personally removed from both violence and violent language, finally agree that there should be a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, after thousands have died and a whole country, Lebanon, that has seen nothing but this kind of regular disintegration since the days of the Crusaders, has been taken apart once again.
A new restaurant in India’s financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the country’s small Jewish community. Hitler’s Cross, which opened last week, serves up a wide range of continental fare and a big helping of controversy, thanks to a name the owners say they chose to stand out among hundreds of Mumbai eateries.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the situation in Lebanon as ”very fragile” on Monday as a truce between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas entered its second week. Merkel said it was vital to get United Nations peacekeeping troops to the area quickly to prevent a rekindling of the conflict, in which nearly 1Â 200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis died.
Two explosions ripped through a market in north-east Moscow on Monday morning, killing at least nine people and injuring 33. Acting mayor Vladimir Resin told reporters that the blasts were ”an intentional act” caused by a homemade bomb, and prosecutors said a feud between rival gangs was the most likely cause of the attack.
Zimbabweans struggled to dispose of their soon-to-be worthless cash Monday as shops and businesses refused to accept old bank notes ahead of a deadline to convert to a new currency. In a move aimed at fighting runaway inflation, Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank slashed three zeros from its currency on July 31 and set a 21-day ultimatum for old notes to be handed in.
The revelation that the official opposition Democratic Alliance allegedly received a donation from slain businessman Brett Kebble points to the need for serious reform in the party political funding regime in South Africa, says Independent Democrats MP Lance Greyling.
Heavy rains and floods have killed 33 people in the western Indian state of Rajasthan over the last three days, authorities said on Monday. Over 1Â 500 villages and several towns had been cut off by the rising waters, schools and colleges ordered shut in the lake city of Udaipur and electricity and telephone networks disrupted across the region, they said.
Two Somali men were found shot dead at a cash store in Khayelitsha, Cape Town police said on Monday. Superintendent Billy Jones said police found the bodies at the cash store in Bonga Drive at 9.45pm on Sunday. Police were told they had been robbed of cash by a group of men.
The government payment of R50Â 000 per vehicle in the taxi recapitalisation programme should be doubled or trebled and supplemented with a subsidy, the National Taxi Alliance said on Monday. The alliance said some taxi drivers are illegally overloading because they cannot afford the new standards.
Ethiopia on Monday stepped up evacuation warnings in low-lying areas as heavy rains threatened more of the flash floods that have already killed at least 600 people and affected tens of thousands around the country. Authorities said unusually heavy seasonal downpours in the highlands have raised water levels to a critical level at three dams.