Macabre SMSs among a group of a dozen Dutch girls egging each other on to commit suicide have provided a new twist to the well-documented dangers of modern, instant-communication technology for the young. The revelation has provoked a flood of soul-searching in The Netherlands.
”I have argued recently that Israel’s attack on Lebanon was premeditated: Hizbullah’s capture of two soldiers gave Israel’s government the excuse to launch an assault it had been planning since 2004. Both George W Bush and Tony Blair knew that it would happen and gave it their approval,” writes George Monbiot.
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Tensions between Congress of South African Trade Unions president Willie Madisha and its general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi ran so high that mediators were called in to settle their conflict. At its heart is a fight for the political direction of the federation, which has been drawn four square into the succession battle. Recently, communist leader Blade Nzimande was pulled into the fray.
African communities close to Mapungubwe in Limpopo are demanding the return and reburial of hundreds of human skeletons — including those of 12 former rulers — removed from the famous archaeological site to the University of Pretoria. Mapungubwe mountain was the centre of an African empire the size of Swaziland, encompassing about 200 settlements, between 600AD and 1300AD.
Heavy arms fire on Monday targeted the residence of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, a candidate in the country’s presidential election, diplomatic sources said. Bemba and foreign ambassadors of an international committee accompanying the transition to democracy, known by its French acronym of CIAT, were in the building when the attack began.
Rescuers in Burkina Faso called off a search on Monday after a flooded mine shaft collapsed, leaving dozens of illegal gold panners feared dead buried beneath tons of waterlogged dirt, local residents said. The official toll from Thursday’s accident in Poura district was three dead and 10 reported missing but residents said 46 were still believed to be underground.
Diarrhoea has killed 150 people and infected nearly 12Â 000 in flood-ravaged Ethiopia, the United Nations said on Monday, as aid agencies and governments struggled to deliver food and supplies to tens of thousands left homeless. Flash floods that began swamping villages and towns earlier this month have already killed about 900 people.
Eleven people have been charged in connection with a suspected plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic, British officials said on Monday. Peter Clarke, head of London police’s anti-terrorist branch, said police had seized bomb-making equipment and ”martyrdom videos” during intensive searches.
Former LeisureNet boss Peter Gardener on Monday conceded that he should have disclosed his interest in a German gym operation that LeisureNet bought out. Gardener was being cross-examined in the Cape High Court on issues of corporate governance in LeisureNet and its previous incarnation, the Health and Racquet Club Group.