As the first ”legally blind” entrant to complete the gruelling Iditarod dog-sled race through the frozen wilds of Alaska, Rachel Scdoris should have had no problems with a 7,8km jog through an Mpumalanga forest harnessed to a single dog. In truth, the run was a piece of cake for the 21-year-old Oregon native.
British soldiers in Afghanistan are engaged in fighting that is more intense and prolonged than any other conflict during the past 50 years, the British commander of all foreign troops in Afghanistan warned on Thursday. Ten British soldiers have been killed in clashes with Taliban fighters and their supporters over the past two months.
Good nutrition could be the only available life-prolonging alternative to people living with HIV/Aids in rural areas, a senior officer for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Thursday. He said the South African Department of Health can ”do more and do better” when it comes to fighting HIV/Aids.
The strongest typhoon to strike China for half a century killed at least 111 people, dozens of them villagers who had taken shelter in a concrete house that collapsed. Nearly 150 others were missing, according to figures released on Friday by the state press and a government agency.
The United Nations emergency relief coordinator on Thursday branded Israel and Hezbollah a disgrace for their refusal to stop fighting long enough to allow vital aid to enter southern Lebanon. Jan Egeland said there are 120Â 000 civilians stranded without necessary supplies in southern Lebanon.
Despite repeated denials by South African Football Association CEO Raymond Hack that World Cup 2010 head Danny Jordaan had anything to do with the appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira as national coach, Jomo Sono has continued to attack Jordaan, accusing him of having imposed his will on the selection panel.
The National Union of Metalworkers has criticised the Congress of South African Trade Union for ignoring issues confronting the country’s working class and waging a war against South Africa’s democratic state instead of ”dismantling the stronghold of white monopoly capital”. The latter charge is a clear reference to Cosatu’s attacks on President Thabo Mbeki’s government.
There were fears within the African National Congress that big business could take over the ANC, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told the Mail & Guardian this week. Manuel said this was a key reason for the ANC’s national executive committee pushing for a code of conduct on wealth acquisition binding ANC members.
Five members of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) will compete for the ailing party’s top job at this year’s national conference in Qwa Qwa between September 22 and 25. Current president Motsoko Pheko, his deputy Themba Godi, secretary general Mofihli Likotsi and former Azanian People’s Liberation Army commander Letlapa Mphahlele have all indicated an interest in the party’s presidency.
Roll up, roll up for a spot of that old favourite: feminist-bashing. Trot out that figure of the dungaree-clad, hairy and humourless female activist. It’s just as insulting as the slights of ”noisy virago” and ”shrieking sisterhood” hurled at founder of the Fawcett Society, Millicent Fawcett, when she campaigned for the women’s vote in Britain more than 100 years ago.