Rivers of blood have been spilt – figuratively at least – in a propaganda battle between Greek and Macedonian nationalists over who has the right to claim the all-conquering hero Alexander the Great as their own, writes Fiachra Gibbons in London.
A local lyric theatre company is making a name abroad with its gutsy performances, writes Paul Boekkooi. And New Yorkers are currently enjoying uCarmen — not set in the traditional Seville, but in Khayelitsha.
In a youth-crazed country that cranks out new musical stars in an endless series of televised competitions, it was only a matter of time before Russia’s political world caught up. The Kremlin and United Russia, the country’s party of power, have poured millions of dollars into political youth movements over the past few years, organising lavish summer camps and massive rallies.
When Australian cricket commentator Dean Jones was fired for calling Hashim Amla a ”terrorist”, the manne were delighted. After all, if everyone went around indulging provocative and childish stereotypes, the Oom might be tempted to call Jones a livestock-romancing wife-beating string-vest-wearing racist bigot Australian yahoo from the arse end of nowhere whose gigantic mouth is writing cheques his tiny brain can’t cash.
For nearly half a century, the CIA and Cuban exiles have been trying to devise ways to assassinate Fidel Castro, who is currently laid low in Cuba following an operation for intestinal bleeding. None of the plots, of course, succeeded, but then many of them would probably be rejected as too fanciful for a James Bond novel.
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A peace deal signed three months ago between Sudan’s government and the main rebel group in Darfur has failed to halt violence in the region, the United Nations said on Wednesday, citing an increase in rape and continued attacks by militias and rebel factions.
A man who was arrested in the Strand, near Cape Town, on Tuesday on theft and housebreaking charges was found dead in the cell where he was kept two hours after his death, police said. The man was arrested at 1pm and was found dead at 3pm, Captain Elliot Sinyangana said on Wednesday.
A powerful crime gang torched courthouses and threw small bombs at police stations for the third straight night in Brazil’s richest state of São Paulo on Wednesday, and the federal government offered to send in the army to quell the violence.
Three lions killed two security guards at a game farm near Virginia in the Free State on Wednesday, police said. Captain Rosa Benade said the two men — one aged 36 and the other 70 — worked as security guards at the farm, which is situated 7km from Hennenman.