Amandla! DaimlerChrysler has pulled its controversial campaign for the new Mercedes-Benz SLK AMG convertible after Mail & Guardian readers complained of its insensitivity. The half-page advertisment depicts an obviously impoverished, raggedly dressed woman caught in the slipstream of a vehicle that is no longer visible.
South African armoured cars are being sold to the United States army for use in Iraq, despite the often-stated opposition of the government to the US-led invasion and strict laws forbidding the export of military equipment to conflict zones. Last year 148 South African-built RG-31 armoured personnel vehicles worth about R468-million were bought by the US army.
Jesters, the common wisdom insists, can say anything. Perhaps this is true; but whether they can and whether they should are sometimes two quite different things. In this instance, the jester is best spared. Sixty-four years ago, in a pretty chateau two hours from Paris, a Prussian major announced that an ironclad racial destiny required a show of ironclad will.
World Trade Organisation (WTO) members on Friday began another bruising attempt to revive the Doha Round talks on tearing down barriers to global commerce, as doubts rose about what they would be able to achieve. "We’re going to try," Canadian Ambassador Don Stephenson told journalists.
Israel blitzed Gaza from the air overnight, setting the interior ministry ablaze and killing a Palestinian fighter in the latest offensive aimed at freeing a soldier held by Palestinian militants. As the international community appealed for restraint to prevent an escalation of the conflict, Egypt said on Friday the ruling Hamas movement had agreed to secure the release of the soldier.
The filming of Aftermath — a two-part miniseries produced by the BBC and United States cable channel HBO, shot along Thailand’s tsunami-battered coast — has set off a debate over the merits of bringing the tragedy to the screen so soon after the disaster.
A local council in Sydney, Australia, will find out on Friday whether playing a tape loop of Barry Manilow’s hits in a car park will get rid of the drag racers who congregate there at the weekend. ”We’re giving the Barry Manilow music a go because it’s been tried elsewhere and been a success,” said a local councillor.
Zambia President Levy Mwanawasa declared himself fit on Thursday to run for a second five-year term in elections later this year despite suffering a mild stroke, state-run radio reported. Opposition leaders have argued Mwanawasa, who has a history of hypertension, should step down because of poor health.
Government armed forces in the divided Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday rejected rebel demands for the loyalist and rebel forces to be integrated and the rebels to be paid wage arrears. Disarmament talks between government and rebel forces follow four years of division in the West African country.
The fizz went out of the Coca-Cola Cup competition on Thursday when the international soft-drink giant elected not to renew a lucrative five-year sponsorship contract with the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The tournament had already been penned in on the PSL’s fixture list for the 2006/07 season.