Efforts by Africans to seek a better life in Europe were brought to the fore on Wednesday as African foreign ministers started meeting ahead of a summit of heads of states. The Gambian Vice-President Isatou Njie-Saidy and African Union Commission president Alpha Konare urged the ministers to come up with a common strategy on the ”vexing” issue of international migration.
Asia may be swamping the world with its cheap exports, but the region as a whole offers a huge market for nuclear reactors and technology, driven by the fast-expanding, fuel-deficient economies of India and China. South Korea, 40% dependent on nuclear power, has been pushing the development of the industry over the last three decades.
An unusual international alliance of private companies and governments is slated to choose a site in the United States for the world’s cleanest coal-fuelled power plant, called FutureGen, by summer 2007. The alliance includes the governments of India and China, as well as large coal producers and consumers from the US, Britain, China and Australia.
Either Michael Jackson is on the verge of a stunning comeback, or he is sinking to new depths of personal and financial crisis: as usual, his reality seems rather flexible. The singer has fired his business managers, formed a new company and says he is moving from Bahrain to Europe, possibly to Ireland, where he was travelling this week ”on personal business”.
A would-be initiate has died of malnutrition after he and twenty-one other boys were found hidden in the Ntabankulu mountains in the Eastern Cape, the province’s health department said on Thursday. Spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the boys had been kept in the mountains for more than three weeks and were denied food. They were all taken to hospital suffering from malnutrition.
Ruthless Roger Federer crushed Tim Henman’s Wimbledon dream for another year on Wednesday while Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams were so merciless that they seriously undermined their equal prize money campaign. Federer, bidding for a fourth successive title, destroyed Henman 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in just 84 minutes to notch up his 43rd consecutive grass court win.
Two civil liberties groups sued in federal court to remove a picture of Jesus that has hung in a high school for more than 30 years. Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the West Virginia American Civil Liberties Union say the painting, Head of Christ, sends the message that Bridgeport High School endorses Christianity as its official religion.
A gathering of Africa’s top media owners this week called on the continent’s leaders to give priority to development of a professional and ethical media, and boost the role of the media in support of development. The meeting called on African governments to view a vibrant and plural media as a vital cog in the development of Africa.
With a punnet of strawberries in one hand and a glass of Pimms in the other, tennis-mad tourists from as far away as Japan, China and even Australia are out in force at Wimbledon this week. The foreign supporters, who also include a strong United States contingent, cheer on their fellow countrymen and women, while soaking up the atmosphere.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe was still not sure if he would meet with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan at the upcoming African Union (AU) summit in Gambia this coming weekend, a party spokesperson said on Wednesday. Reports from South Africa have suggested Mugabe would meet both Annan and South African President Thabo Mbeki on the sidelines of the AU summit in Banjul.