Madonna staged a mock-crucifixion in the Italian capital on Sunday, ignoring a storm of protest and accusations of blasphemy from the Roman Catholic Church. In a sold-out stadium just over a kilometre from Vatican City, the lapsed-Catholic diva wore a fake crown of thorns as she was raised on a glittery cross during the Rome stop of her worldwide ”Confessions Tour”.
The South African government lacks the political will to address the high levels of violent crime in the country, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday. DA leader Tony Leon said the minister of safety and security’s remark that people who whinge about crime should leave the country is reflective of a government who has lost touch with the unspeakable horrors of crime.
The huge, fragile-looking human towers built by groups from eastern Spain known as castellers were at the centre of controversy at the weekend after a 12 year-old-girl died falling off one. Mariona Galindo died of head injuries after falling from a nine-storey human tower at her home town of Mataró, north-east Spain.
More than 800 North Koreans are dead or missing after major rain storms and flooding that damaged homes and farmland, a pro-North newspaper published in Japan reported from Pyongyang on Monday. Three major storms drenched North Korea in July, washing away crops and raising the possibility of famine in a reclusive country that already battles chronic food shortages.
A United Nations ceasefire initiative for Lebanon ran into almost immediate trouble on Sunday night after it was rejected by key Arab countries and provoked Hezbollah’s deadliest strike on Israel so far. The United States Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, issued a sobering warning that she expected fighting to continue once the text was formally adopted on Monday or Tuesday.
If it weren’t so ominous, we’d all still be laughing at Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Johnny de Lange’s claim that granting same-sex couples the right to marry "could create a huge social cohesion deficit". No amount of politically correct gobbledygook can disguise the statement’s homophobia, writes Marianne Thamm.
Sandton hosted the prestigious Businesswoman of the Year Awards recently. But back in the boardroom, women are still treated differently despite empowerment legislation, say some of South Africa’s top female business leaders. Empowerment pioneer Gloria Serobe has been named Corporate Businesswoman of the Year for 2006.
Johnnic Comunications is on the lookout for a new CEO after firing Connie Molusi from the job this week. This has ignited fresh speculation that Molusi’s departure clears the way for Caxton CEO Terry Moolman to step in as CEO of Johncom, which owns 39% of Caxton.
Crucial peace talks between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army will resume on Monday in Juba, according to Riek Machar, the chief mediator and southern Sudanese vice-president. "I am optimistic that this time they will come up with a positive result because I have seen the commitment of the Ugandan people," Machar told reporters.
July was the grimmest month for conflict prevention globally in three years, according to the respected International Crisis Group, which is an independent NGO working to resolve deadly conflict. In 36 months of publishing its monthly Crisis Watch the ICG said in a statement that it has not recorded such severe deteriorations in so many conflict situations as in the past month.