Not much has been left to fate as the yearly Oppikoppi music festival approaches once again, writes Riaan Wolmarans.
Fidel Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, rebuffed repeated United States attempts to oust him and survived communism’s demise almost everywhere else, temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night because of surgery.
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Jacob Zuma has acknowledged that he is running out of money, media reports said on Tuesday. Zuma said he was unemployed and struggling to pay his legal representatives. Zuma has one junior and two senior advocates appearing for him in his corruption trial — the same legal team that handled his rape trial.
Tourists sunning themselves in the Canary Islands came to the rescue of 88 immigrants from Africa whose canoe-shaped fishing boat grounded on a beach in Tenerife. They were given first aid by holidaymakers and locals who took some of the most severely dehydrated to hospitals near the town of Granadilla in their cars.
An international drive for a ceasefire in Lebanon halted on Monday amid sharp differences at the United Nations Security Council, Israel’s rejection of any truce in the near future and a Hezbollah warning that it would oppose the deployment of a multinational security force.
The state of Africa, says Charlayne Hunter-Gault in her most recent book, <i>New News Out of Africa</i>, is in many ways shaped by the public’s image of the continent — and the image of Africa is in the hands of the media. Besieged by clichéd headlines bearing news of the "four Ds" — death, destruction, disease and despair — Africa needs fresh, "new news" reporting.
A feast for the eyes awaits any hiker or biker who struggles up the steep grade to reach a mountain peak in the tiny village of Peklo, Czech Republic. Peklo is home to one of the scores of scenic overlooks that dot the mountain and cliff-tops throughout the Jizerske Hory mountain range, about 150km north of Prague.
Labour unions embroiled in a wage dispute with mining company Kumba will continue strike action until their demands are met, the unions said on Tuesday. The workers are demanding a 9% wage increase for higher earners and 10,5% for lower earners. Kumba has countered with an offer of 7% for higher earners and 8% for lower earners.
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South Africa welcomes a European Union proposal to boost diplomatic ties but a closer relationship with the EU must benefit Africa, a senior official said on Monday. The EU’s European Commission has urged the 25-country bloc to upgrade links with Pretoria to a ”strategic partnership”, putting relations on the same footing as those between the EU and the United States, Japan, Russia, India and China.