Three top members of a United States-backed alliance of warlords have fled their last remaining stronghold in southern Somalia, apparently to discourage an attack on the town by an increasingly powerful Islamic militia, two Somali officials said on Wednesday.
As instability in the Middle East threatens energy security, the West is turning to Western and Central Africa, which is emerging as an increasingly important player in global oil markets. The region from the Gulf of Guinea to Sudan is becoming the subject of fierce competition by energy companies in a new scramble for Africa — for its high-quality, easily refinable oil.
A deadlock has resulted in the aftermath of the recent pensions funds adjudicator case against Old Mutual. The adjudicator ruled against Old Mutual in late May in regard to the deduction of a benefit paid to a client on early withdrawal from an endowment policy.
A retired farmer who says he served in the German army during World War II is building a memorial on his farm to a leader he says is woefully misunderstood — Adolf Hitler. Ted Junker (87) says his goal is to clear up inaccuracies about the war and Hitler’s role in it.
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What’s the biggest threat at the World Cup? Ronaldinho’s magical feet, Beckham’s free-kicks or Henry’s dazzling runs? Ask any goalkeeper in Germany and they are minor irritations compared to those being caused by the Teamgeist ball and its revolutionary design has some of the world’s best ‘keepers bamboozled.
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A first-half moment of magic by AC Milan star Kaka gave defending champions Brazil a 1-0 win over Croatia in their opening World Cup Group F match at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on Tuesday. Kaka ended a frustrating opening period for the five-times winners when he sent a curling left foot drive zipping past helpless ‘keeper Stipe Pletikosa four minutes before the break.
A statuette depicting the famous photograph of a wounded Hector Pieterson cradled in a friend’s arms was presented to former president Nelson Mandela.
Doctors in Los Angeles are prepared for a marathon surgery to separate 10-month-old twin girls joined from the chest to the pelvis. The operation, scheduled to begin early on Wednesday, was expected to last 24 hours. It was considered more complex than other separation surgeries involving conjoined twins because so many organ systems were involved.
Pressure is piling on Zimbabwe’s central bank to depreciate the official exchange rate amid analyst projections that rising inflation could drag the price of the local dollar on the unofficial parallel market in coming weeks to more than 420 000 against the American dollar.
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At a rickety roadside café on the outskirts of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian football fans crowd a small TV screen watching the United States lose to the Czech Republic. When the screen goes fuzzy, the half dozen onlookers — stricken with World Cup fever — shout in protest.