The Phoenicians were the greatest traders of the ancient world and the Lebanese are their descendants. In Lebanon, every situation — no matter how dire — is an opportunity for someone to do business. Ammar runs a shop selling decorative inlaid boxes, hubble-bubble pipes, necklaces, keffiyehs (cotton headdresses), historical-looking artefacts and just about anything else that a tourist in Beirut might be induced to buy.
A company that sells software to correct irritating internet spelling mistakes has reissued its latest news release to correct a minor snafu. ”It’s very embarrassing,” said Pat Brink, public relations consultant for the Toronto-based company. ”I made the mistake, not TextTrust — they do a much better job, It’s certainly egg on the face of this public relations person.”
A prison inmate pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sending letters to the FBI and Secret Service that included bomb and anthrax threats — as well as his full name and inmate number. Donald Ray Bilby (30) pleaded guilty in United States District Court in Trenton to one count of false information and hoaxes after he sent five letters demanding authorities deposit 000 in his county jail inmate account.
The case against 15 of the 16 people arrested for last month’s Jeppestown shooting was postponed to August 21 at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. The case against the men, suspects in the shootout with police at a house in Jeppestown last month that left 12 people dead, four of them police officers, was postponed for a bail application and for further investigations.
As the South African Communist Party (SACP) gears up for its 85th anniversary celebration this weekend, the ruling African National Congress has said that it values the relationship it has with its alliance partner. In a statement on Thursday ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said: "This is a relationship that has stood the test of time."
Arabs on Thursday wrote off the Rome meeting on Lebanon as a disappointment and accused Washington of subverting the will of the world for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the guerrilla group Hezbollah. But some saw hope in signs that Washington was isolated and might have to change its position if its Israeli allies fail to make progress in their military campaign in south Lebanon.
The Chadian government has signed an accord with Sudan in the Chadian capital N’djamena aimed at normalising relations since Chad severed diplomatic relations two months ago. In Wednesday’s agreement, signed by representatives, the two countries agreed not to use their respective territories to accommodate armed groups active along their common border, according to media reports.
Eritrea on Thursday called for the speedy withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia, where they have been deployed to protect the country’s fledgling government, warning that their continued stay risked provoking a regional conflict. On a government website, Asmara also urged Addis Ababa to heed calls by the country’s Islamic courts to leave the shattered nation.
The South African trial of nine men charged in an alleged plot to topple the president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea has been delayed until next year, the men’s lawyer said on Thursday. Alwyn Griebenow said the trial, seen as a test of South Africa’s anti-mercenary laws, had been postponed from next week due to scheduling conflicts with lawyers.
A train derailment in Durban has left 86 people injured, Metrorail said on Thursday. Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said a coach left the tracks near the Duffs Road Railway Station in KwaMashu. It appeared most of the injuries occurred when passengers tried to jump from the coach. There were no major injuries.