Ethiopian troops are in Somalia but in smaller numbers than the thousands some have estimated, the United Nations envoy to the Horn of Africa nation said on Wednesday. ”I got the impression that some Ethiopians are in Somalia,” Francois Fall told the media after his one-day trip to Somalia on Tuesday.
South Africa’s main inflation gauges leapt in June in line with forecasts, sealing the case for another increase in interest rates at the Reserve Bank’s policy meeting next week. The targeted CPIX inflation rate rose by 4,8% in the year to June after an annual increase of 4,1% in May, official data showed on Wednesday. It was the biggest increase since August 2005.
Harry Potter’s magic has failed to work on Japanese tax authorities, who accuse the translator of the blockbuster books on the boy wizard of failing to declare millions of dollars in income. Yuko Matsuoka (62) who has translated the books into Japanese since 1999, declared her income in Switzerland, saying she was a Swiss resident.
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday welcomed a donation of â,¬30-million euros from the European Commission (EC) for its food-assistance projects in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. The donation forms part of the EC’s â,¬105-million donation to the WFP for its operations worldwide in 2006.
Four people were killed when torrential rains from Typhoon Kaemi caused widespread flooding in south-eastern China on Wednesday, as more than 700 000 evacuees remained in shelters. The typhoon, which hit south-east China’s Fujian province on Tuesday, packing winds of 120kph, was downgraded to a tropical storm on Wednesday morning.
Getting a team on the field for the second Test at Old Trafford starting on Thursday is threatening to become a major achievement for England and Pakistan as both sides try to cope with mounting injury lists. Last week, England suffered a major setback when Andrew Flintoff was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
Juventus’s relegation from the top-flight of Italian football was confirmed on Tuesday but Lazio and Fiorentina were reinstated after a final appeal into the match-fixing scandal that has rocked Serie A. Fiorentina and Lazio were both restored to the top division, having originally been demoted to Serie B for their part in the scandal.
Female boxer Laila Ali has jetted out of South Africa following the cancellation of and controversy surrounding her planned bout with challenger Gwendolyn O’Neill, local television reported on Tuesday night. The 28-year-old light-middleweight champion arrived in the country last week for a much-touted fight against O’Neill, a 36-year-old mother-of-five.
Quinton Fortune looks set to join Premiership club Bolton and manager Sam Allardyce cannot wait to add the South African to his squad. The former Manchester United midfielder played his second game for the club in the 1-1 draw against Rangers behind closed doors.
Fierce fighting raged in Lebanon on Wednesday as an international conference opened in Rome on how to end Israel’s 15-day-old war with Hezbollah guerrillas. Al-Jazeera television said nine Israeli soldiers had been killed during clashes with Hezbollah guerrillas in a south Lebanese village. Israeli medics reported heavy casualties.