The full extent of European collusion with the CIA during operations to abduct terrorism suspects and fly them to countries where they may be tortured is laid bare on Wednesday by the continent’s most authoritative human rights body. Several states have allowed the agency to snatch their own residents, others have offered extensive logistical support, while many have turned a blind eye.
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The United States always feels challenged by the World Cup. Unlike the Olympics, where Americans tend to dominate, the US has rarely shone in the tournament, although it famously defeated England in 1950. It is an 80-1 long shot this time and may struggle to overcome group stage opponents Ghana and the Czech Republic, let alone Italy.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. To many the bearded cleric is a menacing symbol of militant Shi’ite Islam. But to millions of his admirers, both inside and outside Iran, he is the hero of one of the world’s last great revolutions. A decisive de facto grass-roots revolt in 1979 that unseated Shah Reza Pahlavi and brought to an end a self-indulgent regime.
The road sign says it all. "Sand!" I suppress a giggle, looking at the dunes to the left and right of the main road. "No kidding," I mutter, as we continue bumping our way north, in the middle of a desert, far removed from the comforts of home and surrounded by, well, lots of sand.
Once you have found your perfect home and the right financial package to go with it, you start on the rather complicated and annoyingly long process of making an offer and waiting for transfer to take place. The first step is to sign an offer to purchase, which the seller can accept or reject within a period you specify.
Three teachers who impressed the judges with their ability to inspire learners and achieve consistent results for up to 20 years won the seventh annual Aggrey Klaaste Maths, Science and Technology Educator of the Year awards, sponsored by Sowetan and the Telkom Foundation.
The classroom looks like any other, its walls adorned with an assortment of charts and posters. On the chalkboard are notes, probably scribbled during the last period on the day the school closed for the Easter holiday. A few cream-white chairs, which have been arranged in a circle in the room, seat a group of casually clad youths, aged around 18, and a few adults.
Helicopter gunships and a humanitarian crisis greet the few Westerners who make it to Kassala, an eastern Sudanese town far from the infamous Darfur region, where analysts say a bad situation could be about to get worse. With international media and aid groups focused on war-torn Darfur in the west, restrictions on journalists mean that a crisis in many ways worse than Darfur’s goes largely ignored.
The news that British politician Mark Oaten blamed his baldness for his midlife crisis parted the nation’s opinion neatly down the middle. There are some who feel that losing one’s hair is hardly an excuse to inaugurate a same-sex relationship behind one’s wife’s back at around the same time as one is running for the leadership of one of the country’s major political parties.
With less than a day to go until the first matches kick off in the Soccer World Cup tournament, shops are heaving with World Cup merchandise: football shirts and scarves. And then there are the condoms. It may seem reassuring that football supporters travelling to Germany are being encouraged to be sensible, but there is a pernicious side to the connection between the 2006 World Cup and sex.