Zimbabweans too proud to cry about their troubles could soon find it too dangerous to joke about them. Parliament next month will debate proposals to give the secret police extraordinary powers to intercept, read or listen to the mail, e-mail, telephone or cellphone communications of any of its citizens without the approval of any court.
At least 160 hidden deaths in a central Chinese province pushed the death toll to 482 from floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Bilis over the past week, state media said on Friday. Floods and landslides caused by Bilis destroyed tens of thousands of homes and left damage estimated at 20-billion yuan (,5-billion).
A mysterious electrical problem in New York City blamed for subway delays, flight cancellations and power failures on the hottest days of the year persisted for a fifth day on Friday, leaving 2 500 customers without power. The blackouts started on Monday evening in a handful of neighbourhoods in Queens.
Countries across Europe were sweltering under a prolonged heatwave on Friday with at least 23 people reported dead from the heat in France and Spain as temperatures soared to record levels. The heatwave reached Italy on Friday, with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees in many parts of the country.
Only 40% of the 11-million hectares of land seized from whites since February 2000 have been taken over by black farmers, President Robert Mugabe was quoted as saying on Friday. Mugabe told an annual gathering of 100 traditional tribal leaders the government had resumed allocating land after a temporary halt, according to state radio and the official Herald newspaper.
<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK</b>: In <i>The Libertine</i> Johnny Depp turns up in a more challenging and ultimately more successful role, writes Shaun de Waal.
Niren Tolsi investigates the melding of urban fashion aesthetic with traditional craft.
Maintaining physical health should not be one of the challenges faced by initiates attending an initiation school, Free State provincial minister of health Sakhiwo Belot said on Friday. ”Horrendous malpractices, often resulting in the physical … and psychological debilitation and even death of young men in these schools are well known,” the minister.
Researchers believe they have found a key insight into déjà vu, the eerie sensation of seeing something that has already been experienced, the <i>New Scientist</i> magazine reports. Experiments suggest that déjà vu can be triggered independently, without a real memory to prompt it.
Mike Huckabee, the rock-playing Governor of Arkansas, will pardon Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards for his 1975 reckless driving charge in the American state, the governor’s spokesperson said on Thursday. "The governor is in the process right now to give a pardon to him," said Alice Stewart.