The Politburo Sessions launches its first compilation disc entitled 50funkYears! A Soundtrek this weekend. Kwanele Sosibo talks to the crew about the collection and questions the relevancy of the sessions.
She was famous for her collection of 3 000 pairs of shoes, love of the high life and marriage to one of the world’s most reviled dictators. Now the life of the Philippines’ former first lady Imelda Marcos is being turned into a musical, reports Peter Richards.
Violence will not stop the minibus taxi recapitalisation programme, the Department of Transport said on Thursday. ”No amount of threats and thuggery by a tiny group will influence our determination to proceed with the implementation of our policies and programmes,” spokesperson Collen Msibi said in a statement on Thursday.
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French football icon Zinedine Zidane on Wednesday said he was sorry for headbutting an Italian opponent during the World Cup final against Italy. But he said in a French television interview that defender Marco Materazzi had deserved it for insulting him with some ”very hard words” aimed at sullying his mother and sister.
Jewish bodies on Thursday hit back at the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) following its call for boycotts against Israel. The union federation also denounced Israel’s military incursions into Gaza. Israeli jets bombed the Palestinian foreign ministry in Gaza and Beirut’s international airport on Thursday.
The European Commission slapped Microsoft on Wednesday with a new fine of €280,5-million for failing to fully respect a 2004 antitrust ruling, but the software giant vowed to appeal. Raising the pressure on Microsoft, the European Union competition watchdog also threatened additional fines of €3-million ($3,82-million) a day from the end of the month if the company continued to defy the ruling.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday blamed Lebanon for the capture of two soldiers by the Hezbollah militia, branding the attack an "act of war" and threatening a "painful" response. He ruled out any negotiations with Hezbollah in a bid to free the servicemen, snatched on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
Gunmen stormed a bus station north-east of Baghdad on Wednesday and seized 24 people, killing all but four of them, authorities said. An Iraqi general said the victims were Shi’ites, but police said their identities were unclear. The gunmen arrived in several cars at the bus station in Muqdadiyah at about 6am.
A Kremlin public-relations blitz ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) summit and an apparent softening of Washington’s stance have failed to disguise an ill-tempered debate gnawing at the heart of East-West relations: is Russia democratic? By some counts, cooperation between Russia and its G8 partners is in rude health ahead of the summit.