Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said that any new deal offered by European powers to halt Iran’s civilian nuclear activities will be rejected, state news agency Irna reported. ”Any offer which requires us to halt our peaceful nuclear activities will be invalid,” Ahmadinejad said after returning from a five-day visit to Indonesia.
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said on Sunday that Taiwan wants to follow South Africa’s model of ending apartheid to seek peace with China. Chen made the statement while receiving former South African president FW de Klerk, who is in Taipei to attend a seminar on reconciliation.
The Philippines began cleaning up on Sunday after tropical storm Chanchu claimed 32 lives, left large parts of the country under water and forced thousands to flee their homes. By midday on Sunday Chanchu was 430km out in the South China Sea, charting a west-south-westerly course and packing winds of up to 140kph, according to the weather bureau.
Monty Panesar took two wickets in the final session to maintain England’s grip on the first Test at Lord’s on Saturday and leave Sri Lanka needing a great escape to salvage a draw. Left-arm spinner Panesar combined with wicket-keeper Geraint Jones to get rid of danger-men Upul Tharanga (52) and Kumar Sangakkara (65) in what was the 24-year-old bowler’s home Test debut.
Facing disastrous poll numbers and collapsing support ahead of vital elections this year, Republican Party strategists have taken firm aim at a surprise voting bloc — black Americans. The White House and top Republican officials have launched a blitz to persuade black people that their future will be better served by shedding decades of loyalty to the Democratic Party and voting Republican instead.
Winnie Gondo has to crouch to get in and out of her ”house”, a dome-like structure the height of an average primary school boy, as she and thousands of Zimbabweans still reel in the aftermath of the country’s infamous clean-up operation, one year on. The 43-year-old widow’s home was destroyed during Zimbabwe’s blitz in May 2005.
Protests erupted in Kenya’s Naivasha area as tensions sparked by the killing of a black trespasser on the land of Thomas Cholmondeley, scion of one of wealthiest white farming families in East Africa, burst into the open. The demonstrations followed allegations by the family of the dead man, Robert Njoya, that the two had been on first-name terms and that the victim was shot from behind.
The Australian government indicated on Sunday that it would consider taking back nuclear waste from countries that buy its uranium under a system known as "nuclear-fuel leasing". Prime Minister John Howard is expected to discuss the issue, which aims to limit the possibility of spent fuel being used in weapons, with United States President George Bush.
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Sixty-four percent of South Africans were against Jacob Zuma becoming president of the country, a survey commissioned by the Sunday Times has shown. ”This [Zuma’s rape trial] has had a negative impact on metropolitan-residing South Africans’ perceptions of both the African National Congress and the government,” the Sunday Times reported
A controversial try gave the Northern Bulls a 43-10 triumph over the Western Stormers in an all-South Africa Super 14 clash on Saturday and an unexpected place in the semifinals. Needing to win by at least 32 points and score a minimum of four tries, poor travellers the Bulls were given little hope of walloping the resurgent Stormers.