Mogadishu residents cautiously returned to their homes on Monday, taking advantage of a lull in fierce factional fighting to pick through rubble-strewn neighbourhoods in the capital. At 62 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, most of them civilians, in the latest round of fighting that began on Wednesday.
Wherever you go, people stare at you. Paparazzi take pictures, fans ask for autographs, absolute strangers wonder aloud if they once met you at a party. For the hard-pressed celebrity there’s only one way to get away from it all: hide on your own desert island.
Transnet and two of its pension funds have decided to dispose of their share in Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, billed as South Africa’s most visited tourist destination. The remaining shareholder, the Transnet Retirement Fund, has yet to decide whether it will sell its 22,6% share, or retain it and push it up to 26%.
Perceptions of racism and the slow transformation in rugby were discussed at a sitting of Parliament’s sport portfolio committee on Monday. Briefing committee members, SA Rugby acknowledged that problems remained, but asked for recognition of what had been achieved.
India’s biggest distiller, the United Breweries Group, said on Monday it had dropped plans to buy French champagne group Taittinger as ”local groups” had stepped in with a new offer. According to French newspaper Les Echos, Belgian businessman Albert Frere is considering re-entering the bidding.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday urged Nigerians never to compromise on good governance and to shun corruption, in a speech to the nation marking the return of democracy seven years earlier. "We must never compromise on the need for good governance. It is the key to democratic sustainability and consolidation," Obasanjo said.
Tens of thousands of refugees begged for shelter and hundreds of international workers were evacuated from East Timor on Sunday as an army rebellion spilled over into gang violence and ethnic unrest in the capital, Dili. Dozens of homes and businesses were torched and plumes of smoke rose above the skyline, as gangs built makeshift barricades to mark out their territories.
One of France’s most popular rappers will appear in court on Monday charged with offending public decency with a song in which he referred to France as a ”slut” and vowed to ”piss” on Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle. Monsieur R, whose real name is Richard Makela, could face three years in prison or a â,¬75 000 fine.
European leaders may embark on one of the European Union’s greatest rebranding exercises by changing the name of the European Constitution to ”basic law”. Monday is the first anniversary of the rejection of the Constitution by French voters, and support is growing for a German plan to revive the measure with a name change.
At least 39 people were killed in an bloody explosion of violence across Iraq on Monday, including a spate of bombings against buses carrying people to work. The attacks underlined the parlous security situation in Iraq as agreement on the key defence and interior ministries remained elusive, despite the formation of a new government on May 20.