Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi caused an uproar in Italy on Tuesday by blasting a particularly vulgar insult at left-wing voters. Addressing a meeting of shopkeepers in Rome, Berlusconi said: ”I have too high an esteem of Italians’ intelligence to believe that there are so many coglioni who may vote against their self-interest. I apologise for my coarse but effective language.”
Floods in Austria claimed their first victim on Tuesday as rising water in rivers caused a second dam to break, forcing many to evacuate their homes while emergency services worked to reinforce flood defences. An 18-month old boy was found dead on Tuesday afternoon after falling into the swollen Duerre Ager river while playing in front of his parents’ house.
Rights groups in Sierra Leone said on Tuesday they feared former Liberian president and warlord Charles Taylor, on trial for crimes against humanity, could undermine — or even escape — international justice. Taylor pleaded not guilty on Monday during his first appearance at a United Nations-backed court to charges including murder, mutilation, sexual slavery and use of child soldiers.
![]()
Jacob Zuma believed the woman who has accused him of rape was sending him sexual signals, but denied that he set her up in his guest room to test them, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Tuesday. According to the former deputy president, she had never visited him wearing a skirt before.
Two guards were injured and another was abducted in Johannesburg on Tuesday amid tension between striking and non-striking security guard unions. This took place shortly after a non-striking union had warned that its members would fight back if they faced intimidation for ending their participation in the security guard strike that started last month.
South Africa is in danger of sliding off the list of the world’s top 10 wine-making countries as it runs out of vineyard space, and needs to focus on niche markets instead, a wine industry expert said on Tuesday. ”We are ranked ninth in the world, by volume,” said Su Birch, Wines of South Africa’s chief executive, speaking at the showcase Cape Wine 2006 conference.
Architect Dawid Rabie will give evidence in the Cape High Court on Wednesday as first witness called by the state in the LeisureNet trial, prosecutor Bruce Morrison announced on Tuesday. Morrison was addressing the court after all four accused entered pleas of not guilty.
The Khartoum government and the United Nations were at loggerheads on Tuesday over Darfur after a top UN envoy accused Khartoum of trying to cover-up ongoing violence in the troubled region of western Sudan. The authorities prevented chief humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland from visiting Darfur.
The United Nations’ top official on bird flu urged China on Tuesday to share its experience with other countries on how to tackle the disease. Speaking at the end of his third visit to China as UN coordinator for avian influenza, David Nabarro said he had tried to persuade Chinese officials that the knowledge and experience they gained fighting bird flu could help the rest of the world.
As clouds gather over British Prime Minister Tony Blair with feverish speculation on when he will hand over power, he joins a motley group of Western leaders whose terms in office are ending much less auspiciously than they started. Like United States President George Bush, Blair suffers from a perception that he has become a lame duck.