An estimated 2,5-million Muslim pilgrims began the annual trek on Sunday from the holy city of Mecca to the valley of Mina, with Saudi authorities on high alert to prevent another tragedy. The pilgrimage rites, known as the hajj, start three days after an ageing hostel in the heart of Mecca collapsed, killing 76 people.
A Democratic Republic of Congo court has ordered the seizure of equipment used by Air France, SN Brussels and Ethiopian Airlines for their alleged failure to pay for ground services, a judicial source said on Saturday. The source said the seizure covers such items as boarding stairs, trucks and luggage belts at Kinshasa airport.
President Thabo Mbeki and other members of the African National Congress leadership — including Jacob Zuma — were gathering in Cape Town on Sunday for the launch of the party’s local government election campaign. The launch coincides with the 94th anniversary of the ANC’s founding on January 8 1912.
Authorities in Tanzania’s semiautonomous state of Zanzibar on Saturday started rationing water in the capital due to shortages at reservoirs caused by a searing drought that has placed millions at risk of famine across East Africa, officials said. ”The only option is to start rationing the little water we get,” an official said.
A Tygerberg hospital minibus used to transport patients has been hijacked, Cape Town police said on Saturday. The Toyota Hi-Ace minibus, fitted to transport outpatients, was on its way from Tygerberg hospital to Eersteriver hospital with a passenger just after noon.
A Democratic Alliance election candidate was shot during an armed robbery while erecting party posters in Mamelodi, the party said on Sunday. Doulien van der Merwe was sitting in her car in Mamelodi on Saturday afternoon talking with DA MP Les Labuschagne when they were approached by at least four assailants, the DA said.
It is called K Street: a line of sparkling office blocks and fancy restaurants north of the White House. It is the heart of the lobbying industry in Washington, DC, servicing clients and politicians from all over the United States and one of the most powerful stretches of tarmac in the world. It also might be one of the most corrupt.
New details have emerged of how the growing number of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay are being tied down and force-fed through tubes pushed down their nasal passages into their stomachs to keep them alive. They routinely experience bleeding and nausea, according to a sworn statement by the camp’s chief doctor.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been removed from his controversial, sometimes brutal, role in Israeli life, which reached back to the founding of the nation in 1948. With his sudden departure, so soon after the death of his foe, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israel and the entire Middle East stand ready to be transformed.
New details have emerged of how the growing number of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay are being tied down and force-fed through tubes pushed down their nasal passages into their stomachs to keep them alive. They routinely experience bleeding and nausea, according to a sworn statement by the camp’s chief doctor.