Mo Mowlam, who has died at the age of 55, became one of Britain’s best-loved politicians, endearing herself to the public with a no-nonsense, down-to-earth attitude that reaped dividends in the stormy atmosphere of Northern Ireland. In bringing peace to Northern Ireland, she achieved what many thought impossible.
Germany’s seven-time formula-one champion Michael Schumacher refused on Monday to quash speculation that he has met McLaren sporting chief Norbert Haug to discuss a possible move from Ferrari. ”I do not want to discuss the rumours about me leaving Ferrari,” Schumacher said on his website.
They are trends that show little sign of abating: the influx of refugees and economic migrants to South Africa, and the extent to which these persons become the target of xenophobia. ”We are an attractive destination in Africa: we can’t run away from this,” Zonke Majodina, deputy commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission, said this week.
Egyptian security forces launched a massive sweep of the Sinai peninsula on Monday to hunt down Bedouins suspected of involvement in recent attacks, security sources said. About 3 000 men backed by armoured vehicles are involved in the vast operation.
The Kenya Wildlife Service will relocate 400 elephants to Kenya’s largest national park, from a smaller national reserve in the country’s south-east that has too many elephants, a spokesperson said on Monday. The ,2-million exercise will begin on Thursday and involve transporting elephants more than 350km.
The United Nations refugee chief was due to visit Sudan on Monday to assess the fate of millions of displaced civilians in war-torn Darfur and the recently pacified south of the country. Antonio Gutteres, starting a 10-day tour that will also take him to Chad and Kenya, voiced his concern ahead of his arrival that the world community was ignoring conflicts in Africa such as those in Sudan.
Facing its 21st Champions League game in a little over a year, defending champions Liverpool look certain to reach the lucrative group stage of Europe’s premier soccer competition on Tuesday. Then Rafa Benitez’ players hope to celebrate on Friday by beating CSKA Moscow in the European Super Cup.
An Australian musicologist has identified a major choral work by Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi during research at the Saxony State library in Dresden, the library announced on Monday. The piece for solo voices, choir and chamber ensemble was based on the Biblical 110 Psalm and represents the most important Vivaldi work to have been discovered in nearly a century.
The Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell resumed production at an oilfield in southern Nigeria that was shut down last week because of a community protest over a spill that polluted local farmland, a Shell spokesperson said on Monday. The announcement will come as a small relief to nervous oil markets monitoring unrest in Iraq and Ecuador and watching prices hovering close to record levels.
Hundreds of West Bank settlers, some armed with primitive weapons and stun grenades, on Monday prepared to confront troops sent to evict them from their homes in the heart of biblical Israel. Israeli officials expressed fears that the settlers may have even stockpiled pistols in a bid to thwart their evacuation.