United States actor Barbara Bel Geddes, best known as Ewing family matriarch Miss Ellie in the legendary television soap opera <i>Dallas</i>, has died at the age of 82, funeral directors said on Wednesday. Oscar-nominated Bel Geddes became world famous through her role as the mother of Texas oil barons JR and Bobby Ewing.
Belgian jazz pianist and composer Francy Boland died on Friday in Geneva, aged 75, a statement from the Jazz Labo society of Fribourg said. Born in Namur on November 6 1929, Boland began learning piano at the age of eight and studied at the Music Conservatory in Liege.
Former New Zealand prime minister David Lange, who died on Saturday aged 63, oversaw a tumultuous time in the country’s history when it split with the United States over nuclear weapons and battled France over the sinking of the Greenpeace ship <i>Rainbow Warrior</i>.
Tonino Delli Colli, director of photography for the greats of Italian and United States cinema, has died at the age of 81, his family announced on Thursday. He "gave light to the dreams" of numerous directors, including Roman Polanski’s <i>Bitter Moon</i> and Roberto Benigni’s <i>Life Is Beautiful</i>, his last film for the cinema.
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.